Free Gift Transfers with Confectionery

Page Twenty-eight of Thirty-four pages

Trio: Roland Rat 2-in-1 [1987]

A bizarre concept: first you stick the sticker down somewhere, & then you rub the transfers down onto the sticker.

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On the bottom left of the instructions tissue is a symbol which appears to be an acorn in a box, leading to speculation that Acorn Printed Products may have had a logo. When asked about this, John Hunt replied that they never did have a logo — & of course he should know! But on the other hand, we've also seen the same logo on Katy Comic No.1, from 1986, & a couple of other places… perhaps some designer got carried away, & forgot to tell the boss he had a logo now?

I only have one of these six sticker-transfers, although I'm tempted by a complete set that's on eBay right now at a very good price… but they're so awful… but they're so cheap… #DecisionsDecisions

UPDATE: many thanks to Graham Convey for refraining from mocking my indecisiveness, & letting me have them for 50p off!

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This strange "2-in-1" technology is used by Acorn again, three years later, for the Shreddies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles promotion. This is particularly odd, because if you look closely at the way these sticker-transfers have been put together, or just try to use them, you can see the obvious & insurmountable design flaw. Have you spotted it?

That's right: with conventional dry rub-down transfers, you have a transparent plastic base through which you can see the transfers, & therefore positioning them is simplicity itself. But with these, the base layer is glossy card, which is opaque. So you can't see where your transfer is going to end up! Or even if you're rubbing in the right spot…

I've tried sanding off the layers of card, & even applied an ablative laser, but there's no way to remove the opaque layer in order to see the top of the transfers. So you'd just have to take pot luck with positioning them. Frankly, I doubt they were ever fit for purpose.

By the way: Trio is a biscuit, & Roland Rat is a loveable™ children's TV personality popular in the 80s. Both are apparently still going.

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Picture Credit: The SPLAT Scan Archives