Announced by the USPS on November 3, 2023:

This stamp release marks the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, described by its owners as the World’s Greatest Role-playing Game, that has become a cultural phenomenon. By inviting participants to imagine themselves as wizards, warriors and other adventurers in exciting and treacherous fantasy worlds, Dungeons & Dragons opened doors to whole new universes of creativity for generations of players. The pane of 20 stamps features 10 different designs that highlight characters, creatures and encounters familiar to players of the game. Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps and pane with existing illustrations.

Additional information will be posted below the line, with the most recent info near the top.

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Updated September 6^th:
The Scott catalogue numbers for this issue

• 5909 Bronze Dragon with Necklace and Blue Plesiosaur
• 5910 Five-headed Tiamat
• 5911 Character in Maze
• 5912 Character in Blue Robe Casting Spell
• 5913 Archlich Acererak Raising Army of the Dead
• 5914 Drizzt Do’Urden Holding Sword
• 5915 Warrior Fighting Red Dragon
• 5916 Character Holding Container of Toxic Green Dragon’s Blood Above Her Head
• 5917 Death Knight Riding Nightmare Leading Army of the Undead
• 5918 Purple Worm
• b. Block of 10, #5909-5918
• c. Imperforate block of 10, #5909a-5918a

Updated June 28^th:
On August 1, 2024, in Indianapolis, IN, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Dungeons & Dragons stamps (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate), in 10 designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 485400). These stamps will go on sale nationwide August 1, 2024, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Dungeons & Dragons commemorative pane of 20 stamps must not be split and the stamps must not be sold individually.

These stamps mark the 50th anniversary of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, the iconic fantasy roleplaying game that has become a cultural phenomenon. This pane of 20 stamps features 10 different designs that highlight characters, creatures, and encounters familiar to players of the game. The selvage depicts a party of adventurers fighting a dragon, a gold 20-sided die, and a detail of a typical Dungeons & Dragons map.

Automatic distribution

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office® or at The Postal Store® website at store.usps.com/store/home. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI – Dungeons & Dragons Stamps
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by December 1, 2024.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Dungeons & Dragons Stamps
Item Number: 485400
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (10 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: August 1, 2024, Indianapolis, IN 46206
Art Director: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Designer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Existing Art: Wizards of the Coast
Modeler: Sandra Lane / Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 45,000,000
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 1.0850 x 1.4200 in. / 27.5590 x
36.0680 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.2250 x 1.5600 in. / 31.1150 x
39.6240 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 9.9000 x 7.3800 in. / 251.4600 x
187.4520 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 20.0500 x 22.5150 in. / 509.2700 x 571.8810 mm
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “B” followed by four (4) single digits in bottom two corners
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS • Plate number in bottom two corners
Back: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, LLC • © 2023 USPS • USPS Logo • Two barcodes (485400) • Plate position diagram (6) • Promotional text

Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:
The Digital Color Postmark for this issue measures 2.60″ x 0.98 The Pictorial Postmark measures 2.71″ x 1.25″

Updated June 5^th:

[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Unleash Your Imagination: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Stamps To Be Released at Gen Con Indy 2024

What: The U.S. Postal Service will commemorate the 50th anniversary of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, referred to as The World’s Greatest Role-Playing Game and a cultural phenomenon, at the Gen Con Indy 2024 gaming convention.

The Postal Service will unveil the stamps and have activities and retail sales in two locations.

• Lucas Oil Stadium, as a part of the Gen Con Indy convention, near the Wizards of the Coast. Retail sales and cancelations of the stamps will be available for the four days of the convention on the west concourse. Entry into Gen Con requires the purchase of a pass, which can be found at the Gen Con website.
• Indianapolis Main Post Office located at 125 W. South St., Indianapolis 46206, across the street from Lucas Oil Stadium. The Post Office will hold retail sales and cancelations on Aug. 1 for collectors and others who do not wish to purchase passes to Gen Con Indy.

Greg Breeding, the art director for the stamps, will be available for autographs at 10 a.m. EDT Thursday, following the unveiling of the stamps at Lucas Oil Stadium.

News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #DandDStamps.

When: Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at 10 a.m. EDT

Background: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024, brought a bold new type of game to tabletops all over the world, 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, the game opened doors to whole new universes of creativity for generations of players.

From its Midwestern roots as a niche pastime, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS has grown into a global phenomenon, with an estimated 64 million fans worldwide since its debut in 1974.

Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, served as both art director and designer for the stamps.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS are being issued as Forever stamps and will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Updated May 20^th:
These stamps will be issued August 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. As predicted here on December 18, 2023, by VSC member Misha Eletsky, this is the first day of GenCon.

Updated December 3, 2023:
Additional details about the stamps from Jim McKean of the USPS, via David Dresdner of Colorano and Foster Miller of Everywhere. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions:

A bronze dragon wearing a necklace glances down at a blue plesiosaur in an illustration that appeared in the 2023 book The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons.

The five-headed Tiamat, queen of evil dragons, appears in an illustration that appeared in the 2021 book Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. Tiamat has been featured in D&D materials since the 1970s and was first encountered by name in the 1977 Monster Manual.

A lone figure lost in a maze, perhaps the victim of a ten-minute “maze” spell, appears in an illustration that appeared in the 2020 book Wizards and Spells: A Young Adventurer’s Guide.

A blue-robed figure casts a “magic missile” spell in artwork that appeared in the 2014 edition of the Player’s Handbook.

 

 

The archlich Acererak raises an army of the dead in an illustration that appeared on the cover of the 2014 edition of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Acererak has appeared in D&D materials since 1978, when he debuted in the classic adventure Tomb of Horrors.

Drizzt Do’Urden, the heroic drow ranger featured in dozens of novels and numerous D&D gaming materials since 1988, stands against a wintry backdrop. Drizzt is known for breaking from an evil cult in the Underdark in favor of heroism and friendship on the surface.

 

A warrior with his back to the viewer fights a massive red dragon in a detail from an illustration that appeared on the box cover of the popular 1983 D&D Basic Set, often known simply as the “red box.” This illustration has since become one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the history of the game.

A character holds a pan of toxic green dragon’s blood over her head, preparing to bathe in it in the hope of gaining magical powers, in an illustration that appeared in the 2021 book Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons.

 

A death knight rides a nightmare, backed by an army of the undead and a sinister, flame-shrouded castle, in an illustration that appeared in the 2020 book Beasts and Behemoths: A Young Adventurer’s Guide.

A purple worm, a fearsome creature that burrows through the earth and leaves massive tunnels in its wake, rises from the ground and coils, its teeth on display, in an illustration that appeared in the 2014 edition of the Monster Manual.

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.