Stickers isn't a big deal! Or is it?

[The Brick Boss]

@ShaydDeGrai @MAB I never said that it was a bad or good thing. You @ShaydDeGrai cut out some of that sentence. If you read it fully, you'll see that I was actually trying to clarify what someone else was saying. 

Like I tell others, don't be so quick to correct someone. 

[Graupensuppe]

I don't mind stickers at all - if they are good quality. But the ones Lego uses tend to self-destruct after as little as two years, and that really isn't acceptable, especially if a set costs several hundred Euros.

[Asajki]

I like stickers more than prints 

 

In my experience, prints come off eventually, if a print scratches away but the piece design is fine you won’t want to get rid of the whole piece because of a print do you? Stickers are more easily replaced and a nicer way of adding detail, stickers can be hard to put on but most times  they are easy, I admit certain sets could do without them but remove them from any speed champions set and you’ve ruined it! Prints not only cost more they often scratch and are harder to replace 

[The Brick Boss]

13 minutes ago, OwenMistika said:

I like stickers more than prints 

 

In my experience, prints come off eventually, if a print scratches away but the piece design is fine you won’t want to get rid of the whole piece because of a print do you? Stickers are more easily replaced and a nicer way of adding detail, stickers can be hard to put on but most times  they are easy, I admit certain sets could do without them but remove them from any speed champions set and you’ve ruined it! Prints not only cost more they often scratch and are harder to replace 

I think it mostly has to do with how you care for your builds. I have OCD so I am very caring with my builds. My builds must be in top shape or I freak out. So the issue with stickers going bad doesn't happen with me. 

[dr_spock]

On 10/22/2019 at 3:31 AM, coinoperator said:

My all time worst set is the 2006 Tow Truck 8285
Not one sticker is not cracked.

And a glance at the Bricklink prices for these stickers learns that I'm not the only one.

I have that issue with 8258 crane truck.  It is one of my favorite sets too.

On 10/21/2019 at 8:33 PM, pooda said:

You hand out Lego stickers? What events are these? 

Events like hospital children picnics.

[MAB]

8 hours ago, OwenMistika said:

In my experience, prints come off eventually, if a print scratches away but the piece design is fine you won’t want to get rid of the whole piece because of a print do you? Stickers are more easily replaced and a nicer way of adding detail, stickers can be hard to put on but most times  they are easy, I admit certain sets could do without them but remove them from any speed champions set and you’ve ruined it! Prints not only cost more they often scratch and are harder to replace 

If you manage to damage a printed part, chances are you will also have damaged the decoration on same part if it was stickered. And you cannot replace the sticker as LEGO do not supply spare stickers with sets. Of course, you can buy spare sticker sheets on BL and occasionally from LEGO, but then you can also buy replacement printed parts that way too.

[Asajki]

20 hours ago, pooda said:

I think it mostly has to do with how you care for your builds. I have OCD so I am very caring with my builds. My builds must be in top shape or I freak out. So the issue with stickers going bad doesn't happen with me. 

Me neither

Also, I find that sticker less pieces are more common than printless pieces which is helpful for mocing 

11 hours ago, MAB said:

If you manage to damage a printed part, chances are you will also have damaged the decoration on same part if it was stickered. And you cannot replace the sticker as LEGO do not supply spare stickers with sets. Of course, you can buy spare sticker sheets on BL and occasionally from LEGO, but then you can also buy replacement printed parts that way too.

Have you ever had the issue where a piece was misprinted or the white on the print was darker? I have, loads of times! I have a classic space set and the logo print is literally blue! 

[MAB]

12 hours ago, OwenMistika said:

Me neither

Also, I find that sticker less pieces are more common than printless pieces which is helpful for mocing 

Have you ever had the issue where a piece was misprinted or the white on the print was darker? I have, loads of times! I have a classic space set and the logo print is literally blue! 

Yes, pale prints over dark parts do not look good when LEGO does them. Many of the fake companies have better printing density than LEGO. But having a sticker doesn't really help there. Sure the print looks better but you then have the problem with alignment and the edges of the sticker showing, plus the possibility of the sticker peeling or the edges being damaged, and so on.

[Pdaitabird]

Back when I built sets, I preferred printed parts to stickers. Now that I pretty much only build MOCs, I often find printed parts an annoyance. Occasionally, I even resort to removing the prints when running short of plain parts.

[Asajki]

On 10/25/2019 at 10:10 AM, MAB said:

Yes, pale prints over dark parts do not look good when LEGO does them. Many of the fake companies have better printing density than LEGO. But having a sticker doesn't really help there. Sure the print looks better but you then have the problem with alignment and the edges of the sticker showing, plus the possibility of the sticker peeling or the edges being damaged, and so on.

My favourite thing about stickers is that you don’t have to apply them! A friend of mine has several of 7236, one is sticker less, own is blue and one is black, the sticker less one pretty much works as a normal car (without the police lights and the addition of a 1x4 white tile) another has a sticker less 7945, works as a normal pickup truck, can’t do this with printed sets can you? 

[paul_delahaye]

I would not mind, if they were of the 1980's quality.  Printed on clear vinyl.  Those old stickers can still be repositioned even today.

Some of those early 2000's sets, the stickers just were terrible.

[MAB]

On 10/26/2019 at 1:35 PM, OwenMistika said:

My favourite thing about stickers is that you don’t have to apply them! A friend of mine has several of 7236, one is sticker less, own is blue and one is black, the sticker less one pretty much works as a normal car (without the police lights and the addition of a 1x4 white tile) another has a sticker less 7945, works as a normal pickup truck, can’t do this with printed sets can you? 

You can if you already have or buy the unprinted parts.

[howitzer]

I never apply stickers, except those which are important for the set's playability, like those which direct how functions are used in Technic models. Often the sets would definitely look better with the stickers, but I don't keep my sets (with few exceptions) built but instead take them apart after a while for MOCing, where stickers have practically no value.

[Asajki]

3 hours ago, howitzer said:

I never apply stickers, except those which are important for the set's playability, like those which direct how functions are used in Technic models. Often the sets would definitely look better with the stickers, but I don't keep my sets (with few exceptions) built but instead take them apart after a while for MOCing, where stickers have practically no value.

I see this as a pro sticker argument to be honest 

7 hours ago, MAB said:

You can if you already have or buy the unprinted parts.

Costs more money 

Plus let’s be real, if speed champions was printed it’d suck 

[MAB]

48 minutes ago, OwenMistika said:

Plus let’s be real, if speed champions was printed it’d suck 

Why would it suck if they were printed?

 

 

[The Brick Boss]

Just now, MAB said:

Why would it suck if they were printed?

 

 

Why wouldn't it? 

[MAB]

14 hours ago, pooda said:

Why wouldn't it? 

Because a printed one would look very similar to a stickered one without the hassle of having to align stickers carefully.

[The Brick Boss]

2 minutes ago, MAB said:

Because a printed one would look very similar to a stickered one without the hassle of having to align stickers carefully.

If you're annoyed by the stickers, you don't have to use them. Due to expenses, Lego won't do printed pieces for every set.

Another option: You could just put the stickers on the side and use them for your MOCs. But as long as there is Lego, there will be stickers. That's fact. 

[MAB]

1 hour ago, pooda said:

If you're annoyed by the stickers, you don't have to use them. Due to expenses, Lego won't do printed pieces for every set.

 

Yes, I know that LEGO won't do printed pieces for every set. But if you look at the post I responded to it claimed that Speed Champions would suck if they were printed. I don't see how they would look any worse than stickered versions.

[Asajki]

7 hours ago, MAB said:

Yes, I know that LEGO won't do printed pieces for every set. But if you look at the post I responded to it claimed that Speed Champions would suck if they were printed. I don't see how they would look any worse than stickered versions.

Because the stickers capture detail that prints just don't

Misaligned prints are annoyingly common and unlike simply removing and placing a sticker, they are stuck like that

[MAB]

38 minutes ago, Asajki said:

Because the stickers capture detail that prints just don't

Misaligned prints are annoyingly common and unlike simply removing and placing a sticker, they are stuck like that

I agree for minifigure parts print quality is not great when the design goes over more than one part, but I rarely see misaligned parts on other pieces. At least nothing as bad as not quite aligned stickers.

[Asajki]

Just now, MAB said:

I agree for minifigure parts print quality is not great when the design goes over more than one part, but I rarely see misaligned parts on other pieces. At least nothing as bad as not quite aligned stickers.

Literally every Astromech head

[MAB]

11 minutes ago, Asajki said:

Literally every Astromech head

So how would you sticker a dome?

 

[hagridshut]

Most of the old Lego sets I own are from the years between 1985 and 1995.  None of them used stickers, and the prints are in remarkably good shape for toys that are about 30 years old on average, and saw heavy play when I was I child.  I do not believe that current era stickers would hold up as well over the long haul.  

I personally do not like stickers.  Aligning them properly is often a real annoyance.  The colors often don't match the bricks.  For example, white stickers practically never match white bricks and plates to which they are attached, causing unevenly colored surfaces that annoy me.  Black stickers end up having a thin white "border".   The edges of the stickers pick up lint and dust over time, further affecting aesthetics.   

I understand why Lego uses stickers, but I don't like it.  When I buy newer sets that use stickers, I will apply as few stickers as possible.  If the set's aesthetics or function aren't affected by the lack of a particular sticker, it will stay off.  

Stickers also have 2 other problems:

Replacing them in the future can be inconvenient since Lego does not sell replacements.

Stickers are often damaged or creased right out of the box.  

Someone earlier in the thread said that stickers would be more tolerable if Lego open-sourced the graphics.  I agree.  If I knew that I could download and re-print replacements, I would feel better about long term collection maintenance.  

[anothergol]

On one hand I like stickers because it gives us reusable parts - it sucks when a part in a specific color only exists as printed.
On the other hand it sucks that
-Lego only gives 1 sticker sheet, while they cost nothing to produce, and it's easy to misplace them, not even counting that stickers just fall off with time. And as written above, the sheet often comes in warped, and the cutout not properly aligned with the artwork.
-Lego could also offer a waterslide decal alternative, because those look better (& are kinda easier to apply, even though you need to bother with water)
-I like sets like speed champions, but it's safe to say that Lego relies way too much on stickers for those. A speed champions car without its stickers doesn't look any amazing.

Edited October 30, 2019 by anothergol