Introducing the Tom of Finland BDSM stamps

(Original article: dazeddigital + Zing Tsjeng )

New Finnish stamps will feature graphic illustrations from the king of the crotch bulge.

The full stamp sheet

Courtesy of Itella Posti Oy; original image from Tom of Finland Foundation

Tom of Finland, the king of the crotch-bulge, has just landed his own stamp collection. The iconic (and very graphic) work of the artist is set to adorn a new line of commemorative stamps in his native Finland, celebrating his status as one of the country's most internationally well-known artists.

"His emphatically masculine homoerotic drawings have attained iconic status in their genre and had an influence on, for instance, pop culture and fashion... The drawings on the stamp sheet represent strong and confident male figures typical of their designer," Itella Posti Oy, the Finnish equivalent of the Royal Mail, have said in a statement.

Graphic designer Timo Berry, who helped to select the illustrations for the stamps from Tom of Finland's archive of 3,500 images, believes the stamps "portray a sensual life force and being proud of oneself".

"Proud" is definitely the word when we think of when we look at this particular stamp:

So proud

Courtesy of Itella Posti Oy; original image from Tom of Finland Foundation

Itella will be rolling out these stamps in September to coincide with a Tom of Finland exhibition at the Postal Museum.

Sadly, Royal Mail has yet to issue stamps with hardcore gay pornography. Although in 2011, it did put Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter on a stamp as part of a collection to commemorate famous magical characters from British literature. (Remember J.K. Rowling casually outing him in 2007?) In the process, the fictional headmaster became one of the first gay faces on the British stamp.

Let's face it, though, it's not exactly hardcore military BDSM:

Disappointing

via royalmail.com