Special Star Wars stamps will be released in October to mark The Last Jedi

A special edition set of Star Wars stamps is being released to mark the latest film in the sci-fi franchise.

The set of eight are illustrated by artist Malcolm Tween and are available to buy ahead of The Last Jedi, which is out in cinemas in December.

Royal Mail says they'll feature images of new and classic characters with spaceships from the films.

Maz Kanata, Chewbacca, Supreme Leader Snoke, R2-D2 and C-3PO are among those who'll appear on the stamps.

Four of them will have details in fluorescent ink which will only be visible under a UV light.

The stamps will be on sale from 12 October.

Royal Mail issued a previous set in 2015 to mark the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The Last Jedi will see one of Carrie Fisher's final onscreen performances after the actress died last year.

Co-star John Boyega, who plays Finn, says they've given her an "amazing" send-off.

"She is still kept alive in this franchise and that's the beauty of it - she lives forever in a sense."

Meanwhile, speaking to the Associated Press, Mark Hamill has explained what his role will be in the new film.

"Luke changed, I think, more than the other characters in the original trilogy, from callow farm boy to a Jedi in training to finally a Jedi master," he says.

"What you're talking about is what really fascinated me. Between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens, there's just decades of history that's unknown.

"It's not about Luke any more, so it's not really important. But I had to make sense of it for myself. What [director] Rian [Johnson] came up with, I was stunned."

The UK's favourite toys from the past 100 years were being celebrated in a set of stamps last month.

If you didn't know, the price of a first class stamp is 65p and second class one costs 56p.

Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat