Mysore :

Fifa World Cup 2014 stamps, miniature sheets and first-day covers are up for grabs at the Philately Bureau of the Mysore Head Post Office, Nazarabad.

Philatelists and soccer fans in Mysore made their way to post offices on Friday morning, snapping up over 6,000 stamps. Three of the stamps depict players in action; the fourth one is of mascot Fuleco.

“A total of 514 sheets, each of all the four stamps, are being sold. Each sheet comprises 49 stamps; 4,000 miniature sheets are also available. In addition, 560 first-day Covers and 560 information sheets are on display too. Stamps worth of Rs 9,95,580 are here,” said S Mahadevaiah, senior post master.

“We have 849 philately account holders. When Sachin Tendulakar’s 200 century commemoration stamp was released, we got a good response. Around 1 lakh stamps were sold then. This time, too, we are expecting a similar response,” he added.

The Head Post Office will despatch these stamps to the regional post offices at Nanjangud, Kollegal, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Davanagere, Tumkur, Tiptur, Mandya, Madikeri and Srirangapatna. In Mysore, the stamps will be on sale at the Saraswathipuram Head Post Office from Saturday.

Philatelist Anand Kumar observes: “These commemorative stamps popularize sports especially among youths. India Post must release sports-related stamps on every such occasion.”

“The size of the stamps could have been increased. The pictures are not clearly visible and not so attractive,” says Nagendra, a student of Banvai College.

A set of four stamps costs Rs 60. Two stamps cost Rs 25 each and two Rs 5 each. First-day covers cost Rs 5 and information sheets Rs 5, said Tabassum, a postal assistant at the Mysore Head Post Office.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home>  City> Mysore / TNN / June 14th, 2014