TOPEKA, KS — The U.S. Postal Service has introduced four cute and crazy critters to make your mail a little more cheerful. The Message Monsters Forever stamps, complete with their own accessories in the selvage, will make a fun addition to any piece of First-Class Mail. A dedication ceremony for the stamps was held today at Redbud Park, in the NOTO Arts & Entertainment District, in Topeka, KS.

The Message Monsters Forever stamps can be purchased at Post Office locations nationwide or online at www.usps.com/messagemonsters.

The stamp designs start with the playful illustrations of Elise Gravel, the author and illustrator of popular children’s books, who drew each monster and accessory in her joyful, silly style. The four colorful characters populating the pane include a roundish, rosy rascal with a sunny tummy; a silly, striped imp waving a four-armed howdy; a squiggly, squid-like yellow critter with enough eyes to go around; and a reddish rapscallion in short shorts. Whimsical, wacky and inviting your inventiveness, these creatures are sure to charm everyone along their mail delivery journey.

“This new collection of Message Monsters stamps is one of the most creative, fun and unique designs we’ve ever produced. It’s our hope they will be a new favorite classic among stamp collectors and kids of all ages,” said Jeffery A. Adams, the Postal Service’s vice president, corporate communications, who served as the dedicating official. “This is a great week to introduce the Message Monsters stamps because it is also ‘Thinking of You Week.’ I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate than to include these playful characters on letters or cards to send to the important people in our lives.”

The pane is arranged in horizontal rows of five stamps. The 20 Message Monsters stamps feature four different designs. The same order repeats throughout the pane, so the last stamp on each row repeats the row’s first monster. Flanking each row are adhesive accessories that can be used to customize your correspondence. “Message Monsters” appears at the top of the pane in blue and red freehand lettering. “FOREVER/USA,” also lettered freehand, appears under each monster. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the pane.

The Message Monsters pane of 20 stamps are issued as Forever stamps. News of the Message Monsters stamps are being shared with the hashtag #MessageMonstersStamps.

The Message Monster stamp dedication event falls during “Thinking of You Week,” which runs Sept. 20-26. It started in the United Kingdom in 2014 and was brought to the United States in 2018 by the Greeting Card Association.

Postal Products
Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic, or at Post Office locations nationwide.

Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1‑ounce price.

A video of the ceremony will be available on facebook.com/usps. Information for ordering first-day-of-issue postmarks and covers is at usps.com/shop.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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