{"product_id":"forever-stamps-2017-have-a-ball-sports-theme-football-first-class-postage","title":"Have a Ball! 2017 Forever Stamps — Textured Sports Issue, Pane of 16","description":"\u003ch2\u003eIssue facts\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst Day City: Hartford, WI\u003cbr\u003eType of Stamp: First Class\u003cbr\u003ePrinted by: Ashton Potter Ltd.\u003cbr\u003eMethod: Offset\u003cbr\u003eIssued: June 14, 2017\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe set\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMike Ryan designed a pane of 16 built from eight designs, finished with a special coating that gives each stamp an actual texture under the fingers. Greg Breeding was art director.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eBall games are very old\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeople have been playing them for thousands of years. One of the earliest documented is \u003cem\u003eōllamaliztli\u003c\/em\u003e, played by the Maya and the Aztecs, and it functioned much the way a big game does now — as a social occasion as much as a contest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMesoamericans living in rainforest made solid rubber balls from the \u003cem\u003eCastilla elastica\u003c\/em\u003e tree. The ball weighed around nine pounds and players struck it with the hip, trying to put it through a stone hoop mounted twenty feet up. Bruising was routine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArchaeologists have found ball courts from Nicaragua to Arizona, so the game traveled widely. The original rules are lost, but its imprint on Central American culture is not, and some communities still play a modified version.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe parallel to a modern American sporting event is hard to miss — the betting, the parties, the shared celebration. Sport has never been only the game.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Forever Stamp Center","offers":[{"title":"100 Stamps (5 Sheets)","offer_id":47100618670279,"sku":"ST17-A10-5","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300 Stamps (15 Sheets)","offer_id":47100618703047,"sku":"ST17-A10-15","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500 Stamps (25 Sheets)","offer_id":47100618735815,"sku":"ST17-A10-25","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1000 Stamps (50 Sheets)","offer_id":47100618768583,"sku":"ST17-A10-50","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"5000 Stamps (250 Sheets)","offer_id":47100618801351,"sku":"ST17-A10-250","price":699.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/6250\/4647\/files\/a-20-1-1_380450cd-2a00-4f52-a4ba-067e50b986c6.jpg?v=1788604443","url":"https:\/\/www.foreverstampcenter.com\/products\/forever-stamps-2017-have-a-ball-sports-theme-football-first-class-postage","provider":"center","version":"1.0","type":"link"}