MBPC - backonline.apswiss.ch · partially sighted identify the contents as being 1st-class stamps...

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••••••••• Series SB3 - New issues 2021Books promoting a particular Royal Mail special issue

© MBPC 2021 1/10 updated 14-07-21

This file has bookmarksStandard details

Printing & dimensions | These books are printed in gravure by Walsall Security Printers (part of the ISP group), at their plant in Wolverhampton. They are derived from a flat section of huge rolls of compound self-adhesive paper where the release liner has been overprinted with the text ‘Royal Mail’ in repeated wavy lines before the silicone layer was applied; this ‘security backing paper‘ becomes visible when the face paper (the stamps or the surrounding matrix) is removed, supposedly proving the book to be a genuine Royal Mail product. This is coded SBP2 and can be either ‘upright’ or ‘inverted’ (see opposite).

Four columns of books are printed side by side as the web moves through the Cerutti R981 press; the direction of printing is inverted. The surface paper is printed with the stamps at the same time as the backing paper is being printed with the cover design. Each column is rouletted off centre enabling it to be folded to simulate a book of stamps, which is the way the finished items are supplied from the printer. The overall size of the books when folded is approximately 79mm x 57mm. As the front cover is only 74mm wide, the final 5mm or so of the ‘pane’ remain visible beyond its right-hand edge when the book is closed.

Book cover | The book has the darker red cover for retail books since the rebranding exercise in October 2016 when the Chevin font replaced Helvetica. This layout may be considered to be the ‘standard’ cover design, as previous editions since SB3(54) had either the large ‘1’ on the front erroneously printed in the extra bold weight of type rather than bold, corrected on books (57) and (58); the validity notice and contact details on the back in a smaller, lighter weight, now larger and bolder to match all other retail books since (57) and (58), or an additional ‘one-off’ copyright notice placed below the Textphone number, the case of books (54), (57) and (58), for example.

The validity notice and Royal Mail contact details reversed out of the back cover have not changed since the new 0345 phone numbers were introduced on 31-07-14. Within the 23mm x 49mm white box is the standard barcode for books of six (112268) which, along with the FSC details, is printed in blue.

Book and cover details

These details apply to most of the new issue books in this

series; where there are exceptions, these will be described in the account

of individual books.

This avoids unnecessary repetition in the account

of each new issue.

Stamp details

The book contains four RMR2 (Royal Mail red 2) 1st-class NVI definitive stamps, with two positioned either side of the line of roulette cuts. These bear an iridescent overprint including the source and year codes in the form MCIL/MxxL. The special issue stamps are generally different to the corresponding counter sheet issue, being self-adhesive and printed in gravure by Walsall instead of in litho on PVAl-gummed paper by Cartor as is usually the case.

The matrix is cut vertically twice, 27mm to the left and right of the line of roulette cuts. The selvedge in between is removed, revealing the background security print (see below) on the reverse of the cover substrate. The illustrated matrix is left intact around the two special issue stamps. The final 7.5mm of the matrix which remains at the right of the pane is divided into two parts. The 5mm at the right generally continues the image printed around the right-hand stamp, and has the issue title reversed out of this. The white strip to the left of this remains blank in most books but bears the ink cylinder numbers printed on a certain number of books within the primary sheet.

The books have a 3.5mm notch cut in the form of a half ellipse 4mm down from the top right corner of the book to help the partially sighted identify the contents as being 1st-class stamps and to orientate the book correctly. The Machin stamps are kiss die-cut to simulate the standard definitive perforation gauge of 14¾ x 14 with an ellipse on each vertical edge and have two 4.5mm DG A2B phosphor bars (see opposite); the perforation gauge and phosphor content varies from one set of special issues to another but generally matches those found on their counter sheet equivalents.

The books are packed in bundles of 50 in clear cellophane wrapping which has a barcode, stock code and packing date printed on it in black.

This is the cover layout we refer to as being the ‘standard

cover’ for SB3 books

When, anywhere within the design, the line ROYAL MAIL etc. in large upright letters is followed by the line ROYAL MAIL in small upright letters, the design is

upright (designated SBP2u).

When the line ROYAL MAIL in large upright letters is followed by ROYAL MAIL in small inverted letters, the design is

inverted (designated SBP2i).

ROYAL MAIL ROYAL MAIL




ROYALMAILROYALMAIL

ROYALMAILROYALMAIL

ROYALMAILROYALMAIL

ROYALMAILROYALMAIL

OYAL MAIL ROYAL MAIL ROYAL MA




OYALMAILROYALMAILROYALMA




SBP2 security backing paper ►

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© MBPC 2021 2/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(77) - ‘National Parks’ retail book


Packaging items

The barcode printed on the cellophane wrappers of packs of 50 books, showing the packing date. The stock code reference for the last SB3 book

(Star Trek) included SB008 - what was SB009?

on sale: 14 January 2021face value: £5.10 at date of issue

cover: Royal Mail red 2 (2016 Rebrand)barcode: 5 014721 112268contents: 2 x 1st-class National Parks SI plus

4 x 1st-class RMR2 Machin definitivesprinter: Walsall Security Printers (ISP)

process: gravure – CeruttiDOP: inverted

cylinders: W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 / W1paper / gum: OFNP/SA: backing paper SBP2i or u

phosphor: 2 x 4.5mm solid bars (Machins) / 2 x 9mm vignetted bars (SI)

iridescent: MCIL/M21L (Machins only)perf. gauge: 14¾ x 14 (E) (Machins) / 14¼ x 13¾ (SI)

perf. type: kiss die-cut; partially stripped matrix

Most of the ‘Standard details’ also apply to this book - see page 1. Although printed in 2020, the four Royal Mail red 2 (RMR2) 1st-class Machin definitives have an iridescent overprint which reads MCIL/M21L (see image at the top of this page) and although this is the first booklet issue to show the new year in the coding it was already present on the three tariff Machins issued on 23-12-20. Most books seen have the stamps on security backing paper with the text printed inverted (i.e. SBP2i) some have also been seen with it upright (SBP2u).

The two 37mm x 35mm special issue stamps represent two out of the ten 1st-class values which appeared in the two National Parks counter sheets issued on the same day, although here they are self-adhesive and printed in gravure by Walsall instead of in litho on PVAl-gummed paper by Cartor. They were designed by Studio Mean and are the first actual stamp designs for this small London-based studio. The left-hand stamp shows a photo of the Peak District National Park from sheet B, 555 square miles (1,438 km2) in size, covering parts of the counties of Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire,

and Cheshire. The right-hand stamp shows Snowdonia from sheet A, the largest National Park in Wales, covering 823 square miles (2,131 km2) on Britain’s west coast. They are both among the UK’s first four National Parks founded during 1951.

The matrix left intact around each of the special issues shows a larger, slightly bleached out version of the same photo as appears on the stamp itself. The 5mm tab at the right remains visible when the books are closed; it repeats the image used on the presentation pack of the issue title engraved on a wooden signboard in the style commonly in use in such parks. The 2mm white strip to the left of this tab contains the seven W1 cylinder numbers on certain books. From the bottom, reading upwards, these are: cyan, magenta, yellow, black (SI and background), followed by Royal Mail red 2 and iridescent (Machins), and finally phosphor (Machins and SI). The positions of the last two have been coloured in the image below since they are virtually invisible to the naked eye.

The special issues have been kiss die-cut to simulate a perforation gauge of 14¾ x 13¾ and have two 9mm vignetted phosphor bars.

Printing, dimensions and book cover | This book has the standard cover for SB3 issues. Please consult the ‘Standard details’ page at the beginning of this file.

Stamp details

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© MBPC 2021 3/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(78) - ‘Only Fools and Horses’ retail book

on sale: 16 February 2021face value: £5.10 at date of issue

cover: Royal Mail red 2 (2016 Rebrand)barcode: 5 014721 112268contents: 2 x 1st-class Only Fools and Horses SI plus



cylinders: W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 / W1paper / gum: OFNP/SA (backing paper SBP2i)


iridescent: MCIL/M21L (Machins only)perf. gauge: 14¾ x 14 (E) (Machins) / 14¼ x 14 (SI)


Printing & dimensions | Please consult the ‘Standard details’ page at the beginning of this file.

Book cover | This book does not have the standard cover. It follows the example of SB3(64) (Harry Potter), (65) (Marvel) and (72) James Bond, respectively issued in 2018, 2019 and 2020, where the copyright notice and its associated logos took up such a large amount of space at the bottom of the cover that the white barcode box had to be completely redesigned.


The box is the same width as usual (23mm), but is now only 38mm tall instead of 49mm as on standard covers. One consequence is that the FSC mini-label has been reduced in size by 25% and the certification text (size unchanged) have been turned through 90° counterclockwise to appear at the left of the barcode.

The other is that the barcode itself, although the same width and retaining the standard number for books of six (112268), now has bars some 45% shorter than before. All this text is printed in blue. The space below the box is occupied by the current version of the BBC logo, last updated in October 1997 by Martin Lambie-Nairn; to the right of this are the BBC copyright notice for the programme’s logo above another for Royal Mail Group Ltd. The two previous books in this series featuring BBC programmes - (36) Doctor Who and (61) Dad’s Army - did not show either of these features.

The text of the validity notice and the Royal Mail contact details reversed out of the back cover to the right of this box have not changed since the new 0345 telephone numbers were introduced across the range on 31 July 2014. However, because of the reduced space available, it has been moved upwards and aligned with the top of the barcode box on this edition. Compared to the three previous books with this barcode box there is a larger gap (almost 5mm) between the two blocks of text. The top of the ‘6 x 1ST’ text on the front cover is usually more or less level with the top of the box but has been moved upwards by a good 2mm on this edition.

additional BBC logo

and two-line copyright

notice

è

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© MBPC 2021 4/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(78) - ‘Only Fools and Horses’ retail book

Packaging

The barcode printed on the cellophane wrappers of packs of 50 books showing the packing date. The codes at the left contain ‘SB009’ which at

least answers the question posed on page 2 of this file, although it doesn’t explain the sequence of these numbers as the previous issue, ‘National

Parks’, showed ‘SB010’.

...continued

Stamp details

Although very likely printed in 2020 in view of the packing date on the wrapper, these stamps, like those in the previous National Parks book, show the year 2021 in the coding of the iridescent overprint which reads MCIL/M21L. So far only books with the stamps on security backing paper with text printed inverted (i.e. SBP2i) have been found but it is quite possible that copies will also be found with it upright in what is likely a large print run for a popular issue.

The two 41mm x 30mm special issue stamps represent both of the 1st-class values which appeared in the Only Fools and Horses miniature sheet issued on the same day, although here they are self-adhesive and printed in gravure by Walsall instead of in litho on PVAl-gummed paper by Cartor. They were designed by Interabang and show the two principal characters from this cult comedy sitcom produced by the BBC in the 1980s, written by John Sullivan (1946-2011).

On the left-hand stamp is the elder brother, would-be yuppie and boss of Trotters Independent Trading Co., street market wheeler dealers based in the South London district of Peckham (but also with branches in New York and Paris according to the the sign painted on their van), Derek (‘Del Boy’) Trotter; in the series he is played by David Jason (born David White in 1940, knighted in 2005). On the right-hand stamp can be seen his brother Rodney (‘Rodders’), some 12 years younger and a good-natured dreamer. Despite being the intellectual of the family with his two GCEs in Arts and Maths and having the title of financial director, he is generally reduced to doing menial tasks such as carrying boxes and being on the lookout for approaching policemen; he is played by actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, born in 1961. Each stamp also features one of the character’s favourite and oft-repeated sayings: This time next year, we’ll be millionaires! for Del Boy and a generally ironic Cosmic! for Rodney. This is printed in the same shade of yellow as the Queen’s head, value and stamp border.

The matrix left intact around each of the special issues has the stamps placed on the bodywork panels of another of the show’s favourite characters, the brothers’ tatty three-wheeler van, a yellow Reliant Regal Supervan III, also featured on the miniature sheet. The 5mm tab at the right remains visible

when the books are closed; it is also in the van’s greenish-yellow shade and has the issue name reversed out of it in the centre in grey using the typeface and stars that figure in the programme’s logo. The 2mm white strip to the left of this tab contains the seven W1 cylinder numbers present on certain books. From the bottom, reading upwards, these are: cyan, magenta, yellow, black (SI and background), followed by Royal Mail red 2 and iridescent (Machins) and finally phosphor (Machins and SI).

The special issues have a kiss die-cut simulated perforation gauge of 14¼ x 14 and have two 9mm vignetted phosphor bars.

The seven W1 cylinder numbers (the iridescent and phosphor numbers

have been coloured to show their positions since they

are virtually invisible to the naked eye).

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© MBPC 2021 5/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(79) - ‘Paul McCartney’ retail book


Stamp details

on sale: 28 May 2021face value: £5.10 at date of issue

cover: Royal Mail red 2 (2016 Rebrand)barcode: 5 014721 112268contents: 2 x 1st-class Paul McCartney albums SI plus



cylinders: W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 / W1paper / gum: OFNP/SA (backing paper SBP2i)


iridescent: MCIL/M21L (Machins only)perf. gauge: 14¾ x 14 (E) (Machins) / 14¼ x 14¼ (SI)


additional two-line

copyright notice

è


Book cover | This book does not have the standard cover illustrated on page 1 although the differences are slight. There are two extra lines of text situated at the bottom of the cover below the Royal Mail contact details for a double copyright notice, one for Royal Mail Group Ltd and the other for the images. The vast majority of these for all the different items

in this stamp issue were supplied by MPL Communications Inc/Ltd. MPL stands for McCartney Productions Ltd, which is the umbrella company for the business interests of Paul McCartney; it was established in 1969. In addition to handling McCartney’s post-Beatles work, MPL is one of the world’s largest privately owned music publishers through its acquisition of other publishing companies. MPL has its headquarters in New York and London.

To make room for these, the text containing the validity notice has been moved upwards level with the top of the barcode box. As there is no additional logo to accommodate on this occasion, this box is of the same size and layout as on the standard cover. The front cover may always look identical, however the two elements always present, the 6 x 1ST contents line and the Royal Mail cruciform logo, seem to be placed independently each time; for example, the vertical distance between the two measures only 12.5mm for this edition, whereas it was 13mm for National Parks in January this year and 15mm for Only Fools and Horses in February.

Most of the ‘Standard details’ also apply to this book - see page 1. The four Royal Mail red 2 (RMR2) 1st-class Machin definitives have an iridescent overprint which reads MCIL/M21L (see page 2). Books sent out early to dealers by Tallents House seem to have security backing paper with the text printed inverted (i.e. SBP2i) but copies with it upright

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© MBPC 2021 6/10 updated 14-07-21

The eight W1 cylinder numbers(the iridescent and phosphor numbers

have been coloured to show their positions since they are virtually

invisible to the naked eye).

Reading upwards, these are: cyan, magenta, yellow, black

(SI and background), silver (SI head and value), followed by Royal Mail

red 2 and iridescent (Machins), and finally phosphor

(Machins and SI)

SB3(79) - ‘Paul McCartney’ retail book ...continued

(SBP2u) are also likely to appear, especially as this will presumably be quite a large print run. See the note below regarding the book’s paper.

The two 38mm x 31mm special issue stamps represent two out of the four 1st-class values which appeared in a Paul McCartney counter sheet issued on the same day, although here they are self-adhesive and printed in gravure by Walsall instead of in litho on PVAl-gummed paper by Cartor. The design credits go to Royal Mail Group and the small Brighton-based agency Baxter & Bailey although they use Studio Dempsey’s concept for the Classic Album Covers set in 2010 which features part of a black vinyl LP record emerging from the sleeve which has already been revived several times during the last decade, including last year for the Queen stamps. Here though the values, along with the Queen’s head, are printed in silver using the Gill sans font instead of the seriffed typeface of 2020 .

The left-hand stamp shows the debut solo album McCartney, largely recorded in his own studio at his home in London. Released on 17 April 1970 by Apple Records, it reached No. 2 in the UK charts despite being widely criticised for being under-produced compared to the Beatles albums; it included the song Maybe I’m Amazed. Set against a black background, the front cover image consisted of a bowl of cherry-red liquid placed on a cream-coloured wall and surrounded by loose red cherries. On the right-hand stamp is McCartney II, his second solo album, released on 16 May 1980 by Parlophone, again recorded by McCartney at his home studio the previous summer, not long before the dissolution of his band Wings. His wife Linda contributed additional vocals. The album yielded three singles, Coming Up, Waterfalls and Temporary Secretary. Despite largely negative reaction at the time, it succeeded in reaching No. 1 in the UK and has since become cult.

The matrix left intact around each of the special issues features the vibrant design taken from McCartney’s psychedelic ‘Magic Piano’, designed and painted for Paul

Packaging

This image of the barcode printed on the cellophane wrappers of packs of 50 books showing the packing date was submitted by Henk Rijneveld. The

logic behind the SBxxx stock code has become clearer since the issue of the Queen retail book, SB5(35) in March 2021, which filled the gaps in the

sequence from SB001 - 10 (see the table on the final page of this file).SB011 now logically follows on from this.

in 1967 by Dudley Edwards, one of the UK’s leading ‘Pop artists’ and co-founder of the ground-breaking BEV Design Collective along with Douglas Binder and David Vaughan. The 5mm tab at the right remains visible when the books are closed; it shows another section from the background image and has the issue name reversed out of it in white capitals. The 2mm white strip to the left of this tab contains the eight W1 cylinder numbers on certain books which are shown and described above.

The two special issues show gauge 14¼ x 14¼ and have two 9mm DG A2B vignetted phosphor bars.

A further change of paper?It was noticed when the SB3(74) Queen books were issued that the backing paper around the Machins was much whiter than usual and shinier and the wavy ‘Royal Mail’ background text was definitely grey compared to the brownish hue of previous books. Although visible to the naked eye, under UV light, the difference was even more flagrant. The backing paper reaction was much brighter and the phosphor on the stamps appeared very dull in comparison (see page 5 of the ‘SB3 - New issues 2020’ file). This ‘new’ paper has been used for SB3 books since then and even some others, notably for new issues in series SB1 and SB2.

With the first Paul McCartney books, it was immediately obvious that the paper seemed to have reverted to that in use before the Queen book. Here it is shown photographed together with a Only Fools and Horses book under UV light. Has there been a change of heart or have the new paper stocks been exhausted or has a reel of the original paper merely been found and used for this printing? Only time will tell.

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© MBPC 2021 7/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(80) - ‘Dennis & Gnasher’ retail book


Stamp details

on sale: 01 July 2021face value: £5.10 at date of issue

cover: Royal Mail red 2 (2016 Rebrand)barcode: 5 014721 112268contents: 2 x 1st-class Dennis & Gnasher SI plus



cylinders: W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 / W1paper / gum: OFNP/SA (backing paper SBP2i or u)


iridescent: MCIL/M21L (Machins only)perf. gauge: 14¾ x 14 (E) (Machins) / 14½ x 14½ (SI)


additional Beano logo

and three-line copyright

notice

è


Book cover | This book does not have the standard cover. It follows the example of SB3(64) (Harry Potter), (65) (Marvel), (72) James Bond and (78) Only Fools and Horses, respectively issued in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, where the copyright notice and its associated logos took up such a large amount of space at the bottom of the cover that the white barcode box had to be completely redesigned.

The box is the same width as usual (23mm), but is now only 38mm tall instead of 49mm as on standard covers. One consequence is that the FSC mini-label has been reduced in size by 25% and the certification text (size unchanged) have been turned through 90° counterclockwise to appear at the left of the barcode.

The other is that the barcode itself, although the same width and retaining the standard number for books of six (112268), now has bars some 45% shorter than before. All this text is printed in blue. The space below the box is occupied by the current version of The Beano comic logo; this is the world’s longest running comic as it dates back to 1938. It is estimated that 43% of the British public has read The Beano so it has

consequently since become a British pop culture icon. To the right of this, set in three lines, are the copyright notice for Royal Mail Group Ltd and another for D.C. Thomson, family publishers since 1905, for which Beano Studios is the multimedia arm set up to look after The Beano and its merchandise. Unusually the text also includes the name of the licensing company, Rocket Licensing Ltd, launched in 2007 and located in London SE11.

The text of the validity notice and the Royal Mail contact details reversed out of the back cover to the right of this box have not changed since the new 0345 telephone numbers were introduced across the range on 31 July 2014. However, because of the reduced space available, it has been moved upwards and aligned with the top of the barcode box on this edition. Compared to the three previous books with this barcode box there is a larger gap (almost 5mm) between the two blocks of text. The top of the ‘6 x 1ST’ text on the front cover is more or less level with the top of the box whereas on the similar Only Fools and Horses cover in February it was 2mm higher, so there is now only a 13mm vertical gap instead of 15mm between the bottom of the figure ‘1’ and the top of the Royal Mail cruciform logo compared to that edition.

The books examined showed distinct ‘tramlines’ across the front covers, no doubt as a result of excessive pressure when going through rollers at the printers.

The four red 1st-class Machin stamps, like those in the previous SB3 books issued this year, show the year 2021 in the coding of the iridescent overprint which reads MCIL/M21L. The book examined has the stamps on security backing paper with text printed inverted (i.e. SBP2i); this seems to be the case of books supplied by Tallents House while copies found in post offices have so far been reported with it upright (i.e. SBP2u). This book exhibits a brighter and glossier version of the backing paper than used on the McCartney book in May.

The two 35mm x 35mm special issue stamps represent both of the 1st-class values which appeared in the Dennis and Gnasher miniature sheet issued on the same day, along with two stamps with a £1.70 value; although self-adhesive as those in the sheet, here they are printed in gravure by

MBPC••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


© MBPC 2021 8/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(80) - ‘Dennis & Gnasher’ retail book ...continued

Packaging

Images of the barcode printed on the cellophane wrappers of packs of 50 books showing two different packing dates were sent in by Henk Rijneveld and Brian Morris. The stock code shows ‘SB012’ which logically follows the

‘SB011’ used for the Paul McCartney edition in May 2021.

The seven W1 cylinder numbers (the iridescent and phosphor

numbers have been coloured to show their positions since they are virtually invisible to the naked eye):

cyan, magenta, yellow, black

(SI and background), followed by Royal Mail red 2 and iridescent (Machins) and finally

phosphor (Machins and SI)

Walsall instead of in litho by Cartor. The sheet celebrates the 70th anniversary of the iconic, much-loved character of Dennis and his dog Gnasher. It was designed by Manchester based agency The Chase and was exclusively illustrated by the current Dennis artist, D.C. Thomson’s British cartoonist Nigel Parkinson, whose career in comics began in 1980. His first work for The Beano was in 1997 and he began drawing Dennis the Menace two years later, alternating with various other artists until 2012 when he was commissioned by D.C. Thomson to become the sole official Dennis artist.

The sheet concludes the story from the specially designed comic strip in the presentation pack and wishes Dennis a happy birthday. On the left-hand stamp is Dennis himself, originally called Dennis the Menace, a name which leaves us in little doubt that he represents the archetypal badly behaved schoolboy. With his black spiky hair and a cheeky grin, he is always seen in a red and black striped jumper and black shorts, although his first appearance in The Beano on 17 March 1951 was in black and white, drawn by artist David Law. The main storyline is his campaign of terror against his arch-enemy Walter Brown and others considered to be ‘softies’.

On the right-hand stamp can be seen his adopted ‘mischievous mutt’ or pet dog, Gnasher, apparently a black Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound. Dennis found the dog on the street in the issue of the comic dated 31 August 1968 on his way to the dog show at the local town hall. Gnasher became a regular from this point onwards. To picture the dog it was suggested to the original artist that he simply draw Dennis’s hair and “put a leg on each corner and two eyeballs at that end”, although over time he has come to look more like an actual dog. He has extremely strong teeth that can leave teethmarks in seemingly anything, and he enjoys chasing postmen. His name comes from the British slang for teeth (gnashers). The G at the beginning of his and his son Gnipper’s names is not pronounced and most of their speech bubbles also consist of normal English words beginning with the letter N with a silent G added to the beginning for comic effect.

The matrix left intact around each of the special issues is composed of red and black stripes to suggest Dennis’s famous pullover. The 5mm tab at the right remains visible

when the books are closed although it is hard to distinguish it from the book’s front cover, being printed in almost the same red shade; it has the issue name reversed out of it along with miniature portraits of the two characters. The 2mm white strip to the left of this tab contains the seven W1 cylinder numbers present on certain books. These are illustrated and described above.

The special issues have a kiss die-cut simulated perforation gauge of 14½ x 14½ and have two 9mm vignetted phosphor bars. Unlike those on the litho-printed miniature sheet, the die-cut teeth do not have small uncut sections designed to keep them attached to the matrix and the vignetted sections of the phosphor bars are merely printed with a less intense screen rather than the clearly visible large dots on the litho stamps.

MBPC••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


© MBPC 2021 9/10 updated 14-07-21

SB3(81) - ‘Wild Coasts’ retail book


Stamp details

on sale: 22 July 2021face value: £5.10 at date of issue

cover: Royal Mail red 2 (2016 Rebrand)barcode: 5 014721 112268contents: 2 x 1st-class Wild Coasts SI plus



cylinders: W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 W1 / W1paper / gum: OFNP/SA (backing paper SBP2i)


iridescent: MCIL/M21L (Machins only)perf. gauge: 14¾ x 14 (E) (Machins) / 14½ x 14½ (SI)


The seven W1 cylinder numbers (the iridescent and phosphor

numbers have been coloured to show their positions since they are virtually invisible to the naked eye):

cyan, magenta, yellow, black

(SI and background), followed by Royal Mail red 2 and iridescent (Machins) and finally

phosphor (Machins and SI)

Printing, dimensions and book cover | This book has the standard cover. Please consult the ‘Standard details’ page at the beginning of this file.

Most of the ‘Standard details’ also apply to this book (see page 1). The four Royal Mail red 2 (RMR2) 1st-class Machin definitives naturally still have an iridescent overprint which reads MCIL/M21L (see page 2). Books have only been seen so far with the text printed on the security backing paper inverted below the larger upright lines reading ROYAL MAIL, i.e. SBP2i. This edition has the same glossy, very white, thinner paper used for most SB3 books since Queen, issued in July 2020.

The two 35mm square special issue stamps represent two of the ten 1st-class values which appeared in two Wild Coasts counter sheets issued on the same day, although here they are self-adhesive and printed in gravure by Walsall instead of in litho on PVAl-gummed paper by Cartor. The set was the work of Steers McGillan Eves Design of Bath and features a small selection of the 3,000 or so species of animal and plant life known to inhabit UK coastal waters. The left-hand stamp shows the Orca (Orcinus orca), an effective, intelligent hunter

and apex predator, often called the ‘killer whale’, one of the largest members of the dolphin family. Transient groups can be sighted in waters all around the UK, although only one resident population of eight or fewer animals is known in the Outer Hebrides. On the right-hand stamp is a Grey Seal pup (Halichoerus grypus). UK waters are home to almost half of the world’s grey seal population; Blakeney Point in Norfolk, in particular, has seen the number of pups born there increase from just 25 in 2001 to well over 3,000 in 2019.

The matrix left intact around each of the special issues features part of the background illustration by French artist Maïté Franchi used on the Marine Food Chain miniature sheet which accompanies this set. The 5mm tab at the right remains visible when the books are closed and has the issue name reversed out of it. The 2mm white strip to the left of this tab contains the seven W1 cylinder numbers on certain books which are shown and described above.

The two special issues show gauge 14½ x 14½ and have two 9mm DG A2B vignetted phosphor bars.

Packaging

This image of the barcode printed on the cellophane wrappers of packs of 50 books showing the packing date was sent in by Henk Rijneveld. The Dennis & Gnasher book showed stock code ‘SB012’, so what are ‘SB013’ and ‘SB014’?

Surely somewhat early for this year’s Christmas books?

MBPC••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


© MBPC 2021 10/10 updated 14-07-21

listed in order of SBxxx number earliest packing date known

date of issue

SB001 Coronation Street SB3(73) 18.03.20 28.05.20

SB002 London 2020 SB5(34) 11.02.20 10.03.20

SB003 Queen 1 SB3(74) 11.05.20 09.07.20

SB004 Queen 2 SB5(35) 12.01.21 29.03.21

SB005 Sherlock Holmes SB3(75) 15.06.20 18.08.20

SB006 Christmas 12 x 1st SB6(41) 07.07.20 03.11.20

SB007 Christmas 12 x 2nd SB6(42) 30.07.20 03.11.20

SB008 Star Trek SB3(76) 08.09.20 13.11.20

SB009 Only Fools & Horses SB3(78) 07.01.21 16.02.21

SB010 National Parks SB3(77) 11.11.20 14.01.21

SB011 Paul McCartney SB3(79) 24.03.21 28.05.21

SB012 Dennis & Gnasher SB3(80) 25.03.21 01.07.21

SB013 ??

SB014 ??

SB015 Wild Coasts SB3(81) 12.05.21 22.07.21

listed chronologically earliest packing date known

date of issue

SB002 London 2020 SB5(34) 11.02.20 10.03.20

SB001 Coronation Street SB3(73) 18.03.20 28.05.20

SB003 Queen 1 SB3(74) 11.05.20 09.07.20

SB005 Sherlock Holmes SB3(75) 15.06.20 18.08.20

SB006 Christmas 12 x 1st SB6(41) 07.07.20 03.11.20

SB007 Christmas 12 x 2nd SB6(42) 30.07.20 03.11.20

SB008 Star Trek SB3(76) 08.09.20 13.11.20

SB010 National Parks SB3(77) 11.11.20 14.01.21

SB009 Only Fools & Horses SB3(78) 07.01.21 16.02.21

SB004 Queen 2 SB5(35) 12.01.21 29.03.21

SB011 Paul McCartney SB3(79) 24.03.21 28.05.21

SB012 Dennis & Gnasher SB3(80) 25.03.21 01.07.21

SB015 Wild Coasts SB3(81) 12.05.21 22.07.21

The stock code printed to the left of the barcode on the cellophane wrapping of recent packs of 50 retail books from series SB3, SB5 and SB6 has varied somewhat from one issue to the next. On SB3 it was SB6F (6 First-class Stamp Books) above two to three letters echoing the book title e.g. VID for Video Games on SB3(71). The following book, for James Bond, showed JB / UB430, i.e. the Tallents House catalogue code for the book in question. On the other hand, issued a week earlier, The London 2020 book, SB5(34) had showed LDN/SB002. This was the first in a series of codes for new books (i.e. not those just containing reprinted 1st-class Machins with a new year code) in the same SB style (presumably an abbreviation for ‘Stamp Book’) but often with gaps in the numbering or some numbers coming before others had appeared.

With the second Queen book, those gaps have been filled and the sequence from SB001 - 10 is complete. They are listed in the tables below, firstly in the chronological order in which they appeared and secondly in numerical order, SB001 - 10 (now extended to include subsequent issues). We have just over a full year of issued retail books and it would be logical to suppose that the SBxxx numbers correspond to the place of each in an issuance schedule. Although a few long-standing questions such as ‘What was SB004?’ have now been answered - it is obvious that this second Queen book had its place in the system reserved very early on - it suggests that the printing or issue dates for some issues were shuffled round a little. It will be interesting to see if this SB number remains a part of the stock code for the books which appear over the coming year. This appears to be the case, although new gaps in the numbering are now emerging.

Stock codes on recent booklet packaging

MBPC - backonline.apswiss.ch · partially sighted identify the contents as being 1st-class stamps...

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