BrickStix come to the UK
Posted by Huw,
Stickers are often a scourge of today's LEGO sets but there's no doubt that they add detail and finishing touches to models.
With this in mind, US company BrickStix started selling custom stickers designed to work with LEGO and other brands a couple of years ago and by all accounts they've been well received.
Now, they are being distributed in the UK by littleConcepts and can be found in all good toy shops, priced at £3.99. I've been sent a few packets to test...
There's a couple of dozen different packs available. I've been sent 'Special forces', 'Galaxy', 'Castles' and 'Apocalypse'. Each one comprises two sticker sheets with around 60 stickers on them. They are sized to fit LEGO bricks: 2x2 tiles, torsos, 1x2 and 1x4 bricks, shields and so on.
Here's the contents of the apocalypse pack:
I've applied a few of them to bricks, plates, and a couple of random minifigs made up from parts in the Brick Box I obtained a the fan weekend in Portugal. The torso stickers just about cover up any printing on them.
The big selling point of the stickers is that they are removable and reusable and "won't leave stick on your brick" and I can attest that this is the case, at least not in the short term.
Yes, they can be removed easily but, just like removing official stickers, you're likely to damage them slightly when doing so, where you lift the corner. Once they are off you can stick them on the unused area of the sheet if you don't plan to use them again right away.
You can see exactly what stickers they contain on the back of the packs, and they are certainly removable and reusable as claimed on the pack. But I can't help feeling there is room for improvement that wouldn't push the price of the product up at all: the two 22cm x 10 cm sticker sheets have a lot of wasted space on them filled with company logos and so on. I would have thought it would be possible to pretty much double the number of stickers on them if all available space was used.
I think there's a place in the market for them, perhaps not for AFOLs who often detest stickers, but certainly for kids who will love plastering them over their models. The £3.99 price point makes them good 'pocket money' items, too.
You can find out more on the BrickStixUK Facebook page, BrickStix website, and if you're a retailer who wants to sell them, at LittleConcepts. I was interested to see on the BrickStix website that the company has been picking up expired LEGO licenses: TMNT and SpongeBob...
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7 comments on this article
Sorry, Huw, but you've been hoodwinked. These aren't new to the UK. I bought the Castle pack from the toy department of a department store in SW London over two years ago. I recall they had various other packs too. Admittedly, I haven't seen them in the UK since and littleConcepts may have a new deal to distribute them in the UK, but that's not the same thing as saying that they've "come to the UK"; "return to the UK" would be more accurate.
Like most AFOLs, I'm not a big fan of stickers. However, the BrickStix ones can be quite handy for creating things not otherwise available. I used the puritan torso sticker from the Castle pack to MOC a van Helsing minifigure for example.
Thank you for the clarification. Yes, I guess there could have been a distribution deal previously although they could equally have been 'grey imports' although that's unlikely if a department store was stocking them.
I have seen these in a couple of toys shops before in London, never bought any though. Thought the price was a little too high. I only saw them for £4.99 so at this new price I might just grab a couple depending on postage charges. Does anyone use the regular stickers from the pound shop? They are not reusable and you have to have a little bit of patience when removing them but otherwise they work out cheaper even if you use the brick as filler after that project.
Bought some from Brickizimo (who ship cross Europe) and can attest to the stick and remove part for short term use. But storage after use is a hassle, all to easy to curl off and then they dry out.
http://www.brickizimo-toys.com/en/13_brickstix
Some of the newer ones actually have some glow-in-the-dark portions of the sticker as well, so they are advancing things for sure. Also they added some numbers and letters so you can do signage etc.
I like the ones featuring a Peel P40 with knackered wheels.
To the MOC'ers this will be useful for detailing (that head of the Mouth of Sauron goes great with the costum sticker and it would look natural in a Fallout MOC).