madbaker
Member 
Posts: 691 
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Oct 16, 2016 21:30:18 GMT
I was flipping through my collection last night and spent some time on a binder of "modern" Canada. In my case, that means stamps issued after 1995 (when my Unity album pages run out) and where I have also made up album pages. It's a pretty slim binder (I haven't made new pages in ages) but the NHL All Star stamps caught my eye. Canada Post still issues NHL stamps every year. I don't know if they ever stopped, although I stopped buying them at least 10 years ago. Anyway, I thought some of you might like to see the first issues of these stamps. If nothing else, it will improve my post stats!  The first sheet was issued in 2000 in conjunction with the 50th NHL All Star Game.  I recall a fair bit of controversy over this issue because many of the players pictured on the stamps were still alive. Canada Post rationalized this by saying the stamps commemorated the All Star Game. The players were pictured on labels beside the stamps. Anything for a buck, eh? Now, a few of the people at my local club started saving used copies of these stamps and I picked many of them up at the club auction. I eventually acquired enough to collect the full set used. Some even had the labels. 
See how the labels are also perforated? I'll bet somebody tried to mail them as stamps. I'd love to get a cover with the label paying the postage. It must have happened at some point, because Canada Post changed the sheet format the following year. But that's for another post - gotta get to the magic 50! Mark |
|
madbaker
Member
Posts: 691
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Oct 16, 2016 21:37:30 GMT
Sales must have been strong for the "50th NHL All Star Game" stamps, because Canada Post issued another set the following year. Rather than commemorate the 51st All Star Game, they simply commemorated the All Stars.  Check the labels in the middle of the sheet. The two labels aren't perforated in between. Clearly, they aren't stamps now, eh? Although there were plenty of people who still kept the stamps and the labels together for mailing. Were they all collectors? Possibly. But I was able to get a set of these over the course of several club auctions.  One of the ladies at the club worked at the student loans office and was able to collect stamps off the loan applications. The applications must've been heavy in 2001, because lots of them required two stamps. I was able to get quite a few pairs from the 2001 NHL set.  |
|
madbaker
Member
Posts: 691
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Oct 16, 2016 21:42:23 GMT
In 2002, Canada Post kept milking the NHL cow and issued another set of All Star Stamps. This set included one of my favourite players from my childhood, Guy Lafleur.  My used set came from a collector at the local club who is now deceased. In his final years, he spent many an afternoon preparing covers and soaking used stamps for the club auction. So while this page is pretty, it's philatelic in nature.  As a side note, all these pairs and strips gave me good practice with album page layout. It's fun getting somewhat decent symmetry on a page. |
|
madbaker
Member
Posts: 691
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Oct 16, 2016 21:49:12 GMT
Cast your mind back to 2003. Nothing really stands out for me, although times must've been getting tough for Canada Post. Growth of email perhaps?  Regardless of the reason, a single sheet of NHL stamps wasn't enough for our dear Post Office. This year saw them issue a sheet and a booklet! Back then I bought everything, so I bought them both, but not too many collectors shelled out for the booklet. My 2012 Unitrade lists the sheet at $19.50 and the booklet at $85.00! Whoo hoo!  Looking at them again, maybe the booklets were unpopular because the stamps lacked die cut perfs. I sure hate the looks of plain square stamps. |
|
madbaker
Member
Posts: 691
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Oct 16, 2016 21:52:27 GMT
The 2004 NHL All Star set was also issued in a sheet and a booklet. Oh! Oh! Larry Robinson!  I took a break from the club for a while, so didn't get a chance to buy any used stamps at the auction. Or maybe I did and they're in another stock book around here somewhere. Ah well. Time marches on.  |
|
madbaker
Member
Posts: 691
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Oct 16, 2016 22:01:02 GMT
Finally, for me anyway, comes the 2005 NHL sheet, featuring the Pocket Rocket. They don't make dashing hockey players like Henri any more, eh? Could you imagine Henri Richard covered in tattoos and with a full beard? Me neither.  Canada Post issued a booklet in 2005 too, but by then I had pretty much given up collecting new issues. Sensing this, Canada Post gave hockey stamps a break for a while so they could focus on actors and singers. And I pretty much forgot about these stamps until a couple of days ago. Looking back, it's not a bad set when looking at all six years as a group. But I regret not collecting these issues on cover. That would be a much more difficult task. Maybe I'll start a 'Star Trek on cover' collection this year! Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane, Mark |
|
daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,015
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
|
Post by daveg28 on Jul 3, 2017 17:52:23 GMT
Good stuff! I don't have any of these hockey stamps yet. Canada collection is still growing. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
Ryan
Member
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,720
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
|
Post by Ryan on Jul 3, 2017 22:00:25 GMT
My used Canada collection really starts running out of steam right around the 50 cent era - I'll have some of these used, I'm sure, but certainly not as complete as this.
My Dad would think the Jean Béliveau stamp is the greatest. Leastwise when he was younger, he thought Jean Béliveau was the best player! He wore #4 in his honour, but nowadays most people would associate that number with Bobby Orr.
Ryan
|
|
madbaker
Member
Posts: 691
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
|
Post by madbaker on Jul 4, 2017 4:02:36 GMT
When I was a kid, the Habs were my favourite team by a long shot. That was the era of Lafleur, Dryden, Cournoyer, Mahovlich, Henri Richard, Savard, Robinson, Gainey and on and on. Stanley Cup wins, the season they only lost 8 games, and of course, New Years Eve 1975 against the USSR Red Army Team. That game is often called the best hockey game ever played. Alas, it was after the Beliveau era; I only saw him when they honoured past players like him and Rocket Richard. On Saturday nights I'd take our portable black and white TV into my bedroom and watch Hockey Night in Canada (my dad hated watching hockey.) Danny Gallivan calling the game and Regina boy Dick Irvin providing the commentary. Peter Puck and baby blue blazers. Great times. One of the highlights of my youth was watching a game in the old Forum in 1985. My friend and I went to Grey Cup in Montreal but the hockey game was way better than the football game! |
|
Ryan
Member
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,720
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
|
Post by Ryan on Jul 4, 2017 5:06:37 GMT
I typed Danny Gallivan and just had to hear him again. "Cannonading shot! Scintillating save! SPIN-O-RAMA!!" ha ha Ryan |
|
BC
Departed
Rest in Peace
Vancouver, BC Canada
Posts: 836
What I collect: Worldwide USED up to the 1960's, later years from countries that came into existence after then, like Anguilla, Tuvalu and Transnistria.
|
Post by BC on Jul 4, 2017 15:43:06 GMT
It was the "Savardian Spinorama" !
|
|
