Stickers replica? Brickstickershop anyone?

[ChrisXY]

Hi,

I am missing several stickers on different sets. Anyone has used replica stickers? Comparing prices with original from bricklink is huge. Read some reviews but not much.

[SpacePolice89]

I can recommend Fortuna Luna Print from Ebay. They are based in Austria. I have ordered from them and the stickers are very high quality.

https://www.ebay.com/str/fortunalunaprint

Edited April 12 by SpacePolice89

[ChrisXY]

They dont have that many sets in stock and are also quite expensive, aren´t they? Looks like they also use vinyl/PVC as brickstickershop... But LEGO one´s are thinner, different material I guess

Edited April 12 by ChrisXY

[JopieK]

For LEGO stickers it depends a lot. We always used vinyl that is also used on cars (Mactac). Less brittle than e.g. the older HP stickers that seem to crumble even when MISB.

[SpacePolice89]

9 hours ago, ChrisXY said:

They dont have that many sets in stock and are also quite expensive, aren´t they? Looks like they also use vinyl/PVC as brickstickershop... But LEGO one´s are thinner, different material I guess

I bought stickers for my original Indy Transport I had as a kid and wanted to restore. One of the original stickers was still in place and the new ones are of the same material. The set is slightly yellowed because I played with it a lot and had it on my desk and therefore the new stickers looks to be very white. I buy stickers very seldom and in small quantities so I have never thought about price that much but because of the quality of the Fortuna Luna stickers they were well worth the money.

[MAB]

It depends what you want to do with your sets. If for personal use and will never be for sale, get reproductions. If selling, don't do it. If it is possible they will be sold in future the stickers should indicate that they are not original. Any company producing exact replicas is probably breaking the law.

An alternative is to buy the used parts with stickers on bricklink. For many sets the snickered parts are quite cheap, especially compared to an unused sticker sheet. But of course it depends on the set.

[SpacePolice89]

56 minutes ago, MAB said:

It depends what you want to do with your sets. If for personal use and will never be for sale, get reproductions. If selling, don't do it. If it is possible they will be sold in future the stickers should indicate that they are not original. Any company producing exact replicas is probably breaking the law.

An alternative is to buy the used parts with stickers on bricklink. For many sets the snickered parts are quite cheap, especially compared to an unused sticker sheet. But of course it depends on the set.

I understand. I will not sell my sets so I don't have to worry about that. If given the choice I would rather buy original stickers but then they must be in new condition. For the Indy Transport no new sticker sheet is available and I don't fell comfortable buying used stickers even if they are attached to bricks because I never know exactly what the condition is and they are very hard to find (only four stickered parts are available for the side sticker from Indy Transport), if I want all stickers for a set it will both be expensive and difficult to order them as stickered parts because few sellers have them all. I only buy used original stickers when I buy a used set and the stickers are included and mentioned to be in good condition. If I buy a used set in good condition with no stickers I prefer to buy replica stickers.  

[MAB]

12 minutes ago, SpacePolice89 said:

If I buy a used set in good condition with no stickers I prefer to buy replica stickers.  

And that is fine if it meets your collecting goals. When I restore old sets, I prioritise authenticity over appearance. I aim to go for only genuine LEGO parts and ideally of the right era so long as they are not too expensive so I'd take used genuine snickered parts over modern reproduction stickers that aren't genuine. Large stickers across multiple parts can be especially problematic. 

[SpacePolice89]

11 minutes ago, MAB said:

And that is fine if it meets your collecting goals. When I restore old sets, I prioritise authenticity over appearance. I aim to go for only genuine LEGO parts and ideally of the right era so long as they are not too expensive so I'd take used genuine snickered parts over modern reproduction stickers that aren't genuine. Large stickers across multiple parts can be especially problematic. 

I want the sets to look as new as possible. When it comes to plastic pieces they must be original and made by Lego but sails, stickers and rope can be reproductions if no original new/high quality option is available. It is very interesting that we all have our own standards and preferences when it comes to restoring old sets.

I have one question for you, just out of curiosity. If you had to choose between two large Imperial Soldier flags for a build from an old idea book would you choose the new and in perfect condition one from the new Eldorado Fortress or the original flag but yellowed and with some scratches? I had to choose between those two and in the picture you can see which one I used. It was a difficult choice.

 

[ChrisXY]

I would use the smudged one for older sets. It represents that era. Same goes with the yellowing or discoloured pieces.

If you replace all with new pieces it does look shiny, but somehow "fake". 

Still dont know what to do. Maybe order one sheet and compare? 

Also big questions, where do I get the rope? You mentioned it. Is this also somewhere cheap to get? 

Edited April 13 by ChrisXY

[SpacePolice89]

1 hour ago, ChrisXY said:

I would use the smudged one for older sets. It represents that era. Same goes with the yellowing or discoloured pieces.

If you replace all with new pieces it does look shiny, but somehow "fake". 

Still dont know what to do. Maybe order one sheet and compare? 

Also big questions, where do I get the rope? You mentioned it. Is this also somewhere cheap to get? 

I prefer period correct pieces in good condition but if they are too yellowed I replace them with new ones if they look the same. When I need rope for sets I buy stuff like this from Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256836332263?_skw=lego+rope&itmmeta=01JRQBQK8D4ZXN32BX84J2C669&hash=item3bcca36ae7:g:-zwAAOSwyNBeQnAc&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAAwFkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fQaRF03YNv04TUzKzla4lsfDb6WyPCFg6Bz%2FwtJ2ieIVqIRnMlLmdyNr9g0qMoQgRtLkmHTIOys8oRX5lsYz1KJQuNkIHl%2FPb7iXFg48H4stXAQDCskDbqeoJlueTUuYeU4MuXZC%2FOIMaPA%2FMqyYapR%2F2UkF6hX4Zs%2BnNoljK%2BOmifkfr1GzmoJZKhALvK8vqFPMf%2F%2BfvImC%2BfObp7U5JE5Z2g1%2F2fok6jW7DOSXanYA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR6q03uvFZQ

When I need lots of rope for ship MOCs I use a type of string that I bought in a fishing goods store.

This is what I use

https://www.vildmarkskallare.se/en/fishing/210d-18-160m-100g-210d-18-160m-100g/p/8854445918145/

This is an old picture from a pirates comic I made a long time ago where the fishing goods store rope is visible. It looks like the Lego rope but is a bit more plastic.

I

[MAB]

7 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I have one question for you, just out of curiosity. If you had to choose between two large Imperial Soldier flags for a build from an old idea book would you choose the new and in perfect condition one from the new Eldorado Fortress or the original flag but yellowed and with some scratches? 

I would probably go for the older one if I wanted to make it truly vintage using only vintage parts, but the new one if I was also using modern parts in the build. It really depends what the build was for. Most of my builds are modern part based, even ones inspired by old sets. For those I nearly always use new parts rather than vintage even if the vintage parts exist. But I wouldn't really call them a restored set. 

6 hours ago, ChrisXY said:

Also big questions, where do I get the rope? You mentioned it. Is this also somewhere cheap to get? 

If you want genuine LEGO rope/string then you are often better off looking for longer lengths on bricklink than the exact length you require. It is often cheaper if a long length came in a common set. Then cut it down. It is the same with tubing, often better to buy longer and cut it down.