'To infinity and beyond': USPS debuts new Buzz Lightyear stamp
LOS ANGELES - A first-day-of-issue ceremony for a set of Forever stamps featuring Buzz Lightyear from the "Toy Story" films was held Wednesday at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
"Buzz Lightyear captured our hearts and imaginations in the first `Toy Story' movie," Isaac Cronkhite, the Postal Service's chief logistics and processing operations officer and executive vice president, said in a statement in conjunction with the event. "He taught us about heroism, loyalty and perseverance. And now he is the star of his own feature film -- `Lightyear.'
"Just like Buzz, the Postal Service has also looked to the stars for inspiration. We have many stamps honoring NASA's accomplishments, including the space shuttle, and the Apollo program that took us to the moon. And then there are our STEM Education stamps that emphasize the importance of science, technology, engineering and math. The Postal Service takes great pride in honoring the very best of the nation through our stamp program.
"And Buzz Lightyear certainly fits that description. The Postal Service is proud to have worked with Disney and Pixar to bring the Go Beyond Forever stamp to both customers and Buzz fans."
"Go Beyond" is a pane of 20 stamps arranged in four horizontal rows of five stamps featuring the Space Ranger marooned on a planet 4.2 million light-years from Earth as depicted in "Lightyear," the Pixar Animation Studios film which was released in theaters in June and begins streaming on Disney+ Wednesday.
Each row features the same designs of the four stamps in differing orders.
On the first row they are a right-facing, close-up profile of Buzz in his transparent bubble helmet; a full-body profile detailing his gleaming white and green spacesuit, with the bubble slightly extending beyond the frame's top edge; Buzz sprinting with helmet retracted, in a three-quarter rightward view, the action accentuated by a foot and elbow breaking through the design border; and a head-and-torso image of the famed space hero resolutely facing adventures ahead.
On each row, the first design repeats as the last stamp.
The set was made available Wednesday at post offices throughout the nation and online at usps.com/shopstamps.
A Buzz Lightyear stamp was among the 2011 "Send a Hello" set featuring various Pixar characters.