2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.

        This issue was rejected by Allan, the owner of this blog, as being just a collectable, having nothing to do with the true objective of stamps. He said the main purpose of stamps were to show postage had been paid on mail travelling through the postal system. While I agree with him I also want to point out that NZ Post clearly stated that this was a product aimed at the collector market. We argued that this issue should have a place in this blog and in the end he agreed to allow it saying "You can do this post if you like. I want nothing to do with it." So here it is a joint post by Kim and myself (Asami). 
          (In the end Allan did help but don't tell him I told you. LOL!)

See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.
 

         Here is the opening paragraph and banner on the NZ Post page. (Allan please notice the use of the word "collectable." They are not trying to pass this off as a postage stamp. They are presenting an amazing stamp with a lovely book to go with it.)

"Whether you’re a fan of Hobbits, Orcs, Dwarves, Elves, Men or Wizards,

there’s something for everyone in our brand new Middle-earth collectable!"

One Stamp To Rule Them All!

In the depths of Mount NZ Post, designers were secretly at work crafting the master stamp,

the one stamp that would rule all other Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit stamps.

"One Stamp to rule them all,

One Stamp to find them,

One Stamp to bring them all and

on this blog page bind them."

2004 - Landscapes of Middle-Earth.

         Following the success of three Lord of the Rings stamp issues celebrating the three movies, NZ Post decided to issue one further series in 2004 featuring landscapes of Middle-Earth. The set of eight stamps depicted 4 different landscapes each as they appeared in the trilogy and as they appear today.  The locations are given below the stamps.

        Three movies filmed at the same time then edited and released over the space of three years, This was an amazing achievement for New Zealand. Even more so was the exposure it gave our country. Many people saw scenes of New Zealand for the first time. Many saw how beautiful the country was and decided to see it for themselves. A sub-tourism industry has grown up around has grown up around locations where the filming took place. Of course, everyone immediately thinks of Hobbiton near Matamata but there are many other locations around New Zealand as well. These stamps only show four of them which hardly does justice to the subject.  

2014 - The Hobbit III

The Battle Of Five Armies.

See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with this issue,

view our post 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.

          'The Hobbit: The Battle Of Five Armies' brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. To commemorate the final film in this thrilling trilogy, New Zealand Post has created official stamps and legal tender coins from Middle-earth.
         The writers of this blog first considered waiting until we had seen the movie before publishing a post on it but recently we decided to release this simple view of the stamps with further details and items being added later.

                                     

     80c – Smaug.                                                             $1.40 – Bilbo Baggins.

2014 - The Hobbit Personalised Stamps

        New Zealand Post wrote on their web site, "Join the mighty race of Dwarves with a brand new range of personalised stamps made especially for the final film in Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies."

         For Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit fans this is another interesting and unusual stamp issue. It was released on the 15th October and consists of two parts. First is the collectors part which features a miniature sheet and its First Day Cover. Included on this sheet are the two stamp which can be seen to the right. Since these two stamps will be only sold in miniature sheets it is not expected that many will be used for postage.

        The second part is where a person can up-load their photo and make personal stamps for their own use. The idea here is that a person selects the dwarf of their choice whose hair and other features will be applied to their own photo. (See the pictures further down this post.)  The photo is then used to create a personalised stamp that is purchased in a sheet of 20 for $25.90.  

2013 The Hobbet II

The Desolation of Smaug.

See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with this issue,

view our post 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.



         In Dec 2013 the long awaited second movie of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy was released. Created by New Zealand's famous director, Peter Jackson this movie was one of a series of three based on J.R.R. Tolkien's book 'The Hobbit.'
        Set in the same Middle Earth as the Lord of the Rings but some 40 years before, this story tells of the adventures of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.
        In the first movie they survived the beginning of their unexpected journey. This second movie pick up the story as the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous Mirkwood Forest. After escaping capture by the dangerous Woodland Elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself. Here they must face the greatest danger of all – a creature more terrifying than any before, which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself – the Dragon Smaug.

2003 Lord of the Rings III

The Return of the King.

See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with this issue,

view our post: - 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.



         The third and final movie was released in December 2003. It had been a massive effort filming and producing three great movies like that. Peter Jackson, with his team, had done an amazing job. He was looked upon as a hero in this small country of New Zealand.       
          The films showed the world what New Zealand was capable of doing. They also promoted the country by displaying some of our beautiful scenery and attracting tourists to come here. In 2017, the movie set Hobbiton, is still a major tourist attraction.

2002 Lord of the Rings II

The Two Towers.

See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with this issue,

view our post: - 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.

       

        Almost exactly one year after the release of Fellowship of the Ring, the first Lord of the Rings movie, Peter Jackson released the second of J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, The Two Towers. NZ Post marked the release of this movie with the second issue of six stamps along with six miniature sheets. I have included both the stamps and the sheets in this post. It is too much to write about the whole movie so I will just give some background on the scenes shown on the stamps. Want to know more, go watch the movie.

2001 Lord of the Rings I

The Fellowship of the Ring.

See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with this issue,

view our post: - 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.

         When New Zealand producer Peter Jackson took on making a movie of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings many in the film industry were amazed. It had always been considered that a film of this story would be impossible to make. What Peter Jackson proposed to do was to create three movies, one of each book of the trilogy, all filmed at the same time, then made into movies over three years. Truly a massive and impossible task but it was done. Making full use of camera tricks, special effects and advanced computer animation, the series of three movies began to come together. Finally, at the end of 2001 the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring was ready for release.   

2012 The Hobbit I - An Unexpected Journey

   

   
         To mark the release of the first movie of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' NZ Post issued a set of six stamps depicting six of the characters from the movie. The set was accompanied by a set of six miniature sheets including one of the stamps. Below I have included both the miniature sheets and the separate stamps. The stamps, issued on November 1st, also included the usual first day covers and presentation packs.
         See my Lord of the Rings stamp collection.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with these issues,

view our post 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.