New Zealand Action Replay Stamps A World First

New Zealand Action Replay Stamps A World First

Four of New Zealand's finest Olympians will relive their gold-medal winning moments in Wellington tonight at New Zealand Post's official unveiling of the world's first 'action replay' stamps.

The stamps celebrate some of New Zealand's heroic achievements in the Olympic arena and when tilted, replay original footage of the Olympic gold winning performances of Yvette Williams (Helsinki 1952), Peter Snell (Rome 1960), John Walker (Montreal 1976), and Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald (Seoul 1988).

New Zealand Post Group Chief Executive John Allen said, "for many Kiwis, Olympic memories revolve around those moments when some of our most highly respected New Zealanders became champions.

"As the Olympics is by definition all about movement, we thought it would be fantastic to capture some of these historic moments and replay them on a stamp."

The featured stamps recreate the defining Olympic moments as Williams makes her longest jump; Snell throws his body across the line ahead of Belgium's Roger Moens; Walker leads the field home, arms outstretched; and Ferguson and MacDonald go for gold.

"New Zealand Post is delighted to bring stamps to life by capturing the amazing achievements of these Olympic athletes. The innovative printing technique both celebrates the Olympics, past and present, and raises the worldwide benchmark for stamps" said Mr Allen.

The special printing process, known as 'lenticular', creates the effect of movement by two or more images being printed together or 'inter-faced' into each other. The images are printed the wrong way on the back of a special lens material. Because of the optics in the lens, the eye is forced to see only a very small area of the lens at a certain angle. So, when you tilt the stamp, the images appear to move.

The stamps are available from all PostShops and Books and More nationwide from Monday 2 August. The denominations are: 45c - John Walker; 90c - Yvette Williams; $1.50 - Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald; $2.00 - Peter Snell. Presentation packs and First Day Covers are also available.

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