Have Mario send your mail (via stamps from Japan)

that's so cool

Dang, the more I think about it the more it makes sense, I belong in Japan.

how do I buy these? lik sang? i neeeed them

Very nice.

Mario might be big enough in the US to warrant a stamp.

Well, there was one from the 1980's portion of the US Postal Service's "Celebrate the Century" series in 2000:

http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/2000/vidgames.htm

But beyond that, it would be neat to see the USPS do a series of stamps about video gaming legends.

These are clearly stamps with pro-terrorism messages. ;)

Superman and Bugs Bunny got their stamps but it took over half a century for each of them. :(

We want a Mario stamp!

Wasn't there a service where we could customize our own legal stamps?

Well, MetaHuman, you do have many options of buying custom-made stamps. Just Google "custom postage" and you'll find a number of companies that will turn a submitted picture into a legal postage meter stamp.

However, check out their FAQs first. Some of them will not allow you to make stamps out of copyrighted images.

This is gaming news? No need for a Nintendo Fanboy blog. We've already got one.

Shut up JackkStraw. The original Super Mario Bros. is part of our gaming heritage; it supercedes fanboyism. Embrace history man. Know your roots.

Use these stamps when snailmailing jack thompson!

-kevin
(p.s. His name doesn't deserve capitols ;))

JackkStraw, is this a gaming news site? No, this is a gaming blog. They can post whatever they feel like posting. Besides, does that mean that they should never post any news unless the game in question is available on every console and the PC? Good luck trying to find any news that is completely independent to the consoles/PC. Besides, they posted about Rockstars Ping Pong which is exclusively for XBox360. What is this, an XBox360 fanboy blog? I mean, they posted it right after an article about relaunching the XBox360 in Japan. I don't need 2 posts about the XBox360, one right after the other. What an obvious XBox360 fanboy blog.

"I'm just waiting for JackkStraw to talk more... "omg Nintendo sucks, buy a PS2, play GTA y0!". Sad little man. :)"

Hey! I love mario and i used to play it but there is no need to rip on GTA. The GTA series is great even if its mainstream.

Cool. Usually wild postage like this comes from tiny island nations, not major developed countries.

They need a series with all of the Space Invaders sprites. Postage Invaders!

I think I saw an ad for some Mario pajamas and pacifiers. You kiddies should be interested in that 'gaming news'.

::chuckles at Joystiq = Gaming news::

Play on, kiddies, play on.

Am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that there appears to be a small Mario with fire power in the lower right hand corner? I had always heard there was a glitch allowing this, but I can't imagine why it would be immortalized on a stamp.

These are absolutely first class! ;)

The Beej:
"Am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that there appears to be a small Mario with fire power in the lower right hand corner? I had always heard there was a glitch allowing this, but I can't imagine why it would be immortalized on a stamp."

Hehe, good eye! Most likely, they goofed that one (even though there IS a glitch).

"::chuckles at Joystiq = Gaming news::"

Actually, JackkStraw, it depends on how you define "Gaming news." If you haven't noticed already, the largest category on Joystiq is the one concerned with video game culture in all its variations, whether they pertain to game laws, webcomics, research studies, major motion pictures, live-action videos, marketing & PR speak, the nature of distribution, edutainment, exercise, culture shock, parodies & jokes, all things Gizmondo, and even (yes) Japanese stamps with Mario's 8-bit visage emblazoned on them.

http://www.joystiq.com/category/culture/

This gaming blog is concerned with all things games-related, so even if Mario stamps don't mean much to you, they actually signify something pretty important when it comes to the impact of video games on the gaming and non-gaming culture (even if that impact should mean young women are charged for hanging up Mario POW blocks around their small Midwestern town). If the "news" concerns itself with games, then it's certainly a candidate for appearing on this site.

I work at the Australian post office, and I know that Japan has been taking notes on Australia's postal service and its successes. (Which are: Aus Post is profitable, it's one of the most respected brands in Australia, with comparable postage to the US. They regularly do Olympic issues where Australia's gold medal winners are printed on stamps and shipped for purchase while the Games are still running.)

Having established my credentials, I have to burst the bubble here: The coloured strips on the top are the actual stamps. These are special edition stamps, produced for interested collectors, and the Mario images are little tabs attached to the stamps. They're not designed for sending, and the Mario tabs have no value on their own, unlike the stamps.

It's unlikely that an industrialised post office would issue stamps for copyrighted characters without very good reason - I can see Japan doing a 50 Years of the Games Industry stamp issue that would actually be stamps, but it most likely wouldn't just be Mario - you'd probably see games on there of interest to the Japanese people in general, and usually for an important anniversary (like 50 years).

excellent!!!

While it may be a little late, I have a couple sets of these stamps....for sale....!

I live in Japan, and pre-ordered a couple sets from the post office when they came out.

If you are interested drop me a note @
vapor _ 24 _7 @ yahoo . co . jp
(minus the spaces!)