Paralympian Stamps

[martint235]

This has come out of a discussion on twitter with CeePeeBee (and believe me it's very difficult to have a meaningful discussion in 140 characters).

The Royal Mail have decided that, unlike the Olympics where each gold medallist will appear on their own stamp, the Paralympian gold medallists will all appear on just one stamp at the end of the Games. The justification for this is that there are likely to be too many Paralympian gold medallists. Personally I think this sucks. Yes in Beijing we won 42 golds at the Paralympics (iirc) but once the idea was born that each gold medallist gets their own stamp, it should be continued.

It does strike me as a decision made by committee (or possibly the media). Someone somewhere has had a bright idea "Hey let's put each gold medallist on their own stamp to celebrate" but no one has bothered to sanity check it before it got handed to the enthusiastic people who tend to run with these ideas.

Don't misunderstand me, I think it's a great idea to do this but if, as Royal Mail now says, there are logistical and design difficulties coping with the number of golds expected in the Paralympics, this should have been thought of beforehand not after the process was started.

So what do the forummers think, should Royal Mail be pressured to back down over this? Perhaps rather than rush the stamps out as they are doing with the Olympians, they could release one per week in the order in which they are won for the Paralympians?

 

[buddha]

As wooden block printing has now been superseded by more modern methods, is cost and effort really an issue?
I'd guess it boils down to a perception that "the paralympics don't really matter"

 

[Night Train]

I'd guess it boils down to a perception that "the paralympics don't really matter"

That's how I see it.
Wouldn't surprise me if they said 'Lets use second class stamps'.

They are good enough to win golds, they are good enough to be up there with others who win golds.

 

[StuAff]

The British Paralympic Association issued the following statement yesterday.
"Royal Mail's special stamps and gold postboxes to celebrate Team GB's gold medals have prompted questions on whether there are also plans to celebrate ParalympicsGB's gold medals. The BPA have been working closely with the Royal Mail and are very pleased with the final plans.

These consist of a special series of six stamps that will feature all medallists and will be released after the Games and a gold post box in the home town of every gold medallist. In addition Royal Mail have provided a £200k prize fund which will be divided up equally between all the gold medallists.
This is not the exactly the same as Team GB where each gold medal winning performance is commemorated by a stamp but this is for a very good reason. In Beijing, ParalympicsGB won 42 gold medals over 10 days of competition, including nine in one day, and we are expecting a similarly world-class level of performance from our athletes this time around. As a result, it is logistically and practically impossible for Royal Mail to produce an individual stamp for every one of the gold medallists for ParalympicsGB.
We have worked closely with Royal Mail to identify a creative for the stamps which ensures that British Paralympians are recognised for their fantastic achievements and we are very pleased by the result. This is a first in the history of the Paralympics."
Yes, RM could issue stamps over a longer period...but they couldn't have the same impact.

 

[martint235]

I wouldn't expect the BPA to come out and openly criticise the RM over this. However when the idea was first mooted someone should have said "But what happens if the Paralympians win 42 medals again?".

What would have happened if the Olympians had won 30+ which is feasible given that VP has been unlucky not to get two plus other people who were expected to do better than they actually did.

 

[StuAff]

Mart, I'm sure that that's a problem the design and production people would do their best to solve....Logistically, it's a very serious challenge though- this is the first time stamps have been issued within 24 hours. The image for each one has to be selected within an hour of the event, then on to the design team, then to the printers, and then out to be distributed for sale by lunchtime the next day. The most golds that have been won in one day is four (I think)- trying to do that and more every single day in the Paralympics I think would be almost impossible.

 

[martint235]

Mart, I'm sure that that's a problem the design and production people would do their best to solve....Logistically, it's a very serious challenge though- this is the first time stamps have been issued within 24 hours. The image for each one has to be selected within an hour of the event, then on to the design team, then to the printers, and then out to be distributed for sale by lunchtime the next day. The most golds that have been won in one day is four (I think)- trying to do that and more every single day in the Paralympics I think would be almost impossible.

But that's why I suggested spreading them out. I think the athletes would be happy with that (I would) so long as there is a concrete commitment by RM that every athlete will get a stamp. I think it would actually make people more aware too. At present we've just got a glut of stamps with lots of people on them, wouldn't it have more impact if each week was a different person?

The fact is that that paralympics simply don't have the impact that the 'real' olympics have, It's sad, but it's true.

I agree and it's a shame. I had hoped that our performance last time may have changed this though.

 

[StuAff]

But that's why I suggested spreading them out. I think the athletes would be happy with that (I would) so long as there is a concrete commitment by RM that every athlete will get a stamp. I think it would actually make people more aware too. At present we've just got a glut of stamps with lots of people on them, wouldn't it have more impact if each week was a different person?

I certainly wouldn't argue with that.

 

[martint235]

Not really on topic but this I just don't understand. What did they hope to achieve by vandalising a gold post box? Then again though it is in Yorkshire and they are most definitely weird there

 

[marinyork]

Not really on topic but this I just don't understand. What did they hope to achieve by vandalising a gold post box? Then again though it is in Yorkshire and they are most definitely weird there

It's a shame, because I thought it was a nice idea. I thought ours looks better than the one in Hebden Bridge too.

What the story doesn't point out is that in Sheffield the last 5 years they've been removing the old fashioned post boxes like the clappers, so the choice of post boxes to paint golden is severely constrained compared to what it was before. Although RM were completely wrong to remove so many of the post boxes, they always were favourites with vandals I'm afraid and a golden one would become irresistible. I was actually expecting it to be vandalised or set on fire,but not this soon.

 

[marinyork]

l and design difficulties coping with the number of golds expected in the Paralympics, this should have been thought of beforehand not after the process was started.

So what do the forummers think, should Royal Mail be pressured to back down over this? Perhaps rather than rush the stamps out as they are doing with the Olympians, they could release one per week in the order in which they are won for the Paralympians?

Yes, I think this is a good suggestion.

Contrary to what other people think about 'impact', the paraolympic games will probably be forgotten about quicker than the olympics, so I disagree depending on what you mean by 'impact'. Some recognition afterwards seems very fitting rather than worrying about doing it the day after.

 

[jayonabike]

I think Royal Mail should stop wasting money on golden post boxes and Olympic stamps and give me a proper living wage instead.

 

[Maz]

The postbox painted gold in Sheffield city centre for Jess Ennis was vandalised and covered in graffiti...which has now been painted over again...in gold.

 

[rich p]

Who uses stamps these days?

 

[martint235]

Who uses stamps these days?

These are big stamps Rich. You could use them to hold a crisp packet in place.