2015年1月17日 星期六

[Postcrossing]Where to get pretty postcard in Melbourne (1)

近期沈迷Postcrossing,所以發一篇【玩物】誌,因為官方語言是英文,所以也會以英文寫(雖然台灣參加者好像也有很多,不過大家英文都很好吧XD)

This post is for the beginner of Postcrossing - about where to get pretty/ beautiful / unique postcards in Melbourne, Australia.

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     【Homepage: Postcrossing】

Quite different from most European countries, which you can just pop into a book shop and check out many of unique designer cards, Melbourne postcard ranges seem quite narrowed and mostly limited to Tourist/Traveller cards.

So I did a little adventure: I just expedited different suburbs and checked out various shops to see what I can possibly find.



Let's start with the usual options - Souvenir shops.

Many Postcrossers favoured City-view / Night-view / Country Maps / Landscape / Architects / Special-shape or Animals postcards. Their wishes can be easily fulfilled by visiting local souvenir shops. (In fact, many postcrossers told me Australian city-skyline cards are not something you will get everyday LOL)


There are many Souvenir Shop for Tourists in Melbourne CBD area. Along Swanston Street, there are already five or six of them, including:
... but hey! Those are not all! Don't miss the other two great shops in CBD (although I would say their locations are not as visible as the others). They have a slightly more uncommon collections.

Gift and Shell, Shop 6, Ground, 300 Flinders Street (next to University Arcade)
Traveller Souvenir and Luggage, 40 Elizabeth Street

Comment: My brother said 'Souvenir shops are probably still selling postcards from 10 years before', but my observation is otherwise. True, they will recycle some 'popular ones'... however, the majority will get new stocks every one~two months. So it is worthy to run regular check-up in City. You might find some really flashy.




That's always more in the City - Melbourne Visitor Centre

I'm a little embarrassed to say, only after two months I started Postcrossing did I realize they sell postcards at Visitor Centre LOL. Mainly toursit cards, they also have postcards of Australian celebrities and famous historical personnel such as Ned Kelly.



Comment: Get Free Ads Cards from the Visitor Centre! On the wall of the far-side, there are heaps of ad cards (events, festivals, concerts and activites etc.) and they don't cost you a cent. Some of them are supremely artistic and would really appeal to those who targeted old ads cards! 




Then we have (very close by) The Melbourne City Gallery (Melbourne Town Hall)
  • Ground floor, 110 Swanston Street


The small free gallery not only have a small gallery exhibiting artworks of Melbourne city lifes, it also runs a little postcard stall in the front (Price: $1 each).


All postcards are in 'Old Photo-Style" - According to the small prints behind the cards, those are "one of a series from images of the City of Melbourne's Art and Heritage Collection. This collection of over 7000 artworks and historic media is an eclectic and endlessly fascinating record of Council and the it serves."

So vinatge photo, old news images, and black-and-white picture from 1900s... you have a wide range of options.

Profits from those postacrds are also going toward the conservation and maintenance of the City of Melbourne's Collection.






Our (and your) Local Post Offices:

Post Offices has all sorts of postcard, from ordinary tourist cards to stamp-theme Maxicard cards. My favourite are so far the 'Set of 6 Christmas 2014 maxicard' and 'Southern Lights (Aurora Australis)'.



You can also order cards through Post Online shop https://shop.auspost.com.au/. I have tried to order online twice now. After you created an online account and paid by credit card, it takes 2-3 business days to process the order, and up to 5 days to delivery (no shipping cost within Australia).

It is quite intriguing to see many online items are not-for-sale in Post Office (maybe they are old stocks?). Sometimes they will also sell single card from a Maxi-Set.


Comment: So, there are something you ought to know about Maxicard....
  • Point-scoring: Maxicards include postage - just $1.80 each and you can send them to anywhere in the world. Compared to $2.75 to Europe and US, or $1.95 to Asian-Pacific (dated Jan 2015), that's a bit of saving considered the number of cards you sent each year.
  • No-No's: Maxicard are slow - I have been experimenting with AustPost Maxicard. So far I have sent about 10 of them, and all DOUBLE or even triple the traveling time of my other cards.
    (regular card to Germany: 17-19 days; Maxicard: 50 days)
    (regular card to China: 28-30 days; Maxicard: 67 days)
    Besides, some Post do not sell a particular set or do not sell individual cards. So it is a bit annoying if you do not wish to get a whole set. (I would order online if I can't find one)




Newsagency ...

Not all newsagency sell postcards, but I still like to check out different newsagencies though.

You can find left-over stocks from many years before (dust-covered, truly vintage cards LOL), which makes it interesting and unique. Some agencies also put up cards that filmed and printed by locals on the shelves -  they are most places of local interest in a community that may not be even known by people who don't live here.

So... the question remains on... where to find them?

I actually have an answer for it. After scouting different suburbs in many weekends, there are apparantly some area that has more newsagencies that sell (wider range and prettier) postcard.

Try those: Fitzroy, Abbotsford, Richmond, South Yarra, Toorak, Prahran, Windsor and St Kilda

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Finally, Bookshops...

Book shops and newsagency are just the same, not all of them have postcards you wanted. It is all depended on suburbs and area.

Dymocks that has a good collection (verified Jan 2015)
  1. Knox City (Westfield) store - best collection I have found, many interesting postcard booklets and varied prices.
  2. 234 Collin Street (City) store - Mainly selling the 100 postcard series from Penguin Publication  (eg. One Hundred Writers in One Box, 100 Cookery Postcard, 100 Postcard of Jane Austin). Please noticed, except in the LETTER and CARD section, there are postcard sets in the GIFT section as well.
  3. Prahran store - selling many single card which I haven't found in anywhere else.

That's another book shop I personally want to recommand: Jeffreys Books
  • 140 Glenferrie Road, Malvern
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The collections are definitely exceptional. It is the first time I saw shops selling Star War postcard. More importantly, the prices of card set are slightly lower than its competitor by few dollars.

PS. hints: you can find few book stores along Glenferrie Road - Remember, check the price of the item before you paid. Some are really priced as high as a joke!




I am going to write another blog entry later about Where to get pretty postcard in Melbourne (2), which I'm going to reveal other hidden spots in Melbourne. (在墨爾本哪裡可以買漂亮的明信片?)

Meanwhile, if you have known any impressive shops selling Postcard in Melbourne or Victoria, please post a commect below so I can update my post!

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