Mario stamps in Japan

While some people find it exciting to lick the back of the Queen's head or let their tongue glide between the reverse contours of a beautiful mountain, it has to be said that we've never got off on postage stamps particularly.

That is, editorially conveniently, until now - as starting this week in Japan you can pre-order a 10-stamp sheet of 80-yen stamps with Mario and assorted characters all over them. They're due out next month.

We have no idea if the stamps, pictures of which can be found online, can be used anywhere besides Japan, but certainly if you were in Japan and wanted to communicate with the outside world as stylishly as possible, this would be the way to do it. Interested parties can find pre-order auctions up on eBay.

Whether they require licking is another matter, as it doesn't say. We can only hope so.