The Energon Pub

I recently picked up a few small GI Joe vehicles and saw something that Transformers has gotten away from - those tiny little stickers. I took a few minutes and put them on, and while they spruced up the vehcile a bit I couldn't help but think what a pain it was to put them on and how they might look pretty crappy in a few years.

So being that most TF products no longer have these little "put on yourself" decals, do you guys miss them or not?

I think stickers can be a good thing if they are of good quality and if the owner of the figure is more of a collector than the average kid who will play with their Transformers toy regularly.

Not even a little. I'm so happy TFs are painted. LEGO switched to stickers to save on costs, and it's a pain.

There was/is a certain charm to putting on your own stickers, but I'm not sure if I miss them. I do kinda miss the rubsigns, though!

I'm a proud Reprolabels shopper and add stickers to a lot of my TFs now, The Animated Elite Guard upgrade kit, for example, with the chromed strips for the Magnus Hammer, and extra details for the vehicle modes and robot modes of Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Sentinel Prime... Also my classics figures all got faction symbols in relative positions to their G1 (or Henkei in some cases) counterparts, and any classics figures without rubsigns quickly got them. As a matter of preference, I've also taken to replacing the tampographed faction symbol with a sticker on any figures where it's silver/black/miscoloured (with the exception of movie toys) or lacks a border colour (like the one on Universe Sideswipe's chest)... call me crazy but I just don't like how that looks.

Long story short, I'm all for stickers, and kinda miss them... but no amount of stickers are a replacement for great paint applications.
- Sam

I prefer well-painted or tampographed TFs. Even though I actually do enjoy the act of putting on stickers (momentary extra play value!), but am always bummed when they don't work out too well. This might be due to human error (unsteady, crooked placement by me) or manufacturing prob (stickers aren't well-cut or sticky enough). A few cases in point:

(1) Reissue Insecticons. I enjoyed stickering them, but the feet stickers on Bombshell's (or whatever his new name is) feet love to peel off (since they wrap-around the bottom & side of his feet).

(2) 25th anniversary Hasbro Optimus Prime. I don't know if it's like this on all versions of G1 Prime, but the stickers that go below his knees don't quite fit, and have to protrude along the inside part near the top of the knee. This guarantees dirt/fuzz-catching or peeling over time. Lame. I'm glad Hasbro tampographed the Autobot insignias on his shoulders at least.

(3) I hate having to put stickers over non-smooth surfaces. Even using a toothpick to carve the stickers into textured surfaces doesn't make it stick perfectly, & you lose some of the detailed sculpting.

I do like getting stickers from Reprolabels.com that add EXTRA details that HasTak would never do. The Ice Cream twins look awesome with the upgrade labels, and the FansProject G3 trailer stickers look terrific (not just the obvious Autobot insignias, but also the little details, like wheel stickers to match Classics/Henkei Prime's wheels. I used them to match the G3 trailer & D.I.A. Commander trailer to Prime).

I am a heavy user of Reprolabels upgrades too but I'm largely against them. Things like reissues and Encores are fine but I have never had a G1 Hot Rod that didn't tear the hell out of those thigh stickers. Higher end items like Takara's Masterpiece Skywarp worked for example because you had the option of not putting them on and just having a "realistic" black fighter jet. All in all I think TF's are just too complex by and large. The Star Convoy reissues legs/trailer strips are three stickers each side that just don't line up. I'd have much perfered painted (or at least factory applied) details.

Stickers suck but are always going to be there in some form.

I do find then strangely theraputic to apply tho', or is that just me?

I hate them, always have. It's like performing microsurgery to get them in the right place, then they just peel off.

I used to play with them for a few days until I started to get bored with them then enjoy putting the stickers on them which made them look nicer and thus I would want to play with them more. But I don't miss them cos they will get tatty after a while.

Depends on the figure and the stickers.

I've bought several sets of stickers from Reprolabels for my Classics and Uni 2.0 figures, as well as a couple Animated figures, and they really make the figures better IMO.

But I recently picked up the commemorative Insecticons set, and I don't think I'll ever put the stickers on them, because I love how they look without them and I want to keep them in that pristine condition.

I love stickers and really miss the fact that you get to put them on.

As a kid applying the stickers was half the fun of a new toy.

However, I do have to admit that the tampographed paint jobs look very good and won't peel/degrade over time.

zodconvoy wrote:. Things like reissues and Encores are fine but I have never had a G1 Hot Rod that didn't tear the hell out of those thigh stickers.

I had a takara Bookbox Targetmaster Hotrod reissue that seemd to lose his stickers EVERYWHERE.

Does anyone know how Encore stickers compare to classic ones or Takara Bookbox reissues? Have they improved them at all?

Convotron wrote:I think stickers can be a good thing if they are of good quality and if the owner of the figure is more of a collector than the average kid who will play with their Transformers toy regularly.

This. I love them on Reissues because they just add to the authenticity, and I've bought a few upgrade sets from Reprolabels as well. However, for most modern figures, I think a well-painted/tampographed figure looks a lot nicer and will stand the test of time far better than one with labels.

One note though, I sometimes leave certain stickers off if I think it looks better or I know they're going to get messed up. For example I didn't apply Hot Rod's thigh stickers because they always get ruined no matter what. I also left off all the seekers' eyes and the top stickers next to the cockpit in jet mode because I think they look better without them.

Delicon wrote:I had a takara Bookbox Targetmaster Hotrod reissue that seemd to lose his stickers EVERYWHERE.

Does anyone know how Encore stickers compare to classic ones or Takara Bookbox reissues? Have they improved them at all?

As far as I can tell, the Encore ones do seem to stick better, but of course they are newer. Some of my Hasbro reissues' stickers had problems staying on fresh out of the box, but none of the Encores suffered from that. Can't really give a comparison to the classic ones though. I think the Encore ones are all that thin plastic material rather than paper, however, which doesn't quite look the same as classic G1 stickers. I could be mistaken about that though.

Sorry, but what's a "Bookbox"?

I do enjoy putting them on the Encore figures / Takara Book style re-issues as they do bring back memories of been 6 years old again. However, it is really frustrating when you just can't get some of the decals quite straight or they are so fiddly (eg G1 Starscream's eyes!!) Also, for some reason the stickers don't seem to take very well to die-cast sections of the figures.

I'm all for the tampographs now as opposed to factory applied decals on certain sections. I just wish they'd done this on Encore Soundwave's chest symbol - the factory applied one is so crooked I think they must have employed a drunk monkey to stick it on!

I do not miss the stickers at all. I would rather have the details painted on for me. They look better that way and they are more durable.

When I was growing up, I never had the patience to put the stickers on correctly, and it always irritates me now to look at my TF's and GI Hoes with corrked stickers. If the details are painted on, you can't put them on wrong.

On my re-issue TF's I don't apply most of the stickers. I will only put on the stickers that make a signifficant difference in the figure.

SJ21 wrote:GI Hoes

"A Real American Hooker!"

Samsonator wrote:

SJ21 wrote:GI Hoes

"A Real American Hooker!"

Best Freudian Slip EVER!

GuyIncognito wrote:Sorry, but what's a "Bookbox"?

It was what they called the Takara reissues earlier this decade because their boxes had cool little pamphlets or "books" that opened up inside of the box.

I really enjoy putting stickers on. Reprolabels have enhanced many of my collection. BT Jazz just wouldnt look right without his! Alt Wheeljack now has his proper colours. Countless Universe figures have increased detail.

I love the fiddly ones the best. WST Soundwave was fun to do.

I will admit that I dont apply all stickers, only those that I think would enhance.

I enjoyed putting stickers on as a kid but now I paint a lot of my figures instead. It's more fun cos it's a greater challenge.

Razorclaw0000 wrote:Samsonator wrote:
SJ21 wrote:
GI Hoes"A Real American Hooker!"


Best Freudian Slip EVER!

I hate it when GI Joes have their stuff on crooked. GI Hoes are better without their stuff on.

While the idea of applying stickers sounds kinda fun, I'm not a fan. 1) I'm afraid of messing up and the sticker not being straight or ending up with an air bubble or something and 2) I like to keep my figs mint & complete which to me would be a fully intact, unapplied sticker sheet.

I'm interested in having the G1 deco Jazz Alternator, but I feel I have to buy a second Meister fig to do so...