posted 02-04-2017 10:06 AM               

This will be a long one, so please be patient.

There are many variations available on the market and anyone handy with Photoshop or any other imaging software can make a cachet and postmark it on appropriate event date. Still, there is a trend of recognizable cachet makers. It is especially true while taking into account the steady degradation of astrophilately in Russia itself.

After the dismissal of the USSR in the late 1991, the subsequent economic turmoil gave the way to the creative mind and possibility to earn some money especially focusing on servicing western collector needs. So the first space private cachets appeared almost simultaneously around 1994 from two major leviathans: Sergey Chizhov from Vinnitsa (Ukraine) and Oleg Urusov (Baikonur).

Chizhov cachets were printed in the quantities of 25 to 100 pieces and generally recognizable for their outstanding design, while Urusov are less creative but more affordable and printed in 100 to 600 pieces. Both cachet makers used English and German translations for the target audience. I will show a couple of early covers for each.

posted 02-04-2017 10:08 AM               

Komlev's covers are in great demand by western collectors because of Shuttle-Mir program. I am lucky to have a couple in my modest inventory.

posted 02-04-2017 10:13 AM               

Energia covers were improving with the years and came to very creative designs that we can find nowadays. They are printed in the numbers close to 200 pieces. The issue of how to get them and why there are so rarely seen — goes beyond the boundaries of my study but in a few words — there is a legal issue to commercialize them openly in Russia.

posted 02-04-2017 10:14 AM               

Moreover they issue and officially distribute dedicated events cinderellas that are applied in the local post offices while getting special cancellations. The practice of Kaluga cinderellas came from the Tsiolkovsky State Cosmonautics History Museum that started to create its own covers, postcards and cinderellas from late 90s.

I believe its roots come from a club covers age of 1960s. Many Kaluga designs of stamped cachets and cinderellas were done by Valentin Afonin.

posted 02-04-2017 10:15 AM               

BSI started to make its own cachets and event cancellations from around 2013 constantly improving. Its designs are very well crafted and lately printed on the gloss paper that gives a tremendous look but a bit tricky to be serviced. The covers and cards are printed in quantities 150 to 200 pieces and mostly sold to collectors as "clean" souvenirs but sometimes can be found processed via post. Special cancellations have no official power and can be seen as "club" stamped marks.

posted 02-04-2017 10:21 AM               

His cachets can be easily identified by his name as being an addressee. There are questions re authenticity of some of the postmarks and postcodes applied to his covers and cards but in terms of creativity he has good imagination.

posted 02-04-2017 10:25 AM               

His way is not to sell them openly but to distribute via subscription or upon request thus the number of prints may vary but generally stand on several dozens per design. Many cards are sold out almost immediately.

I find his designs sometimes very simple but attractive enough. Unfortunately he felt personally offended when I postmarked his cards in Houston and put me in the black list. Nevertheless I find my ways to get his cards.

posted 02-04-2017 10:26 AM               

For example – to get a serviced mail in Klushino or Gagarin town you have personally be present in the local post office. Taking in account that they do not use interchangeable date this can be a busy day!

In general he prints up to 10 pieces of each design depending on the variation, sometimes less. I am glad to have some of his creations in my collection and follow him closely.

posted 02-04-2017 10:27 AM               

One enthusiastic postcard designer and astrophilatelist from Chelyabinsk who created a series of cards to commemorate the Chelyabinsk meteorite event is Dmitry Filippov. He makes his postcards in quantities of several dozens and services them appropriately. He also crafts stamped cachets. His other series include Cosmonautics day, anniversaries of Soviet space program milestones and Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University commemoration.

posted 02-04-2017 10:29 AM               

Lately he started to enhance his covers with fascinating cinderellas designed by Yuri Barabash from Cherepovets. He prints a limited number of 10 to 15 pieces of each cover and makes it a very unique creation.