Well done mate! 

I am least salty with you onket as I ended up grabbing those two Rasta phatzos you showed me he had going . 

Genuinely keen to know what people are writing to score with Actually. I'm wondering if they just CBF posting to Australia..? Has anyone further than France has any luck? 

Onwards and upwards. The prints are stunners so much love to anyone who grabbed one. 

Nice! Did the tube come tagged like the previous print?

1.  Please forgive the nerdiness of what follows.



2.  While the postage stamps in the above photos may have slipped through the reliably‑inconsistent security net of Royal Mail on this occasion, they do look potentially fake to me.



3.  Since Royal Mail's introduction of barcoded definitive stamps in 2022, counterfeiters have focused more of their attention on (non‑barcoded) commemorative stamps, like this Aardman Classics release from 2022.

The significant increase in UK postage prices also seems to have fueled cases of fraud. Two‑and‑a‑half years ago, a 1st Class stamp would cost £0.95. Now it's £1.65.



4.  Most fakes apparently originate from China.

They are then offloaded wholesale by the thousands or tens of thousands to unscrupulous UK‑based retailers, for a few pence per stamp, and resold especially on eBay and Amazon.

The retailer listings sometimes feature photos of authentic sheets of stamps, but what buyers end up receiving are fakes. Bait and switch.

More often than not, the quickest way of spotting scammer‑retailers is by their prices. Fakes (resembling Royal Mail stamps released over the last few years) are typically sold to punters for about a third of their face value.

Presumably, buyers will kid themselves into believing they're somehow getting a bargain. They might even falsely assume they're acquiring stolen genuine stamps, as opposed to counterfeit ones.



5.  Regarding the stamps themselves, there are multiple tells that help to identify fakes, but of course they're much easier to notice when compared side‑by‑side with authentic Royal Mail stamps.

Because the paper used for fakes is cheaper, and the printing process is more cheaply done, colouration can sometimes be a bit off. The perforated edges in particular are also more prone to fraying and to ink loss.

When an image with perforated edges is reproduced to create a fake, this is most easily done by first cropping the perforations. A counterfeit stamp will therefore often feature a slightly cropped version of the original (wider) image from an authentic stamp.

Among the many security features for a number of Royal Mail stamp releases are phosphor bands. These can be viewed under UV light. Here, it's worth mentioning that some of the good fakes have bands that are created using varnish, which has the misleading appearance of phosphor bands when examined only superficially in raking light.



6.  Circling back to the Aardman Classics 1st Class stamps, below are what authentic, 2022 Royal Mail versions should look like:







Note, for example, the spacing along the edges, such as the relative distance between the Queen's profile silhouette and the left edge of both stamps. Now compare that distance with the stamps used by Actually when dispatching their TOX prints.



7.  In case anyone has the inclination to do their own side‑by‑side assessments, independently and in‑person, then (for reference purposes) authentic Aardman Classics Presentation Packs can be purchased on:


(i)  the Royal Mail website for £21.70:

shop.royalmail.com/aardman-classics-presentation-pack

or

(ii) eBay (using search terms like "Aardman Classics Presentation Pack No 623") for about £14 or £15.


[Since there isn't a sufficient financial incentive to fake entire Presentation Packs, postage stamps from these packs on eBay are unlikely to be fake.

The difference in cost between the Royal Mail website and eBay can in part be explained by the fact that, when Aardman Classics was originally released in 2022, 1st Class and 2nd Class postage stamps were significantly cheaper than they are today. Pricing on the Royal Mail website reflects the current higher prices.]

Many of us had to pay again to receive items posted out to us by Actually in the past, so for me the above quote is the important bit! 👍

Love the tube train blind stamp!

Hi all, great to see the prints arriving, would love to see more photos, especially of people get them up on the wall.

I haven’t logged on here for a couple of weeks, but if anyone got a spare hand signed map they don’t want I would love to add one to my collection. Hit me up! 🙏🏻🙌🏻

Fantastic!! 

Wonderful gesture, Devizes /\_/\.

Super stuff.

Ah mate, that’s very kind. I’m happy to do some trades, I’ll DM you. 🙌🏻🙏🏻

This is what it's all about. 👍👍

I’m pleased with my t-shirt (which is ‘actually’ very good quality) and for those with an interest in stamps, they very generously used £10.65 worth of commemorative stamps. 😉

Wow 😮

Correct, last year was the quote from the judge.

I received the tee ! Immense one ( well I’m not too skinny so it will match )
Only stamps and tee. Waiting for the print now and pray to get it with a map too 🙏





come back gif