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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 09:36:04 am 
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I was looking for some information on Burkina Faso's current program of wallpaper stamps (not too different from current Australia or German programs, really), and came across the website of the vaguely sinister Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC), who act as agents for Burkina Faso, as well as around 70 other nations - mostly of the developing variety.

The IGPC run a smooth operation. They incorporate a marketing division, as well as an in-house design arm, which regularly employs up to 300 freelancers to pump out worthless new issues one after another on behalf of clients. I was horrified to learn, however, of the extent of IGPC's activities: indeed, on the website, they claim that they are
Quote:
burdened with the task of producing nearly half of the world's postage stamps annually ...


This struck me as being incredible. While probably hyperbolic, I am not really inclined to doubt this claim a great deal ... still, I was shocked that nearly 50% of the world's issues are produced by one firm.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 09:45:37 am 
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They have some interesting and unexpected clients:

Austria
Cyprus
Israel
Norfolk Island
PNG
Romania
Turkey


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 09:58:42 am 
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Half the stamps, or half the different designs?

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:07:18 am 
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The Pom wrote:
Half the stamps, or half the different designs?

Both, I would suggest. They ony produce designs for their client nations.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:14:25 am 
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Maybe they should correct the spelling of Vanuatu as one of their customers.

I hope they get it correct on the stamps. :D

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:36:56 am 
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I have just learned something from IGPC that I never, ever knew:

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For more than 200 years stamp collecting has been the world's most enduring hobby


http://www.igpc.net/collectors.html

I hope their marketing skills are stronger than their knowledge of history.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:56:28 am 
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Or their spelling skills for Vanuatu. :idea:


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 13:23:47 pm 
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Or who produces Norfolk Island stamps.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 14:03:04 pm 
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Two hundred years? Wow. Quite an achievement for something that has only been available for just 171 years, May 6.

Half the world's stamps? About 45% of all the mail in the world is in the USA and this firm does not print any US postage stamps.

It looks like their claims are exaggerated, just a bit.

Mark Alan


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 19:35:05 pm 
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The Pom wrote:
Half the stamps, or half the different designs?

I'd say they mean half the designs. Given their roster is mostly Caribbean and African states. They represented Guyana (and I assume still do) when the economy was apparently booming so much that the country required 600 new issues a year.

When the USA issues a new standard definitive, the initial print run to stock post offices will be 1 or 2 billion right there. The USA used to issue 120million of every new commem, I think they've scaled that back to about 90million now?

Marketing spin. The wording is true, but only when interpreted the right way; however the first thought people might have is "total number of stamps printed". And how is it a burden? You turn on the printing press, and off it goes. Surely they're not printing all those delightful Mickey and Elvis stamps on a manual 'spider' press. :mrgreen:

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 00:17:48 am 
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1606 wrote:
They have some interesting and unexpected clients:

Austria
Cyprus
Israel
Norfolk Island
Romania
Turkey


I don't believe IGPC produces stamps for the above countries, rather they use the IGPC as their agents. I have removed PNG from the list as IGPC does now produce their issues.

Vanuatu does the same - I believe New Zealand Post designs and produces most Vanuatu issues.

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 01:23:24 am 
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IGPC started off in 1957 with stamps of Ghana, and later on Togo, Somali, Maldives and Suriname... They were better known then as Manfred Lehmann Trading Company...

http://www.galeoptix.nl/fila/nl_figue.htm

http://www.codesria.org/IMG/pdf/Agbenyega_Adedze.pdf

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Ghana's independence from Britain provided business opportunities for many international companies, genuine and unscrupulous. One of the business companies that dealt with Ghana was owned by Manfred R. Lehmann (1922-97). He was born in Sweden and migrated to the United State in 1940, where he earned degrees from Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and John Hopkins. A passionate Zionist he was noted for his interest in biblical archaeology, and was a founding member of American Academic Alliance for Israel. He is credited with several scholarly publications and newspaper articles. He was also the director of the family's international business, Lehman Trading Company which was involved in fishing, telecommunications, aviation, and philately, which had been founded in 1904 by his parents. According to his widow, Mrs. Sara Anne Lehmann, her husband had an acute understanding of international issues and had predicted the independence of the Gold Coast and the business opportunities that it would provide for their company. 6

It was not surprising therefore, that Manfred Lehmann founded in 1957 the Ghana Philatelic Agency (GPA) in New York despite the fact that he had no prior experience in philately.

Competition for Ghana's philately business was fierce. It was fought between dealers as well as the media both in Ghana at the highest level of government, and in the US and UK. Before independence, Ghana (Gold Coast) stamps were distributed by Crown Agents in London and Washington D.C. To the surprise and chagrin of stamp dealers and collectors, the distribution of Ghana's stamps were entrusted to a new agency - Ghana Philatelic Agency (GPA) headed by Manfred Lehmann. It was predicted that Ghana stamps would rival in demand and profitability those of the new state of Israel and the United Nations.


6 Personal Communication with Mrs. Sara Anne Lehmann, 2/27/06.


See also:

http://www.manfredlehmann.com/biography.html


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:37:50 am 
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Unless he has sold out, IGPC for decades has been run by Sam Malamud and his sons.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 19:58:57 pm 
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GlenStephens wrote:
Unless he has sold out, IGPC for decades has been run by Sam Malamud and his sons.


Glen,

that is right, but it started with Manfred!

And Ghana, Nigeria, Togo - and the Israelian State Printer printing stamps for Lehmann!


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 02:59:50 am 
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stampchris wrote:
I don't believe IGPC produces stamps for the above countries, rather they use the IGPC as their agents. I have removed PNG from the list as IGPC does now produce their issues.

Vanuatu does the same - I believe New Zealand Post designs and produces most Vanuatu issues.



Exactly, IGPC does not produce stamps for all those countries, as a matter of fact, in most cases the company is only one of the stamp distribution agencies of those countries, not even the sole one.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 04:43:11 am 
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It was predicted that Ghana stamps would rival in demand and profitability those of the new state of Israel and the United Nations.

Stamps of Israel are profitable if you happen to have stashed away issues from the first decade, after that there's little value...

U.N. used to be on dealer's buy list at a discount from face for postage, but that market fizzled after 9/11 and mailing by the public from UN HQ was suspended.

Ghana...well we all know how most of the post-colonial states have fared in their stamp-issuing policies. :roll:

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 09:09:22 am 
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aethelwulf wrote:
U.N. used to be on dealer's buy list at a discount from face for postage, but that market fizzled after 9/11 and mailing by the public from UN HQ was suspended.


I believe what happened was size limitations imposed by the UNPA caused the market to fizzle. The public can still post mail at the UN - I personally sent a number of birthday cards and other small packages from the New York headquarters in 2009. I know several companies used the UN to post heavy auction catalogues overseas - this certainly stopped when these new regulations came in, but that was way after 9/11.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 23:13:45 pm 
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To bump this thread up, Nevis/IGPC issued something nice this year:

Image

Face value: us$37 and us$55 (!!!)

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 23:20:39 pm 
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I wonder if these stamps will ever see any postage use :?

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 23:38:28 pm 
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To be fair, the illustrations on the Nevis stamps aren't birds or flowers or fish, so no blatant cash grab like the Cook Islands latest defin set. Collectors of coats-of-arms are few, and the diadem on the other value is I assume a detail from an early Nevis stamp?

They're inscribed "postage & revenue", so maybe Nevis is still using 'real stamps' for fiscal purposes, ie. stamp duty on land transfers? Although how much economic activity does the place have? :idea:

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 00:40:16 am 
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Stewie1980 wrote:
To bump this thread up, Nevis/IGPC issued something nice this year:

Image

Face value: us$37 and us$55 (!!!)

Those are appropriate for this thread: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=34662

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 01:37:48 am 
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Sisophon wrote:
stampchris wrote:
I don't believe IGPC produces stamps for the above countries, rather they use the IGPC as their agents. I have removed PNG from the list as IGPC does now produce their issues.

Vanuatu does the same - I believe New Zealand Post designs and produces most Vanuatu issues.



Exactly, IGPC does not produce stamps for all those countries, as a matter of fact, in most cases the company is only one of the stamp distribution agencies of those countries, not even the sole one.


Sisophon is absolutely correct here. When I was dealing in new issues, I approached the Papua New Guinea postal administration for exclusivity in Canada. The talks went on for about a month but in the end it was determined that their current contract with IGPC covered all of North America and not just the USA. Although PNG might now use IGPC at this time for production, I cannot help but notice a similarity in design and subject matter these days that hints at some involvement with IGPC.

In some cases, IGPC have designed and/or printed one or two issues for their clients, and sometimes that was many years ago, but they still list them as "clients". That said, I would say that IGPC is the biggest player in their game.

So IGPC can represent act as philatelic agents only. Generally from what I have seen, they work on an exclusive basis, although sometimes that exclusivity is on a continental basis, rather than a global one. Some countries have completely given up their international philatelic sales to IGPC. In Burundi for example, they will politely advise you on the telephone, by email, or by letter that you must purchase stamps through IGPC.

I also believe that some countries such as Uganda, allow IGPC to design, produce, and sell stamps on their behalf for the philatelic trade but that the stamps actually used in Uganda for legitimate purposes are produced elsewhere and by another company. You cannot even purchase those stamps from IGPC.

Countries that I believe IGPC represent in sales but not in production or design include:

Israel
Kenya
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda (they held a large selection of stock up until a couple of years ago)
Vanuatu
Samoa
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Pitcairn Island
Falklands / South Georgia
Cyprus
Qatar
Gibraltar and other "Crown Agents customers"

Still, I believe that this is a worthy topic to further investigate. IGPC is not very forthcoming with the information so it would invovle more detective work on our part.

All the best,

Brad

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 02:05:04 am 
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Uppercanadian wrote:
I also believe that some countries such as Uganda, allow IGPC to design, produce, and sell stamps on their behalf for the philatelic trade but that the stamps actually used in Uganda for legitimate purposes are produced elsewhere and by another company. You cannot even purchase those stamps from IGPC.


That's exactly what happens with Uganda and also with Tanzania. They both have issues from IGPC and issues of their own.
This year Uganda quit with IGPC and has Stamperija as their new agent. And that's not good news for collectors!

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 03:08:07 am 
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There was an interesting article I just found from a 1997 issue of the New York Times magazine. I think you will enjoy reading it.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/16/magazine/postal-imperialism.html

I love the title - POSTAL IMPERIALISM. Some interesting insights into how IGPC works though.

All the best,

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 03:29:18 am 
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Thanks for this link!

I wonder if they still have freelance artists. Most of the stamps they issue look like if only one guy made them with photoshop in 10 minutes!

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 03:54:13 am 
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Spot on Stewie!! Some of the designs and renderings are pathetic. But I guess no one really cares anymore. To stamp collectors, that article outlined the travesty of stamp issuance today. But to most readers of the article, it probably was little more than a quaint little story about how a New York company was able to control an industry. Sometimes I mention top casual aquaintences that I collect stamps. Often times the person is surprised, as they didn't think people did that anymore.

I had a friend that collected antique glass. He used to go into the country and ask farmers if he could look around their yard and dig up any old latrines that had been abandoned and filled up. Of course, back before garbage pickup, the best place for dumping small articles was the deep hole in your backyard. This guy was full of stories about how people reacted to his weekend hobby of digging up old poop pits.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 05:08:29 am 
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IGPC does not design or produce cypriot issues. They are designed in Cyprus and prodused in Greece. I don't know about sales.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:23:43 am 
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I just found the website of the Art Director from IGPC. She has some of the stamps that she has designed as part of her online portfolio. It is quite beautiful work. I thought others might like a 'look see'.

http://siobhanmcdevitt.com/works/stamps/

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 15:22:35 pm 
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Attractive work, 1000% better than those lazy cut-paste, 10-minutes-Photoshopping 'creations' some places give us. :evil:

I'm sure Lincoln is looking down thrilled to know Nevis honoured him with a big sheetlet, and the Japanese are excited that St. Kitts is captivated by Mt. Fuji. :roll: (Well, a freelance artist does the commission they're hired for, its IGPC's policies that gave us those unrelated issues.)

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 15:41:19 pm 
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Uppercanadian wrote:
I just found the website of the Art Director from IGPC. She has some of the stamps that she has designed as part of her online portfolio. It is quite beautiful work. I thought others might like a 'look see'.


The liberian Chocolate stamps were making me hungry! until I saw the price of them... $30 eh? Ok... it is only $0.41 USD so might be worth a lick! (couldn't resist the punn there)

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 01:48:18 am 
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well they may not produce half of the worlds stamps in quantity but they've certainly got 100% of the themes covered (and then some): I know just where to go if I ever get an itching for collecting 'Shirley Temple', 'Children of Chernobyl' or 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' on stamps....

http://www.igpci.com/products.cfm


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 14:14:18 pm 
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How IGPC designes their stamps

In just a few easy steps!

1. Make up a theme after watching Discovery or National Geographic for an hour or two. (In this case WWII)

2. Start up Photoshop and make a blanc sheet.

3. Steal pictures from the internet and past them on the sheet on the places where you want the stamps.

4. Your son is playing a WWII computer game? Make a screenshot of it and place it on the sheet.

5. Room left? Just steal another picture from the net to fill it up.

6. Time for a toilet break. But beware if you have young children. They can play with your laptop and they can find photoshop's fluorescent marker function.

7. Pick randomly one of the client nations names and place it on the stamps together with a randomly chosen value.

8. Make a small description on the stamps and an ENORMOUS desription on the sheet.

9. No need for a facts and spelling check. Just mail the design to your boss.

10. And finished! Just in time before the football game.


Result:

Image

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 20:25:47 pm 
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Yet another reason to bring back the British Empire.

The Empire didnt produce half the world's stamps, but did make them for almost half the world's people. And it did a much better job.

Having said that, the wording on the MS above is one of the funniest things I've seen in days!


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 03:32:20 am 
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I agree this issue is particularly bad; especially the "video game" image... Also they used a current map rather than one that was appropriate for 1945... This being said I am not a big fan of IGPC issues (not at all), however, sometimes they produce very nice stamps. I guess it really depends on the designer. They also produce sometimes innovative stamps, like the "chocolate" stamps of Grenada.


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 04:09:03 am 
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drseg wrote:
This being said I am not a big fan of IGPC issues (not at all), however, sometimes they produce very nice stamps. I guess it really depends on the designer. They also produce sometimes innovative stamps, like the "chocolate" stamps of Grenada.


I think IGPC stole that idea from the Swiss and French chocolat stamps that were issued some years ago.

And yes, sometimes they have nice stamps, but that was IMO mostly in the 1990s.
Probably back then they didn't discovered photoshop yet.

I looked in my catalogues and believe it or not, in the late 1990s and beginning 2000s they issued more stamps then they do now.
Some countries 500 to 800 stamps a year! Mostly in sheets of 10 to 20 different.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 06:02:50 am 
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If you take a look through the catalogue (i.e. Scott), you cant tell the difference in design of stamps during periods when they had an agent like the IGPC (i.e. Senegal in the late 1990s), then after that some went back to designed and making their own stamps and the subjects and designs are very different. Maybe the IGPC contracted to design a handful of issues for countries like Israel, etc. You can see which issues they produced by visiting the IGPC website.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 09:01:47 am 
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PhilatelicRepub wrote:
If you take a look through the catalogue (i.e. Scott), you cant tell the difference in design of stamps during periods when they had an agent like the IGPC (i.e. Senegal in the late 1990s), then after that some went back to designed and making their own stamps and the subjects and designs are very different. Maybe the IGPC contracted to design a handful of issues for countries like Israel, etc. You can see which issues they produced by visiting the IGPC website.


IGPC also sells new issues from many countries as a (wholesale) dealer.

For many countries on their site, like Israel, they do not design stamps.

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 03:47:23 am 
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I see so many posts/threads on Stampboards where people complain about "wallpaper" and the ridiculous proliferation of modern issues. As was mentioned above, IGPC aren't the only cuplrits, as many of us will testify. I along with many others have given up on new UK issues due to the enormous quantity being issued.
But the thing is, somebody must buy them, otherwise there would be no point printing them, since as we're all only too aware, hardly any get used for postage. So who does? Anyone want to own up?


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 05:09:52 am 
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Bad news in stamp world:

Since 2013(?*) IGPC is issuing for Azerbaijan.

(*There is no year program for 2013, so I don't know if IGPC will issue more or that it's only this sheet.)

First is of course Year of the Snake.

A set of 5 stamps that you can only get if you buy a full sheet...

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 18:12:29 pm 
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I just realised something else rather disturbing about IGPC. I looked through some old invoices from back in 2007. There were a number of items that they were sold out in, and considering that they were planning, designing, printing, and selling the stamps on behalf of their client nations, I assumed that once they sold out, they were gone forever.


So I am looking at some Kenyan stamps that were sold out in 2007. These were stamps that were issued back in 1994, but in 2007 they reported to me that they were sold out. I am looking them up now on their new website and low and behold, they are back in stock. I was originally purchasing the 1991 Aids Awareness stamps from IGPC back in 2007 at $1.00 a set. Now, they have miraculously found a new stock of the stamps, and are selling the four stamp set at $18.00 each. Based on 2009 Scott prices they are valued at $12.00 as set. I can only assume that IGPC simply reprints stamps as needed, without a care in the world about when they were actually issued. Could i possibly be wrong about this. I rather hope so!!!

I have looked up every stamp that was sold out back in 2007 and every one of them is now available again at very inflated prices. Of course, IGPC seems to always be hiking up the value of the stamps above the face value. The Kenya 2001 Crop issue was being sold for $20.40 back in 2007, and now sells on their website for $39.95. Scott values the set at $78.55!!!

If this is indeed true, it would be a license for IGPC to print money. They would also destroy the collecting value of any country that they currently or ever have represented. If this is the case, should not Scott Catalogue begin listing everyone of the stamps they issued with italics, positing that in fact the issues are now spurious. I always assumed that despite the terrible looking issues, the sameness of so many of them, and of course the contrived topics that have nothing to do with the issuing country, was just part of the stamp business today but as a good corporate 'philatelic' citizen, that IGPC would maintain some ethics and responsibility in order to protect their market - that being the stamp collecting public. But it would seem that they are quite willing to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Honestly, it is so inane, that I am completely infuriated and flummoxed!!!!

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 01:02:52 am 
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IGPC doesn't print and issue stamps for Kenya.
They have different kinds of clients.
For some countries they design and print the stamps. Resulting in all those ugly Elvis and Marilyn sheets.

From other countries like Kenya they sell the new issues which they probably get form the Kenyan Post directly.

IGPC is also a stamp dealer. Maybe the Kenyan stamps you were looking for came from a collection they recently bought.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 01:46:37 am 
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Uppercanadian wrote:
I can only assume that IGPC simply reprints stamps as needed, without a care in the world about when they were actually issued. Could i possibly be wrong about this. I rather hope so!!!

I'd assume there's a lot of set-up of the machinery required to print off stamps. Its not like a computer, click a button and print off the file.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 13:14:16 pm 
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Well I certainly am glad to hear that. I realise that IGPC has many different products, but I have never actually seen anything online that states what countries they are designing and actually printing stamps for. Is that available somewhere. I know that based on some of the designs, it is pretty obvious. But then even some of the countries I would assume they do the designing and printing for, occasionally issue a set of stamps that seem to be for domestic use and have AFrican or national themes on them. I am assuming that IGPC knows that half the stuff they issue is hideous to most practicing stamp collectors and that they are capable of designing and printing issues as good as any of the major national postal services.

At any rate, I am glad to know that they are simply printing these on demand. I guess they did either buy the stock from Kenya Post or from somewhere else. It is a real relief to me. Kenya, along with a few other African countries, to me are still very collectible. They do not over produce, sometimes only issuing a few sets a year. The themes are generally of a Kenyan subject and some of the designs are quite pleasing. I would put Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Cameroun, & Mauritania on that list, and possibly also Zambia and Zimbabwe. Malawi was also very good up until 2003 when I am assuming they passed their entire stamp issuing system over to IGPC.

Anyway, good news for me on Kenya!! Thank you!!!!

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 06:40:57 am 
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Stewie1980 wrote:
Bad news in stamp world:

Since 2013(?*) IGPC is issuing for Azerbaijan.

(*There is no year program for 2013, so I don't know if IGPC will issue more or that it's only this sheet.)

First is of course Year of the Snake.

A set of 5 stamps that you can only get if you buy a full sheet...

Image


More bad news:

IGPC also issued the Year of the Snake stamps for Isle of Man! :(

Image

Image

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 05:12:08 am 
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Just an observation regarding the Nevis stamps shown above:
I suspect that there might be a need for these high values for fiscal purposes. After all, they are inscribed "Postage & Revenue", and in a small country like Nevis it would make sense to have this kind of "dual-purpose" stamps. I'd expect to see these stamps on tax receipts, but not so often on postal items.

As for the large numbers of stamps printed in the name of certain countries: Nobody forces us (or anybody else) to collect them. Even so, it still surprises me, too, that there seems to be a market for these stamps. Should we warn beginning collectors of such excessive issues, and if yes, how?

Jan-Martin


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 05:31:44 am 
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JMH67 wrote:
Just an observation regarding the Nevis stamps shown above:
I suspect that there might be a need for these high values for fiscal purposes. After all, they are inscribed "Postage & Revenue", and in a small country like Nevis it would make sense to have this kind of "dual-purpose" stamps. I'd expect to see these stamps on tax receipts, but not so often on postal items.

As for the large numbers of stamps printed in the name of certain countries: Nobody forces us (or anybody else) to collect them. Even so, it still surprises me, too, that there seems to be a market for these stamps. Should we warn beginning collectors of such excessive issues, and if yes, how?

Jan-Martin

While those aren't listed in the 2012 Barefoot (I don't think they were issued yet when the catalogue was published), some stamps inscribed "Postage & Revenue" are listed. They have face values of $15, $30 and $50 and were issued between 1984 and 1990. Barefoot states that they were used for passport/visa fees.

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