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This Christmas our favourite festive character collectable, The Snowman©, is raising money for the children’s charitable organisation, ChildLine. A limited edition commemorative Stamp Sheet featuring Raymond Brigg’s character has been designed and created by the independent stamp covers manufacturer Buckingham Covers to celebrate ChildLine’s 20th Birthday and raise funds for a very worthy cause.

Although new to the collectables industry, commemorative stamp sheets are already hot property, commanding good money on the secondary market, so The Snowman© sheet is sure to be an instant sell-out success, appealing not only to stamp collectors but also to those avid and loyal Snowman fans.

Each sheet has instant appeal as it is created from original artwork donated by Raymond Briggs himself and some of the limited edition covers will even bear the author’s authentic personalised signature, thus adding to the value. The last time The Snowman© appeared on a set of Christmas stamps was back in 2003, issued by the Isle of Man Post Office along with a first day cover sheet. However, Buckingham released an alternative cover at the same time in a limited edition size of 1,000 which were genuinely signed by Raymond Briggs. The Isle of Man version has a very low value on today’s market but the Buckingham Covers alternative has almost doubled in price.

Buckingham Cover’s success is largely due to their extensive knowledge of the collectors market as their owner Tony Buckingham has been in the industry for many years. His first company, Benham, issued a Winnie-the-Pooh cover in 1979, which was available in a limited edition size of 5,000. Christopher Milne, the son of Winnie-the-Pooh’s creator A.A. Milne, personally signed some of these covers. Many of you will know that Christopher’s childhood name was Christopher Robin, a tag that dogged his life and one he was only too glad to forget. Although Milne signed some of the Benham covers to raise money for charity, he made it perfectly clear that it gave him no pleasure to be associated with this famous bear and refused to sign as “Christopher Robin.”

Recently this 1979 Winnie-the-Pooh cover has sold for a record £175, a far cry from its original retail price of £3.  Ellie Hopkins, Director at Buckingham Covers recommends, “If you see a Winnie-the-Pooh cover for under £200, snap it up, as most cover dealers have a waiting list and the value is likely to continue to rise.”

Tony sold Benham in 1997 before setting up Buckingham Covers in 2000 and today every limited edition released by Buckingham Covers becomes sought after by collectors. One of the most recent issues to look out for and one I recommend you snap up quickly is “Paddington Bear.” Once again a limited edition and personally signed by Michael Bond, the duffle-coated bear’s creator, this cover appeals to collectors of teddy bears as well as cover and stamp collectors, so you need to act quickly as it will certainly be a sell out success for just £25.

I was recently approached by Buckingham Covers and ChildLine to personally endorse their collectable stamp sheets and covers, something I am more than happy to do, as they are not only must-have items for avid stamp collectors but also relate to almost every category within the collectables industry; thus appealing to collectors across the board.

As many of you will know, The Snowman© is one of my areas of expertise and is also a particular favourite of mine, so I encourage collectors to invest in these newly released stamp sheets. Not only will you be adding a fantastic new piece to your Snowman collection, you’ll also be donating money to a worthy charitable cause. 

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INFORMATION

For your Snowman Sheet please visit www.buckinghamcovers.com or alternatively www.childline.org.uk 

Unsigned retail at £19.95 and personally autographed by Raymond Briggs is  £29.95.

Useful resources
Buckingham Covers
tel: 01303 850688
email: sales@buckinghamcovers.com
www.buckinghamcovers.com