F2101

Space Fantasy

Collins Cover Announcement

SPACE FANTASY

This cover is the first one I am offering for the "Space Fantasy" set of five stamps. This one has the strip of all five stamps postmarked with the Huntsville, Alabama First Day of Issue cancellation. Taken together, the five stamps form a mural-like picture. Certainly, this cover will be a must for all present and future "Space" topical collections as well as COLLINS collections.

My hand-painted cachets for this series will depart a little from usual format and as such will offer a "change of pace" so to speak. Since the stamp designs feature "futuristic" designs, I thought back to my childhood when comics such as Buck Rogers portrayed the future of space travel and solar system adventures. Taking a clue from the "future" orientation of both the new stamps and the history of space comic adventures over the years, that is the direction I took for these COLLINS Covers.

Both my cachet designs and my bold hand painting take on the look of a "comic strip" in appearance and subject matter. In this cachet for example, a mountain scape surface juts upward from the bottom of the cachet as a rocket takes off with after-burner trailing a stream of firey plume. Nearby, a Saturn-type planet with rings looms in bright colors. Further out, a spaceship flies over the distant peaks against a back-drop of blue space and orbiting moons.

Usually my covers strive for a sense of realism. For this set, beginning with this cover, I abandon that objective and just try for that "comic book" look with an emphasis on the lighter side. You may enjoy these as a change of pace or you may find them not to your taste. From my viewpoint, the stamps and cachets have grown on me as I have worked on them so that may be the case with you also as this set expands with subsequent offerings.

So, as I put on my gravitation belt and ready my laser gun, I'm pleased to give this set a blast-off by offering this space fantasy cover with all five of the new stamps. Item #F2101. $11.25