Stamp Investment Tip: U.S. 1997 Bugs Bunny Pane of 10, with extended die-cutting (Scott #3138)

In recent years, the U.S. Postal Service has issued several stamps picturing popular cartoon characters. Personally, I find these stamps imbecilic and trite, especially since there are many significant, non-fictional individuals who should be honored, and who are being sent to the back of the stamp selection line due to this decision to "dumb down" and cater to the increasing ignorance, juvenilization, and decreasing attention-span of the American public.


Of course, my own bias in this regard is irrelevant when it comes to determining whether a particular stamp is a good investment. Cartoon issues are popular, and if collectors want to include them in their albums alongside stamps that actually mean something, then that's their business, and therefore the business of a stamp investment blog.

In 1997 the U.S. issued a die-cut pane of ten stamps featuring Bugs Bunny. The normal pane (Scott #3137) is common, as 37.8 million were issued. However, there is also a scarce variety pane, in which the die-cutting extends through the backing paper (Scott #3138). Only
118,000 of #3138 were issued, and Scott '11 prices it unused at $160.00 .


Whether one likes the "silly wabbit" stamps or not, tucking away a few of the variety panes might not be silly at all. As the more vulgar aspects of American culture metastasize around the globe, infecting the growing middle-class in developing countries, demand for the scarcer items among the crowd-pleasing cartoon issues is likely to increase.