The “Deep CSAC” list of upcoming U.S. stamp subjects leaked a year ago indicates James Brown will be one of 2015’s Music Icons stamps. Based on a New York Times article Sunday, don’t bet on it. Eight years after his death on Christmas Day 2006, his estate is in dispute: The six children he recognized don’t agree on much if anything, a maybe-ex-wife he maybe-divorced is getting or not getting some of his money, and South Carolina state authorities can’t even agree on what steps to take.

The $2 stamp will be issued at Southeastern Stamp Show in Norcross, Georgia, on January 30th.

It’s the same artist as Color (Michael Dayer), and the stamps will come in panes of ten. The $2 is standard commemorative size,

Since there is a Digital Color Postmark for the $1 Patriotic Waves stamps, which has no first day ceremony, a DCP for this stamp is likely, too.

Digital Color Postmark (added January 20th; we’re having trouble getting good quality cancellation design images this year):

From the Postal Bulletin:

On January 30, 2015, in Norcross, GA, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue a $2 Patriotic Waves mail use stamp, in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 10 stamps (Item 117500).

The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 30, 2015.

In 2015, the U.S. Postal Service offers the $2 Patriotic Waves, a new, high-denomination stamp. This contemporary stamp design was created to lend a patriotic appearance to packages, large envelopes, and other mailings. The $2 Patriotic Waves stamp features red and blue intersecting lines on a white background in an abstract pattern reminiscent of billowing flags. A portion on the lower right side of the stamp provides white space to display the dollar sign and the numeral 2. Designer Michael Dyer worked with art director Antonio Alcalá to create this stamp.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

$2 Patriotic Waves Stamp
Norcross Main Office
265 Mitchell Road
Norcross, GA 30071-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by March 31, 2015.

There are six philatelic products for this stamp issue:

• 117506 Press Sheet with Die cut, $200.00, (print quantity 500).
• 117508 Press Sheet without Die cut, $200.00 (print quantity 1,000).
• 117510 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake, $23.95.
• 117516 First-Day Cover, $2.44.
• 117521 Digital Color Postmark, $3.15.
• 117531 Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: $2 Patriotic Waves Stamp
Item Number: 117500
Denomination & Type of Issue: $2.00 Mail Use
Format: Pane of 10 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: January 30, 2015, Norcross, GA
Designer: Michael Dyer, Brooklyn, NY
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Typographer: Michael Dyer, Brooklyn, NY
Artist: Michael Dyer, Brooklyn, NY
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Pane: 10
Print Quantity: 10 Million Stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Colors: PMS 2174 C Blue, PMS 185 C Red, PMS Cool Gray C #8
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 0.84 in./36.09 x 21.34 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 0.98 in./39.62 x 24.89 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 4.26 x 6.48 in./108.20 x 164.59 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 21.30 x 12.96 in./541.02 x 329.18 mm
Plate Size: 200 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by three (3) single digits
Marginal Markings: Front: Plate Block Numbers in two positions
Back: © 2014 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Two barcodes • Promotional text

This version of the stamp will be issued February 21 at the ARIPEX stamp show in Mesa. An earlier version of this design is shown here.

From the January 8th Postal Bulletin:

On February 21, 2015, in Mesa, AZ, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue a 1-cent Bobcat mail-use stamp in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) coil of 10,000 stamps (Item 786900).

The stamp will go on sale nationwide February 21, 2015.

In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service first issued the Bobcat 1-cent stamp in coils of 3,000. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are members of the feline family found across America. The stamp art is a highly stylized digital image of a bobcat with golden eyes, a pink nose, and fur in shades of brown. Nancy Stahl illustrated the stamp, under the direction of Carl T. Herrman.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at http://www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

1¢ Bobcat Stamp
Postmaster
Main Post Office
135 North Center Street
Mesa, AZ 85201-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by April 22, 2015.

There is one philatelic product for this stamp issue:
786916 First-Day Cover, $0.94.

Technical Specifications:
Issue: Bobcat Stamp
Item Number: 786900
Denomination & Type of Issue: 1-cent Mail-Use
Format: Coil of 10,000 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: February 21, 2015, Mesa, AZ 85201
Art Director: Carl T Herman, Carlsbad, CA
Designer: Carl T Herman, Carlsbad, CA
Typographer: Carl T Herman, Carlsbad, CA
Artist: Nancy Stahl, New York, NY
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint — “USPS”
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Coil: 10,000
Print Quantity: 500 million stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored, Type III
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.73 x 0.84 in./18.54 x 21.34 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.87 x 0.98 in./22.10 x 24.89 mm
Plate Size: 594 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: © 2012 Copyright • Sequential numbering in increments of 10 located behind every 10th stamp throughout the coil • plate number frequency every 27th stamp

The USPS today confirmed some of the dates and locations we already had for 2015, but added some details.

Also…

$1 Patriotic Waves will be issued January 12th with Kansas City as the first day city, but there will not be an event with it. ($2 is still set for Southeastern Stamp Expo in Georgia on the 30th.) Both will be panes of 10.

Forever Hearts will be issued before the end of January, so that the stamps are available for valentines, but no date or city is set yet.

Year of the Ram is confirmed for the first week of February in San Francisco, but the exact date is not yet set.

A 1¢ Bobcat PSA coil of 10,000 version will be issued at Aripex in Mesa, Arizona, on February 21.

There will be one or two more in February when the rights are nailed down, including Black Heritage.

From Me To You will be issued in March now, no exact date or city yet.

by Lloyd A. de Vries, Virtual Stamp Club
Photos by Daniel Afzal, U.S. Postal Service (closeups); Mark Saunders, USPS (overhead shots); Lloyd de Vries

[The posting about the stamps themselves is here. This entry is about the first day ceremony.]

Late in the second quarter, fans at the Philadelphia 76ers/Oklahoma City Thunder were told by the announcer and saw a message on the scoreboard telling them to stick around at halftime for the stamp ceremony. And surprising for a first day ceremony at an event like this, most of them did!

The first day ceremony had to be short, no more than half the halftime period, so that the Sixers and Thunder players could warm up for the second half. The only speech was pre-recorded, and delivered by U.S. Postal Service General Counsel Thomas J. Marshall on the scoreboard’s video screen. The lights remained off, and the audience was treated to a light show. For a change, those in the “cheap seats” had the best view. The images were repeated on the center-court scoreboard video screen. Marshall and the other guests were introduced by the arena announcer; the biggest cheers and applause were for former Sixers legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving. Those sitting or standing courtside didn’t get as good a view. But as you can, there was a good turnout by the press. Here are the guests before the ceremony: Wilt’s sisters Selina Gross and Barbara Lewis; NBA legends Sonny Hill and Wali Jones; Pat Williams, Orlando Magic Senior VP.
Back row: NBA Executive Charles Rosenweig; Marshall and Erving. Not in the group photos before the ceremony, but on the court for the ceremony, was Harvey Pollack, a living link to Wilt Chamberlain: He was the public relations director for the Philadelphia Warriors when Chamberlain played and also the team’s statistician. He is today still the chief stats man for the Philadelphia 76ers –  the only individual still working for the NBA since its inaugural 1946-47 season. Pollack kept score during Chamberlain’s 100-point game, on March 2, 1962, and made the sign on which Pollack had hand-lettered “100,” which Chamberlain holds in his famous post-game photo. Pollack is 92!There were two USPS retail areas inside the main entrnaces to the Wells Fargo Center, and a retail truck outside the venue as well. In the top photo, American Philatelist editor Jay Bigalke services FDCs at one of the inside USPS booths. (He may no longer be producing his own cachets, but Jay still brings his own inkpad to first day ceremonies.) In the upper right are Chris Lazaroff and Foster Miller.First day ceremony programs free to anyone making a purchase at one of the three retail units. The outdoor truck (above and below). The truck was parked near the 18-foot-tall statue of Chamberlain, and, before the game, someone with a philatelic or postal bent got to the statue. Well, Wilt is smiling, so he seems to have taken the “stamping” well.

Video from the USPS (edited by VSC):

An edited version of the ceremony.

Interviews with Julius Erving, Thomas Marshall of the USPS, and Selina Gross, one of Wilt Chamberlain’s sisters.