New stamps for April 2011

Today, Posti released several new stamp designs.

Click for a larger view

At the top right is a set of six second class stamps featuring comic characters Maisa and Kaarina to commemorate 100 years of the National Council of Women of Finland.  They come with a number of speech bubbles to customise the stamps, similar to the fantastic vegetable stamps that were released around this time last year.

Below is another set of six second class stamps showcasing Finnish government buildings spanning 200 years.  The booklet contains information and a basic plan of each building.

At the bottom right is a set of five second class stamps commemorating the 100th anniversary of designer Kaj Franck's birth.  The sheet displays illustrations of many of Franck's designs with various sized stamps framing certain elements.

On the left are two new flower sets.  The upper stamps are first class, completely circular, and feature red and yellow dahlia flowers.  The lower stamps are second class with a single design of yellow and white tulips to celebrate Easter.

I really like this new selection of stamps, especially the government buildings and Kaj Franck sets.  They also came out with perfect timing; Nordia 2011 (Nordic Stamp Exhibition) opened today at the Jyväskylä Paviljonki.  In addition to this fair, the Paviljonki is also hosting a book, wine, leisure and wellbeing, and garden and balcony fair.  One ticket covers all of these fairs which are open this weekend.  I am hoping to visit tomorrow.

New stamps on sale

Yesterday, Posti released new stamps for sale.  As I send quite a lot of postcards as part of Postcrossing I'm always interested in new stamps.

A selection of the new stamps I bought.

Interestingly, all of the new stamps are second class (0,60€).  This is fine for sending mail within Finland but a first class stamp (0,75€) is needed to send a basic letter or postcard outside of the country.  This meant I had to buy a load of 5 and 10 cent stamps.  Not a problem in itself, but it makes me wonder how many people are going to buy second class stamps without realising it.

Until recently, second class mail wasn't really open to the public.  Second class mail had to be posted in person at a post office and in a minimum quantity of twenty pieces.  Soon Posti will allow single, second class mail items to be posted in post boxes (there are even new blue post boxes in some places along with the orange post boxes to help separate the first and second class mail).

However, I feel that by offering only second class stamps, Posti is attempting to make their work easier; after all, they can take longer sorting and delivering second class mail.  Of course, first class stamps are still available but if you want the nice new designs, you're out of luck.

Still, I am very happy with the new designs and it's good to see Posti embracing new and innovative ideas when it comes to stamps.  After all, we've had stamps with Braille, holograms, scented stamps, and customisable vegetable stamps that come with eyes, mouths and accessories to decorate how you like!  Maybe I should suggest a stamp which would just consist of a frame, with the rest of the space free to draw your own picture in.  What do you think?