Stamp of the day: sunnie side up!

November 5, 2018January 2, 2019 | The Punk Philatelist

Australia 2011 Living Australian Little Man's Business and This Is So Relaxing 60c se-tenant pair Sometimes you can see a stamp dozens of times without fully appreciating its majesty. I suppose you could say the same of any artwork, or building, or person. And then, for some reason, you happen to notice it in a certain light, or at a certain magnification, or across a cosy bar eight vodka and tonics into a Friday night, and your breath can be taken away.

This happy little issue came out in 2011. They called it ‘Living Australian’. Look at those Australians, just going about their lives all Australian-y and shit.

Australia 2011 Living Australian Best Friends and Embrace Friendship 60c se-tenant pair

I wasn’t paying a great deal of attention at the time, and I’ve only vaguely clocked them since. But when I saw this one cross my desk on the weekend – and I mean I really saw it – it filled me with joy.

Australia 2011 Living Australian Cricket at the Gabba 60c stamp

At first glance, it’s entirely possible to miss what’s going on. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t fully taken it in until now. Continue reading →

Australia’s best (and worst) of 2016

January 15, 2017October 15, 2018 | The Punk Philatelist

Australia 2016 Jewel Beetles $1 Stigmodera gratiosa stamp

…In which I attempt to cover a year of review and bitching in one fell swoop.

Each year, Australia Post holds its annual survey in which stamp collectors can vote for their favourite – and least favourite – issue. This used to be an exercise on paper, with a few variations on a simple ‘What was your favourite?’ ‘What was your least favourite?’ type arrangement, with prize giveaways for random winners. Now it’s gone all high-tech, with a detailed SurveyMonkey page, in which all issues must be ranked in order from 1 to 32.

Australia Posts's Survey Monkey Stamp Poll 2016

On the upside, I enjoyed the OCD-triggering task of putting every single issue in its rightful place. On the downside, no prize giveaways. I guess AP has to pay for its CEO’s $4.8 million pay packet somehow.

I could swear I saw the final results somewhere, but I can’t seem to Google it anywhere, and the survey I’ve linked to above still seems to be open. Surely I’m not so lame that I dreamed it? I saw it in such detail! Maybe I was shown the running tallies when I finished the survey? Anyway, this isn’t your problem. The important thing is that I am going to tell you which were the best stamps and which were the worst, as judged by my own brain, so survey results don’t matter.

In no particular order (and with each issue’s title linking to the extremely commendable Australia Post Collectables blog site for more info), Australia’s unquestionably best issues were: Continue reading →

What’s long, sticky, and displays a large pair of balls?

January 29, 2015October 10, 2018 | The Punk Philatelist

Here’s a late-night quickie for you. As I was researching a fabulous forthcoming entry, I stumbled across this USPS release from last month and was so knocked out by the design, I had to share it with you at once.

Wilt Chamberlin is the first (!) NBA star to be featured on a US postage stamp. Can’t say I know much about the man or his career, but I have learned he was 7’1″ tall. That’s 215.9cm to the rest of us. (Hi America! Join us in the 21st Century sometime. It’s lovely, everyone speaks English, and everything is divisible by ten.)

So how does one depict such a literal and metaphorical giant on a stamp?

Like this:

Wilt Chamberlain was a very tall man Was that as good for you as it was for me?