Canada Post vs Theodore Champion SA

Two months without blog, three months between three roofs, it is finally time to come back on olf and pleasant news.

Last May, I was disappointed facing how I can get what I wanted of the Canada-France joint issue for the 400 year anniversary of Québec City.

Either I paid eight euros for the classical French post's joint issue presentation pack (the first was, I think, for the 1997 Euroregion SAR.LOR.LUX stamp)¹ but I wouldn't have the margin inscriptions of the Canadian issue, or I ordered the full Canadian sheet of sixteen stamps because Canada Post do no more cut stamps into gummed sheets for ordering customers. But again problems: their full ordering website is far too complex and I don't want to use so much room for my collection (one sheet per issue...).

The miracle came surprisingly from the French new issue specialist, the anonymous society Théodore Champion and its hostesses at the June 2008 Paris Stampshow.


These ladies (who I never saw at the Drouot street shop) had at the collector's disposal the dreaming piece: sheets had not been fully cut into individual stamps. There were corner blocks that Canada Post succeeded to design up to the Israelian tabs. And at a price, superior to the face value, but reasonable compared to my two other options.

Really, this show was better on the merchant's side than of the one of overpopulated counters of the French post. But, I will be kind with Phil@poste: Canada Post is selling gummed stamps by the whole sheet only. Phil@poste do not do it... not yet :)

Notes:
1 : look at the Wikipedian article for more about the SaarLorLux concept.