Are they only available through private dealers, or will they be available through the US post office (and for face value)?

Nebula1400 | July 10, 23:33 CET

This is the only time that I've seen anything about this, so I would assume that it's a Creation exclusive. They aren't very forthcoming with the information, I'm afraid.

Haikes | July 10, 23:36 CET

They look awesome, but fifty bucks for stamps? Damn...

JediJuggler | July 10, 23:43 CET

This looks like those Stamps.com "add your own photo" postage stamps: http://photo.stamps.com/Store/?source=si00001331.

I'm guessing the Creation price covers their cost plus licensing fees plus profit margin. You could do your own, but it wouldn't be legal for you to use Universal-copyrighted images from Serenity or Fox-copyrighted images from Firefly.

zengrrl | July 11, 00:28 CET

I'm sorry, but I can't for the life of me come up with a reasonable explanation for why these should be priced at $50 for just four stamps. That's just obscene.

lexigeek | July 11, 00:31 CET

For a second I thought they might have been poster-sized stamps, which then I would kind of understand. But 50 dollar regular-sized stamps? Seriously? You can't convince me to do that. If Creation can't afford to pay the licensing fees and offer a set of four stamps (not to mention that there are more than four characters) at a decent price (I draw the line at $20) then they shouldn't try to make a buck off this.

CaffeinatedSquint | July 11, 00:35 CET

I think you get 40 stamps (4 sheets of 10), but that's still a lot of money.

ThereUR | July 11, 00:50 CET

Yeah, it's 4 sheets of 10 stamps for $50. Still excessive, to me, but not as crazy-expensive as it looks at first.

JesterInACast | July 11, 00:54 CET

Out of curiosity, I logged into my Stamps.com account and looked at the prices of photostamps. Most other companies that issue licensed photostamps only charge an average of $16.99 per 20 stamps, which, times 2, would give you 40 stamps for $33.98. Compared to the $49.95 Creation is charging for their 40 stamps.

So yes, they're still gouging you for a profit on them. I think I'll stick with my regular printer postage, thanks.

[ edited by zengrrl on 2007-07-11 00:58 ]

zengrrl | July 11, 00:58 CET

Maybe they're releasing them for philatelists, primarily? I know when my son was collecting, I was agog at some of the prices.

I think this is pretty groovy. I thought it was beyond cool when I bought my grandparents stamps with their 60th anniversary pic on them (you should've seen their faces. Thought they were fake at first). Sorry GG and Poppa, but I have to say I like this even better. Are there BtVS stamps?

Willowy | July 11, 01:09 CET

Oh, Willowy, what a great idea that was for your grandparents!

I would be curious to know just how much they are paying in licensing fees and how much profit they're actually making. It might not be as much as we think. However, that said, I must admit that I have better things to do with that much money.

palehorse | July 11, 01:48 CET

These are what we stamp collectors would call "Cinderellas." they are fine for postage, but, they are not official postal releases. Sorta like the stamps you can get printed with picture of your family. I assume Creation got the license to use the Universal images, and so they're charging a premium for them.

While I have, of course, spent $50 (and more) on stamps, well, I think the price is quite extreme.

Willowy Most stamp collectors don't collect Cinderellas. The target for these is fans of Serenity...

[ edited by k8cre8 on 2007-07-11 01:51 ]

[ edited by k8cre8 on 2007-07-11 01:55 ]

k8cre8 | July 11, 01:49 CET

They don't look particularly good. They could have been done much better, especially for that price.

aapac | July 11, 01:50 CET

The stamps are just Photo stamps that Stamps.com offers and Creamation got permission to do. How incredibly cheesy!!!!

Plus, $50.00 for $16.40 of stamps is absurd.

Boo Creamation!!!!!

The Hey | July 11, 01:51 CET

Upon reading the link title, I was going to say "Incredible!" Now, "What a rip!" They're ugly and expensive.

Rather than character/actor images, I would much rather have subtle images like Serenity, herself; fruity oaty bar; PAX; etc...

[ edited by CaptainB on 2007-07-11 02:42 ]

CaptainB | July 11, 02:35 CET

Wow.

Um, massive disappointment. Great idea in theory...sucky execution.

UnpluggedCrazy | July 11, 03:00 CET

I know WHEDONesque is supposed to try to be all about the positive, whenever possible, but that really is some very crappy product. They get a license and all they can think to do with it is do some low-quality Photoshop cut-and-paste of promotional photos?

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2007-07-11 03:04 ]

theonetruebix | July 11, 03:03 CET

For THAT price I would want to be able to send mail anywhere in the entire universe!

Hmmm... maybe I could write to the ISS and see how they're enjoying their shiny new Firefly DVD's?!?

missb | July 11, 04:01 CET

I get the feeling they haven't actually seen the movie.

Revello | July 11, 05:42 CET

I couldn't even tell if it's a crappy product or not because they use idiotic browser detection.

KernelM | July 11, 07:15 CET

If it was me, I'd gone with the nine comic book covers from the first Serenity comic book mini-series.

Simon | July 11, 09:03 CET

I've been an avid stamp collector for most of my life, and even though I *love* Serenity, I would never never never spend $50 for four first-class US stamps. Even if they were dipped in gold and diamond dust. That price is insane!

The irony of this is that if Serenity had been a major blockbuster, a "country" would have issued stamps with a Serenity theme for a much more reasonable price. I put "country" in italics because there are numerous countries who use a certain US company to come up with and market their stamp designs specifically to collectors. Many stamp collectors don't collect those kinds of stamps (unless it is a topic of interest) because even though they are genuine stamps, and are listed in price catalogs, they aren't something you'd normally see on mail from that country. I call 'em junk stamps myself and try to avoid buying them. But in any case, many movies in the past have been depicted on such stamps, especially older movies. I suppose because so many stamps are made, the fees are spread out a bit more and I would expect to see the stamps for well under $20 if that were to happen, and you'd get a lot more for your money (probably 8 or so stamps and a souvenir sheet).

QueenBee | July 11, 10:36 CET

Creation isn't the most 'fan' friendly business out there. And if they're involved, you can be assured its only to make a big buck.

leiasky | July 11, 20:10 CET

There is no art, originality or real feeling for Serenity in these stamp designs. They are just oft seen production stills, with the Serenity logo slapped on.

An outrageous price for such a thrown together design. This is a obvious example of merchandising created solely to extract money from the fans.

11thHour | July 11, 20:48 CET

Does anyone recognize that shot of "Wash"?

dcubed | July 12, 04:08 CET