The Royal Mail in the UK have become the latest postal organisation to introduce a range of Star Trek postage stamps. Due out next month the new Star Trek collection will feature no less than eighteen different characters! These are split between a series of square portraits featuring TV characters from TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and Discovery, and a separate miniature sheet focusing on movie characters from across the franchise.
Now you might be thinking, what the heck is up with that character selection? There are the captains, plus Michael Burnham of course, but they are joined by a bit of a random selection of other characters - Until you remember these are being released by the British postal service; aside from those lead characters, everyone else featured is played by a British actor!
Lets take a closer look. The square format series features Captain Kirk, Spock, Captain Picard, Counselor Troi, Captain Sisko, Doctor Bashir, Captain Janeway, Captain Archer, Malcolm Reed, Michael Burnham, Captain Lorca, and Ash Tyler. They were illustrated by Freya Betts.
The miniature sheet features Kelvin-Scotty, Kelvin-Carol Marcus, Krall, Shinzon, Tolian Soran, and Chancellor Gorkon.
Alternatively you can get a Presentation Pack, which presents the two series on separate panels:
The whole series is also available as a "Prestige Stamp Book", with additional information and illustrations. This is available in two forms, the straight book, with the USS Enterprise on the cover, or the Limited Edition (of 1,699) version in a little fold out box, and comes with an additional transporter effect lenticular print.
Aside from the different covers, the books appear to be the same, with the movie stamps presented on a slightly expanded backdrop, and the character stamps split between two pages (and Lorca rudely taking Burnham's lead character spot on the captains page). There's also an additional page with some regular UK stamps around a Starfleet delta tab.
If you prefer your stamps franked, there are several options for first day covers too! These are offered in a choice of two different postmarks too.
Of course you can get the character stamps (delta or Enteprise postmarks), and the movie stamps (delta or Enterprise), but also the extra sheet from the stamp book is you really want! (Delta or Enterprise too of course).
Additionally there's the option of medal first day covers, featuring a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Mint, in either cupro-nickel (in editions of 15,000) or silver (in editions of 1,000).
The movie stamps appropriately come with a movie-era USS Enterprise coin (cupro-nickel or silver), and also feature a unique postmark, featuring the USS Enterprise (though the TV era one) from the even better location "Enterprise Park, Sleaford":
If you just like the artwork and want something bigger than a stamp, there's also a collection of the entire series as stamp-postcards.
Or for a select few there are larger framed prints available. The options here are Captain Picard, Captain Kirk, and Spock, each a limited edition of 470:
The stamps themselves are also available framed if you like, with one set for the character stamps, a separate release for the movies miniature sheet, and another frame if you want the captain's sheet.
Or you can get great big sheets of stamps! The captains as a full or half sheet, the other characters as a full or half sheet, and many copies of the movies miniature sheet:
One more thing... In my latest seeking out of Star Trek stamps I came across these from Liberia, on Ebay: A set of thirty-two stamps featuring characters from TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager; a nice series, even with some really weird choices in images. Liberia has had several Star Trek stamp releases before, but I can't find much about these, the Ebay listing only pins them down as being issued "2011-Present"!
To look back through the very many previous Star Trek postage stamp releases, have a look down my Trek Collective List.
The simplest way to collect everything is to buy a straight set of the TV character stamps, and the miniature sheet of the movie characters.
If you'd like a bit more presentation, there are a few different options. A simple and elegant choice is the "Ultimate Souvenir", a simple folder presenting both sets together:
Another option for the captains only is the Captains Collector Sheet, which features the six captain stamps, with a triple dose of both Kirk and Picard. Each stamp is paired with a sticker featuring the captain in action.
There are also a lot of different stamp sets available on presentation backings, including a full set of the TV characters, the movies miniature sheet, and then series themed sets for TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and Discovery!
The character stamps come paired with a coin featuring the classic USS Enterprise (cupro-nickel or silver), and also feature a unique transporter postmark from the location "Kirk, Wick":
Finally, if you just want some stamps to use as actual stamps for sending mail (wild!), you can get a little six stamp booklet, which pairs the Kirk and Picard stamps with four regular first class ones:
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