Time has announced that newsstand sales of newsstand sales for its commemorative election issue (dated November 17, 2008) and its 2008 Person of the Year issue (dated December 29, 2008) are hitting “record highs.”

Estimates of the election issue show record sales of 575,000 newsstand copies — nearly five times as many copies as an average issue.

Time‘s ‘Person of the Year’ issue, which featured President-elect Barack Obama on the cover, is on track to become the biggest-selling Person of the Year cover in the history of the franchise. Early numbers show the issues selling 70% higher than average Person of the Year editions, which Time releases every December.

This can no longer be a surprise but still the numbers are impressive and further evidence that despite the prevalence of online media, paper is still the valued medium of choice when it comes to meaningful events.