Starting today, if you live in the US, you will be able to deposit your mail in officially sanctioned Artoo Detoo mailboxes around the country.

No, this is not an early April Fool’s joke.

In an unprecedented marketing scheme, Lucasfilm has teamed up with the US Postal Service to promote a new web site. Official US Postal Service mailboxes in many areas have been transformed to look like the popular astromech droid.

The mailboxes promote http://www.uspsjedimaster.com, which promises a major announcement on March 28 about a collaborative project between the postal service and Lucasfilm.

I don’t think I’m going very far out on a limb here by predicting the announcement will include a Star Wars stamp or set of stamps. After all, entertainment stamps tend to be huge profit-makers for the postal service since they often are saved by collectors rather than actually used.

A 1993 stamp featuring Elvis Presley remains the most popular US stamp of all time. Other popular entertainment stamps include last year’s DC Comics Superheroes set and various Walt Disney stamps.

As long as I’m making predictions, I also foresee some sort of general public outcry over the Artoo mailboxes. Perhaps a Congressional investigation into whether or not taxpayer money went into the marketing gimmick and how the President is likely to blame.

I know, I know, I’m nearly as great as Carnac the Magnificent.

Primary Information Sources
StarWars.com: R2-D2 mailboxes coming to your galaxy
WashingtonPost.com: Elvis remains the King of postage stamps