New Stamp Store features, in Slowly Beta 7.3.x

After 2 and a half months, a new Beta version appears

A day ago or so, our good friend Russian Cousin shared his find of a new 7.3.0 BETA release of Slowly.

We had been chatting about the general slow down in releases during the Summer months (last regular release was 7.2.28, June 28, 2022), and wondering what was going on.

As normally there is not such a long stretch without some action here and there.

Then he spotted a new Beta, which is version 7.3.0, first of a new release branch. And it has some changes in the 'Stamp Store' area that are worth reviewing.

From the Beta release changelog:

These features are listed :

Stamp Store revamp, including:

  • Current and coming Exclusive Stamps for your location
  • Coming Special Day Stamps with reminder function
  • New interface for Random Stamps with full listing and drop rate
  • Indicator for owned stamps (in shop's lists only – not for “stamp collection”)
  • New product: Stamp Series

Russian Cousin shared the news here in a new topic, thank you. And now I took screenshots to document these changes, which will be of interest to many users who enjoy the stamps.

So, here's what the text is referring to.

The changes are noticeable even at the top level – Current stamps listed:

Top level screenshot, the Current free stamps get a nice spot at top

Clicking in any of those will open an expanded pane for the stamp with the title, subtitle and 'get it' button.

'Get it Now' panel for current issues

Coming Special Days with Reminder

This is located at the bottom of the listings, after Single and Stamp Sets. And it shows new and upcoming issues :

'Coming Soon' lists releases in near future

Expand any of the Coming Soon issues and you see details.

Plus – a 'can't wait' offer. Got 50 coins you are willing to shell out now, for the privilege of owning it first???

Impatient people get rewarded here. 😜👍

And of course, Slowly team gets 50 coins for what is essentially a FREE stamp coming soon. Not bad if they can find buyers.

The Remind Me button is useful and of course, no charge for the service.

New Interface for Random Stamp sales

That means new looks for the popular Time Machine and World Explorer features. Which do look good on the Beta.

You get to see a displayed list of the current stamps available. For Time Machine, the current total is a whopping 245 stamps.

Open the Time Machine purchase dialogue and you see this panel

The purchase is STILL a purely Random one

Same as always – you cannot pick and chose what you will get. Just put your 25 coins in the slot and wait to see what comes out.

As always, TM and WE are intelligent and will NOT sell you any stamp you OWN outright already. This does NOT mean a stamp you received in a letter from a friend, of course, just the ones you own by living in that country, or having visited it at some time, or having bought it on World Explorer at some point.

World Explorer is more modest at 155 stamps for some reason. This was a bit surprising to me as the total of Location stamps in Slowly is 217 now, so 62 of them are NOT available on WE at all at this time.

World Explorer, currently offering 155 stamps total.

Notice the 'Owned ✔' on the right side ?

This informs you which stamps you OWN already. These will not be given to you, so you never 'waste' your coins.

This only appears here, and not in the normal Stamp Collection page you can share with friends.

New Product : Stamp Series

What I would call a 'repackaging' myself, as the stamp series simply group all the familiar themed stamps – like 'Sports', and offer them for immediate sale.

'Stamp Series' now appear on the Stamp Sets panel.

Interesting – this is of course a revenue generation move. These Sports stamps, along with the similar 'Culture' themed ones (Photography, Fashion, Music, Cinema, etc) only appeared :

Now, this new version adds a 'Series' feature, and Slowly team can try to sell you all of these stamps, all the time, for more coins. Price is listed at 50 coins each, and a permanent sale is an attempt at increasing revenue.

'Stamp Series' marks a new paradigm – see the 'Sports' listings above

Some of us consider 50 coins a bit rich for a single stamp. Compared to a stamp set, it's 3 times the cost of an individual stamp in the set, so not the best value for the coins.

Get it Now, eBay style, for a modical 50 Coins outlay? 😉😄

But you can get it now, no wait, no sweat, no tracking sports events, culture festivals or needing 'black magic' to land in foreign shores where these events are taking place. 😜🤨

National Flags – one's country flag can be purchased too

This is not mentioned on the very terse Changelog entry. But thanks to my sharp eyed friend R., we now know you will also find the national flag for your current location.

Country Specific stamps now are also a 'STAMP SERIES'

It shows with the other 'Country Specific' stamps, for me it's Canada and along with the Poutine, Hockey and Eh? moose stamp, I can see the Maple Leaf standard :

Your National Flag and it's expected release date. Plus, Owned status...

...OR, in case you do not own it yet, a gentle offer it can be yours. Right now. For only 50 Coins!!! 😜😉

Get that Flag, now, or wait until it appears later ??

Big thank you to R. whose screenshot I am including here. Gracias!

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