[News] News of July

July was a month full of news. Here is what I have collected:

• San Marino published a glimpse of its stamp programme for 2022 and it includes an issue about the 60th anniversary of the popular Italian comic Diabolik. An Italian issue about this theme can maybe expected as well.
• The images of the French Fairy Tale stamps planned for September can now be seen online. It will be a booklet of twelve stamps and the featured fairy tales are Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Hop-o'-My-Thumb, the Town Musicians of Bremen, Thumbelina, the Ugly Duckling, Aladdin, Donkeyskin, Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Pea and Cinderella. The issue will thus include fairy tales by Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers.
• Images of Alderney's Secret Garden issue can be found as well online. 
• Serbia surprisingly issued a new Childhood Hero stamp. An issue about the Francophonie shows the Little Prince. 
• Japan announced a new Posukuma issue for September, but like usual I do not include this character in my listings.
• In Germany a new special postmark about the 150th anniversary of the publication Max und Moritz in the USA was announced. The postmark date is the 1st August and I really hope that the postmark will not be cancelled like so many German postmarks recently. 
• From China come the images of the upcoming Nezha issue. Like with the Monkey King and Calabash Brothers this will be a set of six. I do not know Nezha, but I am tempted to get this set.
• New Zealand Post finally updated its issue programme and the new issue date for the Lord of the Rings stamps, now called The Fellowship of the Ring 20th Anniversary, is the 1st September. 
• July has passed and there are no news of Bulgaria's La Fontaine stamps, so this was either cancelled or postponed.
• Last but not least, the image of the stamp for the Bratislava Biennial of Illustrations can now be seen on the Slovakian Post website. It shows an illustration of Hassan Moosavi's Boxer, which won the Grand Prix in 2019.

The new issues of July were Dennis and Gnasher from the UK, Pokemon from Japan, Jean de La Fontaine from France and the Little Prince from Serbia.

For me July was philatelically under the banner of the new Pokemon stamps from Japan and I already got some great pieces. Such a wonderful issue! From the new issues I also already got the La Fontaine sheet from France and also bought two older German stamps I was missing, Faust and Astrid Lindgren. From the USA I got a spectacular special postmark about Conan the Barbarian.

If you know anything else please post a comment!

France: 400th birthday of Jean de la Fontaine (2021)

Japan: Pokemon (2021)

On a matching Card with Special Postmark:

Maxicard:

On matching Cards:

Used on Cards with Special Postmarks:

Used on a Card:

Used on a Cover:

[News] News of June

Another month is over, so it is time for the next update about Childhood Heroes on Stamps. Can you believe that the first half of 2021 is already over? Here are the news collected this month:

• On 1st June Armenia issued another cartoon stamp, which like usual you can buy on WOPA. The theme is Lazy Huri.
• So far there are still no news about the Lord of the Rings issue from New Zealand. It was originally announced for the 2nd June, but it was not issued then, although the stamp issue calendar on the New Zealand Post website still lists it there. Not sure if it was cancelled or just postponed.
• Tomorrow Royal Mail will issue a set about Dennis and Gnasher, which will consist of six stamps and a souvenir sheet of four. At this moment you can still not buy the stamps in the online shop, but you can easily find the images online (e.g. on the Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog).
• The July/August issue of the French Philinfo includes the stamp programme for the rest of the year and lists the Goldorak issue for the 8th October, but adds a disclaimer that the issue date might change. No information about the format of the issue was given, but it seems like there will not be an additional booklet. The programme also includes another thematic issue. A Carnet "Contes merveilleux" (Booklet "Fairy Tales") is planned for the 3rd September.
• Italy also updated its stamp programme and finally the Mafalda stamp got an issue date. It is planned for the 29th September.

The New Issues of the month are the Armenian cartoon stamp mentioned above, the Czech souvenir sheet about Kater Mikesch and the French Booklet about the Little Prince.

Earlier this month I finally added all the Star Wars Droids collectibles I already got to this blog. Check them out! I have already got all the stamps mint, on FDCs and on covers. Now I am trying to get them on Star Wars cards as well. Two such cards I already got this month. Also this month I got the French Raving Rabbids stamp of the last year on a matching postcard.

If you know of anything else not listed here or above in the complete list please post a comment!

USA: Conan the Barbarian Special Postmark (2021)

[News] News of May

 Another month is over, so here are the News of May:

• The most important news first: Japan will issue Pokemon stamps in July! This is something I had been waiting for for years. On 7th July two sheets will be issued with ten stamps each. One sheet reproduces cards of the Trading Card Game, while the other uses great illustrations of various Pokemon. On 25th August another collector's item will be issued. This will be a box including a third sheet of ten stamps as well as real trading cards. Especially the box also generated an interest beyond the stamp collector community in the Pokemon fan community. I am not really sure whether these stamps commemorate the recent 25th anniversary of Pokemon or are a way to catch in the current hype of trading cards. Maybe it is both. More than 50 different Pokemon will appear on the three sheets and for most it will be the first time on a stamp. By far the most featured Pokemon are from the first generation followed by the eight and the fourth. Five Pokemon from the second generation will appear on the stamps, three from the fifth, two each from the third and the seventh and none from the sixth. I am really looking forward to these!
• An image of the upcoming Jean de la Fontaine stamps from France became available as well. The issue will take the form of a souvenir sheet with two stamps. The main part of the sheet as well as one of the stamps shows a view near Fontaine's home where a few of his fables can be discovered. The second stamp shows an illustration of the fable "The Frog and the Ox". Another great issue from France!
• In the meantime the Exupery sheet I already mentioned twice was shown. It is one of those many French issues reproducing old stamp issues, so in this case one of Exupery. This I doubt is of real interest for collectors of children's book stamps.
• The rest of Hong Kong's stamp programme is here and an issue in September honours Feel 100%, "an original Hong Kong comic, [which] acquired international fame for winning the Second International Manga Award by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 2008 [and which] had been adapted into movies and television drama that were popular among the younger generation of the time". Six stamps and two souvenir sheets will be issued.
• The Slovakian programme for 2022 includes a stamp about children's book author Klára Jarunková.
• Jersey issued its next set about decades, the 1990s this time, and the sheet includes the text "First Harry Potter Book is Published" for 1997. Worth a mention, but not worth a buy.
• As of today there are still no news about the Lord of the Rings stamps announced by New Zealand Post for the 2nd June, the day after tomorrow.
• And finally the whole sheet about Kater Mikesch from Czechia can now be seen on the website of the Czech Post. The stamp itself is cute, but the rest of the sheet is a bit boring. Issue date is the 23rd June.

The new issues of May were the Star Wars Droids from the USA and Jean de la Fontaine from Monaco.

The Star Wars Droids I already added to my collection mint, on FDCs, on covers and four already on postcards, but so far I did not managed to upload them here. I will however do so soon. Also I got some older US comic stamps together with the droids on covers. Also those I will upload later.

Monaco: 400th birthday of Jean de la Fontaine (2021)

USA: Star Wars Droids (2021)

On matching Cards:

FDCs:

Used on a Card with Special Postmark:

Used on Covers with Special Postmarks:

Used on Cards:

[News] News of April

Unlike the last months April was a month full of news. Here they are:

• This week finally the new Star Wars Droids stamps of USPS will be issued. Perfectly in time for Star Wars Day you can join the virtual dedication cerenomy on Facebook and Twitter. It will take place on Tuesday, May the 4th, 11 am EST. More information you can find here.
• Armenia issued a stamp about the Cartoon Kikos on 21st April. You can buy it on WOPA.
• On 25th May Monaco will issue four single stamps about author anniversaries. One of them deals with the 400th birth anniversary of Jean de la Fontaine and shows a portrait of the author next to an illustration of the fable The Fox and the Crow.
• The first image of the Czech stamp about Kater Mikesch became available. However it is just an image of a single stamp, while a souvenir sheet was promised. The image of the whole sheet will most likely be available by the end of May. 
• In last month's news I mentioned the "Bloc Saint-Exupéry (spécial salon)" and a "Carnet 'Le Petit Prince 75 ans'" planned in France in June. The images of the Carnet are now available and it is indeed a booklet of twelve stamps. Issue date is the 21st June.
• In January I wrote about an issue from Alderney that was listed as TBC online, but as Lorax in the printed bulletin. The issue was apparently changed and is now listed as Secret Garden online.
• Finland revealed its stamp programme of the rest of the year and unfortunately it does not include a new Moomin set. 
• Poland already revealed its stamp programme for 2022, which includes an issue about Kajko and Kokosz.
• The German stamp programme for 2022 was revealed months ago and now there is the first update. Originally it included Benjamin Blümchen and the Smurfs as Helden der Kindheit and Pettson and Findus as single stamp. Now Benjamin Blümchen is listed as single stamp and Pettson and Findus are now probably included in the Helden der Kindheit. I like this change, as the single stamp is usually issued in March, while the Helden der Kindheit are just issued in December, so nine months less to wait for Benjamin Blümchen, my most anticipated stamp for 2022 at this point.

The News Issues of April 2021 were Kikos from Armenia, the single stamp about The Little Prince from France and Classic Science Fiction from the United Kingdom.

My only New Addition in my collection of Childhood Heroes on Stamps this month was The Little Prince in mint condition. I also got the Classic Science Fiction, but decided to include them in my general collection and not in this topical collection.

France: 75 years Publication of The Little Prince in France (2021)

[News] News of March

What happened to March? I can not believe that the month flew by so fast, but again this was a month without much news. Here they are:

• The issue date for the Star Wars Droids stamps from USPS was revealed to be the 4th May, Star Wars Day. Really looking forward to this issue!
• Just shown this month, but already issued were the King Arthur stamps from the United Kingdom. Ten stamps were issued that all show different scenes from the Arthurian Legend. The designs are nice and modern, but I am not sure yet if I want to add the whole set to my collection.
• You can now also find the images of Royal Mail's Classic Science Fiction set online (e.g. Commonwealth Stamps Opinion or British First Day Covers). The featured works are Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, Brave New World by Aldous Huyley, Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke and Shikasta by Doris Lessing. Again the stamps are nicely designed, but in my opinion there should have been more stamps in this set, as some famous works are unfortunately missing. Unfortunately also due to high face values the set is rather expensive.
• Spain's most recent issue in the series Graphic Humour shows an illustration of Little Red Riding Hood by Mikel Urmeneta. It is a souvenir sheet and was already issued.
• The April edition of the French Philinfo includes a slightly updated issue programme for the first half of 2021. Beside the single issue about the Little Prince planned for April, it now also includes a "Bloc Saint-Exupéry (spécial salon)" and a "Carnet 'Le Petit Prince 75 ans'" in June. The "carnet" should be such a booklet of twelve stamps like it had been issued for Asterix in 2019 and the Raving Rabbids in 2020. About the other issue I am not sure what it will be. I will add both to the list above as soon as I have seen images.

The new issues of March 2021 are the Sendung mit der Maus from Germany, Jean de la Fontaine from Hungary, Little Red Riding Hood from Spain and King Arthur from the United Kingdom.

To my own collection I only added during this month the new issue from Germany in mint condition, as First Day Sheet and Erinnerungsblatt and on matching cards with special postmarks.

[News] News of February

During February I did not see much news. Maybe it was because I was too busy and overlooked something or because not much was published. This is everything I found:

• The image of the French stamp about the Little Prince that will be issued in April became available. It is a single stamp and as far as I can see it is the first time that this particular illustration appears on a stamp. But I might be wrong. Just recently I actually discovered that there was a Little Prince stamp in Israel in the 1990s.
• The popular German children's TV show Die Sendung mit der Maus turns 50 this year and is honoured with a stamp. This stamp was actually featured in yesterday's episode. If you speak German this is interesting to see, as it is shown how the stamp is produced. Also this is one of so far five stamps with the new Matrixcode, which enables a rudimentary tracking function and also gives information about the motive.
• I am now on Twitter (@dustin15collect). So far I have not posted much, but you can see the upcoming Little Prince and Star Wars stamps there. Also if you did not know, I am on Instagram as well (@dustin15_collections), where I often show things from my collection.

Only new issue of February were the Mother Hulda stamps from Germany.

To my own collection I added this month Mother Hulda in mint condition and on matching cards as well as the Open-air Bath stamp of last year on a matching Spongebob postcard. As today is already the 1st March, I was able to buy the stamp about the Sendung mit der Maus in mint condition, on a First Day Sheet and in an Erinnerungsblatt. Matching cards I will prepare tomorrow to get the special postmarks. I like this stamp and I guess it will be popular also among non-collectors.

Germany: 50 years Sendung mit der Maus (2021)

On matching Cards with Special Postmarks:

First Day Sheet:

"Erinnerungsblatt" (includes also the stamp from 1998):

Used on Cover with Special Postmark: