The Postal Service has released stamps featuring some of the most beloved personalities in the “Star Wars” galaxy: the droids.
The 20-stamp pane, announced earlier this year, features 10 of the best-known “Star Wars” characters, including C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8. The stamps were released May 4 — a nod to “May the Force be with you,” the franchise’s most famous line.
“I grew up with ‘Star Wars’ and love sharing the stories and inspiration with my kids,” said Isaac Cronkhite, the USPS chief logistics and processing operations officer, who led a virtual dedication ceremony that streamed on Facebook and Twitter.
“The Postal Service has a long history of looking to the stars as inspiration for its stamps, and for celebrating the innovation, science and technology it takes to get us there, which is why the ‘Star Wars’ droids are a perfect fit for stamps.”
The stamps reflect the commitment of Lucasfilm and its parent company, the Walt Disney Co., to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning and the continued collaboration between the Star Wars: Force for Change philanthropic initiative and the global pre-K-12 nonprofit organization FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).
Together, Star Wars: Force for Change and FIRST are working to expand access to STEM learning and robotics to more young people around the world, including bringing more hands-on, mentor-based robotics programs to historically under-resourced communities.
The other characters shown on the Forever stamps, which are available at Post Offices and usps.com, are IG-11, K-2SO, D-O, L3-37 and C1-10P, commonly known as Chopper, as well as a GNK (or Gonk) power droid and a 2-1B surgical droid.
“Droids have been a centerpiece of ‘Star Wars’ for generations, capturing the hearts of fans and igniting imaginations,” said Lynwen Brennan, a Lucasfilm executive vice president who participated in the virtual dedication ceremony.
“The Postal Service perfectly captured the charisma of each droid in this new stamp collection and we’re excited for fans to spread their love of these iconic characters throughout our galaxy.”
Other participants in the ceremony included Doug Chiang, vice president and executive creative director at Lucasfilm, and Anthony Daniels, the actor who performed as C-3PO in the franchise’s nine “Skywalker saga” films.
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