Have A Ball! (U.S. 2017)

Updated May 22nd: The U.S. Open golf tournament is being held in Erin, Wisconsin, June 12-18. Hartford is the nearest incorporated municipality, which should explain the location of the first day ceremony. June 15th is the first round of the tournament. (Practice rounds are held June 12-14.) There is no mention of the stamps’ issuance on the Open website nor on the City of Hartford’s website at this time.

Updated May 12th:
On June 14, 2017, in Hartford, WI, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Have a Ball! stamps (Forever® priced at 49 cents), in eight designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 16 stamps (Item 474900). The Have a Ball! $7.84 pane of 16 stamps may not be split, and the stamps may not be sold individually. The stamps will go on sale nationwide June 14, 2017.

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates our nation’s passion for athletics with the Have a Ball! stamps. The issuance features colorful illustrations of eight different sports balls:

  • A baseball
  • A basketball
  • A football
  • A golf ball
  • A kickball
  • A soccer ball
  • A tennis ball, and
  • A volleyball

The round Have a Ball! stamps feature a special coating applied to selected areas of the stamps during the printing process to give them a textured feel. Mike Ryan designed the stamps and Greg Breeding served as the art director of the project. Daniel Nyari created the colorful, stylized stamp art.

Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices™ of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. 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 – Have a Ball! 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 August 14, 2017.

Philatelic products for this stamp issue are as follows:

  • 474906 Press Sheet with Die-cut, $62.72
  • 474910 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (set of 8), $21.95
  • 474916 First-Day Cover (set of 8), $7.44
  • 474921 Digital Color Postmark (set of 8), $13.12
  • 474924 Framed Art, $39.95
  • 474930 Ceremony Envelope* $4.95
  • 474933 Panel, $10.95

*Includes ceremony envelope with program brochure; participant programs are not available.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Have a Ball! Stamp
Item Number: 474900
Denomination & Type of Issue: Forever, First-Class Mail®
Format: Pane of 16 (8 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: June 14, 2017, Hartford, WI 53027
Art Director: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Designer: Mike Ryan, Charlottesville, VA
Typographer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Artist: Daniel Nyari, Long Island City, NY
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Flexographic
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Pane: 16
Print Quantity: 80,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Spot Tag applied
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, PMS Cool Gray #7
Stamp Orientation: Round
Image Area (w x h): 1.08 x 1.08 in/27.43 x 27.43 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.27 x 1.27 in/32.26 x 32.26 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 6.25 x 6.25 in/158.75 x 158.75 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 25.25 x 12.50 in/641.35 x 317.50 mm
Plate Size: 256 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by five (5) digits
Marginal Markings:
Back: ©2016 USPS • USPS Logo • two barcodes (474900) • Plate Position Diagram • Promotional Text

From the USPS, November 22nd, 2016:

s_balls1The U. S. Postal Service celebrates our nation passion for athletics with Have a Ball! The stamps feature colorful illustrations of eight different sports balls: baseball, basketball, football, golf, kickball, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Millions in the U. S. participate annually in the sports represented on the stamps. Mike Ryan designed the stamps and Greg Breeding served as the art director. Daniel Nyari created the colorful, stylized stamp art.

17 thoughts on “Have A Ball! (U.S. 2017)

  1. Do we actually pay people to design this stuff ??? ,,,, If so,, its a waste of tax dollars !!! ,,,,,

    • I like this set, and Charlie Delgado, do you ever write anything positive about anything here? This set is creative and interesting and allows something to be said about many of our sport pastimes.

    • Charlie: The stamps and the designing are not coming out of our tax dollars.

      The postal service pays for designing stamps, but I would think that the cost of design would pay for itself because collectors collect the stamps and don’t use them for postage.

  2. Maybe the USPS is looking for ad’s from places like Big Dick’s Sporting goods?
    Or maybe Play it Again sports?

    • Also, in the round format, will these be confused with the Global Forever stamps, used for International Air Mail ? ( Scott 5058, 4893, 4740 )

  3. I can see both sides to this discussion. At first glance they appear to be little more than round stickers with little artistic creativity. But as a set, they do reflect America’s fascination with sports (though there are more sports than just what these balls represent) in our current age. I’ll hold my judgement on them until I can view them in my hand. If I find them lacking in appearance they’ll serve me as postage.

  4. For me, these particular stamps are ones I want to use for postage. I like using stamps that are unusual and might make a person take a second look at them. In this case, what’s unusual is the shape. I believe this is the first time a circular stamp has been used in the US for First Class.

  5. OK, Summer. Anyone know of a Major sporting event using one of these balls during the summer? Soccer ( Football )? Golf? Baseball? Tennis? Beach Volleyball? I don’t think you’d see this at The Masters in Augusta…

  6. KEWL! Yes, a tactile first. Embossed postal cards and envelopes had a feel to them. Plus the earlier intaglio stamps where you could actually feel the thickness of the ink. I love them. These are indeed Innovative, these will probably start to go up in value as soon as they quit making and selling them at the P.O. Go back and get some more while you can buy them at face!

  7. These are not sports! There are only 3 true sports – Mountain Climbing; Bull Fighting and Auto Racing – all the rest are just games!

  8. “Golf is a science, the study of a lifetime, in which you can exhaust yourself but never your subject.” -David Forgan

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