Postal Service unveils Star Wars stamps

A set of 15 stamps commemorating the "Star Wars" movies will be released by the Postal Service in May, and people will get to vote on their favorite, to be reissued in late summer or early fall as a single stamp.

Individual stamps feature Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Anakin Skywalker fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Padme Amidala, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa with R2-D2, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Maul, Imperial Stormtroopers, Boba Fett, The Millennium Falcon, an X-wing fighter and C-3PO.

"We're hoping that it really grabs a lot of attention. There are certainly a lot of `Star Wars' fans out there," David Failor, director of stamp services at the Postal Service, said Wednesday in a phone interview.

The 41-cent stamps will be released May 25. The price of sending a letter goes up to that rate on May 14.

Failor said issuing a Star Wars stamp had been considered previously in the "Celebrate the Century" stamp series, and the advisory committee that selects stamp subjects recently decided to revive the idea for the 30th anniversary of the release of the first "Star Wars" film.

The 15 stamps will be issued on a single sheet that resembles a movie poster. Once the stamps are available, people who want to vote for their favorite will be able to do so online at http://www.uspsjedimaster.com.

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