INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the Gen Con Indy 2024 gaming convention, the Postal Service celebrated 50 years of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS by releasing a sheet of 20 new stamps now available nationwide.
In a video on the Postal Service's Facebook page, USPS Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategy Luke Grossmann said, "It seems fitting that these D&D stamps will soon travel the world. We hope you will find them a worthy tribute to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS' lore, and that they add a fantastical element to your cards, letters and other mailings."
Lisa Bobb-Semple, USPS director of stamp services, said DUNGEONS & DRAGONS has changed the perception of what tabletop gaming looks like.
"With this in mind, we wanted to innovate the way we reveal this stamp and create an immersive experience with the fans to connect with the magic of the game at Gen Con," she said. "The Postal Service timed the release of the stamp with the game's 50th anniversary and we hope fans see them as a welcome sign that this deeply cherished game can be appreciated by the masses on stamps. We are very excited to have the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS stamp in our collection, starting today."
On hand at the Gen Con Indy 2024 gaming convention were Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS who designed the stamps; Chris Perkins, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS creative director; Jeremy Crawford, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game director; and Josh Herman, head of art at DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, where they unveiled the stamps and signed autographs for fans.
Fifty years ago, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS brought a bold new type of game to American tabletops, one in which players collaborate by telling an open-ended story guided by books, dice and their own imaginations. By inviting participants to imagine themselves as wizards, warriors and other adventurers in exciting and treacherous fantasy worlds, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS — known worldwide by the familiar abbreviation "D&D" — opened doors to whole new universes of creativity for generations of players.
Now enjoyed by millions worldwide, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS grew out of a small subculture of gaming clubs in the 1960s and 1970s whose members played tabletop simulations of historical battles with miniature figures. By the late 1960s, as fantasy fiction was gaining in popularity, imaginative settings with wizards, sword-wielding warriors, dragons and monsters offered a desirable alternative to reenacting more realistic battles.
Since its earliest days, the rules of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS have continually evolved, with each new edition drawing on playtesting, player feedback and the changing tastes of a growing community. Along the way, countless writers, designers and artists have left their mark on the game. Most D&D players have a favorite edition they associate with specific rules and artwork, usually corresponding with a particular time in their lives, and some players pay homage to the game's formative years by returning to older editions. In 2020, many new gamers discovered DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and other roleplaying games while forced to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also hastened the trend of gaming groups meeting online. Friends refused to let a global pandemic hinder their shared adventures by using digital tools such as D&D Beyond to facilitate online play.
As DUNGEONS & DRAGONS celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024, players around the world are sure to reflect on its cultural impact. Game concepts and mechanics that originated with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS have deeply influenced the development of video games from the 1970s to the present. References to D&D have appeared in a wide range of television shows and movies. Fans enjoyed the 2023 feature film "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," and recent years have seen the rise of "actual play," in which podcasters and social media figures play tabletop D&D games for online audiences. D&D is estimated to have brought more than 64 million people to the gaming table in the past half-century, and the increasing diversity of its players is reflected in the most recent books, art and gaming materials.
Many filmmakers, actors, authors, entrepreneurs, scholars, video-game developers and other influential figures have been quick to praise the formative role of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS in their lives. Educators and therapists are also enthusiastic about the benefits of D&D, finding that the collaborative nature of roleplaying games supports young people with social and emotional learning, inspires them to think creatively, and helps them hone their problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. Because of its long history, the game also builds bridges across generations, as parents introduce D&D to their children — or, in some cases, experience it with their children for the first time.
From its Midwestern roots as a niche pastime, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS has grown into a global phenomenon, forever changing our understanding of how stories are told and what games have the potential to be.
The pane of 20 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS stamps features 10 different designs that highlight characters, creatures, and encounters familiar to players of D&D:
On the left side of the pane, the selvage features a detail of an illustration showing a party of adventurers encountering a massive green dragon amid a gold-strewn ruin. The illustration previously appeared on the box cover of the D&D Starter Set.
Below the illustration is a photograph of a gold 20-sided die above the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS logo with its distinctive ampersand formed from a fire-breathing dragon. Below the logo is a detail of a hand-drawn map of a typical "dungeon," a network of caverns where D&D players might encounter monsters, traps, and treasure.
"D&D" appears in a lower corner of each stamp, with "USA" and "FOREVER" in smaller type on two lines alongside it.
The DUNGEONS & DRAGONS pane of 20 stamps are issued as Forever stamps. Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1‑ounce price. News of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS stamps are being shared with the hashtag #DandDStamps.
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. For officially licensed stamp products, shop the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon. Additional information on stamps, First Day of Issue Ceremonies and stamp inspired products can be found at StampsForever.com.
Please Note: The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to 167 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America, to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America's most valued and trusted brands.
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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DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, the dragon ampersand, and The World's Greatest Role-Playing Game are © and ™ Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved.
National contact: James McKean
jim.mckean@usps.gov
usps.com/news
Local contact: Susan Wright
susan.w.wright@usps.gov
usps.com/news
SOURCE U.S. Postal Service
