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July 2016 | | Dear Member, As the whole world goes crazy over Pokémon, we do the same. We give you a short introduction to the phenomenon, and how it relates to Stampworld. We also present a new cooperation with a large player in the philatelic industry, as well as some great offers from our great partner Nordfrim. Lastly we look at what's to come for Stampworld. | | | | Pokemon - Gotta Catch 'Em All! Over the past few weeks, you might have been wondering why people from all over the world are practically glued to their smartphones, constantly changing directions, and collectively moving towards seemingly random locations. The reason for this seemingly irrational behavior is simple - Pokémon Go. A few weeks ago, Pokémon Go, a mobile game based on the 90's hit children's TV show Pokémon, was launched, after being eagerly awaited by people from across the world. The purpose of the game is to catch as many Pokémons, or Pocket Monsters, as possible. The Pokémons are scattered around at locations in the real world, and in order to catch them, players have to get out on the streets and get moving. 
Pokémon was originally a Japanese children's TV show, but as the success of the show grew in the 90's, the franchise grew to include various other categories such as collectible card games, Nintendo GameBoy games, and practically all other areas of accessories. In the beginning of the 21st century, even the postal services wanted to be a part of the success. Between year 2000 and 2005, a wide range of Pokémon themed stamps were issued from various postal services. The most prominent issue was from Japan Post in 2005, where five stamps were issued, that each carried a single Pokémon. The stamps were available individually, as well as part of a minisheet with each stamp represented twice. The minisheet is pictured here. The Japanese issue can be found here. A selection of Pokémon themed issues from other countries can be found in the Stampworld catalogue here, and here. | | New cooperation - MICHEL Catalogues | | As mentioned in the previous newsletter, we have recently entered into a new cooperation with a large player in the philatelic industry. We are happy to announce our cooperation with the Schwaneberger Verlag, which is the company behind the world-renowned MICHEL catalogues. 
The MICHEL catalogues were published by Hugo Michel, and the first issue was published in 1910 in Apolda, a small town near Weimar in Germany. The first issue was 112 pages long, and covered European stamps. Since then the catalogue has expanded significantly, and today the basic catalogue spans 13 volumes, and covers the entire world. The MICHEL catalogues have been a point of reference for many years, as it contains detailed information, which is not easily available in English catalogues such as Scott. The MICHEL numbering system is widely used, and is the primary numbering system used in Western Europe. As the catalogues are written in German, MICHEL provides a guide to English-speakers, on how to interpret the information provided. The guide can be found here. Though Stampworld provides a very large selection of stamps from around the globe, we are aware that we are not complete when it comes to specialty catalogues. Here MICHEL has a clear benefit, as they provide specialized catalogues for a range of countries, as well as a series of thematic catalogues. You can find the full selection of specialized MICHEL catalogues here. | | Need new accessories for your collection? Look no further than Nordfrim  Nordfrim is one of the worlds leading distributors of philatelic accessories, and over many years of service, they have developed a strong network, allowing them to ship orders to all corners of the world.
Nordfrim always carry more than 13,000 articles in their stock, and they are constantly updating this, to ensure that they have exactly what their customers are looking for. They recently published their summer brochure, which was featured in the previous newsletter, and can be found here. They have more than 60 pages of great offers, so there is something for everyone. We have highlighted a few good offers from the Nordfrim Outlet here: 
Denmark - 1200 different stamps - EUR 56 - Save EUR 56! 
Niger 1980-1991 - 156 stamps and 21 souvenir sheets - EUR 34 - Save EUR 34! Nordfrim offers a wide range of other products, so make sure that you check out their online store. 
| | What is new at Stampworld? We will be making upgrades to the "Buy Stamps" section of Stampworld, in order to improve the experience for the buyers and making the purchase process much smoother. One of the changes we are making, is a large-scale improvement of the "Buy Collections" section. We are improving the look and feel of the site, as well as adding more detailed information, which will be readily available, without having to open the sales ad. We are also adding the option of uploading several pictures to each collection, as this allows sellers to showcase more of the collection they are selling. On top of that, we are adding additional search options and filters, so it is easier to browse the site. We look forward to sharing this with you soon. If you would like to sell your own stamps at Stampworld, you can easily do so. All you have to do is upgrade your account to a sellers account, and you are good to go! Sellers subscriptions start at $39,95. If you are not sure whether selling on Stampworld is for you, you can try it out at a small scale. You can do this by upgrading to a VIP subscription. The VIP account allows you to put a limited number of stamps for sale, but that is not the only benefit. The VIP account also allows you to use Stampworld without having to see advertisements, along with a range of other benefits. By upgrading your account, you are also supporting the future development of Stampworld, as the development and maintenance of the site is a very large task. You can see more about upgrading your account here. At Stampworld, we do our best to serve you the content that we believe you would appreciate the most. The best way for us to do that, is by knowing your specific areas of interests in relation to stamp collection. When we know what countries you are primarily interested in and what themes you prefer, we can provide you with content, news and great offers that relate to these areas. If you wish to fill in your interests, you can do it right here, or by going to your profile at Stampworld.com. | | | | To stay informed about everything happening at Stampworld.com you can like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.You can also keep an eye on the website, as improvements are implemented regularly. If you wish to unsubscribe from our newsletter, you can follow the link at the very bottom of this mail. | | | | |
