Hot Wheels
Since the inception of Hot Wheels, Mattel has produced thousands of varieties of cars. The issue celebrating Hot Wheels’ 50th anniversary, will feature 10 of the most outrageous to their car designs. Arranged in diagonal rows, the pane shows the Hot Wheels cars speeding along a bright orange track. Each stamp has the name of these vehicles in one of the top corners:
-
Hanukkah
-
Kwanzaa
-
Christmas
-
Tens of millions of poinsettia are sold during the season. The stamp art features an overhead view of a poinsettia to capture the beauty of the green leaves, the red bracts and the yellow flowers in the center of the plant.
The new Global Forever stamps are being issued in self-adhesive panes of 10.
Sparkling Holidays stamps featuring character-rich close-ups of Santa Claus.” The Santa images are from Haddon Sundblom paintings created for The Coca-Cola Company holiday advertisements that ran from the 1940s through the early 1960s. Over the years Sundblom, a commercial artist, depicted a very traditional looking Santa in a variety of poses, four of which were used for the stamps.
-
For nearly 50 years, the call “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” has summoned the animated Great Dane wherever help is needed. The USPS, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, is now calling on Scooby to appear on a new Forever stamp. Of additional significance, the stamp is part of a campaign highlighting Scooby’s new social responsibility initiative, Scooby-Doo DOO GOOD. His role in this effort is fitting, as Scooby has solved mystery after spooky mystery since his 1969 debut.
One stamp that is expected to draw more attention, and mail use, than most will be the “Honoring First Responders” single that recognizes the men and women—including firefighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency medical service professionals—who respond to critical situations with skill, dedication and uncommon bravery.
The digital illustration on this stamp is a symbolic scene that shows three first responders in profile, as they race into action. From left to right, the first figure is a firefighter carrying an axe, the second is an EMS worker, with the EMS Star of Life visible on her cap, upper arm and emergency bag, and the third figure is a law-enforcement officer shining a flashlight toward unknown danger ahead. The dark background and signs of smoke (in what appears to be a shade of bronze in around the figures) suggest the wide range of situations that demand the immediate attention of a first responder.
--------
The $1, $2 and $5 Statue of Freedom dollar-denominated stamps that will be released on June 27 at APS Headquarters in Bellefonte, Pa. will replace the odd “Waves” stamps that were designed more for security than for design considerations. Working from the USPS news release: “These three designs feature the head of the statue that tops the United States Capitol dome, in a modern interpretation of an engraved vignette originally created for a 1923 stamp (the $5 Head of Freedom Statue on Scott 573).
---------
The airmail stamp being issued on May 1 in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of regular airmail service will be the first of two identical design stamps to be issued this year.
-
This issuance celebrates the phenomenon of bioluminescence — the ability of some species to glow — with a pane of 20 stamps featuring 10 life-forms that create their own light.
-
Birds in Winter celebrates four of winter’s winged beauties: the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), the blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), and the red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus).
-
Byodo-In Temple (Priority Mail)
This Priority Mail stamp features a colorful illustration of the Byodo-In Temple, a popular tourist attraction in Hawai‘i.
-
Dragons The Postal Service celebrates dragons, the high-flying, fire-breathing mythological creatures that have roamed our imaginations for millennia.
-
With this stamp, the Postal Service marks the 200th anniversary of the Flag Act of 1818, which gave us the basic design of the current American flag: 13 stripes symbolizing the original 13 colonies and one star for each state in the union.
-
Frozen Treats features frosty, colorful icy pops on a stick. The tasty, sweet confections come in a variety of shapes and flavors.
-
This stamp celebrates the 200th anniversary of Illinois statehood. Known as the Prairie State, Illinois became the 21st state of the union on Dec. 3, 1818.
-
The newest stamp in the Music Icons series honors singer and songwriter John Lennon (1940–1980), a rock ’n’ roll hero successful both as a founding member of the Beatles and as a solo artist.
-
The 41st issuance in the Black Heritage series honors the achievements of legendary performer and civil rights activist Lena Horne (1917–2010). Remembered as one of America’s great interpreters of popular songs, Horne also was a trailblazer in Hollywood for women of color. She used her personal elegance, charisma and fame to become an important spokesperson for civil rights.
-
Love Flourishes is the latest stamp in the Love series. The stamp art features a fanciful garden of colorful flowers surrounding the word “Love.”
-
Meyer Lemons is a 2-cent definitive stamp. The stamp art features a whole Meyer lemon next to two wedges of the cut fruit.
-
Fred Rogers (1928–2003) was known as a beloved television neighbor to generations of children. His groundbreaking public television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood inspired and educated young viewers with warmth, sensitivity and honesty.
-
With the release of O Beautiful, the Postal Service commemorates the beauty and majesty of the United States through images that correspond with one of the nation’s most beloved songs, “America the Beautiful.”
-
Peace Rose celebrates one of the most popular roses of all time. The peace rose revolutionized hybrid tea roses with its unique coloring, hardiness, and disease resistance.
-
America’s first woman in space, Sally Ride (1951–2012), inspired the nation as a pioneering astronaut, brilliant physicist and dedicated educator.
-
Sleeping Bear Dunes (Priority Mail Express)
With this Priority Mail Express stamp, the Postal Service celebrates the Sleeping Bear Dunes, a national park in Michigan that takes its name from a Native American legend.
-
These Forever stamps celebrate the role of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in keeping our nation a global leader in innovation. Designed to pique the curiosity of the viewer, each of these four stamps features a collage of faces, symbols, drawings and numbers that represent the complexity and interconnectedness of the STEM disciplines.
-
The Postal Service celebrates the art of magic with this pane of 20 stamps featuring digital illustrations of five classic tricks magicians use to amaze and delight audiences: a rabbit in a hat (production), a fortune teller using a crystal ball (prediction), a woman floating in the air (levitation), an empty bird cage (vanishing), and a bird emerging from a flower (transformation).
-
For more than half a century, U.S. stamps have depicted the American flag in vivid red, white and blue. This eye-catching new issuance continues that tradition with a striking graphic design of a flag with two crisp folds.
-
With this stamp, the Postal Service pays tribute to the sacrifice of American soldiers and millions of supporters on the home front who experienced World War I. Entering World War I (1914–1918) in its later stages, the United States helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Allies.
-
The Year of the Dog stamp is the 11th of 12 stamps in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The Year of the Dog begins Feb. 16, 2018, and ends Feb. 4, 2019.
-
