Darth Vader, Chewbacca star on new US stamps

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service turned to the characters of "Star Wars" for inspiration on

Wednesday as it unveiled 15 new first-class stamps featuring the whole gang from Chewbacca to Darth Vader.

The stamps were unveiled at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood where the original "Star Wars" movie opened 30 years ago. The stamps will go on sale on May 25, after a contest to choose the most popular of the stamps.

Among the "Star Wars" characters depicted on the stamps are Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett.

The images are from all six "Star Wars" films and David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the U.S. Postal Service, said, "Because of the movies' popularity, we believe these stamps have the popularity of reaching the blockbuster status of the Elvis stamp."

Earlier in the month to publicize the new stamps, about 400 mailboxes around the country were designed to look like R2-D2.