Royal Mail's interesting Smilers photostamps come in three distinct series. The first kind was launched at The Stamp Show 2000 and this type of sheet format continues to be available. Orders can be placed by sending a suitable photograph to Royal Mail, by transmitting a digital image via the Internet, or now by posing in one of the nationwide Snap Digital photobooths to be found in Post Offices and the likes of Safeways supermarkets.
    In all instances, the photostamps are sent by post to the customer. The ordering process is very slick and a recent order placed by a family member on a Monday was in their hands on the Thursday, which is most impressive. Read the article that appeared in the Philatelic Bulletin, during 2003 for further background details to this range of sheets.
    The second series is the so-called generic sheet. These are produced to enable philatelic customers to acquire the stamps that appear alongside the photographs in the first series, but without needing to pay for the premium digital photographic service. Instead, the labels are pre-printed with an appropriate generic image and have attractive margins. Sheets sold initially for 50p (now 55p) per sheet above the face value of the stamps.
    These have proved to be extremely popular with collectors and, since Royal Mail issued an album dedicated to these items during 2003, the prices have substantially risen, as collectors try to fill their gaps. The star items are the pair of 2001 Christmas Robin and Cracker design sheets with the short-lived 'Consignia' copyright imprint and they currently sell for around £420 a pair. These were clearly missed by many collectors probably because outwardly they resemble the previously issued version with an imprint of  'The Post Office'.
    It is the third series that many readers may be less familiar with. These are known as Business Customised Stamps and are primarily aimed at Royal Mail's corporate customers, where higher volumes of an identical sheet are likely to be purchased. It is suspected that this is potentially a more lucrative market than producing individual sheets for personal customers and one that Royal Mail must surely be anxious to promote. These sheets form the main thrust of this article.
    However, before cataloguing the third type, a summary of the differences between this series of A4 sized sheets may prove useful to collectors:
Series One (Personal Smilers photostamps):
The decorative margins and stamps are pre-printed by a Royal Mail stamp printer, with the label area left unprinted.  The photographic image supplied by, or taken of, the customer is then laser printed by Royal Mail Tallents House or, lately, a commercial organisation based in Coventry, onto the blank labels; thus thousands of stamp and label combinations exist. ‘Completeness’, i.e. one of every photograph ever used, is impossible and only a representative range is achievable by the collector. It is feasible, though, to collect either one of every basic full sheet design or a single of each stamp design produced with its attached photographic label.
Series Two (Generic Smilers)
The decorative margin, stamps and labels are all totally pre-printed by a Royal Mail stamp printer. No personalisation of the labels is possible for this series; thus only one version of each printing exists. ‘Completeness’ is achievable, collectors usually favouring to retain full or half sheets, although some do collect just singles of each stamp and label combination.
Series Three (Business Customised Stamps)
The stamps alone are pre-printed by a Royal Mail stamp printer with the margins and labels left unprinted.  The decorative margin and the labels are designed by the customer and then laser printed by Royal Mail Tallents House or, lately, a commercial organisation based in Coventry. ‘Completeness’ of this series is achievable, with collectors mainly choosing to collect full sheets because each label is invariably unique.

Prior to launch, Royal Mail research revealed different uses for this series:
Postage. By attaching the stamp with its label to mail it acts as a means of personalising communications. Primarily aimed at smaller print runs, larger mailing quantities can be handled by Royal Mail’s equipment on the customer’s behalf.
Promotion. The labels can be used for displaying special offers, selling messages or gaming mechanics. These could be utilised for on-pack promotions to celebrate anniversaries, for example.
Corporate Gifts and Collectable Products. Sheets can be given as gifts to employees, or segments of valued customers. Numbering of sheets is possible and they can be given away or sold loose, or could be framed to give a higher perceived value or potential retail price.
    The lowest print run feasible appears to be 200 sheets with 50,000 as an anticipated maximum. The premium for personalisation above face value is 35% for 200 sheets down to 12.5% for 49,999 sheets and it is thought that 5,000 sheets is the maximum produced of any one issue so far.
    The first business sheet produced is believed to have been created for Eagle Coaches of Bristol. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to obtain a copy of this item or get any further information, as the company has never responded to letters or emails. So if any reader can assist by providing a colour photocopy or scan for reference it would be appreciated.
    The next six sheets were produced over a period for the same company. These are highly attractive sheets, being on the popular theme of football clubs, utilising club colours and badges in the decorative margins and team players portraits on the labels. These limited editions are all individually numbered, probably by Royal Mail's stamp printer. The stamp design utilised on all these portrait format football club sheets of ten stamps was the Occasions 'Thanks' pseudo-hallmark design.
    The sheets appear to have been marketed primarily in the non-philatelic press and were invariably offered framed, enabling them to be displayed by team supporters in their dens. They have recently started to appear in stamp dealers' price lists and in Internet auctions, at substantial prices. The full set of six currently costs around £215, with the Manchester centenary season sheet commanding the highest individual price of £70. The volume available unframed is likely to be small, with the framed versions being subject to damage by fading, reducing still further the number of collectable copies.
Arsenal FC sheet worded:  'Arsenal’s Heroes 2002/2003 Season - Ten Stars from Arsenal's First Team Squad' (2,002 copies produced)
Liverpool FC:  'You’ll Never Walk Alone - Anfield's Heroes - 2002/2003' (5,000 copies)
Manchester United FC sheet 1:  'Celebrating 100 Years of the World’s Most Famous Football Club - Previously Known as Newton Heath Football Club 1878-1902 - 100th Season - Manchester United’s Present Day Heroes' (2,002 copies)
Manchester United FC sheet 2:   'Ten Stars of Old Trafford – Present-Day Heroes - 2002/2003' (5,000 copies)
Norwich City FC:  'Canary Legends - 1902 Centenary 2002' (2,002 copies)
Rangers FC:  'Legendary Light Blues - Hall of Fame - Celebrating 10 Ibrox greats' (1,000 copies)

The first charity designs appeared early in 2003 and were produced by Royal Mail for Cancer Research UK. This issue was not available in sheets and only pairs in Royal Mail style presentation packs exist. However, the four label designs used are most appropriate and feature people whose lives have been impacted by cancer.
Pair one comprises: Bobby Moore the famous England footballer who led his country to victory in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley. Bobby sadly died of bowel cancer and his wife helped launch this Business Smilers promotion. Hannah Tonkin representing one of the 1,450 children in Britain that is annually diagnosed with cancer. Hannah lost an eye to the disease, but is now a happy and healthy young girl.
Pair two comprises:  Sir Paul Nurse CEO of Cancer Research UK and Dr Tim Hunt, responsible for Cell Cycle Control, who were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 2001 for their major discovery work.  The final label depicts Stuart Calder, Ernie Arbery, Phyllis Black and Lisa Costley all of whom are fundraisers and promoters for the charity.
    It seems unlikely that the four designs were all printed on a single Smilers sheet of ten and it is possible that two different sheets were produced, each containing five pairs of the same stamps and labels. Otherwise, there would have been an odd two stamps left over in each sheet, which would not have been economical. Unless they were printed in the twenty-sheet format, of course, where a multiple of four is feasible. We may never know what format was used to print these stamps without sight of a full sheet. For the record, the writer has only ever seen pairs, not blocks of four, in all the packs that he has examined. The stamp design utilised was the Occasions 'Thanks' pseudo-hallmark design of 2001 and the packs were given away free in exchange for a minimum donation of £5 to further the work of the scientists trying to find a cure for cancer.
    The next sheet was prepared by the PTS for Spring Stampex 2003, held in Islington, London. It featured the 'Hello' vapour-trail stamp in portrait format sheets of ten with an appropriate commemorative text and design and was issued in a run of 3,100 sheets - an increase from the proposed 1,000 due to advance interest from collectors. Single stamps with label were given away to each visitor and complete sheets were available for sale from the information stand at the show. The sheets sold-out a short time after the end of the exhibition and prices are already hardening (£28 was realised at a recent Internet auction).  It is understood that 750 sheets were broken-up to provide the free singles.
    The footballer series continued in Summer 2003 when a new Arsenal FC landscape format sheet of 20 stamps appeared, priced initially at £34.95. The sheets were headed ‘Arsenal Centurions’ and commemorated those players who had scored 100 goals for Arsenal. As previously, it comprised a limited edition of 2,000 numbered copies, the majority of which were sold framed to Arsenal soccer fans and not to stamp collectors.  
    A second PTS stamp exhibition sheet appeared in September 2003 for Autumn Stampex and featured a teddy bear stamp in portrait format sheets of ten. It utilised the same marginal and label design as used earlier in the year, but in a different colour combination.  These sheets sold out on the first day of the show, despite an increase in the print run to 3,500 sheets, and many collectors were disappointed. Expect to pay around £13 per sheet already. Single copies were given to visitors throughout the period of the show, as in the Spring, and once again it is understood that 750 sheets were broken-up to provide this free gift.
    As this article is being finalised, a further three sports-related sheets have appeared. There are two more football sheets, namely ‘Spurs Hall of Fame’ (2,000 sheets of ten stamps) and ‘Maine Road Greats’ (2,003 sheets of ten), each initially priced at £19.95 each. With the holding of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, it is perhaps not surprising that a sheet of twenty Business sheets was produced reproducing the England squad, entitled ‘England Rugby Heroes 2003’, produced in an edition of 2,003 sheets and priced at £29.95.
    The final sheet to report is one produced by the British stamp dealers Rushstamps to commemorate their 45 years of philatelic trading. 1,500 numbered sheets of ten flower design stamps were produced and these now sell for around £12, up from an initial £8.50.  It is suspected that Rushstamps is the biggest single seller of Smilers stamps, certainly it has done much to promote the sale of these collectables.
    It is highly likely that there may be other sheets in existence, but understandably Royal Mail must maintain confidentiality about its customers and they are not in a position to provide details of any items that they may have been commissioned to produce. If readers can help with any additional information it would be appreciated and, with our Editor's permission, an update will be produced in due course incorporating reader feedback and any new or unreported issues.
    Incidentally, there is concern among collectors that the football and rugby sheet promoters will kill-off demand for these items if new issues are marketed at such high initial prices.  A philatelist is not forced into purchasing, but completeness is something that is a prime motivator with collectors and many will feel obliged to obtain one if they can afford to. There is also the unusual element whereby philatelists are in direct competition with memorabilia collectors and sports fans, so the vendor is almost guaranteed a sale at whatever price. Let’s hope that this advantage is not abused. In mitigation, promotors must have to pay a great deal of money for licencing of images and advertising in the sports press, as they usually take-out full page, full colour spreads to help generate sales; whereas the philatelic press is often keen to promote such items in its news features without charge.
    This is an interesting series of sheets to acquire, with many opportunities for future expansion of collections as word gets around the potential producers that the production facility exists. Now is probably the best time to fill those gaps before prices rise even further for the forerunner sheets.

(Unpublished, 2003.) 2,250 words

 Page updated on 17 April 2006.  All material Copyright  © 2000-Date Glenn H Morgan FRPSL.