18 replies to this topic

[Miles]

It began on a dark and stormy night...

Well. Not quite.

Back when I initially bought the MF Vampyre Castle, I found that the glow-in-the-dark stickers included seemed to be peeling off slightly from the waxy paper backing they're attached too. I wasn't too thrilled about this because I figured if they peel off of the backing that easily, how long will they last on my castle?

So I put the stickers aside and planned to request a replacement sheet from LEGO Shop at Home.

2 months later I finally got around to sending in my request and when I received the replacement sheet - I got 2! One was the familiar glow-in-the-dark version, and the other was a color version with brown leaves and red glowing eyes. Awesome!

I'm not too much of a fan of the whole glow-in-the-dark gimmick, so this new colored sticker sheet is a very exciting find for me. Has anyone else seen this, or received it in their set?

(I feel like a bouncy 8 year-old.   I guess it's the little things, right?)

[Devorath]

Can we have pics? Actually, I don't have this set, but I want to see! :P

[Mencot]

Yea show us images, cause this sounds intresting. Alternate stickers!

[Miles]

Here is a side-by-side scan. The Traditional glow-in-the-dark stickers are on the left, and the alternate colored version is on the right. Not a huge difference, but I certainly like the alternate version quite a bit better. I mean who plays with their LEGO in the dark anyways?   (Well, except maybe some of LEGO's target market, lol.)

[Sid Sidious]

Possibly someone at the factory messed up what color ink to put in the machine.  The brown parts on the glow in the dark ones are the same color as the brown on the alternate, so possibly two brown ink canisters and now glow in the dark were put in the machine, but that doesn't explain the red eyes.  Maybe the one on the right was a prototype or a stand in before the glow in the dark was finalized?

EDIT:
If you look at the sheets, the numbers in the bottom are different, but the numbers in the top are the same.

Edited by Sid Sidious, 31 October 2012 - 03:15 AM.

[NickAb]

Maybe they released non-glowing replacement for parents concerned about safety of phosphorescent inks.

[obsidianheart]

I really like those non-glowy stickers better, and am a bit sad I put the glowy ones on my castle now.

[Blondie-Wan]

Wow, that's neat. I'd like to try to get extras of all the stickered parts from Pick-a-Brick or something so I could use both sheets, and build and rebuild the castle for with either glowing or non-glowing decoration, as the mood strikes.

[Locutis]

That is awesome!

Your stickers might be common (replacements for people worried about glow-in-the-dark), or they may in fact be rare.

At work we sell collectible money.  A few years ago we carried collectible banknotes from the Bank of Canada.  They came in a sealed plastic lens, and a booklet that was the COA.  We got a call from a customer saying their COA didn't have a serial number.  We told them to ship it back to us.  When we got it back, we discovered it was their prototype, and the serial numbers on the bills were the ones that appeared in the photos of the set (and on the box)!  We sold the set for 10x what they normally sold for.

Lego may have made a run of regulars before they made glow-in-the-dark for the sets, and your sticker sheet may have accidentally gotten out (should have been destroyed).  What would you think/do if only a few of these ever existed outside of TLG?  Would be extremely rare!

That being said, I wouldn't mind getting those stickers from them, either!  It would have been nice to have had two options.  I actually scanned and reprinted the stickers it came with because my experience is that Lego stickers tend to peel off a lot of times (reprinted ones don't).



Locutis

[Miles]

I'm glad I'm not the only one excited about this, then.

Locutis, what brand of sticker paper do you use? I always wonder how long LEGO stickers will last for, but I'm never sure that commercial sticker paper from an office supply store would be any better.

UPDATE: I was just looking at the stock pictures of the set (used for promotional purposes and such), and the stickers in the picture are the colored version, not the glow-in-the-dark ones! I feel silly for not ever realizing that before. I do have to say that when I contacted customer service I commented that maybe the stickers were peeling up because of the thicker glow-in-the-dark-ink. Perhaps, as NickAB mentioned, they assumed I wanted an alternate to the GITD that was phosphorescent-free. (Wow, typing GITD is much easier than glow-in-the-dark, lol. )

And (I hope this is totally legit), but if anyone wants the full-size 300dpi tiff scan of the colored version, I'd be happy to e-mail it to you. Just please send me a PM through the website instead of filling up the message thread. (Though that would make me look wildly popular... )

[Locutis]

I use Avery 15665.  They are slightly opaque but when rubbed become transparent (like 3M tape).  I bought letter size sheets (8.5" x 11"), and I print using a color laser printer.  These sheets work on both laser and inkjet printers.

Unfortunately there are issues with printing white, as obviously being clear sheets you won't get white.  However if you work around that caveat you can still get good sticker results.  You can't stick on black or dark green, for example, but you do get decent results on white, tan, grey, etc.

Locutis

[ETAV8R]

This is really neat. I don't have this set yet and am always hesitant to apply stickers. I keep them to scan later so I have a file if I ever need to reprint them. Do you guys cut them yourselves or use a die cutter? Did you have to pay for the replacement stickers or did TLG send them for free?

[just2good]

Dang it, I wish I got those colored ones instead of the cruddy glow-in-the-dark ones!

[Miles]

Well, because the initial sticker sheet I got seemed to be peeling right off the backing while inside the box, I just went through the customer service option at S@H online and specified a replacement. Ultimately they usually don't charge you if it's a result of their error, however if you wanted a replacement because you lost the sticker sheet, then TLG would contact you with a price quote for it.

It kinda depends on the situation. In my case, no I didn't have to pay.

(And thanks for the info, Locutis. )

[Locutis]

 ETAV8R, on 04 November 2012 - 11:33 PM, said:

This is really neat. I don't have this set yet and am always hesitant to apply stickers. I keep them to scan later so I have a file if I ever need to reprint them. Do you guys cut them yourselves or use a die cutter? Did you have to pay for the replacement stickers or did TLG send them for free?

When you print stickers using those sheets, you just cut them out (carefully) using a scissor or knife.

Locutis

[Hersbrucker]

I take all your glowing stickers

offers are welcome

I put a lot of glowing parts in my MOC, so it looks great in the dark

[commodore_legolas]

 Miles, on 05 November 2012 - 04:57 AM, said:

.......however if you wanted a replacement because you lost the sticker sheet, then TLG would contact you with a price quote for it.

Really? I have lost parts and called TLG for replacements, and they have never charged me for it. Weird.

[Thego]

I bought this set from Argos in the UK last week and it came with the brown leaves/red eyes stickers.

[Ocky]

Yeah I received the coloured sticker sheet in my set, which I got from TRU in the UK.

I'm glad I did to be honest, I think they look far better than the GITD stickers.

Edited by Ocky, 21 November 2012 - 04:38 PM.