News

Star Wars, issue 3

Guy Thomas | Nov 28, 2019

Royal Mail has produced a third stamp issue in five years devoted to the Star Wars film franchise.

Issued on November 26, in advance of the the cinema release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on December 20, it is claimed to be the final set in a series clearly intended to milk aficionados of the films.

The latest instalment comprises 10 gummed sheet stamps featuring 10 more characters (including three new ones being introduced in the latest film) and a self-adhesive miniature sheet of six featuring starships and other forms of transport imagined in the series.

Following 18 stamps in 2015 and eight in 2017, that brings the total in the series to 42.

The Star Wars franchise is American-owned, and the films are distributed by Walt Disney, although some of the cast are British and much of the filming was done at Pinewood Studios in England.

Designed by Interabang, from illustrations by digital artist Malcolm Tween, the issue was printed in litho by International Security Printers. The sheet stamps come in horizontal se-tenant strips of five.

1st class Count Dooku

The sinister Count Dooku trained as a Jedi master but joined Darth Sidious as a Sith, leading a droid army against the Republic and initiating the Clone Wars.

1st class Lando Calrissian

A former smuggler, Lando Calrissian allies himself with the Empire before joining the Rebel Alliance to destroy the second Death Star.

1st class Sith Trooper

The Sith troopers are Kylo Ren’s new breed of elite soldiers to be employed in the First Order’s final push for galactic domination.

1st class Jannah

The honourable leader of a fierce band of warriors from an oceanic moon, Jannah joins Calrissian and Chewbacca in the fight against the First Order.

1st class Grand Moff Tarkin

The Emperor’s first Grand Moff, a title given to a governor who rules over rebellious star systems, Wilhuff Tarkin commands the superweapon known as the Death Star.

1st class Darth Maul

A Zabrak with horns and tattoos, Darth Maul is trained in the dark arts as a Sith warrior. After being sliced in two at the waist, he fights in the Clone Wars on robotic legs.

1st class Zorii Bliss

A streetwise spice runner who wears a visored helmet to hide her face, Zorii Bliss is forced to take sides in the war between the First Order and the Resistance.

1st class Wicket W Warrick

An Ewok scout using only simple weapons and traps, Wicket W Warrick helps Leia Organa and the Rebel Alliance defeat the Empire during the battle of Endor.

1st class Poe Dameron

An ace pilot for the Resistance, Poe Dameron leads a daring raid on the Starkiller Base in his customised T-70 X-Wing fighter.

1st class Queen Amidala

A monarch on her planet from the age of 14, Queen Amidala falls in love with the dashing young Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, before his fall to the dark side, and becomes pregnant with their twins, Luke and Leia.

MINIATURE SHEET

1st class Poe’s X-Wing Fighter

The X-Wing fighter is the signature ship of the Resistance, and Poe Dameron flies a customised version.

1st class Jedi Starfighter

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker do battle in this small, highly manoeuvrable starfighter.

1st class Slave I

Bounty hunter Jango Fett’s distinctive patrol-and-attack ship is passed down to his son, Boba.

1st class TIE Silencer

Flown by Kylo Ren against the New Republic and Resistance fleets, this next-generation fighter combines speed with firepower.

1st class Podracers

Anakin Skywalker built one of these light racing vehicles from scavenged parts and pilots it to win his freedom from slavery.

1st class Speeder Bikes