New Issue: The Triskelion Collection II (IOM)

I review all stamps from the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, and I really should have reviewed this interesting set from the Isle of Man last week but I was away in Luxembourg looking at castles. This set focuses on the Triskelion (the Three Legs of Mann) and follow on from the first Triskelion Collection issue in 2023. This is pictured below:

Design Quality: These are solid designs and I think they have been done well, but I don't find them especially exciting. I like the idea of showing the Three Legs of Mann in several different styles, and there is a good mixture of colours and patterns across the set. Some are very traditional while others look much more modern, so at least there is plenty of variety. They also work nicely as a complete set because you can immediately see the connection between all six stamps. There isn't really anything wrong with the designs at all – they just don't have that extra something that would make me stop and think, "Wow, I love these!" 7/10

Theme and Subject Choice: You can't really get much more Isle of Man than the Three Legs of Mann, so it is obviously a very suitable subject. Anyone familiar with the island will recognise the symbol immediately, and it makes perfect sense to celebrate it on Manx stamps. The problem is that it is also a very familiar subject. Are these new stamps so much different to the first Triskelion Collection issue from three years ago? The Three Legs appear all over the Isle of Man and have been featured on stamps before, so it doesn't have the surprise of discovering a strange story or something about Manx history that I didn't already know. It is an appropriate choice, but also quite a safe one. 7/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance: The Three Legs of Mann are extremely important to the Isle of Man and are probably its most famous symbol. They have been associated with the island for centuries and appear on the Manx flag and coat of arms, so there is obviously plenty of history behind them. I also like how the different designs show that the symbol can change in appearance while still being instantly recognisable. However, the stamps don't teach us very much about it... 7/10

Innovation and Creativity: There is definitely some creativity here because the designers have found several different ways of showing exactly the same three-legged symbol. I particularly like the differences between the more historical-looking designs and the modern ones, and some of the patterns are quite clever. However, there is only so much you can do when every stamp has to contain the Three Legs of Mann arranged in basically the same shape. That limits the scope for doing something really surprising or different. It is nicely designed and there has clearly been thought put into making each stamp different, but I wouldn't describe the overall idea as especially innovative. 6/10

Collectability: I think these should be reasonably collectable because the Three Legs of Mann are such an instantly recognisable symbol and there are several different types of collector who might be interested in them. Obviously they should appeal to collectors of Isle of Man stamps, but they could also interest people who collect flags, coats of arms, national symbols or heraldry. The fact that there are six different interpretations makes the complete set a bit more interesting too, because you can compare how the symbol has been represented in different styles. They are also bright and colourful enough to look good together. 7/10

Personal Appeal: These are perfectly OK stamps. I can see that the designs are good, I understand why the Three Legs of Mann are important and I like some of the individual artwork. They just don't excite me very much. They don't really tell a story or introduce me to something I had never heard of before. I also don't think another set was needed just three years after the last Triskelion Collection. There isn't anything particularly bad about them, but there's nothing that really makes me want to spend £12.58 to buy them. 2/10

Overall Score: 35/60