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I have a connection with a freedom movement and am looking for ideas.

I want to focus on cinderella production, so won't mention which movement lest the discussion becomes political.

Imagine a situation like East Timor before independence. An opressed people, some at home and some in exile abroad, seeking independence from foreign rule.

Someone gets the idea to produce "stamps" for two reasons:

1. to raise funds.

2. to publicise their struggle.

From a collector's perspective, what would be the best layout for such a product?

One possibility would be to do like Maluku Selatan in the 1950s ... produce sheets of cinderellas that look like postage stamps, with denominations, along the lines of: "These would be our stamps if we had a postal authority."

Another would be to produce straight cinderellas publicising the struggle, for use as labels or seals attached to regular mail by supporters.

Is it better to produce sheets of each design, or mini-sheets containg one of each design?

Your thoughts please ...

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

My first thought is that what ever is produced should adhere to the KISS principle.

In terms of production costs, I think it matters little whether the sheets are all of a single design or different - someone will be able to clarify that. A sheet which includes all the different designs, e.g. something like the 150 Anniversary:



would possibly have appeal as a fundraiser to the cause, rather than sheets of a single design.

I hope this gets the ball rolling....

_________________
FORESTS OLD, PASTURES NEW
(An expert is one who knows more and more, about less and less)

There's a kangaroo in there ... now I have to get me one of those.

Yes, I like the mini-sheet concept. It will save people having to tear up sheets to assemble sets, but still allow users to separate and stick them to mail.

Perhaps with an explanatory surround, like the Australian Flood Relief issue, so there is no mistake as to what they are.

_________________
A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Muruk

Have you been recruited by the Parti québécois?

Memphre

I have a "vague" idea of the movement.
If you go ahead, consider me to have Standing Order.
As for suggestions...it would require me to have an imagination

I work with a Quebecian who insists that he is NOT Canadian. Canada is a country he flies over when he visits home.

I'm not connected with them, although the concept of the cinderellas could apply. I don't think the Quebecians are as oppressed as the Timorese were.

_________________
A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Another thought....publicity + limited numbers = higher desirability, ergo possibly higher prices. From a collectors viewpoint.

Depending on the use to which the funds are put, this equation might affect the overall picture.

The idea of an explanatory surround suggests the possibility of a kiss-print p&s, which would increase production costs. This would eat into any fund-raising efforts, and may be counter-productive.

In this day and age, the indicators point to a retro trend. A simple set of designs, simply executed - perhaps in a supplementary folder which sets out the aims of the Movement - would, IMHO, possibly be more effective in promoting the aims than a lot of high-tech bamboozlement

_________________
FORESTS OLD, PASTURES NEW
(An expert is one who knows more and more, about less and less)

This is how you do it cheaply:
In 1978 the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Organization for a Free Papua - a group of West Irians demanding independence for West New Guinea) wanted a publicity issue. The Republik Maluku Selatan government-in-exile who had been issuing stamps since the 1950s presented them with stocks of their unsold ones, and they overprinted them O.P.M. and started selling them!

Yes, I am aware of those. An option worth considering, thanks.

They are currently changing hands at obscene prices ... but I don't think any of the money is filtering back to the organisation.

I'm also not convinced (because there are many stories going around) that the Maluku Selatan "Stamps" and the OPM overprints were actually produced by the organisations themselves ... it is possible they were produced by stamp dealers for personal gain.

_________________
A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Hi

Lot of the stamps being discussed is/was in my want list which was posted in the Want section long ago...

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30075

Thought to post it here, so that some of the stamps that being talked of here can be seen in the images.

Many are still in my want list though...

Regards
Aranya

Oh, Philanthropist, Muruk....

Free Tibet got a lot of mileage from having "official CALs" produced (and recalled) by New Zealand post.

Would a similar approach (personalised stamps with a not immediately identifiable seditious subtext, but produced by a regional postal authority) achieve a suitable end state?

Not dissimilar to stories about the earlier issues of the 'Croatian Government in Exile' (particularly the ubiquitous triangular flowers/birds, and the 1949 UPU issues). Whether by stamp dealers or by unauthorised groups of Croat exiles it is difficult to say; but either way, given the past form of the leaders of the Government in Exile, I'm not sure I would have risked short-changing them! In Britain we have a saying: scratch a liberal and you'll find a conservative; scratch a conservative and you'll find a fascist; scratch a fascist and you'll find yourself in hospital.

Same thing is also with issues emmited by the "Komiteti i Qindreses" (Committee of Resistance),supposed to be an anticomunist organisation of Albanian expats in the USA. But there is one big problem. There seems to bo millions of these stamps printed, but no information regarding this committee can be found.... There are thousands of these stamps out there in the market,original or with different overprints commemorating the death of Kennedy, Churchill etc. This makes me suspect, that these stamps were printed by someone with links to ,at least, one Albanian (who helped with the language and the idea) and wanted to make some money by selling these "stamps".

Here is one Example of the stamps I was talking about (1 of 8 different values):

Hello, only just spotted this topic, which is one I have been quite involved with.

I organised the Tibet Flag cals in New Zealand (which someone mentioned above.) I collect Tibet stamps, but few others in this country do. Now, as a result of the fiasco of the NZ Post Office attempting to "claw back" the cal stamps, plus the notoriety that they got after the Post Office began "censoring" foreign mail with these stamps on (covering up the stamps with large airmail stickers!!), every philatelist in NZ now not only knows the name TIBET in a philatelic context, but also knows what their flag looks like.


Tibet flag cals, printed by NZ Post to my specifications, 2009.

And on a personal note, my Tibet collection now has one frame of blocks, proofs, usages, errors, and correspondence about these stamps.

So I conclude that yes, you could well go the "cal" route. I realise Australia Post do not allow cals, but several Aussies have bought up cals from NZ Post, including Joe Inneo (Melbourne) for his engagement and later, his wedding, and the Melbourne Stamp Exhibition this year.

But the other way to go (and which I personally favour) is to just print cinderellas for your entity. The Albanian & Croatian exile issues (mentioned above) are now classics, and I'm sure every serious collector of those countries has the cinderellas in their collections. (They may not rate them highly, but I'm sure they are extant there!)

Bangladesh did the same, when they began campaigning for freedom from Pakistan. The cinderellas they printed were no good for mail, but after liberation (thank you to India for the help here!), the same designs were printed as Bangladesh's new definitive set. (The non-postally-valid ones were inscribed as two words: Bangla Desh.)

Today, I print limited-edition cinderellas for many entities around the globe, and may be able to assist you. PM me with details, or see some of my works here:
http://www.angelfire.com/country/mevu/

http://www.angelfire.com/art/icis/

http://portmaria.orconhosting.net.nz/

http://okusi1.tripod.com/

http://www.angelfire.com/country/raoul/


Occussi-Ambeno 2002 Horses. (Is that Trigger?)


Upper Yafa 1998 commemorating GOD, the Creator of the Universe (and many would say, more worthy of a celebratory stamp than some of the trivia honoured by mainstream Post Offices?)


Occussi-Ambeno 2008 40th anniversary of independence.

And to answer another of your questions Muruk, this Occussi-Ambeno set was printed as two minisheets of 8, each with a block of four of two of the values. But I recommend you have your full set in the same minisheet, for ease of posting to other collectors.

I also recommend your entity get coins produced: folks were stunned and amazed when Occussi-Ambeno issued gold and silver coins! I was so stunned I felt the gold coin HAD to be the subject for the 40th anniversary stamps!