Lukewarm response to Olympic stamps
Hongkongers began lining up at 7am for a chance to buy limited-edition Olympic stamps issued by Beijing, but the overall reception on the first day of the sale was decidedly cool.
After eight hours, the Plaza Hollywood shopping centre in Diamond Hill, which teamed up with an official retailer to offer the stamps, had not sold all of its stock. About 50 sets out of 400 in total remained unsold at 7pm.
The first person got in line at 7am - four hours before the stamps went on sale, even though he had already bought three packages of Olympic banknotes last week.
Michael Hui bought two sets, each one containing a single Olympics stamp and a 'booklet' featuring the five Olympic 'fuwa' mascots. Twelve sets - at HK$3,580 each - had been bought by noon.
Mr Hui, who is in his 30s, said he was a stamp collector who worked in Quarry Bay. 'I started collecting stamps in 1980 with 500 to 600 stamps at home, and I bought Olympic Games stamps because China is organising the Games for the first time,' Mr Hui said.
He resold one package of banknotes but said he would not resell the stamps because of its limited supply.
