The images of the Bugs Bunny stamps can finally be seen on the Internet, so it is time to take a closer look at this set.
It was on 23rd June that I first read that Bugs Bunny stamps will be issued in the USA soon. Back then it was announced that ten stamps will be issued on 27th July for the 80th anniversary of Bugs Bunny's screen debut in a sheet of twenty stamps, so each stamp twice. Also the stamps were announced as Forever stamps and that they will each show "a costumed Bugs Bunny in some of his most memorable getups", but no designs were shown. As the stamps were however became available for pre-order on 29th June, I expected that the designs would be shown then, but all we got was this image. Like I already wrote here, who actually buys stamps you can not see yet?
On 2nd July the designs were described as follows:
On the first row of stamps Bugs appears as a barber with white smock and pointy scissors; achieves ‘airness’ on the brink of a slam-dunk in his basketball jersey; is debonair in beret, ascot, smoking jacket, and shades as a screen idol in his Hollywood digs; jokes it up as a jester in bright green garb and fool’s cap; and does a diva turn as an operatic Brunhilde in blonde braids and winged helmet.
On the second row of stamps, Bugs is a mermaid in a curly 1940s up-do; is classically composed in white tie and tails at the piano; heroically poses as the carrot-powered Super-Rabbit with blue suit and red cape; warms up to pitch a big-league ballgame; and helps save the planet as a World War II U.S. Army staff sergeant in combat uniform with an American-flag backdrop.
But still the actual designs were awaited and it took until the 17th July to get more news. In the meantime the design of the French Raving Rabbids planned for September became already available, but USPS seems to want to keep us on the rack. From now on howeverindividual designs will be revealed from day to day. The USPS currently shows these three stamps on their website. Images of the special postmarks in contrary to this became already available. Unfortunately both have the same design, just one is black and white while the other has a bit of colour.
However they seem to have made a mistake. While browsing the website of USPS I actually discovered the latest edition of the Philatelic, issued on 16th July, which already shows the complete sheet. You can now also already see it on Gulfmann Stamps World
here. The Philatelic also lists the products that will be available for this issue: a Press Sheet, a set of FDCs with the normal postmark and a set of FDCs with the colour postmark, so not much this time. For everyone who is interested a virtual stamp dedication ceremony will be hold on 27th July on Facebook and Twitter. To see it on Facebook you apparently need a registration, but for Twitter not.
I honestly like these stamps. The theme is nice and also the designs are much better than I feared, but actually it is a real catch penny issue most likely only intended to generate as much money as possible. Why on earth would you otherwise celebrate an 80th anniversary? I am not sure anymore, but I think that I read a few months ago that only jubilees like 50, 100, 150 and so on would be commemorated on US stamps and thus for example not the 75th anniversary of the End of World War II. But you see, Bugs Bunny seems to be more important than the victory over Fascism or more precisely the victory over Fascism can only be celebrated with Bugs Bunny as a World War II U.S. Army staff sergeant in combat uniform. Also why does the sheet has to include all stamps twice and not once or even better why not design twenty stamps if you want to have sheets of twenty? Personally I also hate that designs are hold back for such a long time. But on the other side I can also understand that USPS needs the money, just check on the Internet why. Due to that I will turn blind eye to this criticism and will try to get the sheet for my collection. Unfortunately the USPS webshop only delivers to the USA, so it is not possible to preorder them from outside the country (at least I do not know how), but they have an eBay shop which can also be used by collectors from other countries. Hopefully the stamps and the other products will not be sold out before they become available there.
Just as a reminder, Bugs Bunny and some other Looney Tunes characters already appeared on US stamps between 1997 and 2001: Bugs Bunny in 1997, Tweety and Sylvester in 1998, Daffy Duck in 1999, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote in 2000 and Porky Pig in 2001, all single stamps in sheets of ten. Also there were stamps in France and a strange set from Albania. To commemorate the 80th anniversary of Bugs Bunny furthermore Australia Post issued a set of personalised stamps.
