stickers vs. printed pieces

[darth jason]

Well, Ive come to understand that stickers are not going away and the printed pieces,what few are left, are only being done when most practical. Clear pieces for example.

As much as I would like to think that Lego would reverse this trend based on whether or note a minority group is willing to pay more money, i just dont see that happening and they are not going to go back for nothing. It would be great but i just dont see it. Think about it.
Its easier for TLG and Cheaper(Im assuming) to throw a plastic sticker sheet in a box than to apply printing on a corresponding number of pieces. I mean all the sets have gone up in price by approximatly 10% and we are getting less pieces for the money, fewer figures compared to older sets, and smaller sets with fewer bricks per set. It aint going backwards that money is gone and spent. Unfortunatly this is how these things have a tendancy to go across all lines because good bad or ugly their bringing in more money per set with less effort put out.

Having to apply stickers has been the bane for most kids/parents for a long time. Hey at least they're not model decals! I think it was Tyrant who mentioned putting stickers on '80's GI Joes. Some of those vehicles had 2 pages of stickers. I remember spending a long time getting those just perfect. I personally used to enjoy this because I used to build models and paint figures so I really had a sense of accomplishment when i had finished and everything was perfect, just like on the box.

I think what they can do.. as some kind of alternative is to offer replacement sticker sheets for these sets available online, at any time. I know based on the way i set up my legos these would be helpfull and give you some peace of mind. I havent any permenant ships on display, I build one, look at it, admire it, show it off,chase the animals with it and what not. Then after some time it is taken apart, reboxed and put away for the next build. What would give me piece of mind would be if i had a fresh spare set of sticker just in case, from my experience I have had stickers(from other toys, ive been lucky w/my lego) get pulled off or crumbled and have had to be removed w/no replacement. Not to mention these would be good for "major" mistakes. As we have all stated, no one seems to get these on perfect. Hell, lego cant even print em straight most of the time. Seriously though thats my suggestion, just make replacements totally available and cheap. Its a compromise but i think a fair one, no ones out too much on either end.

[bigospedros]

Stickers are here to stay ... not sure we can do much about it.

However, Lego can ease the pain by :

a) making sure the stickers don't get crumpled in transit
b) provide 2 of each sticker sheet in new sets (so you can replace your stickers if they crumble over time)
c) have stocks of stickers from old sets so we can replace stickers if we want to ... I for one will not spend £20 on the stickers for the original RGS!!

[DarthMC]

It does seem like the SW stickers tend to be more expensive than most. I was looking for a set of stickers on Bricklink for the Space Shuttle ($2) and just out of curiosity clicked on "most expensive first". It took a while (33000 items) but right near the top were the stickers for the Blockade Runner at $125. It might be nice if they could release the retired stickers in a PDF format so you could have them reprinted for older sets.

DarthMC

[legofactory]

I rather have printed pieces !!! Stickers are not good because you can make a mistake on applying it. Also, if the stickers are transparent, you can see air bubbles in it ! Lastly, stickers can get worn out if you play with the lego a lot.

But the reason LEGO isn't doing printed pieces is probably because of the cost of having to design a new specific piece just for that set.

[LFN]

I think a mixture of both is best, to be honest. Having a sheet of decals that can be placed ANYWHERE doesnt sound like such a bad idea, a la the twilek girl / crumb bomber stickers on the new gunship. Feminists or whatnot who hate on the twilek lady sticker can apply the crumb one instead.

Besides, we should at least be thankful that we still have minifigures with printed torsos, and some with printing on BOTH sides, not to mention increasingly detailed face prints.

[Blondie-Wan]

It does seem like the SW stickers tend to be more expensive than most. I was looking for a set of stickers on Bricklink for the Space Shuttle ($2) and just out of curiosity clicked on "most expensive first". It took a while (33000 items) but right near the top were the stickers for the Blockade Runner at $125. It might be nice if they could release the retired stickers in a PDF format so you could have them reprinted for older sets.

DarthMC

Some might remember that not long ago on the previous board, I expressed my delight over my late discovery that the police stickers in City sets since 2005 have included both English "Police" and German "Polizei" decals (just the sort of thing for which I do sometimes appreciate a decal, BTW - it's the same as, say, decals for different national teams in the Soccer sets from earlier this decade, or the alternate nose art in the current Republic Gunship). At the same time, I also expressed my preference for the earlier color schemes for these Police markings - black for the English ones and green for the German, as opposed to the current blue for both. The 7236 Police Car is a 2005 set that's still available (!), but with the decal color having changed at some point over its run, and I got a couple "current" ones (with blue decals) that I wanted with the markings in the older colors (specifically, the green Polizei markings). A friendly FBTBer gave me the spare decals from one of his, and to outfit the other the same way I contacted TLC to ask whether it'd be possible to obtain a copy of the older green / black decal sheet. They said yes, but...:

...However, due to the magnitude and variety of building elements contained in LEGO construction toys throughout the years, we may have to substitute a color or replace only those elements that are unique to the original model and currently in our inventory. This service is provided as a courtesy to our consumers.

There is a charge of $ 4.39 for the items you requested.

$4.39? Yow - that's more than two-thirds the cost of the whole set. I don't exactly begrudge it, though, given how wonderful their customer service has been to me in the past, not to mention the fact a huge amount of the LEGO I've gotten over the years has been at sharply discounted clearances and the like; I therefore actually considered going ahead and paying it - it's extravagant, but I could justify it "just this once," I decided. As it happened, though, ugly financial realities reared their ugly, ugly heads in my direction once again just before I went ahead with it, and I didn't get the replacement sticker, though I still might if they'll still let me - that is, assuming they correctly understood that my request was for the older version of the decal, which isn't clear from the language in their response. I might have to contact them again to be sure.

[Voice of Reason]

When I pay extra for a licensed set, I expect to get a few parts that are specially printed to fit the theme. I miss the days when all elements are printed. Now it is usually minifig torsos, common tiles, and sometimes a windshield (TIE). Stickers don't last. Even sets untouched on a display shelf will have stickers that flake and peel. Generally I avoid applying stickers, except in the case of the new gunships. The front end stickers are too great a desgin to not apply! I wish those were printed pieces, though.