Four official U.S. Postal Service mailboxes in Iowa were replaced overnight with new mailboxes that resemble a famous robot. R2-D2 first appeared in the original "Star Wars" movie, released 30 years ago this summer. Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins says the familiar silver-and-blue android, or "’droid," is shaped a lot like a mailbox, so it was a perfect fit for the promotion.
Watkins says: "We’re encouraging people not to tamper with them. That is a security issue somewhat because when people see these, they’re going to want to take them home, but of course they are standard U.S. Postal Service-issue mailboxes to collect mail." The special mailboxes were installed in the past day nationwide.
Watkins says there are now 400 of the R2-D2 mailboxes from coast-to-coast. All four in Iowa are in Des Moines. He says R2-D2 is a feisty little ‘droid who embodies the trust and dependability for which the Postal Service is so renowned. Watkins says they’ll unveil a new Star Wars-related stamp later this month, though it won’t actually go on sale until August or September. Watkins says they’ll unveil the "image" of the stamp on March 28th.
The special Des Moines metro mailboxes are located at: 1551 Valley West Drive at Valley Mall (west side of Younkers), 1107 East Army Post Road near the Hy-Vee (Southridge Shopping Mall), 101 South Jordan Creek Pkwy at Jordan Creek Town Center (near Dillard’s) and 715 Locust Street near the Des Moines Register building.