It’s time for a stamp smackdown – Moomins vs Pooh! Which is better? 

The Poll

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Cartoon characters are popular stamp themes. So much so,  you could have an entire collection devoted to nothing but cute bears and fantasy creatures. And if a person decided to specialise, I suspect they could have an impressive little album of just Winnie the Pooh and Moomins.  A lot of ink has been spilt creating Pooh & Moomin stamps. I have friends who have, shall we say, strong opinions on the Moomin vs Pooh issue.  Our conversations can occasionally go off the rails and we find ourselves debating stamp topics – which is better Paddington or Pooh. Pooh or Moomins, Godzilla or Reptilicus? Its time settle the more urgent of the conundrums – Pooh Bear or Moomins? 

While both show up on stamps from around the world, I’ve narrowed down the representative list to four countries. In this corner Finland & Japan, representing MOOMINS and in the opposing corner UK & Japan showing equally strong support for POOH.  In a spoiler entry, Canada will make a guest appearance.  

Why these countries?

Finland is an obvious choice because that is the Moomin homeland. Royal Mail is a strong contender for this competition, with their sole contribution to the Pooh pantheon. Although Pooh traces his origins to the Canadian wilderness (hence Canada’s appearance), he owes his literary legacy to British writer A.A. Milne (and his son).  And finally Japan made the cut because they are prolific designers of both Moomins & Disney characters and they supply a bit of balance to the mix. 

Use the poll at the top of the page to pick Moomin or Pooh and get ready for the ultimate stamp smackdown! 

MOOMINS

All the characters are the work of Finnish writer Tove Jansson.

Let’s start with the birthplace of Moomins – Finland. As expected, they’ve issued quite a few delightful sets. A virtual colony of Moomin stamps have been created by Finland’s post office and it was hard to whittle the list to just a few.

These booklets from 2000 and 2015, by designer Pirkko Vahtero were top of my list.  

The bonus on the first set was the booklet cover featuring a map of where the Moomins live. 

These 8 stamps offer snippets of Moomin life and the illustrations are marvelous.  

 In 2020 our Moomin friends reappeared on a souvenir sheet titled Our Sea.  James Zambra took over design duties for this water protection initiative with the cooperation of John Nurminen Foundation. 

Each stamp featured the Moomins & friends taking care of the Baltic Sea, which is part of their home. While not as vibrant as the previous two sets, it was a standout for both message and design simplicity. Often less is more effective in conveying a message.  

We could spend a delightful day pottering around Finland with the Moomins, but we’ll have to hold the list at one more. In 2017 the Moomins did a bit of Time Traveling courtesy designers Ari Lakaniemi  and Susanna Rumpu.  Released to celebrate the grand opening of the Moomin Museum, the 5 stamp set looks at the Moomins throughout their long history.  It showcased old and newer illustrations to show how the Moomins have changed over the decades. 

Of all the Moomin stamps, the 2017 one featuring  High Grade Coffee is my favourite.  So many details are packed into this small square.  Here’s a big view to examine:

Moomins, coffee & stamps! The trifecta. 

Japan enters the Moomin competition with these 2021 sheets by designer Yoshikawa Ayumi  吉川 亜有美.

The next set used Hitomi Nakamaru’s  中丸  ひとみ 2015 design.  Nakamaru’s simpler, cleaner selvedge served to show off the unusual stamp shapes.  

I especially enjoy  the use of Moomins for the coloured “traffic lights” instead of the traditional dots, something you’ll see in all the Japanese Moomin stamps. Hitomi’s next Moomin stamps were the 2018 series. It hit all the right notes with both round stamp shapes and nice little selvedge details.

It’s a little busier feeling than Hitomi’s earlier work, but is still attractive. 

Japan has issued more than these examples, but like Finland, a line needs to be drawn, or we could be here all day discussing the merits of Finnish design vs Japanese design. Although they are using the same characters and basic illustrations, each country brings a different style of artwork, especially to the background bits. They offer excellent samples to support the Moomin case. 

WINNIE THE POOH

The Winnie the Pooh juggernaut is a force unto itself. With over 300 stamps from around the world, it was difficult to decide where to start.  Pooh’s Canadian origin story won out.

If you aren’t aware of it, the little bear with a passion for honey was originally Canadian.  A.A. Milne wrote a series of tales featuring a bear, from the London Zoo, named Winnie. Winnie was mascot for the The Fort Garry Horse in WW1. When they shipped out from Canada to the UK, she went with them. When the unit left for the front she was given to the London Zoo, where she remained the rest of her life. The original illustrations by E. H. Shepard are my favourite depictions of the bear. In 1961, Disney took over the image rights and most are more familiar with the their depiction than Shepard’s originals. 

The above 1996 souvenir sheet by artist Wai Poon, stirred up a bit of controversy in Canada when released. The inclusion of the Disney Theme Park, (part of a joint promotion with Disney Corporation and Canada Post) in both the selvedge and one of the stamps was deemed “too commercial” by some who viewed Winnie as a Canadian icon. Regardless, it was a hugely popular issue. The first stamp in the set shows the original Winnie being fed by the soldier who rescued her (Harry Colebourn). Winnie was named for Colebourn’s hometown Winnipeg by the way.  The third image remains true to Shepard’s original illustrations and the last uses Disney’s illustration.  A nice composition showing the evolution of Pooh.

Despite Pooh’s English literary origins, Royal Mail has only issued one series dedicated to the bear. Their 2010 EUROPA set – Children’s Books – Winnie The Pooh by Studio David Hillman captured the A.A. Milne spirit rather than the Disneyfied version. They used  Shepard’s beloved and now classic artwork for this 10 stamp series. 

The hallmark of the set is Shepard’s uncomplicated artistry.  Hillman let’s Shepard’s images tell the story without unnecessary added graphics, much like the original book illustrations. Sometimes less is better. 

Japan, on the other hand, has celebrated the Bear & his pals many times over the years.  Pooh’s most recent appearance was this year’s (2023) new release so it’s a perfect starting point. The country’s passion for Disney popped up with a June release by 丸山 智 Satoshi Maruyama.

Satoshi’s use of soft pastels created a gentle, almost velvety feel to the 10 stamps. The sheet acts as a combination of Spring in Japan and Disney whimsy.  Once again, Japan Post has fun with the “stop lights” and uses Pooh head silhouettes instead of the traditional dots.   

2013 saw this 20 stamp set that included a few fun non-philatelic stickers.  Japan Post’s prolific designer Hitomi Nakamaru’s 中丸 ひとみ   Pooh and his pals was much livelier than Satoshi’s set. The inclusion of  the 100 Acre Wood as the centre piece on the first sheet was a nice touch. And if you can look at the second set and not start humming the Winnie the Pooh song, you are a stronger person than I. 

Nakamaru also applied his talents to Japan’s 2015 Disney Characters 2 set.  The first sheet was devoted to Pooh and it harkened back to an earlier, less polished Disney’s depiction, one I far prefer because it is closer to the original Shepard designs. I’m not sure, but this sheet seems to use  1961 illustrations, the first from Disney. It is difficult to “redo” the same characters over and over, but Nakamaru brought a fresh feel to the bear. The honeycomb layout was a clever nod to Pooh’s favourite food and created an uncluttered, but delightful addition to the Pooh stamp family.

Of all the Japanese designs, I think this one captures Pooh’s innocence the best.

So now, it’s time to vote – Moomins or Pooh and his friends? Which is your favourite? It’s up to you to settle this debate.  You can use this shortcut to go back up to the poll.  If you’d like to see more “stamp smackdowns” drop me a note.