Leap Year

Today is 29 February 2012 - leap year. I marked this leap year with a postal order....

Red Packet - Hong Leong Investment Bank 2012

A red packet from Hong Leong Investment Bank with an image of dragon released in 2012....

Are You Burned?

The dragon miniature sheets released in January 2012 has slowly cooled down. It is a good thing, honestly. Many SODA members are anticipating the delivery of their supplementary orders for the RM5 dragon MS. I think Pos Malaysia should have the total requested number of MS from the supplementary orders by now.

Pos Malaysia was supposed to have 4000 pieces of RM5 dragon MS to be allocated for these supplementary orders. It is no doubt that the requested number from the supplementary orders could simply surpass 4000. Of course, the most rational step by Pos Malaysia is to reduce the requested order number for each supplementary order, so that all the SODA members who put in the supplement order should receive one piece at least.

However, there is a rumour in the philatelic circle that the RM5 dragon MS would be "reprinted". One of the speculations is that the 4000 pieces allocated for SODA members have gone "missing" (might be accidentally sold on the day of issue due to extremely high demand; to control the anger of customers during the day of issue). If this RM5 dragon MS is going to be reprinted, then it is a high possibility that all the requested number put in by SODA members could be fulfilled. One SODA member informed me that he has ordered 50 pieces through the supplementary order, and he noticed that an amount RM250 has been deducted from his SODA account. This indicates that he is going to get 50 pieces (without any reduction in number being ordered). What does it mean, then? It means that the printing number for this RM5 dragon MS would be more than 20,000 (20,000 is the printing number for original print).

If the reprint is similar to the original print in terms of perforation, watermark, gum etc., this of course would de-value the market price of RM5 dragon MS. It would be a truly heartache for those buyers who paid expensive price in acquiring this RM5 dragon MS for investment or further speculation. I think you might have noticed that many dealers have started selling off the RM5 dragon MS, the sooner the better.

However, the FDC for dragon MS, particularly RM5 dragon MS FDC, should command a good price because many collectors couldn't get it on the day of issue, and all the SODA regular orders do not have this RM5 dragon MS FDC! The reprinting of RM5 dragon MS should not affect the price of the FDC because the supplementary order is for the MS not FDC.

Red Packet - Citibank 2012

The two red packets below are from Citibank released in 2012. They are just beautiful.

Red Packet - Eu Yan Sang 2012

A very elegant red packet from Eu Yan Sang released in 2012....

2012 - Yes to Life, No to Drugs

Pos Malaysia released today (27 February 2012) its second stamp issue for year 2012 on topic "Yes to Life, No to Drugs". This set of stamps contains three designs with triangular shape - two 30s-stamps (printed in setenant pair) and one RM1-stamp (see the upper stamp image). This is the forth time Pos Malaysia issued triangular shape stamps. The normal watermark for these stamps are SPM sideway down for the two 30s-stamps. However, the RM1-stamp has both SPM sideway down and SPM sideway up due to the stamp composition of this RM1-stamp in a sheet (see the lower stamp image). If you find SPM watermark not mentioned above, then you are having watermark variety stamps.

National Definitives - Butterflies

Below is a beautiful set of national definitives issued in 1970.

Too Much Above Face Value

In 2000s, Pos Malaysia had released and is still releasing from time to time imperforated miniature sheets. All these imperforated miniatures (those released after 2000) were sold without incurring premium (face value). Well, the situation was a bit different in 1999..... Pos Malaysia released a imperforated miniature - the Petronas Twin Towers (see below), and it was sold at a very high premium - RM38. Pos Malaysia was definitely over board on this imperforated miniature sheet, and I think Pos Malaysia might have realized the "mistake"....

Petronas Twin Towers MS - Original Print vs Reprint

Many of us are not aware that the Petronas Twin Towers MS released in 1999 has been reprinted. It must be due to the immense demand from the collectors and non-collectors. The original print and reprint of this MS can be recognized easily by looking closely at the control number (located on the left bottom) on the MS. The control number for the original print is printed clearly whereas the control number for reprint is hand stamped.

Original Print

Reprint

Red Packet - HSBC

A very nicely designed red packet from HSBC released in 2009 (Year of Rat)....

Special Stamps of Malaysia - Spiders

Red Packet - HSBC 2011

This beautiful HSBC red packet was released in 2011.

Garden Flower 60s Definitive - Ring Flaw

Rambutan 40s - Serial Numbers

Rambutan 40s definitive is currently being sold and used as a postage stamp in post offices throughout the country. Here are the serial numbers for the Rambutan 40s. Do you think we would get serial number beyond 2008/2 for this Rambutan 40s?

Garden Flower 60s - 2011/6

The serial number of garden flower 60s is moving fast.....

Red Packet - Dutch Lady

These red packets of Dutch Lady (released in 2012) are cute.

Malaysia Maxicard - Smart Tunnel

Red Packet - J.P. Morgan

This red packet of J.P. Morgan (released in 2012) is so gorgeous....

Red Packet - Mercedes-Benz 2012

A Cover from Morocco

Red Packet - Loreal 2012

This red packet from Loreal released in 2012 is definitely beautiful. Don't you think so?

Get Annoyed.....

I was annoyed by someone in FB........

There was a guy in FB messaged me if I was selling the Dragon MS pair FDCs (a FDC pair - RM3 MS FDC and RM5 MS FDC), and he was asking for 25 pairs of FDCs! Of course, he asked me to quote him the best price. Well, I don't have many pairs of FDC to offer, honestly. So, I offered him RM80 per FDC pair, and that I could only offer him 2 pairs.

You know what, he replied me a day later by telling me that he has already got 25 pairs of FDCs earlier elsewhere, of which he got them a price of RM35 per FDC pair (he said he just keeps them??!!). I think he tried to indicate to me that the selling price RM35 was acceptable. Then, I told him not to be naive about the price of dragon MS pair FDCs, and he could simply go to eBay to find out the situation. I also expressed my shock by stating that he has already got 25 FDC pairs and he is still looking for more!

Well, he told me (he replied me a day later) that the price RM80 (for a pair of dragon MS FDCs) is crazy. Then, he offered me RM45 per FDC pair, and he would buy up 25 FDC pairs from me.

Really annoying guy..... I just couldn't be bothered to reply his message anymore......

Try an Alternative Way......

St. Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and plenty of fresh roses are spotted at florists. Hey, I tell you what, if your the other half is a stamp nut, why don't you try to express your love to him/her by presenting stamps of roses. These stamps of roses would stay in his/her album for many years to come (fresh roses could only last for a week, and then they would go into dustbin), and that whenever the stamps of roses appear before his/her eyes, he/she would definitely think of you..... so sweet....

Beautiful Frog Stamps from South Africa

I just couldn't take my eyes off this beautiful frog stamp minisheet from South Africa. Could you?

A Postal Order from Enggor Post Office

Below is a RM1 postal order issued by Enggor Post Office on 29 October 2010. You may have noticed a blue rubber stamp mark and a signature next to the dater of Enggor Post Office, and the year of the dater has been amended from 09 to 10. The rubber stamp mark is of the post master of Enggor Post Office. I guess you might have got the idea what was happening on releasing this RM1 postal order. The dater of Enggor Post Office was not year compliant. The maximum year for the old dater is 2009, and the post master was waiting for the new dater to arrive. Therefore, the post master had to alter the year when applying the old dater on the RM1 postal order.

Red Packet - Pringles

I think the below red packet is cute. It was produced by Pringles (potato crisp manufacturer) in year 2000.

SODA Members.......

Are you a SODA member of Pos Malaysia? Did you manage to buy the RM5 dragon miniature sheet (see below image) at post offices on 12 January 2011 (day of issue)? There is a good news for SODA members. If you are a SODA member, you should have received a supplementary order from Pos Malaysia on the sale of this RM5 miniature. If you have not received the supplementary order form, you should just call up the Biro Filateli for inquiry. I think you may be able to place your order by calling up (no harm to try). The closing date for placing order on this RM5 miniature sheet is approaching!!!! Do it FAST! I say it again - ACT FAST!

Red Packet - Maybank

This red packet was issued by Maybank some time ago. The wordings on the red packet read as "Jade Rabbit Ushering Spring Festival". So, this red packet must be issued for the Year of Rabbit. Years 1987, 1999 and 2011 are of Year of Rabbit. I am sure that this packet is not that of year 2011 because I have in my possession of Maybank red packet for year 2011. So, this red packet could be that of 1987 or 1999. Could anyone out there collecting red packets shed some light on year of release of this red packet?

Malaysia Maxicard - Dragon II

Wilayah Day

Today (1 February 2012) is Wilayah Day for Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan - Federal Territories. So, these territories were having a day off. The first Federal Territory was Kuala Lumpur, formed in 1974. A set of two stamps (see below image) was released in 1974 to commemorate this historical event. I think the stamps are beautiful.... can you recognise those buildings in the stamps? Those were important and landmark buildings in Kuala Lumpur in those early days.

Red Packet - EON Bank

EON Bank released its ever most beautiful red packet last year (2011). The red packet was nicely designed with an image of rabbit (the Year of Rabbit) embedding in the word "luck". When I got this beautiful red packet of EON Bank last year, and I said it to myself that I would be going to look for EON Bank red packet the following year. However, my dream could not come true because we are not seeing anymore EON Bank from May 2011 onwards. EON Bank has been taken over by Hong Leong Bank.