I imagine they are hard to find because I would categorize most of them as vanity printings intended as souvenirs for relatives who would likely keep them for the sentimental value, particularly if relatives or some other meaningful family image are printed upon them.
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
Does anyone on here collect customized postage stamps on cover? I actually created a few a while back when I released a compact disc of blues rock. Right now I have no idea where they are otherwise I'd show them. I had the front cover of the album used. I mailed a few and kept some mint ones.
Now, I'm thinking about collecting such stamps on cover. I'm probably nuts but I suppose I've known that for quite some time although I have in the past claimed to be the sanest crazy person various people who have crossed my path would know. I digress.
Are there any websites devoted to collecting these types of stamps on cover?
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
I don't have any on cover, but I would certainly keep them if I did. I do have a few that I found in a box of US stamps on paper that I bought a few months ago. I had a few from about a year ago as well, so I decided that I like them and I am going to start collecting.
I also bought two just a couple of weeks ago at a local stamp show. The dealer didn't think anyone would be at all interested in them, so he just put them in a stock book with a bunch of 10 cent topicals. So for 20 cents, I added to my collection.
So maybe keep an open mind about collecting them either on or off the cover. Either way, yes, collect them I say, and maybe do a google search to see if there are any others out there who are also asking, "Should I collect them on cover or not?".
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"Stamp collectors don't go crazy, they just become unhinged."
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
i accumulate them with the idea that at some point some one will want them enough to trade me something really attractive for them; for the same reason, i save APC meters, which are still pretty rare.
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
I save them as well. I do have 3 or 4 on cover but those are hard to find - mine were actually mailed to me (one by a member of our stamp club). It is interesing to see what "average citizens" choose to put on their stamps.
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
Suzanne, yours is interesting too for having gone through the automated machinery (note the bar coding on the bottom) but not being stopped even though it underpays the rate to Canada by 64c.
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
Does anyone trade Zazzle or Stamps.com covers?
I print my own cachets and submit for pictorial cancellations with an appropriate custom postage stamp.
Occasionally I make doubles for exchange and would like to swap for someone else's covers.
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
I just think they're neat because they're valid us perfed postage stamp and they're one of the few modern items with a production run not in the hundreds of millions if not billions. I don't know the official definitions but it seems like someone could make the argument that they're more of a postage label than a postage stamp.
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
I also have no interest in personalized postage except the covers I personally receive. Often the topic of the personalized postage is something meaningful to the sender, and since I personally know the sender, it makes a connection. I only have 3 or 4, and I doubt any are worth a dime, but they all have a sentimental meaning to me.
Lars
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
Now that Zazzle "customized postage" has been again stopped by the lawyers of USPS, how do you feel about the sudden rarity of them, with many having had by now a print run of only 20 stamps in the world?
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"You, too, can design personalized stamps and create maxicards."
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
. https://www.minted.com/ continues to offer thousands of designs; surely, many of them will be infrequently ordered and, therefor, be 'rare'.
Given the widespread use of the word 'philatelic' as an insult - as in 'yes, that cover is different, but it is philatelic' - wherein 'philatelic' becomes a synonym for 'contrivance' & 'trickery' - why do we think that Tomorrow's Collectors will care about custom postage?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
APOcovers, I really like your creations, echoing the cachet theme in the stamp design.
I regretted not creating something for the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Boeing 747 (2 days ago), if not to collect, then to send to friends/relatives, or both! What stopped me is the chore of seeking out, and obtaining 'just' the right stamp.
I missed a similar opportunity for the first flight of the restored 1918 Thomas-Morse Scout, last fall. I had the perfect postcard, and I was stymied by choosing stamp. But, as it turns out, I did not make the trip up to Ithaca, NY for the event anyway...combination of logistics/weather concerns.
re: Zazzle and other custom postage stamps on cover...
I don't go out of my way to find them, if one comes on my mail I save them on cover since they are modern day postal history. I've told my immediate family to keep an eye out for odd things like this in their mail too.
My older daughter has one on a wedding invitation she received but she won't give it to me!
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