If you collect all new issues Royal Mail's first offering for the season should wrap up any money you have left after Christmas.
Since we were told that the first stamp issue in 2026 was Netflix's Stranger Things - something I thought I had never heard of - it keeps cropping up. Of course the final series has just finished airing, so it was trailed widely on UK television channels, and listings magazine Radio Times had a big cover splash towards the end of the year.
Royal Mail's write-up
Nearly ten years ago, Netflix’s Stranger Things first entered our dimension. Set in the small, sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the mid-1980s, the show offered a savvy, self-aware tribute to the science fiction, synth-pop and scary stories of that iconic decade. A massive overnight smash when it launched, and now in its fifth and final season, the show made megastars out of its young cast and gathered a huge global fanbase along the way.
In January 2026, Royal Mail are issuing a set of ten Mint stamps and a Miniature Sheet of four stamps to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this critically acclaimed science-fiction horror series. Set in the 1980s, the series centres around the residents of the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, who are plagued by a hostile alternate dimension known as the Upside Down.
Since the series was first released on Netflix on 15 July 2016, it has attracted a record viewership and a global fanbase, winning numerous awards across the entertainment industry. Praised for its characterisation, atmosphere, writing, soundtrack, and acting - with an ensemble cast including British actors in leading roles, the fifth and final series aired in November 2025.
Royal Mail has worked with the British artist, Kyle Lambert, who has created bespoke illustrations for the stamp issue.
The stamps
The 10 x 1st class stamps show key characters across the series, illustrated by Kyle Lambert. Five stamps represent the characters in the ‘real’ world with a red background and five represent the alternate dimension with a blue background, known as the ‘Upside Down’.
Iconic logos from the series appear if a UV light over the stamps and miniature sheet
Set of 10 x 1st class stamps issued 13 January 2026 showing characters from Stranger Things.
Blue Row - 5 x 1st class: Will, the Demogorgon and Barbara; Jim, a Demodog and WIll; Max, the Mind Flayer and Billy; Eddie, Dustin and Max; Vecna, Holly and Mr Whatsit.
Miniature Sheet
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| Stranger Things miniature sheet of 4 x 1st class stamps issued 13 January 2026. From left to right: Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson. |
Technical Details
The stamps and miniature sheet were designed by Interabang using illustrations by Kyle Lambert. The 35 mm square, perf 14½, stamps in two sheets of 50, were printed by Cartor Security Printers in lithography on gummed paper. The lithographed self-adhesive 192 x 74 mm miniature sheet contains two stamps 27 x 37 mm and two stamps 35 mm square, excluding protrusions, perforated 14. All stamps have phosphor bands.
Prestige Stamp Book
The PSB has two 'front' covers, one entitled 'The Rightside Up' and the other, slightly bluer, cover entitled 'The Upside Down'. The miniature sheet panes 1 & 2 face each other, stamp panes 3 & 4 face each other, with the stamps in pane 4 inverted. The stamps are in the same order as in sheets, so each pane contains some 'red' and some 'blue' characters. Pane 5 contains four definitive stamps, two each 50p and £1, with security codes M25L MPIL. Stamps in the PSB show the same UV reaction as those in sheets and the miniature sheet. (Click on images to see each pane enlarged.)
The limited edition version (not pictured here) has a cover imitating a VHS video tape and comes in a VHS case. The set includes a poster of a map of Hawkins, paying homage to 1980s video game nostalgia.
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| Definitive pane (5) of the Stranger Things prestige stamp book issued 13 January 2026. |
The sheet contains all 10 stamps from the set and accompanying labels from across the series. The sheet is self-adhesive litho, making the stamps different to those issued in ordinary counter sheets.
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| Stranger Things Collectors Sheet issued 13 January 2026. |
The Fan Sheets of Eleven and Vecna contain four relevant stamps on a poster, costing £10.
The two medal covers in editions of 5,000 are priced at £25.
Product Range
Set, miniature sheet, two first day covers, presentation pack, press sheet of 8 miniature sheets, Collectors Sheet, prestige stamp book (PSB), special edition PSB(2000), Eleven and Venca Fan Sheets, set and ms medal covers, framed products, miniature sheet poster, Eleven and Vecna signed enlarged prints.
Oh, dear.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Mail in its own Upside Down world !
ReplyDeleteRobert
ReplyDeleteWhy do they have to issue 10 1st Class Stamps each time 4 or 5 would do fine. RW
Oh boy,,, not a fan of the TV series, was expecting another set of Music Legends at this time of the year, Madness came to mind.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of "Stranger Things" and won't be alone in wishing Royal Mail hadn't.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Royal Mail try so hard to dissuade collectors from continuing to collect new issues?
ReplyDeleteit’s another “entertainment” subject for which Royal Mail will sell millions of stamps and special products all over the world, like Star Wars, Harry Potter et al.
DeleteCritics should remember that they are not in business to please stamp collectors and certainly not serious philatelists.
I don't like it any more than you do, but up to a certain level, they are apparently content to lose traditional customers.
Well, I thought that Royal Mail was in business promptly to deliver mail as addressed - but nowadays they don't seem too keen on doing that, either.
DeleteSeriously? 14x 1st class! Never heard of Stranger Things. Why can't Royal Mail choose better themes, like Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, X-Files...if they want to have TV series. All the new issues nowadays seem like fancy stickers with no value for collection.
ReplyDeletePutting aside questions about why in the first place (I think Ian has answered those), my question is, why are the stamps so horrible?
ReplyDeleteI quite like them but then I have heard of, and did watch, Stranger Things. It is not to everyone's taste but I doubt every stamp issue is.
ReplyDelete