Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps

Smilers for Kids - 28 October 2008

A new product aimed primarily at children under 12 will be available from 28 October. Smilers for Kids consists of a sheet of 10 stamps and corresponding round labels, sold in a pack with other material designed to appeal to youngsters or their parents or grandparents.

The first four packs show popular children's characters: Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit, Almond Blossom from Flower Fairies books by Cicely Mary Barker, Mr Men, and Noddy. The Peter Rabbit sheet consists of 'New Baby' stamps with two different images of Peter Rabbit on adjoining labels. The Flower Fairies sheet consists of 'Flower' (Gazania) stamps with the same image of Almond Blossom on the labels. The Mr Men and Noddy sheets utilise 'Balloons' stamps, each having 2 sets of 5 different labels on the sheets.

Click on the images of sheets of 10 for a larger version in a new window/tab.

Royal Mail Smilers for Kids stamps showing Peter Rabbit.

Royal Mail Smilers for Kids stamps Flower Fairies Friends.

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Royal Mail Smilers for Kids stamps - Noddy.

Royal Mail Smilers for Kids stamps Mr Men.

Mr Men and Noddy images digitally adjusted by us: Title Panels may not be exactly correct.
Stamps for Kids - four packs.
The following postmarks have been announced to coincide with the issue of these packs
postmark illustrated with a fairy on a sunflower. postmark illustrated with a fairy on a flower. postmark illustrated with a rabbit.
Ref M11148
Smilers For Kids, Fairyfield Avenue, Birmingham
Ref L11146
Smilers For Kids, Croydon
Ref L11147
Smilers For Kids, London W8

The Peter Rabbit pack contains five 'baby announcement' cards with places for adding a photograph. The Flower Fairies pack writing paper and matching envelopes. The Mr Men stamps feature Mr Happy and the pack includes a book-mark, a sheet of stickers and Mr Happy's light-hearted tips for a happy life. Enid Blyton's Noddy is on the labels in the last pack, which also contains colouring-in sheets, a spot-the-difference puzzle, and a cut-out mask.
The Peter Rabbit has two different labels, Almond Blossom one, Mr Happy 5, and Noddy 5.

The Royal Mail Stamps for Kids packs will be sold for £7.95 each. Because they are sold at a premium over face value we predict that they will not be listed in most stamp catalogues.
Later: Royal Mail have now announced that sheets of 20 stamps are to be available at the almost regular price of £7.95 per sheet compared with the normal price of 'generic' sheets (£7.75). We have reports that these sheets are listed in Royal Mail's Philatelic Stocklist not under 'Generic Sheets' but under 'Additional Products' along with catalogues, foreign stamps and other producers' Business Smilers Sheets.

We predicted earlier that "the sheets ... may well be different to those in the packs unless the latter were guillotined from double sheets printed in this form". As you can see from the images below, none of the sheets of 10 are cut from the sheets of 20 and it is our belief that the four sheets of 10 were printed from cylinders which printed two sheets of 20, probably with the Mr Men sheet paired with Noddy, and the Flower Fairies sheet paired with Beatrix Potter. We will never know unless Royal Mail tell us, or unless sheets in this form appear on the market!

Although catalogue listing is uncertain, as these stamps have not previously been used with circular labels spaces may be made for them in the preprinted stamp albums, so some collectors will feel a need to have one, despite the premium price and lack of full catalogue listing.

Generic Smilers Sheets.

Click on the images for a larger image in a new tab/window:
Flower Fairies generic smilers sheet of 20. Peter Rabbit generic smilers sheet of 20. Noddy generic smilers sheet of 20. Mr Men generic smilers sheet of 20.


Technical details:

The stamp sheets are printed - as are other Smilers sheets - in litho by Cartor Security Printing. The sheets of 10 are A5 size, 149 x 210mm; the sheet of 20 are A4 size, 210 x 297mm.
Pack details: All packs have been designed by Magpie Studios, with the backing and title sheet printed by St Ives plc.

Character copyrights:
Noddy by Enid Blyton, copyright 2008 Chorion Rights Ltd.
Beatrix Potter TM Copyright Frederick Warne & Co 2008; Frederick Warne & Co is the owner of all copyrights and trademarks in the Beatrix Potter characters and illustrations. Licensed by Copyrights Group.
Flower Fairies Copyright 2008 The Estate of Cicely Mary Barker, licensed by Copyrights Group.
Mr Men and Little Miss by Roger Hargreaves, Copyright 2008 THOIP.
All images Copyright Royal Mail Group Ltd 2008. Webpage and site Copyright Norvic Philatelics 2008


What next?

The back of each pack shows the other characters in each series which will appear in future packs:

future Smilers for Kids taken from the back of current packs.

If you would like to be contacted when this page is updated please use the ChangeDetection block next to the stamps or email us.
NB: unless the office is closed (see home page) emails will be acknowledged in 1-2 days. If you do not receive an acknowledgement please email us from a different address (eg hotmail, gmail).

This page updated 31 October 2008

2007
2008 stamp issues
Visit our online shop!
January
8
Ian Fleming's James Bond
15 Definitive LOVE booklet
15 New Smilers stamps
February
5
Working Dogs
28 Kings and Queens I
28 Greetings retail booklet
March
11
Celebrating Northern Ireland MS and Glorious Northern Ireland Smiler Sheet
13 Mayday - Rescue at Sea
April
1
Rate change Machin & Country stamps
1 Territorial Army commemorative sheet
15 Endangered Species - Insects
May
13
Cathedrals
13 Retail booklet - summer
June
10
Classic Films
July
17
Air Displays, powered flight
24 Olympics commemorative sheet
August
5
Beijing Expo 2008 Smilers Sheet
22 Olympics handover Joint issue
September
18 British Military Uniforms (II - Royal Air Force)
29 50th Anniv. regional stamps MS
29 Glorious UK Smilers sheet
October
14
Women of Distinction
28 Smilers for Kids
November
4
Christmas (Pantomime)
6 Lest We Forget
14 60th Birthday of HRH the Prince of Wales


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Norvic Philatelics, PO Box 119, Dereham, NR20 3YN, GB. -- UK Phone: 08450 090939 -- Skype:ian.billings-norvic