USPS To Roll Out R2-D2 Mailboxes
Covered Mailboxes Helping Promote Film's 30th Anniversary



WASHINGTON -- Thirty years after delivering thrills to Star Wars fans, R2-D2 is delivering mail.

The brave little droid will be promoting the movie's 30th anniversary for Lucasfilm and a stamp that's being produced in its honor by the Postal Service.

The new stamp will be released March 28.

About 400 mailboxes will be covered to look like R2-D2, which is about the same shape.

Postal officials are warning people looking for souvenirs that it's a crime to tamper with mailboxes, even those in costume.

:rofl:

Sure... like I would steal it... :whistle:

Ya know... my dad does have a truck. :ph34r:

That has to be the stupidest thing I've seen -- I saw this a few days ago. People are gonna be stealing those things, you know they are. Good thing I don't use them because if my mail didn't make it out because some moron stole the box with the mail in it, I'd be ticked! LOL. Weird.

It's good to know what they'll be wasting spending our money on when increase our rates! *sheesh* :angry2:

It is cute though, but is it really needed? Like Candie said, I can see thugs attempting to steal them too!

I would imagine that Lucasfilm is paying for that, not the USPS.

Besides, if they're going to have a little bit extra in their account and want to spend it on that... whatever. *shrugs* It's not as though they can make rates be fractions of a cent (except on bulk mail) and they have to be very careful about how much they maintain in their account.

If they have a little extra, why not make the mailboxes fun?

As for stealing them... I'm sure it can be done, but it's not like you could just drive up with a truck and pick it up. They're made of steel and bolted into concrete... not the easiest thing in the world to move.

*snort*

haven't met many rednecks with power tools have you :lol:

trust me... its doable...

Why not just steal the cover and leave the box?

I didn't say it wasn't doable.

I just said it wasn't as easy as driving up and tossing it in a truck.

It's going to take time and effort and probably make a lot of noise... and as it's a federal offense the cops are going to come if someone calls and says "hey there's someone trying to steal the R2 mailbox".

I was thinking of my cousin's truck full of welding equipment... :whistle:

Hey! We got three of them!!

I was in that area today, too..if I'd known the storm troopers were there, I'd have gone by. Shall I go take a picture?? :lol:

http://www.10news.com/video/11275183/index.html


And check this out:
http://www.uspsjedimaster.com/teaser/index.html

And R2 goes across the home page, too. LOL

Dude.. that's cool!

I wish we did cool stuff like that here... wish my boss would go on smoke break so I could turn the sound up. :P

I found where they are in Cincinnati... and on Friday some friends and I are going to go get a picture with one of them! (We have two!)

I may have to go by and release a book on one of them here...wish I had a Star Wars book to theme the release though...hmmm.....

I haven't seen any around town yet... did y'all just drive by and see 'em, or did you find out some other way?

I googled for the local news stories about them being put out.

So I had to mail a letter today.

I was honestly intending to drop it in the mailbox that's right outside my building. I literally walk right past it every day... it's very convenient.

Only... I left it in the car this morning, so I couldn't. This was a genuine accident... I swear.

So, since I had to mail this letter after work, and one of the new R2-D2 mailboxes was close by, I drove the extra 4 blocks after work and mailed my letter in R2.


It's not the best quality as it was taken with my camera phone... but still.

I'll have more on Friday as we're stopping to take pictures of the other one in the area on the way to NERO.

omg, those things are great!

I heard that there are some in our area. But when it was announced on the news it was afar from where we live :angry:

That's exactly what I was thinking!

Well, having seen one up close and personal, I can tell you that it's not something you could just pull off. That would be like saying you were going to take the blue off the blue box. It's painted on... or at least a sticky applique. It's not something you could just pull off.

Turtle and I went to the PO today and I asked the guy there if we were going to get any R2-D2 Mailboxes in our area. He did not know what I was talking about. Sheesh what was his head in the sand ? :peek:
He wrote it down and said he would ask :shrug:

I saw one the other day on my walk to work. My boyfriend had told me he saw it a few days before, so I knew it was around. I slowed down and wondered if I should take a picture, but I didn't. I agree it would be very difficult for some prankster to steal; they would have to take the entire mailbox.

They are great! I wish our post office have some creative action like that … but on the other hand every post office in Belgrade will soon be like Enterprise: marble, glass, steel so I guess that counts too.

We have here some sweet old-fashioned-like mailboxes but I’m not sure how often people are using them. I don’t. I always give my mail directly to the clerk and I remembered how nervous I was recently when I bring bunch of letters and postcards to the post office and then was aiming to go to meet with friends. When I reached post office I realized it National Holliday and that’s why it was closed. I was standing and looking mailbox few minutes, took a deep breath and put all my mails in it. Of course there weren’t any problems :blush:

Our postboxes are pretty boring. Grey base. Red top. Weird, kind of ugly shape. That's how it's been all my life.

Here's a couple.... one's got some graffiti on it:



When I was travelling in Montreal, I met another traveller who I think was from a different part of the world.... she spoke French, but didn't seem to speak English... and because of her accent I don't think she was Canadian... anyway, she stopped me on the street and showed me a bunch of postcards she'd written, and asked if it was okay if she put them in the postbox, and if they'd get to everyone that way. She seemed very intimidated by the postbox. Maybe it was because it was one of the few that didn't have a grey box beside it.... or maybe it was something totally different. I also saw a box with some FLQ graffiti on it in another part of the city. Everyone's surprised when I say that. I thought of taking a picture.... but..... naw.

The first time I travelled out of the USA and saw post-boxes that went right down to the ground I thought it was weird. My friends and I laughed together that it probably went down just to some big pit in the ground underneath and nobody would ever collect the letters we put inside it. :giggle:

ETA: Compare the photo Pepper took - the box is on legs, so you can see that all the mail inside is in R2's belly, as it were. :rolleyes:

I remember thinking something in the US was weird one of the first times I went there too.... but it wasn't post-boxes. I think it might have been payphones... there was something I found strange about the payphones (I was in the Lansing, MI area). I think they were short or something. Maybe it was just that they weren't generally in full booths like ours are.... I can't remember anymore, but it's funny how things that seem so normal when you live there can be so humorous and odd to outsiders :)

And now for the stamps~~~~ :D


http://www.uspsjedimaster.com/main/vote/view_stamps.html

I voted for the Hans & Chewie one, but it looks like Darth Vader is winning.

:rofl: I got a huge laugh out of this.

I was talking to our post ladies when dropping off some packages earlier this week and neither of them had heard anything about the new R2D2 boxes or the new stamps yet.

So when I went up there today I took a print out of this story and some pics of them from the web with me They thought it was sooo cool. The guy behind me in line leaned over and whispered to me "Boy you know we live in a small town when the customers know more about what the Post Office is doing then the Post Office does".

Sad as it is ... he's right, It really does say something about the size of the town I live in , but it was still pretty darn funny. :giggle:

cool :) If it were my country doing it, I think I would vote for R2 and the Princess.

I liked that one too actually, and was wishing I could vote for my top 3 as that one would've been in there too. Along with the Hans and Chewie one, and then it was either Obi Wan or Darth Vader... okay, so let's make it a top 4. :D

When I go to view the results though, rather than show how many people have voted for each, it only shows Darth Vader, so I guess he's winning, though we have no idea by how much... :shrug: