Latest information on this issue

Overwhelming winner, by 40,000 more votes than the next-highest issue. More details to come. Thanks to Jim McKean of the USPS and Foster Miller of the AFDCS for additional information.

It is being issued both in a pane and a souvenir sheet.The souvenir sheet has four new stamps on it. The single reprint has a “2026” year date. The city in the first-day postmark is Pittsburgh, where the original stamp was issued on March 23, 2018.

Here’s the USPS press release; VSC’s notes follow it.

[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Welcome Back to the Neighborhood, Mister Rogers
USPS announces Stamp Encore contest winner

BOSTON — Today at the Boston 2026 World Exposition, the Postal Service announced the winner of its Stamp Encore contest: the Mister Rogers stamp from 2018. To celebrate the organization’s 250th anniversary, and gear up to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary, the public was invited to vote on their favorite of 25 stamp panes from the Postal Service’s recent past.

The Mister Rogers stamp was re-issued — along with a new, four-image Mister Rogers souvenir sheet — in a ceremony as part of the exposition’s favorite stamp theme day. The stamps and souvenir sheet are exclusively on sale at the Boston 2026 Expo through May 30, and will then be available at Post Office locations nationwide and online at The Postal Store starting June 1.

“When we issued the Mister Rogers stamp in 2018, we ordered a print run of some 12 million. That may sound like a lot, but Mister Rogers really took us by surprise,” said Isaac Cronkhite, the Postal Service’s chief processing and distribution officer and executive vice president. “Within just a few weeks, the stamps honoring this humble, softspoken man had sold out completely.”

“Fred Rogers often shared the idea that ‘You are not just the age you are. You are all the ages you ever have been.’ In this context, I believe the Mister Rogers stamp resonated with the child in each of us — and the children and former children who cast so many votes,” Cronkhite said, linking the positive public response to how Rogers addressed childhood insecurities in a calm, reassuring manner that helped viewers feel safe in a sometimes-frightening world. “Although his show allowed him to speak to millions, his gift was communicating in a way that spoke directly to each child, on subjects both serious and silly,” he said. “He showed tremendous respect and compassion for everyone and knew how to nurture the best in all of us. It seems especially fitting that Mister Rogers is the winner because Fred Rogers was a passionately loyal postal customer and a huge advocate for the power of mail.”

“Fred Rogers considered the space between the television set and a viewer to be ‘holy ground,’” said Emma Lee, Director of the Fred Rogers Institute. “The mail children sent to Mister Rogers, and his letters back, became an essential extension of that sacred connection. Reissuing this stamp beautifully honors the enduring ties he built with his television friends.”

“Celebrating Fred Rogers’ legacy as the Stamp Encore honoree during such a historic year for our nation is a profound privilege,” said Paul Siefken, President and CEO of Fred Rogers Productions. “When people use this stamp, we hope it serves as a small, daily reminder of Fred’s enduring belief in the inherent worth of every human being.”