29/08/2018

ORIGINAL LYRICS FOR

ZIGGY STARDUST

FROM

THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS

By

DAVID BOWIE

1972

VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

DAVID BOWIE EXHIBITION

(EXHIBITION EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD)

Published by the

VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

Ref: 120119

What at first appears to be a rather boring postcard image turns out to be a photograph of a piece of modern music history, the original lyrics written down by Bowie for this famous track. I love this song but reading the words here I am not sure that I realised truly how ‘Bat Crazy’ the lyrics are! Great song though, and a great postcard, and a really good example of how unusual the postcards are that were issued by this museum for this exhibition - these would be a great addition to anyones 'Bowie' collection.

29/08/2018

TELEGRAMME

Published in France by

ZED

A. NOYER, IMP. EDIT

22 RUE RAVIGNAN, PARIS

Ref: 264

This postcard has several interesting collectible parts. I know people who collect Telegram’s and all things related, and they do not appear on that many postcard images, so that is one interesting addition this card has. It also has a steam train across the bottom and this would make an unusual addition to any train collection and I think this is a nice painted train image as well. Lastly this is clearly a ‘Romance’ themed postcard, which was a very popular subject in France during the first half of the last century. This has the image of the romantic couple and the required addition of flowers just to prove the point that this is a romantic themed card. Overall, I think this is a great design and it was also a very cheap one for me as it was one of the many cards I bought in a French antique collector’s shop in Saintes earlier this year.   

29/08/2018

DOUX SOUVENIR

Published in France by

OPERA

Ref: 5897

A typical card of its era, with a black and white photograph which has received some spot colour, in this case a light purple (lilac?) colour. Postcards like this were a common sight and there would have been racks and racks of these cards on display inside and outside shops in every town and city across France (and other countries in Europe and around the world). This one appealed to me as an example of its type, but to be honest I knew I was going to buy this one when I turned it over in the shop and saw the reverse side.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

When I saw this elaborate (but still somehow cheapish looking) reverse setting I thought it was great. I love different backs and have often bought a postcard because of what is printed on the reverse side, and this is a good example of one of these cards.

29/08/2018

CANNES

Published by

COLLECTION BELLITA

Ref: 48

I have never been to Cannes, which, if you did not know, is in France. For me the mention of this locality brings up images of the annual film festival and lots of yachts and receptions, but it is also a popular holiday location outside of this famous film festival (which commenced in 1946).

This postcard is a multi-view design from the 1950’s (it was posted in 1959) and it has the deckle-edging that was so popular during that decade.  

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

This has nice usage, and the sender wrote a nice brief message which means that the slogan cancellation used on the stamp can be clearly seen. The slogan relates to the 6^th Regional conference for the Rotary International organisation (25 – 28 September 1959) held in Cannes. Rotary International is a collected theme philatelically so this cancel has some added interest.

28/08/2018

EMPIRE

LIMITED EDITION STAR WARS ART CARDS

30 YEARS – STAR WARS – 30 COVERS

Boxed Postcard Set

Published by

EMPIRE MAGAZINE

Clearly the source of these postcards was the EMPIRE MAGAZINE, a monthly film magazine, but, how you got these I don’t know as I was a subscriber to the magazine at the time this set was released, and I received no information about them despite receiving the subscribers exclusive cover (the white boarded cover depicting Luke, Han. Leia and Chewbacca which appears on one of the postcards). I have also only seen two copies of this boxed collection, both of which I have bought, and I suspect there are not a great many of these. As a Star Wars fan this was a great buy (both of my boxes have come from eBay) especially as I remember when EMPIRE did this issue and I saw many of the 30 covers in newsagents at the time (I often wonder if anyone collected all 30 covers!). This postcard set contains postcards depicting all 30 of the standard available covers along with a card showing the subscribers only cover (as previously mentioned, and which appears here on the cover of this box) and the Jar Jar Binks ‘Gold’ cover (anyone finding this ‘Gold’ cover could claim a large monetary reward – something in the thousands if I remember correctly). The set also contains another eight postcards which displayed posters for the UK’s Star Wars Celebration Europe event. This is a cracking set that any Star Wars fan would love to have and is one which I can fully recommend seeking out as I love it.

PHOTOGRAPH

THE BOX THAT THIS SET COMES IN

PHOTOGRAPH

Side view of the boxed set

28/08/2018

THE FALKLANDS COLLECTION

SHIPS TAKING PART IN THE CAMPAIGN ON JUNE 14, 1982

Original Postcard Series published by

KING GEORGE’S FUND FOR SAILORS

Who in conjunction with KENNETH MASON

also produced a stamped collection whereby 1000 of these sets were stamped and cancelled in the Falkland Islands on 14^th June 1983

Numbered individual set – Set 95

Original retail prices:

Mint set of 113 Postcards - £25

Stamped and cancelled set of 113 Postcards - £75

Ever since the Falklands War in 1982 I have collected the postcards which have been issued which relate to this conflict. One of the early sets which I picked up was the King George’s Fund for Sailors set of 113 black and white postcards each of which individually depicts one of the ships involved in the war. For many years now, I have possessed a mint set of these cards, but I was aware that 1000 sets were used with each card receiving a 10p Falkland Islands 150^th Anniversary ship stamp which were then cancelled with a special ‘PORT STANLEY – ANNIVERSARY OF LIBERATION – 14 JUNE 1983’. These sets were then sold for £75 per set (mint sets of these 113 postcards were sold at £25). Set No 1 was given to Her Majesty the Queen by the King George’s Fund for Sailors organisation. I have sought a set of these used postcards ever since I learnt of them, but they have always been too expensive when the cropped up. I lost a set at auction which went for more than £200. I saw another set for £126, but at the time this was more than I could afford. So, a set seemed to be outside of my reach, but, whilst I was on holiday a set turned up on eBay with a ‘Buy it Now’ price and the ‘Make an Offer’ option. I decided to make an offer, which was just a little less than the asked for price. Now, I do see single mint copies of the cards on eBay and these sell for anywhere between £1.95 and £2.50 each (thus making a mint set around £220 - £282, but the catalogue value for a full mint set is around the £50 - £75 margin). So, my offer of £50 for this full cancelled set seemed to be a really-good starting place for negotiations. Then, to my surprise this offer was accepted, so I quickly paid. The boxed set of 113 postcards also came with the original receipt and letter, which was a nice additional item. My original mint set did not come with a box, so I do not know, but surmise, that the box was only for the cancelled special sets (although this is not certain as the mint sets still needed to be sent out upon their order -  but I suspect these blue boxes were just for the cancelled collections).

So, now I am the proud owner of a fully cancelled set of these postcards. When I got back home on Sunday morning this set was there waiting for me.

PHOTOGRAPH

THE SPECIAL BOX THAT THE POSTCARD COLLECTION WAS SENT OUT IN.

PHOTOGRAPH

ANOTHER VIEW SHOWING THE SIDE AND DEPTH OF THIS SPECIAL BOX

THE LETTER SENT OUT WITH THIS INDIVIDUAL BOXED SET

THE ORIGINAL RECEIPT

As you can see this set cost the recipient £75 back in 1983

THE INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED SET CARD

Number 95

DETAILED LISTING OF THE NUMBERED POSTCARDS

SIDE 1

This is a double-sided card, which came with the set, shows which ship is depicted on each individually numbered postcard. The images below are numbered across in each row, so the top row of the first image has card numbers 1, 2 and 3. The second row has, from left to right 4, 5 and 6.    

When you get to the images of the overlaid cancelled reverse sides the cards are in vertical column’s, so you have No 1 at the top of the first column then No 2 underneath it and then down and back to the top of the second column and so forth.

  DETAILED LISTING OF THE NUMBERED POSTCARDS

SIDE 2 of the card