In principle, SpongeBob SquarePants wouldn’t be very useful with stamps. Under the waves, they would become soaked in that pineapple.
Squidward Tentacles (his name says it all), Mr. Crabs (claws), and Patrick Star (no fingers on the ends of those arms) wouldn’t either. One could argue such stamps would be of little utility to even SpongeBob SquarePants aficionados. Gary the Snail might go in for snail mail, but that crowd doesn’t.
However, according to the U.S. Postal Service, a new set of commemorative Forever stamps features the whole cast of Nickelodeon’s long-running animated series, including Sandy Cheeks, the squirrel in the diving suit.
However, gathering them is more important than using them. You might even want to stare at SpongeBob’s bright, gap-toothed, smiling visage when you need a short boost.
You can obtain the new stamps on August 1 from 8 to 10 a.m. Eastern if you chance to be in Times Square in New York City. Although the event is free, you will need to pay for the stamps. The cost of a sheet of 16 is $12.48. They cost 78 cents each.)
When SpongeBob first debuted 26 years ago, each stamp would have cost 40 cents less.
According to the Postal Service, Nickelodeon artwork served as a direction for USPS art director Greg Breeding as he created the stamps. He will be available to sign autographs.
The show’s complete run started two months after the introduction of the Bikini Bottom universe in May 1999. Before turning to animation, creator Stephen Hillenburg taught marine biology in Southern California. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 57 from Lou Gehrig’s disease. “He wrote and illustrated stories with the characters who came to populate the show, as well as created colorful teaching tools,” The Times noted in Hillenburg’s obituary.
To correct the record, Bikini Bottom has actually made use of stamps.
For instance, the starfish asks SpongeBob, “Do you know where this Spon-gee-Boob Squir-pa-Nants lives?” in the Season 13 episode Patrick the Mailman. Then he adds SpongeBob as a postal friend.
