Pulled Faststamps

The Norphil blog entry for 8 January makes it clear that it is unfortunate that a few people trying to make a few pounds because they have found a weakness in a system. I questioned the legitimacy of the extended strips that appeared at Autumn Stampex 2012 and rightly so. At the previous Autumn Stampex, a  flaw in the Hytech kiosks allowed a few people pull on the strip of stamps to generate blank and partially printed stamps. This problem was fixed by Spring Stampex 2012 with the addition of a cover making it impossible to reach the strip.

I must point out that a letter to Stamp Magazine at the time of Spring Stampex warned of this mis-use of the machine and rightly so as these "errors" were made available on ebay the same day as they were produced at a heavy premium.

With the new design of Hytech kiosk that appeared at Autumn Stampex 2012, it looked as though the problem could recur and, I mentioned it to others while waiting in the queue to purchase examples form the kiosk on the first day of the show in the presence of the engineer. When this error subsequently appeared, and again quickly appeared on ebay led one to suspect a repeat. 

I subsequently asked for information supporting the genuineness of these new errors via the Stamp Magazine forum, Norphil and other sources. This prompted a reply that these were genuine and that a video had been made of the strips being produced. This video is now on You-tube and it clearly illustrates that these particular examples are genuine errors.

I agree with Ian at Norphil that it is ridiculous that some one such as myself has to question the authenticity of some stamps. I apologise if this has upset anyone but surely it is better for this new area of UK collecting that we question the irregularities and stop any abuse before it turns people away from this field of interest.

Once more, I stress that I am not a dealer. I am a stamp collector who has collected since I was 5 (in 1961).  I do not have the temperament to be a dealer. My background is science and I have published a number of papers in learned journals. When I see a wrong result, I check it and re-check it to see what the problem was. That was my training and profession.

Therefore if I see something out of place with the Hytechs and Wincors  or indeed any other field should I keep quiet and let it go or ask for clarification? I want to hear from other collectors in this area. I want data on usage, dates of use, session numbers, what stamps were used where, faults, receipt varieties, etc. My email address is pmechuk@gmail.com.

000000 Idents

I have just received some images from a contact which are very interesting. They all have the office ident 000000 which was last used at Trafalgar Square/William IV Street office in July 2012. The images may be seen on the Stamp Magazine website under Forum and Post and Go/Faststamps.

The examples appear, from postmarks, to have been posted in Bideford/Exeter/Devon area and dated 29 November 2012. They routed to the Heathrow World Distribution Centre (HWDC) and processed on IMP3. HWDC processing was as expected.

However, there are some major irregularities in the font used and the introduction of a new rate "Worldwide upto 30g" rate.

Images and full story may be found at: www.sites.google.com/site/pmechuk/

I have made contact with a few others and had replies suggesting that the items are very likely forgeries. If you have similar examples, please email me at pmechuk@gmail.com.

Apologies, I am having some problems uploading pictures to my blog site at the moment.

Happy New Year

OK, so this  blog has not been as regular as expected but, as they say, "so much to do, so little time to do it!"

I have tried to keep this blog and the six websites up to date with developments. Much of the data is in relative raw form but just requires care and time to process it. As noted in the last blog entry, I have started a newsletter to disseminate the information and encourage more data to be sent in my direction. There are other organisations out there which charge for this service such as ATEEME who operate on  a business model. I do not. I don't have the business skills, money or mobility to set up such an organisation. 

What I do have is enthusiasm for knowledge and a background in scientific research. This is what I am trying to bring to to this new area of UK collecting - trying to record the data at the time it is being produced rather than waiting for a decade plus to try to piece things together like a jigsaw with more than half the pieces missing. I may not have that 10 years for those bits to come together.

So 2012 has seen three new pictorials and a re-released robin along with the overprints for Stampex, Perth and the BPMA. And don't forget the pop up post office!

2013 will see three pictorial issues - freshwater life and a second class machin. Add to that more Stampex varieties with overprints and yet another re-released robin.

Please get in touch if you have data that will help me put together a more coherent picture.

Happy New Year to one and all.

Newsletter

There is so much information on UK ATMs on the net, in the press and available with each visit to a post office equipped with these kiosks. In the last year, I have set up about half a dozen websites listing the raw data that I have obtained along with scans of material in my personal collection. Then there is this blog.

From monitoring the hits on the Stamp Magazine forum, it is clear that there are a lot of people interested in this area of collection. Therefore, I have put together a first issue of a newsletter which can be downloaded from my pmechuk website or by e-mailing me at pmechuk@gmail.com. As I have often stated, I am not a dealer and I feel that the approach to dealing that some have taken on sites such as ebay may be misleading the unwary collector with regard to some of the terms used in advertising material (such as "SCARCE"). Therefore, the Newsletter is primarily for collectors to enable them to make informed choices. 

I would like to produce at least a few pages on a regular basis and would welcome input from others. The first issue covers from Autumn Stampex to the BPMA issue but I would welcome input not only on British Wincors and Hytechs but from around the world. 

As I have no financial support for this activity, all issues will be produced electronically and emailed to those interested. This means that there is no membership costs, no hassle with record keeping and accounts, no printing costs for me and no worry about finding postage costs.

 It is up to you whether this is a worthwhile activity.

The newsletter may be found at:
                     
                         https://sites.google.com/site/pmechuk/newsletter

The file is at the bottom of that page.

Stampex Data and Possible Newsletter

Kiosk B1 Information Wanted

I have been asked for information on the use of Kiosk B1 at Autumn Stampex. It was noticed that the date-line (1952-2012) is slightly indented from the line above (Diamond Jubilee) on the Cattle stamps erroneously overprinted for the Diamond Jubilee (it is clearly visible in the image on the pmechuk website). Can anyone supply jpeg images of items from this “backroom” kiosk (and time of purchase) as it is of interest as to when the indented date-line first occurred, by looking for the first overprinted Flag stamps from B1 with the same indent. So far, the indent is present on Flag stamps from session 334 at 12.48, session 390 at 15.06, session 446 at 17.50 all on 28 September; the latter session is very close to session 452 which produced the Cattle overprint. So it would be expected that the indent may have occurred on stamps from session 361 at 13.50 that you report in your table on the website.

Any additional information would be gratefully welcomed. Apart from knowing when the indent variant first occurred, it would also be interesting to know if it continued on stamps issued on Saturday 29 September, but so far no examples have been illustrated on the internet. 

E-mail me at pmechuk@gmail.com.

Possible Newsletter

I have been considering the suggestion about producing a regular newsletter on the UK ATMs which would be distributed electronically. There is some merit in the idea if others would be willing to contribute to its content. As a one man effort, my fear would be that it would fade away after a few issues but that would depend on you. E-mail address above.

Hytech Kiosks A1, A3 and A4

From 16 November 2012 to 24 December 2012, two new Hytech kiosks will be available for use at a "Pop Up" Post Office at Unit 17A, Stables Market Camden, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AH. The kiosks involved are coded A3 and A4.  

From data on the net and a visit today (3/12/12), the impression that I am getting is that it is mainly dealers and collectors of this material that are serching out this venue. Apparently, Saturday (1/12/12) was a busy day because the ident changed from ANGB12 to ADGB12. 

The desk cancels have as the location "Equipment Team Temporary" and have the codes 32 and 42. I asked if they were associated with the Head Office Model Office who tend to oversee these sort of trials of new machinery but was told that they weren't. They were just volunteers to man the office.

The British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA) have received Hytech kiosk A1 and the first day of use was Monday 3/12/12. The unit is vending Machins and Robins with the overprint "The B.P.M.A.". This kiosk was used at Autumn Stampex 2012 and Perth 2012. The session numbers continue on from Perth2012. My examples were obtained at 14:19 on 3/12/12 and were from session 746.

After Christmas, the Robin stamp is to be replaced by the flag issue.

There were some teething problems with the kiosk at the BPMA on the first day requiring regular intervention by staff. 

Post and Go - Hytech Releases 

Recent weeks has seen some new developments regarding the Hytech kiosks. In October we saw the release of Perth 2012 Machins and Flags. The BPMA is to receive a kiosk on the 3 December and now we learn that a Pop Up Post Office has appeared at Camden Market with two new Hytechs - A3 and A4.

The worrying thing is the lack of information being released as to these new developments that could result in a few people who happen to be in the right place at the wrong time making a killing on ebay by overcharging collectors.

Autumn Stampex 2012 saw session numbers from circa 10 to around 500 on the faststamps produced at that show. Perth 2012 saw the highest session number around the 700-750 mark. This shows that the demand is there for these products, yet the collector has to rely on dealers or being there to get examples. This sort of material should be available through the Philatelic Bureau.

Already, there are suggestions that Royal Mail is seeing the Wincors and the Hytech "specials" as cashcows and that some collectors are threatening to stop purchasing the "specials".