Removing Stickers

TyoSolo

I've just bought set #7669 Anakin's Jedi Starfighter from eBay. I picked it up for a bit of a steal, but the problem is, it's heavily played with, and there are splits on the minifig, chew marks on some pieces (and randomly the worst printing on an R2-D2 "head" I've ever seen).

All that I can deal with, but the stickers - they look like they've been thrown on by a blind monkey with no thumbs. My question is this:

Is there a way to successfully remove and re-apply stickers?

Cheers - Rich

Renny

Have you tried steam? It works for removal of stamps so it could also work on Lego (what effect prolonged exposure to steam would have on the lego brick itself I can't say).

littletoki

Poor sticker placement is a HUGE pet peeve of mine.

It has to be really bad for to me to try to reapply a sticker but when I'm desperate, I make sure the piece is clean as possible and then I take a razor knife and carefully slide it under the loosest looking edge. Anything else tends to leave a little wrinkled, dogeared look in the corner. Once there's a flap, I take tweezers and gently peel it off.

Depending on the age of the set and sticker, there's a high likelihood that you will lose some "stickiness" doing this.

But at that point, I'd rather forego the sticker than live with the efforts of a "blind monkey with no thumbs". :)

scratchdesk

I usually use a heat gun (blow dryer should work as well). Once they heat up (not crispy!) but warm to the touch they should come off with little to no effort. Just don't cook them.

TyoSolo

^ I thought about that, but always worry about damaging the clutch on the bricks after cooling if I do.

^^ Me too. When building sets myself, I don't bother with them at all unless it's a model I want to display, and then it has to be PERFECT.

I'll test the least risky first, and try the more aggressive stuff later (heatgun/steam). As it's a played with set, if I damage anything, I'll just resign it to the spares drawer - it didn't cost a great deal.

Legoboy

You only have to heat it mildly. Cupping in your hands for a couple of minutes will probably have the same effect. Just blow a hair dryer on it for a few seconds - just enough to soften the glue a little. The bricks will be fine.

madforLEGO

I think there are threads about this already, but I use an exacto knife with a blade that has a notch in it which makes the blade smaller (sorry I do not know the name of it), it is a small foot print, but it is basically a razon with a handle and better control.. just make sure you:
A) Get all the glue to stay on the sticker itself
B) be careful not to gouge the plastic underneath (unless the brick you are removing from is in bad condition and you were going to get rid of it anyway)

dehnehsu

I agree with the previous posts that the Sticker will loose its grip after removal. Even with a hobby blade sliding under the edge, it will almost always end up killing the glue on that edge. Good news is Bricklink sellers have the Sticker set for around $2.00
I always ask that they send Stickers in a regular letter size envelope (If it will fit) with a standard first class stamp. I sometimes buy 2 sets of Stickers if it's cheap enough, to have one as spare, or I mess up applying one.

madforLEGO

^--- this is of course IF that sticker set is available through BL. I have seen train set sticker sheets hit 50 bucks-100 bucks depending on set, rarity, etc.
As I rebuilt a lot of 80's sets this is usually not good enough and the knife is required... if you can just peel up the corner, being careful not to crease or cut it, then then peel off the rest with you figures.. Also do not pull straight back on it, pull away, or the sticker will 'curl' in you fingers making harder to re add to another piece or different place.