Isle of Man II

In addition to the announcements of new IOM issues in the article in the former Newsletter, there were already a few more new issues in the novelties section. In the meantime we have received these stamps and sheets at home, and now we are totally sure that we can call the next one a motorcycle stamp: in the series in commemoration of D-Day there is indeed a motorcyclist.

Detail with the motorcyclist

Presentation Pack of the D-Day issue

And now we can also provide a better image of the special commemorative block containing 16 earlier issued stamps, amongst which stamp no. 68.

Detail from the block with on the right the motorcycle stamp

The loose motorcycle stamp issued in 2004

Although the stamps from 2004 and the new block have the same size and perforation, we can easily tell them apart by the year printed underneath the image. Further the printer is another one (stamps "De La Rue" and block "BDT"), the colours are slightly different (grey is more grey, and red more orange-red) and the white margin below the image is higher.

The differences between loose stamps and block

The block is delivered in a carton folder, packed in cellophane. On the back information about D-Day.

In the former newsletter it was also announced that a series of sheets has been issued on the occasion of the start of the Tour de France in England. These 6 sheets have also been issued in a presentation pack, which also contains a set of pre-paid postcards with the same images as on the sheets. The images use for the franking were 6 of the 8 stamps. The cards got the numbers 81 up to 86.

The complete card set

On card no. 81 no motorcycle can be found, but on card 82 we see 2 times stamp no. 126 on the picture side, and the same image as pre-paid print on the backside:

Card 83 shows on both the picture- and backside only a small piece of a motorcycle (and one must be willing to see it):

Card 84 is full with motorised 2-wheelers. On the front- and backside the image of stamp no. 127, with a supplementary "tab" with an image of a motorcycle on a road in Belgium paved with cobble-stones.

Next we can skip card 85, no motorcycle visible, but on card 86 again as a tab the arrival on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, with far in the background a few motorcycles.

The set is also available together with the sheets, packed in a nice cover.

During the first race of the TT-week, this year ridden on Saturday May 31th 2014, "Majestic" Michael Dunlop (a nephew of.....) equaled the achievement of Georg Meier 75 years ago on a 500cc compressor machine, by finishing as first on a BMW.
On the document (A4 size) a nice picture of Michael, but also 2 pieces of a new kind of stamp: the postage paid stamp prints, that we already knew from postal stationary, but not on documents.

The complete document

The "Postage Paid" stamp-prints

Again an already known image has been used, the one of the 500cc BMW of stamp no. 21 from 1987, and also here the value in money has been replaced by the words "postage paid". The edition of this document is limited to 1000 copies.

Even fresher is the newest postcard from IOM related to our theme. Bruce Anstey smashed the already super fast lap record of Mister McGuiness, with half a mile more. He drove a round with an average speed of 132.298 mph (just below 213 km/hr). Also this card is limited, and will be sold 2500 times.

Grandstand postmark on the Anstey postcard

Finally for those-who-collect-all: this year Manx Post commemorates the birth of the Peel cars, the small manageable vehicles as described earlier in Newsletter 77 (in Dutch only, September 2006), with a special commemorative envelop and ditto postmark. The Peel cars might be driven with a motorcycle driving license, and most had only 3 wheels.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this cart a gathering has been organized in Peel, and the envelop has been stamped on the first day of this event with a postmark showing such an economic little car.

This is for now the information about Isle of Man, but belief me: there is more to come!

Hans de Kloet

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