Yes or No a Personalized Stamp?

It is keeping me busy: Personalized Stamps. Not that I am losing myself in it, but sometimes I find a stamp that strongly attracts my attention. I do make them myself now and then, but more to send my mail in a nice way. I only add them to my collection when a nice example crosses my way.
In this way I got a stamp in my collection with a Solex moped, with next to it a lady and the text 'The years 50'.
I assumed this stamp had been made by somebody at home, like it is done by myself and many other club members. Never looked at it in more detail. Until, after the request of Paul in the former newsletter, a club member and collector of PS's mailed a number of images. Amongst them was a stamp with a Puch "Teddy boy", which he described as "made by TNT" (the official Dutch post company). Of course I mailed him that this was probably a personal issue, but he assured me that it was issued by TNT. Time for some more research.
On the TNT website we only find information about a few series of this moment, like the Porsche series and Sinterklaas 2009 stamps. But…. this taught me that there are many PS's that are at least semi-official: issued by TNT itself and sold through the regular channels (post offices and philatelic service).
Okay, first some more info about the 'Years' stamps. Google delivered a large number of hits and then I remembered that I had some time seen an announcement about a DAF-stamp, that often popped up during my search on the web. The TNT years 50/60/70 Personalized stamp series.

 

Promotion stamps 'the years 50/60/70'.

Promotion book 'the years 50/60/70'

Soon it turned out that TNT, in co-operation with the Publisher of various (women) magazines, issues large series that can only be obtained by subscription. In this way I found, next to a series of flowers in co-operation with the women magazine Margriet, a large series of butterfly stamps.
The Years 50/60/70 series appeared to be issued together with Plus Magazine, a magazine aimed at the older young woman. In February 2008 they started the series, for which the Plus readers could earlier send in desired themes. If you have a subscription to this series, you receive every month 2 specially made sheets plus info sheets about an event or other subject from the named years. The sheets are issued in an edition of 10.000 copies each, and in the end there will be 75 sheets. So, in total this takes almost 3 years.

All of this would not be interesting for us if, next to sheets with Hippies, TopPop, Sesame Street, the broadcasting of 'Open het dorp' by Mies Bouwman or Wim Kan, there was not a moped on some of them.
Before we mentioned the Solex stamp. On the info sheet there are a number of things worth knowing, a.o. the production record of 66.000 Solexes in 1965.

Solex stamp from the 'Years 50/60/70' serie

Infotekst behorend bij de Solex zegel

The other sheet shows us a young couple on a Puch moped. Complete with high handlebars and 'Ding-Dong' bell. And of course also this one is coming with an info sheet.

Puch stamp from the 'Years 50/60/70' serie

Information sheet belonging at the Puch zegel

The Years sheets distinguish themselves from normal PS sheets by the text in the upper margin, that starts at the left in a large, open font.
I don't know whether there will be more stamps in this series with images that are interesting for us motorcycle philatelists. But the big question is of course how we should handle these semi-official issues. Do they yes or no belong to the official TNT issues? After all they have been available for everyone through the regular channels. Or are they Personalized stamps, because they are brought about together with Plus Magazine? I think this discussion has not ended yet. For the moment I just try to get these sheets to add them to my collection.
Hans de Kloet

 

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