The Force? It’s in the mail

Vote for Yoda you must.

No, no, the force is strong with Lord Vader.

And hey, Mr. Postman, where’s Princess Leia’s bikini?

Those are some of the online comments about the U.S. Postal Service’s new “Star Wars” stamps, a set of 15 that goes on sale May 25 to mark the film series’ 30th anniversary. One stamp will be sold separately based on votes to www.uspsjedimaster.com through May 23.

Fiction and fantasy are not uncharted territory for U.S. stamps. Other film-centered series have included “Legends of Hollywood” and “The Art of Disney.”

But Henry Fonda and Donald Duck don’t attract the same kind of fervent fans as George Lucas’ space saga. So news of stamps featuring characters such as Boba Fett and Queen Amidala prompted frequently heated online discussions of stamp worthiness. Some comments at www.digg.com:

* “If Darth Maul wins, I’ll go postal! He does NOT deserve a stamp! He lasted less than half of one movie.... He’s a disgrace.”

* “Where’s Leia in her bikini!”

(In fact, the Postal Service depicts Leia -- actress Carrie Fisher -- wearing a floor-length gown and bending toward R2-D2. This apparently does not represent her most popular image. Plug “Princess Leia” into a search engine, and watch the bikini shots roll out.)

* “I voted for Yoda because he is intelligent and wise. I can’t say that quite matches the U.S. government, though.... “

* “All the stamps are cool, but you got to admit, if you boiled all of ‘Star Wars’ down to one notion ... it’s Darth Vader.”

* “I gotta tell my lawyer to start using the Darth Vader stamp.”

* “Finally, someone thinks to combine two of the nerdiest hobbies in the world: ‘Star Wars’ and stamp collecting.”

The stamps include images of Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Palpatine, Boba Fett, Stormtroopers, Queen Amidala, Chewbacca and Han Solo, Anakin Skywalker fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan by himself, the Millennium Falcon spaceship, C-3PO, the X-Wing Fighter, and Princess Leia with R2-D2

Postal Service spokeswoman Melissa Dodge wrote in an e-mail that public feedback “has been frequent and very positive.” So far, Yoda leads voting for the single-issue stamp, with Darth Vader in second.