Win Thomas the Tank Engine stamps

June 23, 2011

OK, this is probably the last thing you expect me to admit to.

But as a child, for a brief period, I collected stamps.

This was before I’d been to any foreign countries, so I was absolutely fascinated with the fact that the stamps could come from Fiji, or Africa, or any faraway place; and I loved looking at the beautiful designs.

So I was thrilled to discover the Royal Mail has brought out a fabulous collection of collectable Thomas the Tank Engine stamps, to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Thomas creator Reverend W Awdry. Bright and colourful, they’re perfect for getting kids interested in collecting. And the good news is I have 10 sets to give away.

All you have to do is leave your answer to the following question below by the closing date (next Thursday) and the winner will be chosen at random. Usual The Mum Blog competition rules apply.

And meanwhile, if you want to buy some collectable stamps for your kids *cough* just click here.

Q: What was your hobby when you were a kid?

Good luck!

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  • Liz Jarvis July 8, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    Thank you to all who entered, some great memories.

    The winners are
    Val
    Diane Whale
    Sharon Hughes
    Pearl Jones
    Nina Crozier
    Molly
    Stacey
    Kelly-Marie Dudley
    Cath
    Joanna Jackson

    Congratulations! Please email your addresses to me via the contact button at the bottom of the blog and I will arrange for your prizes to be sent to you

  • Joanna Sawka June 30, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    I collected wraps from chewing gums ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Cath June 30, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    Me and my sister collected crisp bags and sweet wrappers! I’m not sure why, it seemed a good idea at the time!

  • Kirsty Jenkinson June 29, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    I collected stamps, rubbers & badges – classic nerdy triumvirate!

  • bella smyth June 29, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    i went through phases but in the end i amassed anything winnie the pooh, im now in my 30s and still collect things that the kids call my house poohs corner

  • Pearl Jones June 29, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    I collected the Beano! I still have all the annuals I collected but the comics were recycled years ago!

    My husband was (and still is) a stamp collector so this prize would be fab!

  • Paul Witney June 29, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Playing scalextric

  • katherine grieve June 29, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    skateboarding

  • Heather Shaw June 29, 2011 at 11:12 am

    I collected things from the ‘in my pocket’ range – cats, digs, horses and bears!

  • Daiva Preston June 29, 2011 at 5:37 am

    I was the strange one in the family. I loved and still do cloud watching.

  • Jane June 29, 2011 at 12:09 am

    reading books of all sorts but preferably about cowboys and indians

  • Allan June 29, 2011 at 12:08 am

    Bird watching

  • Sarah Anguish June 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    Collecting conkers with my grandad in his HUGE red and white spotty hankies

  • Kelly-Marie Dudley June 28, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    Beanie Babies! So many of those over priced little furry toys, now all resident in a relative’s attic somewhere I’m sure…

  • nikkki June 28, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    I collected anything that had A-ha on (esp Morten Harket, yummy). I had posters (didn’t put them on my wall as i didn’t want to ruin them), magazines, t-shirts, Sweat bands (no, i don’t know why) every 12 inch single, and loads more. It was only a few years ago, that my mum finally threw them out after being in her loft a good 20 years (was about 15 at the time and i’m 38 this year) she kept the 12 inches though, just wish i had something to play them on. My eldest son who’s 5 loves “take on me” must have passed it on. lol. xx

  • Hayley williams June 28, 2011 at 10:03 am

    i loved my little ponys! i had so much stuff i couldnt move in my room

  • Kelly Koya June 28, 2011 at 9:07 am

    I used to collect erasers, stamps, coints, I would jsut a little hoarder!

  • zebralennon June 27, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    I loved cross stitching when I was younger, just don’t find the time these days ๐Ÿ™ xx

  • joanna jackson June 27, 2011 at 11:43 am

    My main one, was collecting mini crisps packets, when you put full size (empty) ones under a very low grill to shrink them, I still have them packed away somewhere ๐Ÿ˜€

  • Sarah Laycock June 26, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    Playing with Lego and Meccano – I was a tomboy who actually is hopeless at DIY nowadays!

  • Susie June 26, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    I collected stamps for a little while, and had a massive shell collection which was pretty easy to accumulate as we lived beside a beach!

  • Stacey June 26, 2011 at 7:48 am

    I’ve collected many things, my first thing was pin badges from places I’d been. My next big thing was James Bond-related items including joining the fan club! A the moment icollec movie/musical memorabilia – I even bought the recent Musicals stamp set!

  • Anna Aird June 25, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    My main hobby was reading, just give me a good book and I’d be content for hours!

  • Margaret June 25, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    I collected Rubbers with my friend for a while. Then i left the school to go to a new one & never saw her again so she kept them all.
    As i go older i collect used phone cards…. remember them?
    There were different colours, designs, and advertisments on them.

  • Victoria Boland June 25, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    I collected rubbers. Sounds quite sad now but I loved it at the time.

  • REBECCA TOWNSEND June 25, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    I used to grow plants from apple, grape or orange pips. I had really green fingers and used to sell the plants to our neighbours. Now unfortunately I can’t even grow mould!

  • Amy Cockshoot June 25, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    I collected anything and everything. Stamps, porcelain pigs, and the weirdest – broken pencil leads! I had thousands of them!

  • Katherine Coldicott June 25, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    Learning to play the guitar

  • Robyn Clarke June 25, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    I was into all sorts of crafty hobbies. From sewing to embroidery to knitty and card making

  • Robyn Clarke June 25, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    I started embroidery at 7 years ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Carolina J. June 25, 2011 at 10:37 am

    I played accordion and loved reading too.

  • Erica Price June 25, 2011 at 6:58 am

    I did stamps for a bit too. Reading was the main one followed by tennis.

  • Claire Williams June 24, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    I used to collect so many things! Pens, rubbers, keyrings, postcards, stamps, signatures, stickers. And more that I have forgotten about I’m sure!

  • Lucy Robinson June 24, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    I collected stamps.

  • Lauren June 24, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    I collected Stamps and was even in a Stamp Collectors club at school!!!

  • Emma June 24, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    I used to collect crayons – I had thousands off them until one of my relatives threw them away – I was heartbroken!

  • wendy stanger June 24, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    I was obsessed with Barbies:)

  • Pamela Gossagejames June 24, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    Airfix areoplanes

  • Pamela Gossage June 24, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    I collected key rings

  • Nina Crozier June 24, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    I collected stamps for a while and then postcards (something which i’ve started doing again recently!)

  • Marta P June 24, 2011 at 7:45 pm

    My Gran taught me to Knit

  • Molly June 24, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    I had lots of hobbies, but the one most appropriate for this is that I loved anything to do with letter-writing and stamps. I decorated my own writing-paper, and always had nice picture stamps. I even ran my own ‘post-office’ for a while, where I would charge the neighbours 1p on top of the price of the stamp for me to stamp the letter and take it to the post box (2 mins over the road!)

  • Alice Baillie June 24, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    I used to draw wedding dresses and create my perfect wedding…. this and a lot of dancing.

  • Val June 24, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    I was a stamp collector too, and my friends and I even had our own stamp club.

  • helen watson June 24, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    I had dolls houses I would make them bowls from acorn cups and sew them curatains and have imaginery tea parties such memories Im keeping them for my grandchildren as my kids arent that interested

  • NATALIE GOATLEY June 24, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    I used to block up the holes in the old tape cassettes and record tunes from my old radio ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • fantasia June 24, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    I collected the wade whimsies

  • GEORGINA BALL June 24, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    Horseriding!

  • diane whale June 24, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    I collected stamps and still have most of them.
    We used to collect cigarette packets and play games using them.Quite sad but cheap to entertain.

  • jemma price June 24, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    number painting

  • Karis Boone June 24, 2011 at 11:20 am

    I was (and still am) a total bookworm and loved reading.

  • jennifer thorpe June 24, 2011 at 10:52 am

    my hobby when I was younger wwas knitting! my mum taught me how to when I was very young

  • Sarah Robinson June 24, 2011 at 10:06 am

    As a child i collected rubbers and stamps.

  • k glen June 24, 2011 at 10:01 am

    i used to collect marbles, i loved all of the different colours and patterns they had on them.

  • Lesley Bradley June 24, 2011 at 9:43 am

    I kept stick insects- when they laid their eggs, I would transfer them with tweezers onto damp cotton wool inside a little tupperware tub. Well,we came home one Sunday evening after spending a few days away in the caravan, to find hordes (and I mean HUNDREDS!) of the baby creatures everywhere…guess who’d left the lid off the tupperware box…we were still picking them off the curtains weeks later!

  • sharon hughes June 24, 2011 at 8:48 am

    as a child i collected the cabbage patch kids items, i have no idea where they all went to though

  • Julia Clark June 24, 2011 at 8:42 am

    Yes – collecting stamps !

  • Kenneth Deed June 24, 2011 at 8:34 am

    I collected postcards and coins.

  • Tracy Smith June 24, 2011 at 8:25 am

    I used to collect badges. My mum worked at a supermarket when I was little and they always used to get promotional badges which she would let me have. Strange thing was though, I really hated wearing badges so they just sat in a tub!

  • andrea miles June 24, 2011 at 8:21 am

    I used to collect stamps – how nerdy was I?

  • Gemma Harrison June 24, 2011 at 8:10 am

    I collected pencils and writing sets.

  • Tracy Nixon June 24, 2011 at 7:57 am

    Thanks for the great comp! I was (and still am) a very creative person – always making things from fabrics, felt, card, etc. I embroider and make cards mostly though – just for family and very close friends as a hobby.

    I used to love programmes like Blue Peter, and Tony hart’s ‘Take Hart’ – as soon as the programme was over I was out with the art materials and busy busy busy making! You name it I had it – everything from double sided sticky tape to pipe cleaners!!!

    My children are the same – even the boys – so they would love this prize!

    Tweeted @tracynixon and sharing on FB Tracy Nixon MSE xxx

  • Andy June 24, 2011 at 7:32 am

    I collected flowers, leaves etc to dry in my flower press.

  • Chaz Appleby June 24, 2011 at 6:58 am

    When i was younger i was a huge fan of thunderbirds! i had the lot…. i just wished i had kept my collection it would be worth alot now…. lol

  • Clar June 24, 2011 at 6:53 am

    My hobby was collecting Garfield items!

  • Jane Morfett June 23, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    I collected marbles! I wonder what happened to them!

  • QWERTY Mum June 23, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    I collected key rings but didn’t have a single key

  • Emma Button June 23, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    I was obsessed with the Beano and collected EVERYTHING Dennis the Mennis

  • Anthea Barton June 23, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    mmmm I’ve collected various things through my childhood.
    Stamps – still have them ready to hand over to my girls
    Car number plates – I used to walk up and down the steet with my brother writing them down in a note pad. We had hundreds!
    Marbles – I have 2 wine carafe’s (they look pretty) full of them. Need to weed out the really old ones before giving them to the girls.
    xxx

  • Kara Guppy June 23, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    I collected Rubbers! (stop sniggering, you know I mean erasers).
    All different shapes, characters and scented ones. I would get most upset if my siblings borrowed one to rub out something as they were then ruined!

    • Lucy Tyler July 1, 2011 at 3:34 pm

      I collected stamps too as my mum did and I hope my little boy will too!