How to Remove Price Tags from Toy Packaging

Due to the Walmart mentality, probably the one question we will ask more than anything else in our lives, is "How Much?" Therefore the price tag is not going away anytime soon and unless you have been lucky to live your life out only finding still-sealed cases of toys (In your dreams fanboy), chances are you have a few toys in your collection with our enemy, the price tag still stuck on them. And as you probably have found out, removing these clingy vermin is no easy task.

Years ago, I used to use my very short finger nails, and try to pull them off. But this would often result in the "price tag tear" which totally kills the desirability of many items. This method had a high result of failures, and was unreliable at best. The primary reason being that each store used different price stickers, of varying shape and size. The glue was also very different, and the type of material the toy package was composed of, especially the gloss was also very important and impacted the result greatly.

My point in this, is that there is still no fail-safe 100% tried and true method that works everytime. It depends on the toy package material composition, the type of sticker and glue applied to the tag, what you apply to it, and most importantly your own technique.

NOTE: Before proceeding, we urge you to not try these techniques at all, unless you don't mind taking the risk that your toy packaging may get damaged while following our instructions. We claim no liability for any damage that may occur to your collectibles while attempting our technique.

What you need:


Paper Towels
	(Pink or "Home sweet home" print is optional)

Goo Gone
	Usually comes in fresh orangy-smell

a toy with a price tag on it
	Without your enemy Mr. Pricetag, you probably won't be able to practice the technique that follows

What you need to know:

Goo gone is the key to this, it is capable of breaking down the bonds on the glue, and as my mother found out is extremely useful in removing stains and other types of stuck on messes from many a surface.

Where can I find Goo Gone?

Goo Gone is sold at most hardware stores, and even some discount chains may have it. If you don't see it, ask, most stores I've been to have it somewhere, on either a hanging clip strip, or on a shelf hook.

I prefer the goo gone that has the nozzle on the top, but it seems to be sold with just a cheezy metal film on top as well. In which case, puncture a hole in this film with a pin, and never more than that. If you spill goo-gone heavily on an area of the packaging, the packaging can and will get stained and damaged. It becomes like spilling water on a packaging if you douse the toy with it.

Steps to remove the tag:

STEP 1

Take a sturdy paper towel, and squirt a small amount of goo gone on it (should dampen about an inch square worth of the towel)

STEP 2

		Gently rub the goo-gone dampened section of the paper towel over the price tag. Make sure that it gets worked into the tag, especially around the edges. Pay careful attention to any rips or edges of the packaging. You do not want to rub overtop of these areas as you could cause existing tears to get worse, or edges to fray.
		Your goal here, is to get the goo-gone to be absorbed through the paper part of the tag, and start reacting with the glue. This will cause the glue bonds to weaken

STEP 3

After you thoroughly work it into the sticker, then set the toy aside and wait. You need to give time for the chemical to react with the glue bonds. How long? Anywhere from 1-10 minutes is enough time in most cases. However, don't wait more than 20 minutes, your goal is still to have the sticker damp when you begin to remove it. If the goo gone has dried up and the price sticker is no longer damp, you will have to reapply the goo gone.

STEP 4

Now is the time where technique comes into play, as you need to begin to carefully lift up the sticker from the edge. A good starting point is a corner, or any area that has already lifted up. I recommend going very slowly, and working at one area on the sticker. If possible lift as many corners as possible, before going into the middle section. Do not drive your nail into the package at all, you're just working on removing the sticker at this point and don't apply any pressure to the package.

STEP 5

Now at this step, one of several things can happen. You can partially remove the tag and residue will be left, or you can have ripped your packaging in your removal attempt (worse case scenerio), or you can cleanly remove the tag and be completely done (this is the best case situation).

STEP 5A Result: Price Tag Residue Still Remains

If you have residue remaining after thoroughly removing the paper part of the sticker, you need to go back to step 1. However, when you get to working in the goo gone at step 2, if you use a little pressure on the package after you've saturated the area, you should be able to begin to see the residue disappear. If you keep rubbing, and going over the same area applying slight pressure, it should lift off with little effort.

STEP 5B Result: Ripped or Damaged Package

STEP 5C Result: Perfection! Price tag has been successfully removed

You've gotten the residue off, and you are now the Goo Gone Champion standing triumphantly over your defeated mortal enemy, the price tag. And the smell of victory, is usually in a fresh clean, orangy smell. This smell is linked to the best feeling, and often Goo-gone also removes and cleans traces of dust and dirt that may have been on the packaging as well. Life is good sometimes! But if you're at 5b. you're likely cursing and screaming. So remember, 5c. isn't always the result, but when it is, life is good.

Conclusion

it's always a risk attempting to remove the price tag from your collectible. The result isn't always good, and even sometimes the price tag conceals some previous damage that may be covered up by the previous owner. So when you do succeed, you ultimately fail. But for those that want to remove the tags, just like that crusty old lady on the Golden Girls always said "Practice makes perfect." With a lot of practice, some experimenting, a hearty supply of goo gone, a truckload of bounty and enough MISB Transformers to let you retire early, you too can defeat our enemy, the pricetag.

NOTE: There also may be better methods out there, and if so, we're all ears for learning and will gladly share more wisdom and insight with the rest of the fandom. Help us all, defeat our enemy, the Pricetag!

	endemion28@tfsource.com