D&D General US Postal Service Releases D&D Stamps

The United States Postal Service announced a set of Dungeons & Dragons stamps.

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From the announcement:

Dungeons & Dragons
This stamp release marks the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, described by its owners as the World’s Greatest Role-playing Game, that has become a cultural phenomenon. By inviting participants to imagine themselves as wizards, warriors and other adventurers in exciting and treacherous fantasy worlds, Dungeons & Dragons opened doors to whole new universes of creativity for generations of players. The pane of 20 stamps features 10 different designs that highlight characters, creatures and encounters familiar to players of the game. Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps and pane with existing illustrations.

Other stamps announced as part of the 2024 release schedule include a stamp dedicated to UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, a ten-stamp set celebrating carnivals, and a set of 16 stamps featuring art from American landscape artist Ansel Adams.

The stamps will be available for sale in select post offices and online at the USPS store.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

To Clarify - I know about Forever stamps and have since they were introduced in 2006.

How long has the word "Forever" and "USA" been positioned in such a way as to read clearly "USA Forever"?

I guess with a bit of research, it seems to just go stamp to stamp. Here are some other examples where the Forever and the USA are arranged differently.

And clearly my attempt at a humorous jab at our US tendency towards empire and jingoism didn't work as well as I hoped

 

[Zaukrie]

Does anyone read the thread before replying?

 

[Queer Venger]

yep, ordering these; incredible how D&D has become a series of postage stamps

 

[Moon_Goddess]

I've never collected stamps, didn't interest me, but I'm definitely storing a few sheets of these in with my books.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Does anyone read the thread before replying?

The ENWorld motto.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The more I think about these stamps, the more I'm unimpressed by the art chosen for them. If this is meant to cover 50 years, the recency bias is kind of ridiculous. And nearly all of the art is very awkwardly framed, especially given how many vertical cover art pieces and portraits are scattered through 50 years of D&D books.

I know the art director got a shout out for his work getting these ready, but the end result feels pretty slapped together, and definitely not something iconic befitting what is probably D&D's one and only shot at this.

I would have liked to have seen black and white OD&D art (probably one of the cover illustrations), the Erol Otus BD&D boxed set cover, the 1E PHB idol, the Dragonlance flying fortress, Strahd on his ramparts, a DiTerlizzi Lady of Pain, a Dave Trampier 1E Monster Manual illustration, a more iconic Drizzt picture, a beholder and an Elmore dragon that fits more comfortably in frame than this one does.

The purple worm looks like a Dune stamp (it even looks like it's outdoors in the sand, which always feels like D&D being vaguely embarrassed about purple worms). The villain (?) on a horse is a blurry mess. The maze is incredibly generic. The metallic dragon is off center. The heroes casting spells and hoisting a very large potion are likewise very generic. The only piece that looks really good is the 5E DMG cover.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The more I think about these stamps, the more I'm unimpressed by the art chosen for them. If this is meant to cover 50 years, the recency bias is kind of ridiculous. And nearly all of the art is very awkwardly framed, especially given how many vertical cover art pieces and portraits are scattered through 50 years of D&D books.

I know the art director got a shout out for his work getting these ready, but the end result feels pretty slapped together, and definitely not something iconic befitting what is probably D&D's one and only shot at this.

I would have liked to have seen black and white OD&D art (probably one of the cover illustrations), the Erol Otus BD&D boxed set cover, the 1E PHB idol, the Dragonlance flying fortress, Strahd on his ramparts, a DiTerlizzi Lady of Pain, a Dave Trampier 1E Monster Manual illustration, a more iconic Drizzt picture, a beholder and an Elmore dragon that fits more comfortably in frame than this one does.

The purple worm looks like a Dune stamp (it even looks like it's outdoors in the sand, which always feels like D&D being vaguely embarrassed about purple worms). The villain (?) on a horse is a blurry mess. The maze is incredibly generic. The metallic dragon is off center. The heroes casting spells and hoisting a very large potion are likewise very generic. The only piece that looks really good is the 5E DMG cover.

It literally says in the article that the art is not final.

 

[ersatzphil]

...a Dave Trampier 1E Monster Manual illustration...

I mean, some of his stuff actually does scream 'stamp' to me:

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It literally says in the article that the art is not final.

These are the stamps they're showing and the stamps are unlikely to ever again get this much attention. If they're not final, they're near-final.

 

[brehobit]

Art I wish was there:

1. 1st ed PHB
2. Something by Larry Elmore from the 90s. Probably Dragonlance.
3. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0900/4666/products/D126.jpg?v=1440173058
4. Something by Robin Wood.