Royal Mail has announced the launch of a set of 13 Special Stamps being issued to celebrate the British contribution to the globally successful, Transformers, animated franchise from Hasbro.

The main set of eight stamp designs, are produced in pairs and feature original illustrations of  Transformers Autobots and Decepticons locked in a battle, in retro Generation 1 style from the 1980s.

Featured on the stamps are: Optimus Prime; Megatron; Bumblebee; Starscream; Grimlock; Shockwave; Arcee; and Soundwave.

The images were created exclusively for Royal Mail by three established, British comic artists: Andrew Wildman (pencils); Stephen Baskerville (inks); and John-Paul Bove (colours) – who have all contributed to Transformers comic series

The main eight stamps are printed with a hidden ink which reveals each of the character’s faction logos and names in the Cybertronian alphabet when shone under UV light.

In addition, fans who download the Royal Mail App, can scan the stamp, and watch a unique Augmented Reality animation including a clip from the original animated Transformers TV series.

A further five stamps, presented in a miniature sheet, feature the Dinobots; Grimlock; Snarl; Slug; Sludge; and Swoop

The story of the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons has been told in many different ways, but the core premise is usually the same: a deadly civil war engulfs the distant metal planet of Cybertron and eventually spreads to Earth.  Key to the warring mechanoids’ success in the UK and Ireland was Marvel UK’s The Transformers comic, which told an epic seven-year story across 332 issues.

As well as launching the careers of British writers and artists, such as Simon Furman, Geoff Senior and Andrew Wildman, ‘TFUK’ inspired fans to follow in their footsteps – with James Roberts, Nick Roche and Jack Lawrence continuing to expand the mythos, establish the definitive origin of the Transformers robots and reinvent the robots in disguise for the 21st century with characters and concepts that endure to this day.

The stamps are available to pre-order now at www.royalmail.com/transformers and by phone on 03457 641 641. The stamps go on general sale on 1 September, with the Presentation Pack, containing all 13 stamps, priced at £17.50.