Star Wars stamps coming out in May

WASHINGTON — Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi will do battle one more time — and the emperor, Han Solo, Princess Leia and others will join in the struggle.

A set of 15 stamps commemorating the Star Wars movies will be released in May, the Postal Service said Wednesday.

And people will get to vote on their favorite from the set, which will be reissued in late summer or early fall as a single stamp, said David Failor, director of stamp services at the post office.

"We're hoping that it really grabs a lot of attention. There are certainly a lot of Star Wars fans out there," Failor said in a telephone 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 it online at www.uspsjedimaster.com.

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.

— C-3PO.

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On the Net:

U.S. Postal Service: www.usps.com