Long-overdue rant: Stickers vs. Decals

[Coelacanth]

Time for another of my grumpy-ol'-man rants.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to know the difference between "decals" and "stickers", and thought it was high time that we get this straight.

STICKERS are what we mostly use on our RC car Lexan bodies. They're sticky.

DECALS are applied using heat or water transfer, such as what we used to put on our plastic models.

There, was that so hard?

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I seriously didn't know there was a difference. I just thought we said decals because it sounds a little more sophisticated and grown-up than stickers.

[Coelacanth]

It definitely makes a difference when you go to the local hobby store. If you buy "decal paper", i.e. you want to print your own logos or something, you'll find that it won't work unless you use water-transfer. Decal paper isn't sticky.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Decal paper isn't sticky.

No, I just checked and all my decals are sticky.

Just kidding. I know what you're saying, but they will always be decals to me. Not sure I can change my ways. Just like a tissue will always be a Kleenex and polycarbonate is always lexan.

[RedScampi]

I just thought we said decals because it sounds a little more sophisticated and grown-up than stickers.

yeah, what he said! Can't have people thinking we play with toys!

[Coelacanth]

Decal paper isn't sticky.

No, I just checked and all my decals are sticky.

Just kidding. I know what you're saying, but they will always be decals to me. Not sure I can change my ways. Just like a tissue will always be a Kleenex and polycarbonate is always lexan.

Except a Kleenex IS tissue and Lexan IS polycarbonate. A sticker isn't a decal any more than an apple is an orange.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I just thought we said decals because it sounds a little more sophisticated and grown-up than stickers.

yeah, what he said! Can't have people thinking we play with toys!

Exactly. We place decals on our radio control models.

[klavy69]

Time for another of my grumpy-ol'-man rants.

Is it that time of the month again already













couldn't resist Marc...

Todd

[JPAE07]

Sure do need some of those repro "decals" for my old is newer "ride".

[Coelacanth]

Time for another of my grumpy-ol'-man rants.

Is it that time of the month again already

You might be onto something there, Todd...just for interest's sake, I searched my previous rant topic about calling toy cars "rides"...guess when that post was dated?

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=25785

Feb. 29. I didn't even plan it that way.

[GJW]

Time for another of my grumpy-ol'-man rants.

Is it that time of the month again already

You might be onto something there, Todd...just for interest's sake, I searched my previous rant topic about calling toy cars "rides"...guess when that post was dated?

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=25785

Feb. 29. I didn't even plan it that way.

right on schedule hey, looking forward to next month's already

[Y'ernat Al]

Next month..they are not turnbuckles! They are connecting rods!

And while we are at it, they are shock absorbers or dampers (if you are from across the pond). A shock is what you get when you lick a 9-volt battery .

Because I like words, I looked this decal thing up. Turns out decal is short for the french decalcomania, a transfer process that's been around forever because paper has been around forever. More recently, adhesives were invented (thanks 3M) and we got "peel and stick" decals. These became casually known as "stickers". So IMO a sticker is just a modern variety of decal. All decals are not stickers, but all stickers are decals. I'll crawl back into my book now.

[Coelacanth]

Often, there are multiple names for the same thing: lifters, cam followers, tappets. However, those names identify the same thing.

As much as some would like to debate it, and some who say "I've been wrong all this time, and I'll just continue to be wrong", there is a functional difference between decals and stickers. It's like saying there's no difference between bearings and bushings because they are functionally the same.

If you ask for decals and get something that won't stick without you dumping it in tepid water first, you only have yourself to blame.

[flipwils11]

Be honest, was this the post that set you off?

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=26192&p=264647#p264647

[Coelacanth]

Be honest, was this the post that set you off?

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=26192&p=264647#p264647

Nope, it's been bothering me for months, and to a lesser degree, long before I joined RC10talk. Probably part of the reason is one of my biggest pet peeves is stickers. Every item you buy these days has frickin' stickers pasted on them, and when you try to remove them, they don't come off clean. Every damn product you buy has a "Made in China" sticker on it! When I bought my Dakota in 1998, I had the dealer remove all the stickers from it. Last weekend, I removed the cheap plastic stick-on "GXP" and "GM" badges from the fenders of my Torrent, and the dealership sticker pasted on it by the dealership I bought it from (FFS, it wasn't even a GM dealership, it's not cool to have a Chrysler dealership sticker on a Pontiac!). I had some dishware gifted to me that had frickin' "Made in China" stickers on them--right on the eating surfaces! And sure as hell, they would NOT come off clean! If you've ever tried to remove an annoying sticker, you'll soon come to realize EXACTLY why they're called "stickers".