Lego Stickers

[Phantom59]

My wife got me the set of small pull back cars 30190 to 30195.

The yellow on stickers for 30194 is a lot paler than the brick yellow. I know it is hard to match colours, so why not print the Ferrari logo on a clear background then it would not matter what shade or colour is used.

This is not the first time I have had this problem with the stickers

Edited March 1, 2014 by WhiteFang
Polll added

[Luke_likes_Lego]

Hear, hear Phantom59,

....printed bricks definitely a preference against full colour too

Cheers,

LLL

Edited May 18, 2013 by Luke_likes_Lego

[JopieK]

but one would not be able to stick it in a non-yellow brick then of course... also if you print on transparent, most colors need a white backing... indeed it is quite hard to match exact colors and LEGO apparently uses more than one printshop. They don't make the stickers themselves (we think). One can see differences in colour also e.g. with the Maersk sets. All sets have different "Maersk color" stickers, so hard for me to decide on what color to use for reproductions :)

[Luke_likes_Lego]

Could a 'clear background' (as phantom59 put it), just refer to the background...not the white.

ie the effect on the left below, as opposed to the effect on the right?

I'm no expert in these things , but it would be good if it became the norm.

Cheers,

LLL

[JopieK]

picture helps:

(thanks whitefang ;))

I totally agree that the yellow looks ugly. But... why did they not just provided a small sticker instead of one that covers the whole motor area.

So what I meant about transparent stickers here is that if one would print it on transparent, the red / white / green are not totally translucent unless one you print white layer(s) under it.

[Aanchir]

My wife got me the set of small pull back cars 30190 to 30195.

The yellow on stickers for 30194 is a lot paler than the brick yellow. I know it is hard to match colours, so why not print the Ferrari logo on a clear background then it would not matter what shade or colour is used.

This is not the first time I have had this problem with the stickers

There are probably several reasons. Cost may be one of them, but there are also others that affect builders: a transparent sticker will show fingerprints or dust underneath, which is something that tends to frustrate people.

I totally agree that the yellow looks ugly. But... why did they not just provided a small sticker instead of one that covers the whole motor area.

Personally, it's one of my pet peeves when a sticker doesn't cover a surface roughly edge-to-edge. It makes it that much more difficult to align the sticker correctly (there's no easy way of knowing how far it should be from the edge of the piece). Stickers like the tail of the LEGO City space shuttle frustrate me the most because you're applying a round sticker (that is to say, a sticker with no edges to line up whatsoever) on a much larger, non-round surface. I'm normally a supporter of stickers in places where a print might be impractical for whatever reason, and have typically considered stickers just another part of the building experience, but I have a few very specific uses of stickers that I prefer that TLG avoid. I'm glad they avoided it here, even though their color matching leaves a lot to be desired.

[JopieK]

you could always use transfer foil of course, just like they do with car wrapping... scotch tape might also work.

[Darth Dino]

Hi

transparent sticker backgrounds are more sensitive to UV light. They get faster brownish and also have the tendency to get stiff and get breaks/ruptures.

Dino

[Laservampire]

I've gotten in the habit of buying a second set of stickers from bricklink whenever I get a new set. Makes me care less about screwing up applying them!

[Flying Ace]

My 70704 Vermin Vaporizer actually came with a second sticker sheet. Oddly enough, even though I had to reposition a couple of the smaller stickers and so they are not perfect, I am not sure I would do any better of a job with a second sticker, so I haven't used sheet #2 yet. The large side stickers are already printed with "battle damage" so I figure any other dings can be chalked up to various bug skirmishes.

I also remember my first encounter with LEGO stickers, I believe it was while helping my older son with one of his Exo-Force or Agents sets (I was still in my on Dark Ages). I thought, "Whatever happened to the printed bricks of my youth?" The only sticker I remember was a number sticker on my LEGO Expert Builder Go-Cart (a dreaded STAMP)... From my experience, overall sticker quality has improved over the last six or seven years. The clear ones definitely look the best when applied properly.

[NickAb]

I've noticed that recently TLG use clear more and more often. There are used to be clear stickers in very old sets, but then TLG switched to opaque stickers, opaque stickers where mostly used in direct to consumer sets (e.g. Emerald Night). But now they started to include clear stickers even in city sets (see recent City Fire sets, LEGO Movie sets are another example).

Clear stickers have some advantages over opaque ones, to name some:

• can be used on bricks of any colour
  
• no problems with colour matching (opaque stickers sometimes have a slight difference between base colour and brick colours, see "yellow problem" above)
  
• no white edges
  
• it seems that clear stickers have almost same glossiness as bricks (opaque stickers are a little more mate than bricks)
  

Yet clear stickers are harder to apply, you can easily leave fingerprints if not being careful. Also sometimes a micro bubbles of air will stay under sticker which are almost unseen, but irritating at very close view.

So what are you thoughts on inclusion of clear stickers even in non-AFOL aimed sets? What type of stickers do you prefer: clear or opaque?

Edited March 1, 2014 by NickAb

[WhiteFang]

Poll request was considered by a request. Thus, this topic discussion is now equipped with a poll.

Sorry for the belated thanks, good illustration, JopieK.

[naf]

Of course I prefer printed bricks, but if we have to go the sticker route I prefer clear. I have clear stickers on my train sets from the mid 80's that are still looking very good. The stickers I applied to my Battle of Hoth set that I just bought last year are already starting to peel off.

There is an excellent tutorial on the site here that shows how to make your own stickers using a laser printer and packing tape. I've been using it to replace white stickers that have peeled off with very good results.

I've also started the habit buying a couple extra sheets of stickers from bricklink for my sets, for new sets they are usually a dollar or under.

[Lyichir]

I find it odd that there's an option for "neither" and not one for "both". I apply most stickers in sets I get, and I find that there are pros to both types of sticker. For instance, clear-backed stickers can occasionally be harder to apply cleanly, but they're essential for decorating transparent parts (the alternative, a solid-backed sticker that doesn't cover the full surface of a part, may be better looking if you get it straight, but it can be incredibly difficult to do so).

[iamwhoiam]

I have no preference.

[Boettner Builds]

If the set comes with stickers, I don't apply them. I just wish everything was still printed!

[rzetlin]

I don't use stickers.

Stickers peel off over time and they don't look well with custom MOCs.

[Boettner Builds]

Stickers peel off over time and they don't look well with custom MOCs.

Yes they do! I buy sets for 2 reasons only. 1: It's cool on it's own. 2: It has awesome parts for other builds. But either way the stickers don't get stuck.

[rodiziorobs]

Favorite stickers were the holographic Exploriens ones. Back in those days I applied all my stickers, but it didn't take me long even as a kid to remove the annoying red/blue reveal stickers (if you had those sets, you'll remember what I'm talking about). I still have those holographic ones, though, even if they are a bit faded.

Nowadays I save the stickers out to use on MOCs later on (which I rarely actually do), then when I take the MOC apart I try to keep those pieces sorted separately so the stickers don't get dinged up.

[Faefrost]

I've noticed that recently TLG use clear more and more often. There are used to be clear stickers in very old sets, but then TLG switched to opaque stickers, opaque stickers where mostly used in direct to consumer sets (e.g. Emerald Night). But now they started to include clear stickers even in city sets (see recent City Fire sets, LEGO Movie sets are another example).

Clear stickers have some advantages over opaque ones, to name some:

• can be used on bricks of any colour
  
• no problems with colour matching (opaque stickers sometimes have a slight difference between base colour and brick colours, see "yellow problem" above)
  
• no white edges
  
• it seems that clear stickers have almost same glossiness as bricks (opaque stickers are a little more mate than bricks)
  

Yet clear stickers are harder to apply, you can easily leave fingerprints if not being careful. Also sometimes a micro bubbles of air will stay under sticker which are almost unseen, but irritating at very close view.

So what are you thoughts on inclusion of clear stickers even in non-AFOL aimed sets? What type of stickers do you prefer: clear or opaque?

What they use will depend on the needs of the entire sticker sheet and the set. Clear and Opaque stickers have different uses. They will most often use opaque if they have to put something noticeable over a dark color or something that would wash out a clear. Or they will use clear if they need any transparency. The inks used for either are translucent, so they will be effected by the background color. They use opaque backgrounds where this will cause a problem. (Basically the translucent ink is applied over a default white background and surrounded with color matching where needed.) The sets sticker sheet can typically service one need or the other. So whichever need is stronger is mainly what determines whether it is clear or opaque. So if you need a sticker on a canopy shoying a HUD, then all the stickers are clear. If you need printing on certain bright colors that wash out the translucency, opaque is used for all.

[NickAb]

Faefrost, you are right. For example, they used clear stickers for sea cow, as it includes stickers for windows, where you obviously can't use opaque stickers. But why TLG include clear stickers with City Fire sets, where all of the stickers are used for regular non-transparent bright red bricks?

TLG is starting to replace opaque stickers with clear ones in some of new sets even when it is not necessary. It seems that eventually there will be only clear ones, who knows.

[BrickG]

I hate them. I think everything should be print. That is not an option in the poll. :P

[Lyichir]

I hate them. I think everything should be print. That is not an option in the poll. :P

Wouldn't that be "I don't apply stickers at all"?

[gedren_y]

I usually only build a set with TLG's instructions once. This is to see if there is something from the design I want to keep (or recreate with different colors) as part of a MOC. For this I don't bother with the stickers.

Occasionally though, there are some stickers that will work for my designs. For these I prefer the clear stickers. Often this is because I want to use a sticker on a different color than intended. I was happy to learn that the sticker for the new Spider Trike is clear for that very reason. Some clear stickers are even reusable if you are careful in removing them.

[Apollo VI]

I prefer opaque stickers because in general they are easier to apply. With clear stickers you basically have one chance to do it right. If you begin to lay down the sticker in the wrong spot and peel it back, the adhesive is now smeared in that spot of the sticker and you can never get it to be fully clear again. I messed up one of the clear canopy stickers on my 8088 ARC-170 Starfighter, and every time I look at it I notice that the one canopy is slightly less clear than the other. It's annoying.

I don't mind the use of stickers, but I wish Lego would give us better support. You can order missing pieces and download missing instructions, but the one thing you can't replace easily is the stickers. If you get a set with a wrinkled sticker sheet, or you mess up the application of a sticker, or your stickers are old and peeling, what options do we have? We either have to live with it, try the secondary market on eBay or Bricklink that can vary wildly, or contact Lego customer support who may or may not have what you're looking for. The point I'm trying to make is that Lego should make sticker replacements more easily available. A duplicate sticker sheet in every set is one option, but what I would prefer is the ability to order sheets through Pick-a-brick. Having the ability to go back and order an old sticker sheet from Lego itself would put my mind at ease. It would make stickers on sets a more sustainable option than they are currently.