In early 1996, the first Pokémon Green and Red video game was released, and since then the game's release date, February 27, has become Pokémon Day. To mark the occasion, on February 27, La Poste will present its new series of Pokémon youth stamps at Carré d'Encre, its unique philatelic and correspondence boutique in Paris. The star of the show is Pikachu, the Electrik-type Pokémon, a kind of mouse with red circles on its cheeks containing electricity. Hence its name, as in Japanese Pika is the onomatopoeia for the sound of electricity and chu, that of a mouse cry.
A Pikachu stamp with soft-touch varnish and gloss varnish
Philaposte's announced print run for the Pikachu stamp is 700,000 copies. The visual, approved by Pokémon, shows a fluorescent yellow Pikachu on a blue background.
No less than two varnishes embellish the stamp: a soft-touch varnish on the character design and a gloss varnish on the background to create a relief effect.
The stamp, priced at 1.29 euros, will be available from the following day, either individually or in sets of fifteen.
Salamčche, Carapuce and Bulbizarre will appear with Pikachu on a Collector's Edition of 20,000 copies.
A special booklet of four stamps, selling for 10 euros, in the shape of a Poké Ball - the ball used to capture, keep and protect Pokémon - will also be available from February 28.
A partnership between La Poste and The Pokemon Company should see the arrival later in the youth series of PokĂ©mon Koraidon and Miraidon, discovered in the Paldea region (look for it in the PokĂ©mon Scarlet and Violet storyline, not on a carteâeuros!).
Pop culture well represented on French and foreign stamps
By issuing stamps bearing the effigy of The Little Prince, for the 75th anniversary of the publication of Saint Exupéry's book, Naruto for the 20th anniversary of the manga's arrival in France, Disney characters for the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company and iconic Pokémon figures, La Poste is leaving its markers of pop culture in the philatelic world.
Another country, another pop culture: the Royal Mail has just released stamps to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Spice Girls, adding to a collection already featuring Iron Maiden in 2023, the Rolling Stones in 2022, Queen in 2020, Pink Floyd in 2016 and the Beatles in 2007.
