[press release]
Issue Date: Friday, 18th September 2015
- Mint Stamps – 8 1st Class Stamps
- First Day Cover
- Presentation pack
- Stamp Cards
- Retail Stamp Book
REASON & INSPIRATION
On Friday 18th September, England will kick off the 8th Rugby world cup when they face Fiji in the first game of the 2015 Rugby world Cup.
20 of the world’s best International Rugby Union Teams will take part in a tournament that will be televised to an audience of billions throughout the world, running between 18th September, culminating with a final that will take place on 31st October.
Rugby is a huge game in the UK with England alone accounting for almost 2000 separate clubs and over 1 million regular participants. Fierce rivalry between the British home nations ensure that all international games are well attended and keenly followed.
MINT STAMPS IN DETAIL
A set to celebrate Rugby coming home to the country that invented it, and to demonstrate that stamps are contemporary markers in time of such major national events as the Rugby World Cup. Convey the physicality, excitement and skill of the top-level sport of Rugby Union in the context of the key moves and set pieces within the game.
Mint Stamps: £7.38
Code: AS26B
A set of 8 stamps printed as se-tenant pairs (note that stamp are shown above as singles – not se-tenant Pairs. These stamps cover a range of values and bear the official Rugby World Cup 2015 logo that only official, approved products can display.
- 2nd class – Tackle
- 2nd class – Scrum
- 1st class – Try
- 1st class – Conversion
- £1.00 – Pass
- £1.00 – Drop Goal
- £1.52 – Ruck
- £1.52 – Line-Out
Designed by hat-trick and illustrated by Geoff Appleton, the Rugby World Cup 2015 stamps are uncompromisingly black and white. “It’s a celebration of the game of rugby itself,” explains hat-trick’s Creative Director Gareth Howat, “so there are no favours to particular teams, players or stadia. The images are stripped right back, and in the context of stamps, they feel quite radical.”
Appleton worked on canvasses of around A4 size, supplying the designers with three or four painted layers per image, which were then combined in the studio using Photoshop. The foregrounds were more detailed and contrasting; the backgrounds lighter and roughly textured, with rudimentary elements like thumbprints suggesting faces in the crowd. The unusual angles and compositions put the viewer right in the thick of the action – inside the scrum, watching a ball as it flies over the post, observing a pass being made to a player behind.
The gritty style is reminiscent of a comic or graphic novel; there’s a real sense of dynamism (and even heroism) about the all-action figures. Most of the basic scenarios were composed from stock shots and reference materials, although the diving try (with tackler attached) involved a trip to Saracens training camp to get the technique and details right. “In certain passages of play, the area may be packed with bodies,” says Howat, “and so the tricky part was creating a clean, uncluttered image, where it’s clear what’s going on.”
Stamp technical details:
Number of stamps: Eight
Design: Hat-trick design
Acknowledgements: The illustrations reference the following photographic sources – tackle © AP/PA Images; scrum and line-out © Image Source/CORBIS; try and drop goal © Camillo Natale-Miles/Saracens RFC; conversion © Getty Images; pass © Douglas Fisher; ruck © International Rugby Board; TM © RWC Ltd 1986
Stamp Format (Standard): Landscape
Stamp Size (Standard): 41mm x 30mm
Printer : International Security Printers
Print Process: Lithogrphy
Perforations: 14.5 x 14
Phosphor: Bars as appropriate
Gum: PVA
3.Product Portfolio
First Day Cover
Prices: £9.33 (Inland) £7.38 (Overseas)
Code: AF396
This colourful First Day Cover bears all 8 of the RWC Special Stamps, canceled with a handstamp design that uniquely ties the stamps to the cover to commemorate the first day of issue. Drawing heavily on the RWC branding and use of colour whilst remaining true to the design focused ethos of Royal Mail stamps and collectibles, this First Day Cover is provided direct from tallents House will be personalised with the buyers name and address.
Filler Card
The filler card features a fixture planner, listing all 48 games along with the dates that they will be played. Additionally, in true classic World Cup ‘tracker’ style the knockout phases of the competition are shown with the teams names left blank so that they can be filled in once the key results are known!
First Day Envelope
Price: 30p
Code: AE354
Stamp Souvenir
Price: £9.33
Code: TBC
The new version of the FDC’s will share the same FDE design, stamp configuration, cancellation and insert card as the standard, personalised FDC. The USP’s of the new version are:
- Available for sale for 90 days after stamp issue date – Allowing customers who miss the issue day to buy the product.
- Non-personalised (no customer name and address) – Appealing to customers who want a stock, unaltered product.
Presentation Pack (number 517)
Price: £7.90
Code: AP408
A visual feast and a true memento of what promises to be the most exciting Rugby World Cup yet, this Presentation pack is an official Rugby World Cup item and comes complete with an ‘official merchandise ‘ hologram on the outer protective packaging.
Written by esteemed sports writer and journalist Richard Rae, this Presentation Pack, when folded out provides two full A4 sides of Rugby World Cup trivia. One side focuses on key facts and figures and stats from the history of the RWC, including images of RWC legends Johnny Wilkinson, Jannie de Beer and Jonah Lomu. Also covered are the incredible traditions of the world cup including a picture of the whistle that was used to referee 1905 test match between New Zealand and England and will be used again for the first match of the 2015 RWC,
The flip side of the pack charts the development of Rugby as a game from its origins at Rugby School in 1823 when William Webb Ellis first picked up a football and began running towards the opposition goal, Detail about the development of the international side of the game including the formations of the nation Rugby Football unions, flows into a history of the Rugby World Cup itself.
Definitions of the 8 game situations covered on the stamp designs are included superimposed overran image of the William Webb Ellis cup itself.
Stamp Cards
Price: £3.60
Code: AQ227
This set contains 8 cards in total – five comprising an image of each individual stamp in the issue..
Retail Stamp Book
Price: £3.78
Code: UB386
The Retail Stamp Book, featuring the two First Class RWC stamps (Tackle & Conversion) alongside 4 of the new ‘Long to Reign Over Us 1st Class definitive stamps.of the new First Class Machins, The stamps have been printed in gravure by International Security Printers.
The book features the official Rugby World Cup logo as befits a genuine licenced collectible.
Note: whereas the Special stamps in the book will be self-adhesive the corresponding Mint stamp versions will be gummed which will be of interest to collectors.
Previous Royal Mail Stamps Issued with the same or similar theme:
December 2003 – England victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup
Postmarks
Tallents House Postmark
The TH postmark has been cleverly and unusually designed in the shape of a set of rugby posts.
Alternative Postmark
The alternative post mark depicts the ‘Crouch, Bind, Set’ scrum command which is well known to rugby players the world over. Rugby has been selected as the postal town as it shares its name with the sport itself and is the location of the origin of the game.
Non-First Day of Issue:
TALLENTS HOUSE: Pictorial: FD 1522-TH
Primary Postcode: Pictorial: FD 1522-PL
Primary postcode: Non-pictorial: FD 1522-NP
First Day Facilities
Unstamped Royal Mail First Day Cover envelopes (price 30p) are available from main Post Offices and philatelic outlets.
Orders for Serviced First Day Covers have to reach Royal Mail by 18th September 2015. Customers may also send stamped envelopes on the day of issue to Royal Mail, Tallents House for the Tallents House, Edinburgh postmark. The address for Royal Mail is as follows:-
Royal Mail
Tallents House
21 South Gyle Crescent
EDINBURGH
EH12 9PB
Customers who hand in or post stamped Royal Mail First Day Cover envelopes at main Post Offices on the day of issue will receive the pictorial Rugby first day postmark.
Alternatively, customers may send stamped envelopes to any of the Special Handstamp Centres quoting the reference number of the postmark required.
Special Handstamp Centres
The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail, St Stephens Street
BIRMINGHAM B6 4AA
The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail, 220 Penarth Road
CARDIFF CF11 8TA
The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail
Tallents House
21 South Gyle Crescent
EDINBURGH
EH12 9PB
The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail, Mount Pleasant
Farringdon Road
LONDON EC1A 1BB
The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail, South Shields DO
Keppell Street
SOUTH SHIELDS NE33 1AA
British Postmark Bulletin
Details of all forthcoming first day of issue and all sponsored special handstamps are announced in the Postmark Bulletin. This is available on subscription from Royal Mail, Tallents House at £12.25 UK & Europe or £24.55 rest of the world.
Special Handstamps
A number of different sponsored Special Handstamps are available for every new stamp issue. They are announced in the British Postmark Bulletin.
Presentation Pack Details:
Number of stamps: eight
Date of issue: 18 September 2015
Design: hat-trick design
Illustrations: Geoff Appleton
Acknowledgements: the illustrations reference the following photographic sources – tackle © AP/PA Images; scrum and line-out © Image Source/CORBIS; try and drop goal © Camillo Natale-Miles/Saracens RFC; conversion © Getty Images; pass © Douglas Fisher; ruck © International Rugby Board; TM © RWC Ltd 1986
Printer: International Security Printers
Process: lithography
Format: landscape
Size: 41mm x 30mm
Perforations: 14.5 x 14
Number per sheet: 30/60
Phosphor: bars as appropriate
Gum: PVA
