2007-05-23 11:34:57 -
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As millions of Americans prepare to kick off the summer season this Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service will be making a journey to a galaxy far, far away to memorialize some heroes of cinematic legend. Thirty years ago, Star Wars defined summer blockbuster movies and evolved into a pop culture phenomenon. This year, Americans can experience the excitement once again with a set of Star Wars blockbuster stamps, which will be available Friday.
Fifteen new commemorative postage stamps celebrating the 30th
anniversary of Star Wars will be available starting Friday, May 25 at Post Offices nationwide. In addition, the results of a national online ballot to decide America's favorite Star Wars stamp design will be announced. Americans can vote through midnight tonight on
http://www.uspsjedimaster.com/ to determine which Star Wars character would be featured on a single stamp to be issued later this summer.
The Star Wars stamps will be dedicated at Star Wars Celebration IV -- the biggest Star Wars event in the galaxy -- at the Los Angeles Convention Center Friday at 7:30 p.m. The event, where the Postal Service is the exclusive shipper, coincides with the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. In recent weeks, the Postal Service transformed collection boxes across the country into R2-D2 look-alikes and encouraged customers to log on to usps.com to vote for the Star Wars character they wanted to see featured on a single stamp.
The Star Wars commemorative stamp sheet is currently available for purchase on http://www.usps.com/ and by calling 1-800-STAMP-24; starting Friday the stamps will also be available in Post Offices nationwide.
An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to cover its operating expenses. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $73 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail.
STAR WARS and related character names and properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & (C) Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.
Source: U.S. Postal Service
