Yet They Call It 'The Hobbit'

The Presentation Pack

I would love to know how the conversation went at New Zealand Post over this year's "The Hobbit" collection.

(Hobbit? What Hobbit?)

I thought last year's goodies were outrageous, but this year NZ Post seems to be enchanted with one Thorin Oakenshield.

I cannot fault them in this.

You can have Thorin in coin form, gummed-stamp form and self-adhesive-booklet form, to name a few. Sure, other characters are tagging along, including the dreaded Elves, but what made me laugh is that in all three of the items I purchased, the one on the top was Thorin.

Fierce Thorin spears you with those eyes from the cover of the Presentation Pack, which opens up to reveal a first-day cover, the six miniature sheets and the self-adhesive strip of stamps. Besides Thorin, you will find Gandalf, Tauriel, Bilbo, Legolas and Bard the Bowman.

But Thorin is first in each.

First Day Cover of miniature sheets

I also got the Maximum Cards, which are postcards with the matching character's postage stamp. And I got the First-Day Covers of the miniature sheets.

Trust me, I barely have touched the surface of this dragon's hoard, which you can see here at NZ Post's website.

Oh, and the datestamp on all of it?

A very golden Smaug is stomping all over them.

Maximum Card - See that Smaug irritating our Dwarf?