@Maddymail Thanks for this info, it’s really helpful!
If I wanted to send a maxicard abroad but it only had a first class stamp on it, would I have to send it in an envelope with the full £1.45/£1.70 postage? It mentions that you can’t affix stamps to both the front and back side of the card so I assume I can’t put another stamp on the back to make it up to the full amount?
I can add my experience of posting maxicards: I got into sending ‘vintage’ maxicards by accident, the first ones I got were in a mixed pile of 'unwritten ’ cards I bought, so treated them like normal postcards and they arrived. In some cases they had a philatelic cancellation stamp already on the written side so I added a new full postage next to it and these arrived too. So far I have not yet created my own maxicards by sending them to the postmarking service, but would certainly follow @Maddymail’s description and have them sent back to me first. And I buy older designs ready-made off ebay for example.
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Edited to show two examples. Photos taken just before posting)
Resulted in:
Thank you for explaining it so clearly, it makes a lot more sense now!
I have found such a lack of information about maxicards online. Most info says what to do e.g. ‘send to a special handstamp centre’ but not exactly how to do it and I always came away with more questions than answers.
It seems there are lots of little caveats to the process (you need it to have an address on, you don’t need to stamp the envelope etc) that I would have never otherwise known.
I think I’ll send them in an envelope to be safe. I really don’t want them getting lost in the post, especially since I never put a return address on my postcards.
I’ve ordered a few sets of old PHQ maxicards from eBay in the meantime whilst I wait for the upcoming stamp issues, so I will see how it goes with those.
Thanks again for all your help @Maddymail!
Industrial Revolutions stamps are available for pre-order on the Royal Mail Shop: https://shop.royalmail.com/special-stamp-issues/industrial-revolutions
At the time of writing, I’m getting “404 not found” when clicking on some of the pages, which I’m sure the Royal Mail team looking after the shop will fix next week.
I’ve been postcrossing since April and have so far either used a £1.70 stamp or 2x 1st class. However I’m always thrilled when I get cards with multiple stamps on them and would like to start doing this for people I send to. I’ve seen various websites that sell mixed picture stamps of various denominations but before I start spending more money, what mix of stamps do you all use?
Yes I love to do that too, but the mix really depends on availability. Right now I’m working through a collection of 64p+63p+(43p or 44p), as seen here:
But those are all quite big stamps so you end up covering a lot of the cards space. To take a break from that I have just ordered a mixed set of (E) stamps to make life easier, but generally I’ll aim for a combination two stamps, and not necessarily first class ones.
@AnjuschkaC your cards look brilliant. Where do you buy your stamps from? Our picture stamps are so big here they do take up a lot of room. I’ve had some gigantic stamps from Russia which I love even though there’s not much room for writing.
I’ve bought a few mixed bundles of super low value vintage stamps (most less than 10p value) from the 1970s-80s on Etsy and eBay, and they are great to use with a more recent £1.63 stamp. I like the country definitives you can get on the Royal Mail website - tartan for Scotland, porcelain for Northern Ireland, I think there’s a daffodil design for Wales etc. The low value stamps add the colour and can be matched to the recipients interests, but the £1.63 does most of the heavy lifting, postage costs-wise!
@Lu72 The favourite supplier used by many Postcrossers is probably
https://www.philatelink.co.uk/
You will have seen many references above. They were having supply issues during lockdown but normal service seems to have been restored now.
Another one I have used is
And while they had the denominations I was looking for, I thought the stamps were a bit ‘worn’ round the edges, definitely not used but not exactly ‘mint’ either. Fine for postage, but as a collector I would have been disappointed.
There are other suppliers, aiming at collectors though (ie not discounted) and you could also buy via ebay etc but I have no experience there.
Here are some of the ones from Philatelink that came today
Two new stamp issues in September
British Army Vehicles (02/09) and DC Comics (17/09)
I was hoping the 17th Sept issue may have been the Covid Stamp Competition that was run back in January/February, that will probably be released early next year now.
Is it “allowed” to use Marvel stamps next to the DC stamps?
I might only get the miniature sheet tomorrow, if any, of the British Army Vehicles issue. I’ll save up for DC!
Hi Folks,
Thought you may like to see the new UK stamp issue being released at a Post Office near you on the 17th September, or pre-order from Royal Mail online. The DC Collection, this time it’s Batman, 12 X 1st class stamps plus Justice League Minisheet plus all the usual paraphernalia, Prestige stamp book, booket, etc etc. Certainly colourful, a collectors issue, am sure that many Postcrossers will love these.
Best Wishes, D
I definitely prefer these to the army vehicles!
Me too !
I might need to find a few extra pennies down the back of the sofa for a half sheet of these later in the month!
You’ll find those pennies, you know you love 'em!
Best Wishes, D
Me too!!!
I may get some of these, but don’t think I’ll get the army vehicle ones.
Hell Yeah! I think Thor & Aquaman will look well together! 
I’m slightly ambivalent about buying a batch of £1.70 stamps tomorrow (2nd Sept). I usually try to stock up on special issues whenever they come out, but given the current global situation and the fact that there’s a good chance that any random country might have had a bad experience with the British Army, I’m not sure I should bother. Any thoughts? Am I overthinking this, or should I save my money for the DC issue (twelve different First Class - oh the combination possibilities!)?
