The stamps feature a character from each decade since the 50s, including greats Andy Pandy, Peppa Pig and Shaun the Sheep, and are designed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Magic Roundabout, Bagpuss’s 40th anniversary and the release in 2014 of films ‘Postman Pat: The Movie’ and ‘Paddington.’
The stamps have been printed by Walsall Security Printers, who also print around 90% of the Royal Mail’s other stamp collections.
Each stamp features a ‘break-out’ design, with the characters shaped to overlap the stamp’s square border. An AB Graphics matrix stripping and inspecting machine was used to finish the stamps, to strip out the adhesive surrounding the stamps and so ensure they’re easy to peel.
To be compatible with this reel-to-reel stripping line, a nine-colour Chesnut gravure press was used, rather than the sheetfed litho equipment Walsall Security Printers would typically use for this kind of job.
Most challenging was colour matching the stamps, according to David Blurton, production manager at Walsall Security Printers. “The challenging point is always matching the colours. It was particularly tricky to get Dougal’s hair to look nice and straw-like. And kids would certainly notice if Peppa Pig was the wrong colour! It was important that the colours didn’t look flat but vibrant,” he said.
Other special Royal Mail stamp collections recently printed by Walsall Security Printers have included a range launched before Christmas featuring children’s designs.
The Classic Children’s TV collection will be available until 6 January 2015 from www.royalmail.com/childrenstv and www.postofficeshop.co.uk/classic-childrens-tv
