Which Technic sets have stickers that degrade without use?

[recovering_from_dark_ages]

I've seen in a few reviews that set 8448 and some of the Racers sets like 8674 have stickers that become chipped and cracked over the years even without use.

Does anyone know which Technic sets have this problem? It doesn't seem like any post-2010 sets do, based on what I've seen. Is it only limited to some 1990's and 2000's sets? There are excellent replacements available at https://www.brickstickershop.com/ for many long-retired Technic sets, although I'd prefer to use the original stickers if they'll last.

EDIT: I meant to post this in the Technic subforum. Apologies. I don't see a way to move the thread there.

Edited October 24, 2025 by recovering_from_dark_ages

[Stereo]

It started in the mid 90s, yeah.  I think it's light sensitivity, my 8448 has some stickers that weren't on it when I had it on display for 20 years, and they still look fine.  While the other ones are totally annihilated (shift pattern is the worst, most of the stickers dried up and fell off) 8479 is my first set that definitely has the problem.  The older ones feel like they're paper based or a heavier clear plastic type of sticker.  I stopped buying new Lego after 8448 so I can't really say when it stopped.

Edited October 18, 2025 by Stereo

[MAB]

I think it is just as much about the conditions you keep it in as the material used to make the sticker. 

[recovering_from_dark_ages]

On 10/18/2025 at 10:56 AM, Stereo said:

It started in the mid 90s, yeah.  I think it's light sensitivity, my 8448 has some stickers that weren't on it when I had it on display for 20 years, and they still look fine.  While the other ones are totally annihilated (shift pattern is the worst, most of the stickers dried up and fell off) 8479 is my first set that definitely has the problem.  The older ones feel like they're paper based or a heavier clear plastic type of sticker.  I stopped buying new Lego after 8448 so I can't really say when it stopped.

Interesting. Based on that, perhaps sets made between years 1997 (with set 8479) and 2006 (8674) have this problem. Does anyone know if set 8480 (made in 1996) had this problem?

[Toastie]

On 10/20/2025 at 9:44 AM, MAB said:

I think it is just as much about the conditions you keep it in as the material used to make the sticker.

100% agreed. 

Another thing is: We are talking about 20 to more than 30 years (!) of lifetime of a chemical formulation ("glue" or adhesive) that holds together two rather smooth surfaces of different composition: The sticker material and ABS (the bricks). In many instances, the ABS surface is not ABS,  but a mixture of everything that touched it before the sticker is applied, including fingerprints ;) The glue on the sticker sees the “free environment” for the first time when it is peeled off the sticker sheet, and is thus rather clean when it is applied. Provided of course the glue surface was not touched, the sticker was applied in one go and not realigned or even peeled off and applied again, because the first try was intolerably bad, and so on. Which may heavily impact on the lifetime of a sticker. And then the countdown begins: Dark = good, humidity depends on sticker material/glue formulation, temperature not too hot, not too cold, and so on, and so on.

The sticker material certainly changed over the decades, as did the glue. I have stickers sitting on #727 looking rather good, maybe the color fainted a bit, but what do I know about colors. Definitely more paper-like sticker material. In other words: They may suffer from high humidity and sweaty fingers much more than today's thin plastic material, which in turn falls apart after a couple of years to decades upon environmental exposure. 

Generally, I guess stickers are not designed to live for decades, but rather “look good” and “withstand” repeated finger massaging (while glued to the brick) for a couple of years. Or months, possibly hours, depending on the attention-span and interest. I also believe that a lifetime pattern (which sets/decade had the more durable stickers) is really tough to identify, as there are simply too many variables in play ...

But who knows. TLG would ...

Best regards
Thorsten