XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

Here's another Chinese New Year issue, and this one is from the Isle of Man. I looked at the New Zealand issue a few days ago and I was quite impressed with it. So, what do I think of these? Design Quality  - The horses really dominate the stamp, which is good. They feel very alive, as if the artist wanted to show the horses' personalities. Unlike the New Zealand set they don't look magical and as first glance there isn't anything particularly Chinese about them - if it wa

Here's another new issue, this time from Finland. It celebrated friendship and shows people doing different things together. The pictures speak for themselves. These have been issued with Valentine's Day in mind (maybe a bit early?) and you can see why. They were designed by Pietari Posti, who says: "The stamps are cheerful and warm images of friendship, spending time together and shared moments. The themes of the stamps center around the different dimensions of friendship

Here's another new issue, Wild Isle of Man. This issue is a set of ten stamps, which are available in this eye-catching miniature sheet. The stamps show island landscapes, wildlife and coastal heritage. They were designed by Andy North, a photographer who is also the author of Wild Guide Isle of Man . They're not just landscapes though - we see people in all of these stamps interacting with nature and the countryside and enjoying being outdoors in the Isle of Man. Some are w

Royal Mail has confirmed the special stamps issues for the first half of the year. I was looking forward to seeing what they had to offer this year. I don't like every stamp issue but usually there is something a bit different each year. Last year there were stamps about the Royal Armouries, the Royal Observatory, Monty Python and Peanuts. Some were better than others but at least these were good attempts and "something completely different". (See, I learned a lot about Monty

This new set of stamps showing birds was issued on 5th January. The Netherlands have created many distinctive and beautiful miniature sheets in the past and this one is another fantastic sheet that I think a lot of collectors will enjoy. There are ten stamps in the set, which celebrates Saba's birds. Like the more well-known Aruba and Curaçao, Saba is an island in the Caribbean Netherlands although it is not exactly a neighbour of these other islands - it is in the Windward

New Zealand is starting 2026 with this great set of stamps for the Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Horse and for a lot of people this is very exciting because the horse represents freedom and energy. Many Chinese people think the Year of the Horse will bring success! New Zealand have issued stamps for other years - last year they did a fantastic one for Year of the Snake and in 2024 there was one for the Year of the Dragon. So this is part of a long series. De

Jersey's first release of 2026 shows local landmarks photographed from the air. The images were captured by local photographers Marc Le Cornu and James Bedding. There are eight stamps in the set and the photographs show Les Landes MP-3, Archirondel Tower, Fort Regent, Elizabeth Castle, Mont Orgueil Castle, La Rocque harbour, Le Don Hilton and Fort Leicester. This is the latest issue in what seems to be a growing series, following Jersey from the Air (2019) and Jersey from t

Happy New Year everyone! The first Royal Mail issue of 2026 has been announced and it will be issued next Tuesday (13th January) but don't get too excited, it's about another American TV series. Most of us will have heard about Stranger Things . It's been a big thing on Netflix. It's all people are yapping about at my school this week because the finale was apparently really good. I haven't actually watched any of it so I can't judge how good it is but should even an absolu

I haven't reviewed many new issues recently and that is because there haven't been many new issues! Once the Christmas stamps are out that usually is the end of new issues for the year. I have reviewed most of this year's Christmas issues here. However, there have been one or two new issues that have nothing to do with Christmas including this from Serbia, which was released on 8th December. It is very different and I thought it deserved a review. The stamps show Serbia's fem

Instead of reviewing different countries' Christmas stamps individually, I thought it would be better to look at them together. I'm not going to give any lengthy reviews - I'll just make a few short comments and give a mark. Here are a few of my thoughts about the different new Christmas stamps from around the world. I've tried to cover as many of them as possible, but no doubt there will be a few countries I have missed. Great Britain I will start with our own Christmas stam

Royal Mail's final issue of 2025 - the sixteenth of the year! - will be a set commemorating the stamps of Queen Victoria. There is no obvious reason for this theme at this time and no anniversary that I can think of that might be being marked. So it's a bit of a strange choice, as there have been previous Royal Mail stamps covering this very theme - take a look below at the 1990 set and the 2015 set marking the 150th and 175th anniversaries of the Penny Black. At least the

There was an interesting new issue this week, when a particular European country decided to celebrate the success of its national football team. Who could it be? Could it have been one of the teams who this week qualified for the World Cup? No. Was it a former winner of the World Cup or the European Championship? No. Maybe it was one of the women's teams? Wrong again. No, it is San Marino, Yes, the team that currently is ranked 210 out of 210 FIFA international teams! Often

It's been a while since I wrote a review of a new issue and that is because most of the new issues at the moment are Christmas stamps. I'm leaving them for a special post at the end of the month where i will compare them all. Jersey Post has released a new issue today and my sister really likes it - then again, she is really into space. She can tell you the names of all the planets, all the dwarf planets, the moons of Jupiter and tell you all about the Apollo missions. On th

Jersey's latest issue is a set of six stamps celebrating the Royal Air Force Association of Jersey' 100th Anniversary. There is also a £5 miniature sheet. Both were illustrated by Harry Milburn, who was inspired by historical RAF recruitment posters. Jersey Post's website states that "each stamp reflects an important element of RAFA Jersey's work". It is interesting that RAFA Jersey was founded in 1925, 18 years prior to the creation of the national RAFA organisation in 1943

A new French stamp came out last week but it is a very unusual one. Xanthe wasn't interested in reviewing it but I definitely am! The stamp shows a picture of a butter croissant ("Croissant au beurre"). Do you like croissants? I do, and I like stamps with pictures of croissants on them although I haven't seen one before. I like the details in the picture. But even better, this stamp actually smells like a croissant! If you rub it then it will smell like a Paris bakery! Lovely

It seems I have been reviewing a lot of new issues for the Isle of Man recently. I have checked and it looks like this is the fifteenth new issue this year, and there will be another one next week! Is Isle of Man Stamps & Coins trying to compete with Royal Mail? Do they need this many commemorative stamps? This set was released on 10th October and the theme is "Brewed on Mann". The Isle of Man Stamps & Coins website tells us more about these stamps: "Brewed on Mann capture

Children's Welfare stamps in the Netherlands are charity stamps sold with a surcharge to fund projects for the Stichting Kinderpostzegels (Children's Welfare Stamps Foundation), which supports "developmental opportunities" for children in the Netherlands and abroad. They have been created annually for many, many years and are called Kind postzegels in Dutch. They first appeared in 1924 and have been issued every year since apart from the war years. They have a specific des

Norway released a new issue on 4th October. Most of my reviews are about stamps from Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel...

Yesterday, Jersey issued a new set of stamps. This one is to celebrate the history of Black Butter. You might be asking "what is black...

The next issue for Royal Mail is Monopoly and will be released on 16th October. This is to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the board...