Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Odd stamps : 03d 3D stamps (moving)

3D stamps will always be spectacular. to look at...
Not to print, or to be put on a website like this one.

Thunderbirds' lenticular sheet (from UK's Royal Mail website)
The pic above was taken from the website of the UK's Royal Mail. As my picture is less fancy...

same sheet, my scan ...
The UK's royal mail created a set of lenticular stamps to honour the work of Supermarionation legend Gerry Anderson MBE and his team at Century 21 Productions. The lenticular stamps feature the countdown and launch sequence of all the legendary Thunderbirds craft from the iconic 1960's series' title sequence.

Some episodes have been on (British) television in the 90's as well, but I'm not sure if young readers will remember the Thunderbirds as the British science fiction television series.
It was first broadcasted during 1965 and 1966, devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by their company, AP Films, using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation". 
The series followed the adventures of International Rescue, a secretive organisation created to help those in grave danger using technically advanced equipment and machinery launched from its hidden Tracy Island base. The series focused on the head of the organisation, ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his five sons who piloted the "Thunderbird" crafts. Its London agent, Lady Penelope, also makes frequent appearances. The series has benefited from periodic revivals since - as well as subsequently inspiring other television programmes and advertisements, theatrical productions, feature films and substantial merchandise.

Thunderbirds in action
It's not easy to make scans of 3D images, so I tried to scan the sheet in different ways, hoping to give an impression of the images that can be seen on the 4 lenticular stamps.

view on the lenticlar sheet
Another view on the lenticular sheet
The stamps have also been issued as non-lenticular images.

I found this video on the 3D sheetlet :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k05u3mIltG0#t=22s

more to follow ...

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