F3501

Winter Olympics

Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, Ice Hockey & Figure Skating

Cover Announcement 

It is with a sense of excitement that I now announce my 2002 Winter Olympics set of four. And right up front, let me say that it is also with tremendous gratitude to Utah collector and close personal friend Jim Jones who dedicated himself to excellence from start to finish to make sure this outstanding Collins mini-set would be the best produced for this issue.

The combinations of postmarks are a Collins exclusive, and they will ensure that each of these covers will always be in high demand by those in our hobby. Each of the four covers has two identical stamps of the individual sports being depicted. The events are Ice Hockey, Figure Skating, Ski Jumping, and the brand new rage of the games - Snowboarding.

One of the stamps on each cover has an absolutely gorgeous large red January 8, 2002 bullseye postmark

on the day of issue from the hub of Olympic activity - Salt Lake City, Utah. It's a beauty with such enhancements as a "Main Office" designation, a zero before the eight in the date, and "USPS - "84199" across the bottom - signifying the exact main office "Zip" location where the great cancel was obtained. And, of course, the magenta coloring brings a special philatelic presence to the overall visual impact of

the envelope.

The extraordinary cancels on the second stamp on each cover are stunning. There were thirty-two different postmarks available at the thirty-two various event venues spread out for many, many miles where each of the winter sports competitions would be held. Amazingly, on February 8, 2002 - the very first day of the Olympic Games * each of these covers was postmarked with the pictorial cancel that

pertained to the event shown on the stamp. This is a very special accomplishment that you will find on no cover except Collins, and, when taken in combination with the large magenta Day of Issue postmark, indeed awesome.

The four pictorial cancels are terrific. Each has the action line drawing for that particular event, and you may have noted them on the TV coverage as the focus switched to each different sport. In addition to the athlete figure, the name of the event is boldly shown, and below that is the venue that the postmark pertains to * the Peaks Ice Arena Station for ice hockey * the Salt Lake Ice Center Station for figure skating * the Utah Olympic Park Station for ski-jumping and * the Park City Mountain Resort Station for snowboarding. The main area of each of these cancels depicts the Olympic rings and the symbol of the 2002 Games. In addition to the first day of the games date, it shows the city location of the venue which the postmarks pertain to - namely Salt Lake City, Provo, and two in the beautiful mountain community of Park City. To obtain all of these cancels on this set of four was a huge and exacting

project, and my hat is off to Jim for a job well done. I'm proud to say "The covers exist" - and only on Collins.

I am extremely happy to present my Winter Olympics set of four: * Ski Jumping - F3502 * Snowboarding - F3503 * Ice Hockey - F3504 and * Figure Skating - F3505. They are priced at $15,25 each to reflect the increased cost of creating them.