[News] News of August

Another month is over, so it is time for the News of August. Here they are in the order in which I got them:

• The images of the new Lord of the Rings stamps from New Zealand are now available. There will be six stamps with scenes from the first movie, which will be issued as single stamps and in souvenir sheets. Issue date is tomorrow.
• In Germany a new special postmark about Die Sendung mit der Maus will be used in Herford in mid-September. Apart from the official First Day Special Postmarks this will be the first postmark for this issue. Usually there is a postmark nearer to the issue date, but probably due to Covid-19 there was none in March.
• A special postmark and a set of official personalised stamps about Game of Thrones were issued in Portugal this month. I do not collect personalised stamps, but such an issue had hinted at a real issue coming soon in similar cases in the past.
• Apart from a deluge of official personalised stamp packs (Animalia, Mr Men and Little Miss, Monsters, Flintstones, Peanuts, Top Gun, Batman), which I usually not even mention, Australia Post announced a set of three stamps plus souvenir sheet about the Centenary of Ginger Meggs on 7th September. Additionally there will also be available a "limited edition book" with a "cover design exclusive to Australia Post, with perforation effect" (the book with normal cover can be bought from usual book sellers) that also includes a "limited-edition cover with stamp and gold-foiled postmark and exclusive block of four stamps". For everyone who likes the character this is not such a bad deal. This special version of the book is not more expensive than the usual one if you subtract the cover and mint stamps. 
• The images of the Legendary Germany stamps planned for October are now online. Also the stamp programme of 2022 was updated. The issue about Pettson and Findus was cancelled and instead there will now be a stamp about Pumuckl. Black Panther and Spiderman were revealed to be the first issues in the new sereies about Superheroes. However there are still no news about the Famous Videogames stamp.
• At first I heard the rumour that there will be DC Comic stamps from Royal Mail next month and yesterday Commonwealth Stamps Opinion showed the images. The issue however is rather a disappointment. There will be a souvenir sheet of six stamps showing Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Supergirl and Shazam and additional twelve stamps showing characters from the Batman comics in particular (Nightwing, Alfred, Batgirl, Batwoman, The Penguin, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Batman again, Robin, The Riddler, Poison Ivy). Not sure who decided to crowd all the good characters on the souvenir sheet, while all those often lesser known characters are featured on the single stamps. Also there seems to be no reason to issue this set now.
• An image of the French Goldorak issue is now online. It will be a souvenir sheet of two stamps and so far it seems like there will not be an additional booklet.
• This year's Kinderpostzegels from the Netherlands will feature characters from the Tom Poes comics. This is a nice issue
• Another month has passed and there are still no news about the La Fontaine issue from Bulgaria. I believe that it was cancelled, but on the other hand no stamps were issued in Bulgaria since early July, so maybe there is a different problem.

As far as I know only the Chinese Nezha stamps and the expensive Japanese Pokemon box were issued this month. September will be a much better month.

Also to my own collection I have not added much in August. I only got the German special postmark about Max and Moritz on two covers and another Pokemon stamp from Japan.

Germany: 150th Anniversary of the First Publication of Max and Moritz in the USA Special Postmark (2021)

[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:

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Used on Cards: