Stickers

[Brickadeer]

Hi,

my question is: I wondered for how long the stickers actually can be used, that is removed from the sheet, applied to bricks, and remain applied to bricks? Does it make sense to keep sticker sheets stored for 5, 10, or 20 years, or even longer? And what is the best way to store them?

Any valid information on this issue?

[L@go]

I've recently bought unused sticker sets for set 6624 and set 6651, to use on modern recreations I've made of those sets. Those stickers are 30 years old, but I'm happy to report that they came off the sheets without problems, and are happily sticking to the (flat) bricks I applied them to. I can't say anything about whether they'll keep on sticking as well as they would if they'd been new, though, as it's not very long since I applied them.

[TheKingOfBuilding]

It depends on the type of stickers, for example stickers on a white background (such as this sheet) tend to be of a lower quality and crack/fall off a Lego piece quicker than stickers on a transparent background (such as this sheet). So far, only a few of my white-backgound stickers have cracked and/or fallen off a couple of eight year old sets, so i'd say normal stickers last about 10 years on a piece, but transparent backed ones might last more.

[brickmack]

Not sure myself, but it might be a good idea to scan the stickers and save them on a computer, so if the originals do go bad, you can just printout a replacement onto sticker paper (Might be hard to find good sticker paper to use for this though, I haven't seen any that resembles the paper LEGO uses), and that way you have extras you can use for MOCs without worrying about destroying difficult-to-replace originals.

It depends on the type of stickers, for example stickers on a white background (such as this sheet) tend to be of a lower quality and crack/fall off a Lego piece quicker than stickers on a transparent background (such as this sheet). So far, only a few of my white-backgound stickers have cracked and/or fallen off a couple of eight year old sets, so i'd say normal stickers last about 10 years on a piece, but transparent backed ones might last more.

This is a result of the white ones being made of paper, which tends to break down over time.

[sharky]

Generally speaking stickers should be kept in a cool dry place away from extreme temperature changes and light. That will ensure the longest possible shelf life.

[Brickadeer]

Thanks guys

Still, everyone is still invited to post her or his personal experience with stickers, whether they still worked after a certain period or not.