U.S. Post Office Celebrates Star Trek's 50th Anniversary With Commemorative Stamps

In 2016, Star Trek fans can have some fun with their mail by highlighting it with postage stamps that commemorate the 50th anniversary of the science fiction franchise.  These Forever Stamps are legal tender for postage or can be kept as a nice collectible item to display if you'd rather not mail them out.  Forever Stamps will always be valid to be used as the current  First Class Mail one-ounce rate no matter how many years have gone by or how much the price has risen for postage. The four stamps being issued by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) which honor the first airing of a Star Trek TV episode on September 8, 1966 will be comprised of illustrations inspired by important elements of the original television series. These Star Trek stamps can be purchased together as a set which includes a display panel that consists of a background of stars with the words "Space...the final frontier" imprinted on it.

The four 50th Anniversary Star Trek stamps will include:

The Starship Enterprise inside the outline of a Starfleet insignia with a gold background to reference Captain Kirk's uniform.

The silhouette of a crewman in a transporter against a red background to reference Starfleet's  security and operations personnel's uniform.

The silhouette of the Enterprise from above against a green background in reference to the fact that Captain Kirk's costume in the original Star Trek episodes was actually that color but the studio lighting made it appear to look gold on TV.

The Enterprise inside the outline of the Vulcan salute (Spock's iconic hand gesture) against a blue background which is the color of uniform assigned to Starfleet's medical and science personnel.

If you are interested in real life space exploration, the USPS is also releasing a panel of 16 Forever stamps from NASA images that showcase the planets in our solar system.  The panel will feature eight new stamps with each being provided twice in the set.  Some of the images on the stamps show us the "true color" of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune as they would be seen if you have the chance to visit them firsthand on a trip through outer space.  Others will be images that use colors to represent and visualize certain features of a planet based upon imaging data.  A few of the stamps will also have images utilizing near-infrared spectrum to show things that cannot be seen by the human eye within visible light.

There will also be text on the back of the stamp pane to explain what these images reveal and identifies the spacecrafts or telescopes that obtained them.  While a release date hasn't been provided yet for the Star Trek stamps, the Views of Our Planets collection will be dedicated between May 28th and June 4 at the World Stamp Show -- NYC 2016 and should be available for purchase shortly afterward.

While astronomers don't identify it as one anymore, Pluto will always be a planet to me.  Poor Pluto being demoted from a Pluto every student in elementary school had to memorize to being defined as an orbital object.  Pluto is getting a bit of respect from the USPS this year though with the release of a four stamp souvenir sheet of stamps honoring the recent New Horizons spacecraft mission by NASA that provided us with our first glimpse of this far off place at the far end of our solar system. The USPS actually has a close connection to this particular mission.  In 2006, NASA placed a Pluto: Not Yet Explored 29-cent stamp within the New Horizons spacecraft.  As the spacecraft accomplished its mission in 2015 that stamp was along for the ride.

“The New Horizons project is proud to have such an important honor from the U.S. Postal Service,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons lead scientist from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, CO. “Since the early 1990s the old, ‘Pluto Not Yet Explored’ stamp served as a rallying cry for many who wanted to mount this historic mission of space exploration. Now that NASA’s New Horizons has accomplished that goal, it’s a wonderful feeling to see these new stamps join others commemorating first explorations of the planets.”

The collectible sheet will feature two brand new stamps twice.  One will be an artist's rendering of the New Horizons spacecraft and the second will show an image taken by the spacecraft of Pluto. The view of Pluto — which is color enhanced to highlight surface texture and composition — is a composite of four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI).  These  stamps will also be dedicated between May 28 and June 4 at the World Stamp Show – NYC 2016.

Astronomy buffs, stamp collectors, and Star Trek fans will all want to keep an eye out for these interesting stamps from the U.S. Postal Service.  I know I'll be picking these up for myself to add to a few other stamp sets I've collected over the years.  If you have a child who may be interested in stamp collecting as a hobby these could be the perfect ones to get them started!

For more information about stamp collecting, visit stamps.org/A-Hobby-for-Everyone

Mickey Mouse & Friends Returning to Pages of Comic Books in 2015

There has been a lapse in comic books featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and their friends since BOOM STUDIOS released its last Walt Disney character based issue in 2011.  Good news for Disney fans, and parents who want to let younger children enjoy comic books that aren't violent or have a graphic nature to them, the adventures of Mickey and his friends will be returning to the printed page in 2015! IDW PUBLISHING has announced that beginning in April new monthly Walt Disney character based series will begin starting with UNCLE SCROOGE #1 which will feature tales of the iconic tycoon adventurer and uncle to the international celebrity known as Donald Duck (who will also be getting his own monthly series).

Other monthly comic book serials from IDW will include DONALD DUCK launching in May, followed by MICKEY MOUSE #1 in June, and WALT DISNEY'S COMICS & STORIES hits store shelves in July.  UNCLE SCROOGE #1, DONALD DUCK #1, MICKEY MOUSE NUMBER #1, and WALT DISNEY'S COMICS & STORIES #721 (this series will maintain the continuity of past publishers over the decades) will all be special premiere issues with 48 pages of content for $3.99.  Subsequent issues will be 40 pages for the same cover price as the #1 editions and shall feature a combination of reprints of classic comic book stories from previous publishers and brand new tales from the creative team at IDW.  Throughout 2015 there will also be a special variant cover published for each comic book based upon a monthly theme promoting a different section of the Disney theme parks including Epcot, FantasyLand, The Haunted Mansion, and TomorrowLand, among others.

It is interesting that Disney decided to license these comic books to a third-party publisher versus what was popularly assumed would happen and bring the titles in-house to Marvel.  IDW though has an excellent track record for producing quality publications and should do a fine job with these new comic books(with the one exception of TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE which is one of the worst comic books I've ever read with both horrible art and writing) .  I am currently reading their STAR TREK/PLANET OF THE APES cross-over mini-series and FALL OF GI JOE monthly series, which is scripted by acclaimed military and science fiction author Karen Traviss, and have found both titles to be impressive.  So I'm looking forwarding to picking up some of these new Disney comic books for my six year old twins so they can practice their reading skills while enjoying adventures about these beloved Disney characters.  So which classic Walt Disney character is your favorite?  I'm a Goofy guy myself, while it is Mickey Mouse for my son, Minnie for my daughter, and my wife has an affection for Pluto.