talkmagic.co.uk

Dont know whether any one else has heard this but royal mail are releasing a set of "interactive" stamps for the magic circle's 100th aneversery!!

Pcwizme

Find out more here:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/shop ... Id=9300091

There was a write up a while back on the Magic Circle website and I believe they're offering first day covers as well. Some of the stamps are heat sensitive to make things vanish, others are optical illusions etc. Nice to see that the Fez figures largely - a modern day icon to equal the Top Hat, the Doves and the Rabbit!

"Stamp tricks for 100 magic years"

If you catch people staring intently at an envelope or rubbing furiously at its stamp, don't worry - it's just an illusion. They are enjoying five interactive stamps issued today by the Royal Mail to celebrate 100 years of the Magic Circle. Although it is said good magicians never reveal their secrets, the group has admitted combining trickery with technology. Rub the image of a coin and it will call heads or tails - Britain's first scratch and reveal stamp. In a series of optical illusions, you can slowly stare at two other stamps to watch a rabbit jump from left to right or see hearts appear in front of you. Two more are thermochromic, using heat from a finger to change the image. Spots on a magician's scarf will disappear and a pyramid will be revealed under one of the three Fez hats. The elite society for magicians has 1,500 members across the world.

Well - a bit of good clean fun - I shall have to go down the post office and buy some stamps now...
Bcfaigg

PS - lifted entirely from Magicweek.co.uk (!):

MagicWeek in association with the Royal Mail has ten Presentation Packs to give away. The fully illustrated packs feature the complete set of five stamps, together with a fascinating look at the history of the society and some of the magicians who have been members over the years. The text is by John Fisher MIMC, who also originally put the special issue idea forward to the Royal Mail, and the pack is designed by Hat-Trick design. The interactive magic stamps were designed by Tatham Design and illustrated by George Hardie. To enter the lucky draw, and win a Presentation Pack, email your full name and full postal address (and nothing else) to mail@magicweek.co.uk with 'Presentation Pack' as the email subject heading. Deadline 12 noon Friday March 18th. Ten lucky readers will randomly be selected and their names announced next Saturday, March 19th, in MagicWeek. Only one entry per reader please. The draw is open to both UK and overseas readers.

And of course, the real magic will be if your letter actually arrives at its destination

As those specials were released some 15 years ago, I wonder if they've increased in value?