Hello, here are two of the stamps from the Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Costumes issue I promised to show. Really stunning I hope you will agree.  Click image to enlarge.

Cantonese opera costumes come in a wide variety of styles and correspond to the identity and social status of the different roles performed on the stage. The issue presents  seven distinctive costumes, namely the great Han costume, a gown with a sloping collar, a dress for young ladies, a military uniform for soldiers, a python ceremonial robe, a gown with a vertical collar and on the miniature sheet I showed last night the grand armour. The stamps feature intricate illustrations of Cantonese opera costumes modeled on real ones worn in live performances.

Enjoy your stamps...  Michael

www.cddstamps.com

Hello, tonight my latest Hong Kong MS. 

Hongkong Post  issued set of special stamps entitled "Cantonese Opera Costumes" on 21st August.  

Cantonese opera is a major theatre genre in southern China and a highly valued traditional performing art in Hong Kong. With a live orchestra and special theatrical costumes, Cantonese opera is an art form involving many skills such as singing, acting, narration and martial arts. Cantonese opera costumes come in a wide variety of styles and correspond to the identity and social status of the different roles performed on the stage. 

The performers on this $10 stamp sheetlet are dressed in grand armour, playing the marshals of "The Joint Investiture" and projecting a heroic, gallant and formidable demeanour.

Tomorrow I will show some of the stamps from the issue.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this.  Click image to enlarge

Have a great weekend.    Michael

www.cddstamps.com

Hi, how about this MS tonight. One I found sorting some old stock that I am taking back to Hong Kong.  Issued in 2005. Seems only a few weeks ago!!!

Interesting MS maybe. Australia Post obviously appealing to the younger audience me thinks with the title of the issue. Creatures of the Slime.

On the back is the write up, including; The worlds first animals, multicellular organisms named Ediacarans, date back 560 million years. Their fossils are found in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.

Now how many of you can name all 6......   Ok just teasing.....  

Enjoy your stamps and everything you learn from them  -  click to enlarge image and enjoy

Best wishes.. Michael
www.cddstamps.com

Hello, Tonight a lovely Australian FDC. Issued in 1995 to commemorate some Australians who contributed to medical science.  One stamp shows three radiology pioneers, Sir Thomas Lyle, Father Joseph Slattery, Walter Filmer, another shows  Sir Macfarlane Burnett and Dame Jean Macnamara.

The two stamps showing individuals show Sir Howard Flory (one of the discovers of penicillin) and Fred Hollows, a famous eye surgeon.

I had not seen all of these before I came across this cover. Hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I did.

Best wishes.. Michael
www.cddstamps.com

Hello, I am back in Sydney and today I picked this up from the Post Office. Hope you enjoy seeing it. Click image to enlarge.

One of these I really like, well for my aerophilatelic collection I suppose. The 1954 Trans-Australian Airways advertisement.

TAA  (renamed Australian Airlines in 1986) was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in September 1992.  In 1954 TAA became the first airline outside Europe to introduce the Vickers Viscount 'propjet', and in 1981 it introduced the A300 Airbus, the first wide body aircraft to be purchased by an Australian domestic airline.

Of course, some would it has all been downhill since then!!    :-)

enjoy your stamps 

Michael
www.cddstamps.com

Hello, one more from my sorting tonight.   Interesting that this is the 15c stamp which in 1953 was the first QEII stamp to be overprinted STAMP DUTY. 

This one is also overprinted, as you can see, B. of E.  That is Bill of Exchange.  I have no more knowledge of this stamp or other Revenue Stamps from that period so if any reader can educate me I would be most pleased to hear from you.

Hope you are enjoying your stamps

Best wishes..Michael

www.cddstamps.com

PS don't forget the competition  - prize is a nice set of Hong Kong stamps - I wrote about yesterday.

Hello, I was sorting some stamps tonight and found I had a few sets of these, so thought time for a competition.

Hope you like these and if you want to win, just email me at cddstamps@gmail.com with the answer to the following question. I will randomly select a winner last on Sunday evening.   My last competition had no entries so I assume it was too hard.   This is easier then.

What were the names of the three treaties that gave control of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories to the United Kingdom?  Easy eh. Is stamp collecting educational :-)

enjoy your stamps, and if you have a few gaps in your collection and want to fill them please visit me at www.cddstamps.com. and see what I have to offer. Lots of customers are making me happy working hard to keep my stock above 10,000 stamps, perhaps you should see why :-)

Have a look at the countries I stock here  then click the country you collect and type the SG number into the Search Store For field and enjoy.

Best wishes.. Michael

Hello, Sunday evening here, a very hot day so did go not out but stayed indoors working with my stamps.

This weekend I loaded even more GB Commemoratives (mostly new listings and higher values) nice selection of Fiji from 1960 to 1970 and Southern Rhodesia. If you do not want to buy a set when you only have the odd stamp missing from your collection why not visit http://cddstamps.com/bidstart-sales/ and see if I have the one stamp you are looking for. Or more than one of course !

I think my prices are competitive and the quality is well described. The stamp above, SG 387, MUH, is just one example I hope you enjoy seeing.

Best wishes... Michael

Hello, for those of you  interested in Royal Mail Post and Go I thought you might enjoy seeing the following 

From Philakorea 2014 in Soeul last week,  rather rare maybe.. why I hear you ask. well on the day I was there the payment gateway was not working. I struck up a friendly rapport with the guy on the stand, a technician, not  Royal Mail guy and he kindly overrode the system and printed a set for me.  I met him at 8:30 ( yes I got in before the show opened..   well we have our ways :-)  and finally by about 12:30 when it was clear the payment gateway was not coming up and I had to leave to get my flight back to Hong Kong he got these from the machine for me. How nice of him.

 Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Hello, just finished listing a few more GB Commemoratives in my Bidstart Store. New stock not  previously listed. One advantage of reading my blog is you get advance notice of these listings.

Hope you find something to help you fill a few gaps in your collection, above SG 3952 from the Buckingham Palace issue.  Click here for more

Best wishes...Michael
www.cddstamps.com

Hello, I do hope everyone had a great weekend. Writing philatelic Newsletters has been my top priority with the IPDA  August Newsletter now published and my own cddstamps Newsletter also issued.

For a copy of one or both just email me at cddstamps@gmail.com

I am very pleased with the way the cddstamps Newsletter turned out. I have had some ideas in my head this past week and it looks good and has some lovely pictures of stamps. It is only a one pager so quick and easy to read. A stamp handling tip is included as it was a thought I had that I wanted to share with my readers.

As for stamps. I am still loading more GB Commemoratives to my Bidsdstart store. There are now over 4000 GB issues in the 10,000 lots available. I keep my stock to just 30 countries, GB and British Commonwealth. Click here for a listing including the stamp above (SG 2156  from the May 1st issue with red arrows tab). No junk, as far as I am concerned.  I hope you can find something to fill a gap or two in your collection.

Best wishes... Michael
www.cddstamps.com