As soon as I get home I will post my vintage 80's mini collection ... or what my mom did not throw away.
The ingredients needed to make a sticker are rather simple: vinyl, glue, ink and a backing material. Then there’s the magical pixie dust, the artwork that gives a sticker life, value and meaning.
Who among us hasn’t attached something special to a sticker? Exactly: zero.
It’s how we show support, remember events, and tell the world about ourselves. My wife, the runner, has a 26.2 on the back of her Civic Si. The side widows of my 911, I admit, have become a mosaic of vinyl. My friend Phil, a graphic illustrator, just posted a picture of some vintage Apple Computer stickers along with a thank-you.
Our message board community recently hosted its own sticker exchange. I participated and received an envelope full of sticky vinyl, a mix of car and bike logos save for one showing Minnie and Mickey kissing. (I know, awww.)
A while back I came across some Datsun Li’l Hustler stickers. They’re totally ’60s, showing a cartoon Datsun pickup erupting from a cloud of psychedelic smoke while pulling a most righteous wheelie. The redline tires only add to the effect. I did the only proper thing with them: Posted a photo to Instagram. I wasn’t the only one enamored with the find.
Should I die tonight–hit by a bus, attacked by a wild pack of chihuahuas, whatever–the detective assigned to the case would only have to open my top-right desk drawer to find my life story. (Please let it be Jerry Orbach, Abe Vigoda or Tyne Daly.) The pile of stickers found inside paints an immediate picture of who I am and what I like. It’s a mix of cars, bikes and music, from Porsche Punx and Condor Speed Shop to Vans and Park Ave. CDs.
All of us have such a collection–or, rather, collections. Dig through the artifacts on my bookshelf and you’ll find several envelopes stuffed with reminders of places I visited while in Japan: Tokyo Auto Salon, Twin Ring Motegi, Super Autobacs, Ebisu Circuit and more. Somewhere I also have a collection of vintage stickers–lots dating back to the ’70s–and while looking for something here in my office I recently unearthed some from later decades. I think they multiply at night.
Then there’s the other sticker haul that we all own–those that are stuck to something. If you think about it, that’s really allowing each sticker to fulfill its true meaning of life. What’s covering up our toolboxes? Stickers. The lift? Stickers. The garage fridge? Yep, more stickers.
Our weekly live show takes place in J.G.’s shop, which was built by Butch, his father-in-law. The bits of colored vinyl scattered throughout are a testament to Butch’s SoCal hotrodder roots. It’s a mix of sanctioning bodies and iconic American speed shops like Mooneyes, Honest Charley’s and the ever-sneering, cigar-chomping Mr. Horsepower. Sadly Butch is longer with us, but 5 minutes in his shop would tell you a lot about him.
The other day I passed a dark-green Miata here in town. I’d never seen the car before and, obviously, didn’t know the owner. On the front fender was a GRM sticker, though. I’m going to assume that we’d probably have plenty to talk about.
Have your own sticker collection? I’d love to see it.
As soon as I get home I will post my vintage 80's mini collection ... or what my mom did not throw away.
In reply to Slippery :
Please share. Remember those prism BMX stickers from the '70s? I have a ton of those--like, the full inventory from a shop that went out of business in the mid '80s. One day I need to photograph and share.
I used up the majority of my sticker collection a few weeks ago on the exposed wheel well in the van.
David S. Wallens said:In reply to Slippery :
Please share. Remember those prism BMX stickers from the '70s? I have a ton of those--like, the full inventory from a shop that went out of business in the mid '80s. One day I need to photograph and share.
Had a bunch of those that you would get out of the little coin slide machines at the skating rink as a kid
My latest sticker project. 
I'm weirdly hesitant to actually use stickers, like if I stick them to a car then the car will someday go away and I'll lose my sticker along with it. Or the laptop will break and my sticker will be wasted, etc.
That said, I think I'm going to start putting stickers on parts that could be transferred to another car, like a spoiler or something.
Here's some of the ones I picked up recently from OHOAT (I know David will know):
Ha, I ordered one of those same stickers. Plus I have Syd's stickers on the M3. 
Well the beer fridge is the target out in the shop.
It's a long story, but everyone needs a brick of Vans stickers, right?
I have a box full of run of the mill stickers, but a bunch of oddball and vintage bike stuff. But here's some car stickers
This is my porting vac. I have different attachments for different size ports. After I sold my first house I drove by one day and saw it at the curb so, knowing how well it always worked, I scooped it. It has to be at least 40 years old and still works great.
These are really cool. The material is like chrome and the individual stickers pull out.
That's my buddy's Metro on the tech stickers. I set a record in that car
Stuck on my kid's head, thanks to some very good people here.
Reminds me of when I took the Merc wagon on BABE8 and everyone kept adding window stickers along the way.
This was as of a few years ago. There are more now:
They really do turn into a visible personal history. I'd love to throw this toolbox away but don't want to loose the stickers!
Could not find the little box. Its there somewhere, but found one of them:
I work in IT, but here is where we keep our Wiha tools.
First post so not sure if my pic is loading correctly but my sticker fridge can be seen behind the suspended rear suspension.
The toolbox is the only current cluster. Every skateboard, helmet, car, bike, and bass drum head was filled up until I hit 30 though. Ha!
I had the young men at the last autocross apply a million stickers to the front of the Zoomboni. Amazon sells piles of band stickers for super cheap.
I have some all over:
In reply to slowbird :
I put some of my stickers on magnetic material from Walmart so that I could remove them when I needed to.
Found a way to display a few in the house that looks presentable. For trips and Breweries.
Stickers? Yeah I got a few.
Here is the tote I keep them in and then some of the stickers I have. Some. The gf gets 'mad' at the constant buying of stickers, "You need MORE stickers?!"
Most of mine are punk rock. But some from my motorcycling days, some from car stuff, some from random things like college or my favorite soda etc
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Newest sticker is probably 30 years old.
I could see it needed work so I upped my sticker game on the shop vac
Hope more post here, I love this thread, I love stickers!
When I was a kid, this was the only sticker that really mattered. 
They were free at any gas station or auto parts store. I see now they go for 4.50 on Amazon.
In reply to Mr. Peabody :
The FMF logo is timeless.
Not a great picture, but in the back ground you can see the sliding door I have been putting stickers on for years.
I thought that by the time I got around to getting pictures of my old tool box, this thread would have died.
Stickers from the 80s and 90s. I finally have a garage, with better tools in a much bigger box, but this was all I needed to do an engine swap in the parking lot of my apartment complex while I was in vet school.
The Newest sticker on that dates from the 1990's.
I've been stickering up my current toolbox for the past twenty years or so with a bit of everything. Lots of bicycle stuff as that is my day job, plus motorcycle stuff, AE86 stuff, Toyota stuff, car stickers I collected while travelling in Japan, and some of the events I have done as well.
Woot, Cannondale. I still have my early SR400.
This is all I got...for now.
I always get more, I LOVE stickers. I hope this thread lives on and more post up their stuff, stickers rule.
I have a collection and a fear of commitment. I always feel like when I get my car stickers right, something happens and I end up selling the car.
Most of mine just remind me that I buy too much crap
the big ones were handed out at races
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Cool! I'd hang on to that one; they don't make 'me like they used to!
I had both a US-made M400 mountain bike I really enjoyed for a while before selling (and it was yellow/orange!) plus a US-made CAAD X cyclocross bike I loved, rode, and raced for multiple seasons before selling due to a move. Ah...hindsight!
Oh wow! I really understand the commitment when you decide to seriously apply a 30 year old sticker onto something. 
Oh wow! I really understand the commitment when you decide to seriously apply a 30 year old sticker onto something.
My old tool box had all the good old stuff on it. This one is almost out of space but I have cabinets in the new garage.
These count, right? Oil change reminders from Nissyota.
In reply to Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) :
Harper's Ferry Brewery is awesome
The roof inside my Volksrod was begging for treatment after the old headliner came out...
I have some more stickers on the way, so photos soon.
I just got more GRM stickers in a couple days ago. And a longsleeve tee.
Always acquiring more stickers. Always hesitant to use them.
hybridmomentspass said:Always acquiring more stickers. Always hesitant to use them.
Totally hear you there. Odd that we tend to hoard stickers. I have a collection here in my desk and then several other hoards in my office.
David S. Wallens said:hybridmomentspass said:Always acquiring more stickers. Always hesitant to use them.
Totally hear you there. Odd that we tend to hoard stickers. I have a collection here in my desk and then several other hoards in my office.
Too many at home, nothing really here at work, not many chances to acquire stickers at a school ha
And the latest look at my sticker drawer.
(P.S.: Yes, that's a cassette tape on my desk.)
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What cassette?
I just kind of stick them on whatever, can't see the sides or backs with this setup but whatever. The Club Retro Rides stickers are awesome but I've not had anything to stick them to. Something long term.
hybridmomentspass said:What cassette?
I came across this:
While looking for this:
(Both were on a bookshelf in my office.)
I mentioned that I didnt have much at work in the way of stickers.
I DO have one that I found. Sort of two.
The one is focused in pic - the Bikes not Bombs sticker. The other, I THINK it's a sticker, never tried to peel off the back, it's top right corner overlapping the map. It's an all access pass to see Between the Buried and Me down in ATL two years ago. Fun little trip/story. I had no plans of going to the show on that Saturday night until about noon on Saturday. Then it was throw stuff together and haul butt down. Just enough time to get down to Atlanta, meet up with my cousin, get food, and then go meet my buddy Blake (drummer for btbam) at the show as it's starting.
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Thank you, thank you.
rearranging the garage, this side is always against something
In reply to chandler :
Nice collection.
Thanks.
Picking up a few more this week
In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
Woot.
I just ordered some stickers from FortNine (Canadian motorcycle store with a GREAT youtube channel)
Sticker pics to come soon - recently got more GRM and some other ones. Hopefully by weekend I can post up half a dozen new ones
I've been saving this one for the quarter window on the Z.
Might as well start using some.
Put some clear plastic cover first so that, at some point, when this computer is no longer used, I can pull it all off in one big sheet. Maybe a good idea, maybe not. Time will tell.
Someone say stickers?
Kids have the cabinets
And magnets are on the freezer
octavious said:Someone say stickers?
Kids have the cabinets
And magnets are on the freezer
App grad?
Boone is a lovely place, been there (to App) for school stuff a handful of times and spent some personal time up there too sightseeing and snowboarding
Hybrid- yep. Many many years ago, but Boone is still a place we visit often.
Snapped a quick one this morning.
A couple new ones
The Wildcats one came from a NY FD guy who I got some MR2 parts from. Godspeed brother, stay safe and keep folks safe.
Did someone say stickers? I usually put them on toolboxes because I tend to keep them forever.
In reply to hybridmomentspass :
Hrmm... I grew up in Culpeper and had family in Fredericksburg. In fact brother works up there now. Never heard it called FXBG but cool stickers!
johndej said:In reply to hybridmomentspass :
Hrmm... I grew up in Culpeper and had family in Fredericksburg. In fact brother works up there now. Never heard it called FXBG but cool stickers!
Might be some new hipster thing lol
I like FXBG (lol) a lot, it'd be on the short list of places to move to if I ever leave the Winston Salem NC area...I love the history (I am a history major and teach high school American history), I love the little shops on Sophia (I think that's the street name, main drag in historic downtown), it's got all the 'big' stores you'll ever want, mall sort of stuff.
Plus, then youre only an hour or so from DC, which is my favorite city to visit.
Just found this one when cleaning out, it'll get pride of place on my lift post.
While cleaning garage found more
Not really but.....
Starting to move down the side but this is main batch
In reply to paddygarcia :
Vintage-y.
Somewhere I have a stash of old car stickers that I got when I was a kid--so today they're super old. I need to find them. Thanks for the reminder.
my former squarebody frankenburban:
Braid - as in the band?
In reply to hybridmomentspass :
When I get home I'll have to take a pic of our sticker drawer.
I can never decide where to stick them, so I have a drawer full of stickers. This is my current favorite though - it's from a mostly defunct relatively obscure punk record label but I feel like it covers all the bases.
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to hybridmomentspass :
When I get home I'll have to take a pic of our sticker drawer.
Would love to see!
One drawer of 2.
AWESOME
Got some stickers in from Koni
Here is a mix of stickers on magnetic sheet and RA magnets.
Aaron_King said:Here is a mix of stickers on magnetic sheet and RA magnets.
In the racetrack - what cars are those and where did you get them?
In reply to hybridmomentspass :
I got those at races, teams give them away with the Hero cards. Mostly Mercedes, a couple of R8's, a Ginetta and an NSX.
Slippery said:As soon as I get home I will post my vintage 80's mini collection ... or what my mom did not throw away.
It took me almost a year but I found them!!! 
I wish she hadn't given away my Vision Mark Gonzales or Santa Cruz Jeff Grosso skateboards.
My toolbox only has one sticker on it.
This fridge has since been relegated to garage duty. Bought it at auction when Gilley's was closing down. It can be seen in the bar background of the movie "Urban Cowboy".
The Basement Door to the Garage Had some "ahem". "patina" to it.
Now it's mostly covered in various stickers and other automotive "stuff"
It's a door - So It can greet you coming or going..
Also Decorated a garage door with some "wall art":
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:I used up the majority of my sticker collection a few weeks ago on the exposed wheel well in the van.
Thats a great idea as I was looking for something to put my newly acquired collection from NASA & Johns Hopkins/APL
This was my project when I got my camping spot today at Mid-Ohio. Since this trailer pretty much lives at race tracks, I decided to add some appropriate stickerage while I watch the campground fill up. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a GRM decal. That will be addressed shortly.
In reply to grafmiata :
Cool and thanks for adding us to the mix.
In reply to modernbeat :
My aunt and uncle had the sign out by the road, the sliding front door, and the piano from Gilley's for a while.
Left side of my '74 Beetle has some of my favorite record stores on it. I've cleaned it up recently to give myself more of a view, but I still have 1 more sticker to put back on.
UHF Records - Royal Oak, MI
Dead Wax - St. Louis, MO
Third Coast - Muskegon, MI
Amoeba Records - Berkley, CA
Flat black & Circular - East Lansing, MI
RPM Records - Traverse City, MI
Believe In Music - kaput
Detroit Record Club - Detroit, MI
Still need to put on my Wax Trax sticker (Chicago, Illinoize)
My favorite sticker on the car (maybe on all my cars) - the ancient AAA of Michigan club sticker on the back. It's so burned in to the paint that it's now in a symbiotic relationship with the car. It's never coming off.
In reply to eclecticalan :
Nice.
In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :
As I straighten up my office, I keep finding more stickers. I'll photograph and share.
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