Some folks have an almost fanatical passion to collect hype stickers. Since you’re reading these words, we’ll take a wild guess and assume you might want to kick-start your hype-sticker collection (or you just want to save them and glue them someplace other than the it-goes-straight-to-garbage shrink wrap). Therefore, it’s only natural that you’ve typed “how do you save hype stickers?” into your browser’s search bar and ended up here, at HOMEPAGE. Anyway, today we’ll show you how to save hype stickers, besides, of course, tackling some basic information concerning the love-it-or-hate-it item in question! 

There are a few ways you can save hype stickers. You can try peeling them off as is, but we don’t recommend it. It’s better you use a hair dryer to soften the glue and easily remove the sticker from the shrink wrap. You can also heat it inside a pan if you’re low on hair dryers.

There’s no way you’ll learn how to save hype stickers just by reading the snippet (there were some facts we’ve carefully left out). That being said, feel free to scroll through the whole text! In our blog, you can find even more tips on what to do with stickers on records.

What are hype stickers?

As we’ve already mentioned, first we’ll tackle some basic information surrounding the item in question. Let’s begin by posing the most obvious of questions: what are the so-called hype stickers?

Okay, so hype stickers represent the decals that record companies put on their product’s jackets. Typically, it serves the following purpose: it’s there to tell us what songs we can find on the record/CD we’re looking at. Basically, you can’t miss them! 

Next up, let’s tackle the question that’s been on everyone’s mind at least once. 

Should I keep hype sticker?

This really depends on your own personal preference. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to throw anything away, especially the pieces of the original packaging, it’s more probable that you’ll want to keep the hype sticker. Many folks do this simply by peeling off the sticker from the plastic shrink wrap or cutting around it & trimming the edges (we’ll show you how it’s done in a jiffy).

On the other hand, if you were to look at what other folks are saying about this subject, you’d see that they mostly don’t find it very interesting to keep hype stickers. To them, it all seems like some unnecessary hassle. 

Since we’re talking about shrink wrap, let’s see if you should leave it on the record. 

Should you leave shrink wrap on records?

When it comes to the question of whether one should remove shrink wrap on records, opinions vary. Here’s the thing: some say that you should take it off only if there’s a risk of damaging the jacket, artwork, or the record itself. The wrap tightens over time, and it might cause your records to warp. Other folks say that you should absolutely remove it. Also, be careful with stacking your vinyls, and learn how long vinyls can be stacked.

If you’re in love with the hype sticker you’ve found on a certain record, simply peel it off & move it to your record’s outer sleeve. That way, you’ll be able to keep it, while saying goodbye to shrink wrap. 

Okay, let’s do away with the introductory section. Without further ado, let’s consider our main question for today: how do you save hype stickers? If you want to learn how to remove shrink wrap from vinyl, take a look at our blog.

How do you save hype stickers?

Okay, so here we are. It’s about time we show you a couple of methods you can utilize in order to save hype stickers. Most of them don’t require much of your time nor do they demand you invest much effort. So, shall we begin?

Method #1: Pan + stove

Even though this title might sound a bit misleading, you’ll actually use a heated pan to remove the hype sticker from the plastic wrap. Therefore, you’ll save it. Here’s how you’ll do it: 

• The first thing you’ll need to do is to remove the shrink wrap with some care. You don’t want to damage the sticker. 
• Next up, cut around the sticker using a pair of scissors (leave about two inches or five centimeters of shrink wrap around the edges of the sticker). 
• Now it’s time to turn your electric stove on. You’ll probably want to opt for the minimum amount of heat. Therefore, run it on the lowest setting available. 
• Place a paper towel on the pan (just so you don’t damage it) and put the sticker onto it. 
• Gently press the sticker with your fingers and once it becomes too hot for you to keep ‘em there, remove the pan from the stove as that will be a signal that the process is done. 

Once you’ve done the procedure we’ve shown you above, simply remove the sticker from the wrap. It should peel off quite nicely, you’ll have no issues doing it. Another cool thing is that the sticker will become a bit sticky again. In other words, you’ll be able to glue it onto the outer sleeve. 

Let’s see if there’s another way you can do this! 

Method #2: All you need is pair of scissors

If you don’t care about saving a little shrink wrap along with the hype sticker, you’ll want to try out this method. Basically, it’s just like the one above, just without using the pan & stove, or heat, for that matter. In other words, you’ll just need to remove the shrink wrap, cut around the hype sticker, trim the edges and that’s it – you’ve saved yourself a hype sticker! 

Method #3: The hairdryer solution

Sounds like a movie about a political scandal or something. Anyway, as you could’ve read above in the text, you’re able to use heat as your assistant when saving hype stickers. So, if you’ve got a hairdryer laying around someplace inside your home, use it to heat up the sticker once you remove the shrink wrap, of course. Keep your hairdryer over the sticker for about 5 seconds or so & try to gently peel it off the plastic afterward. 

Method #4: Try to remove it as is

If you’re wondering why we didn’t mention this at the top, you’ll want to know that this method might be the most dangerous one (only the bravest should try it). Anyway, there’s nothing special you should do here actually, you’ll just need to try and remove the sticker as is (without heating it up or something). Why’s this so dangerous? Well, most folks fail miserably at this & damage the sticker way beyond repair.

Alright, these were some methods you can try out in order to save hype stickers. Let’s check if there’s anything else that we’d like to share with our fellow readers. 

Do hype stickers increase value?

Now, let’s see if there’s a reason not to remove hype stickers from your records. In other words, we’ll consider whether hype stickers increase record value once you’re trying to sell something from your collection. Make sure to also read our blog to learn if small scratches on vinyl are normal and how they affect the record value.

Let’s say that you’ve kept the original packaging (including the shrink wrap & hype sticker). Should you keep it like that before selling time? As we’ve said, keeping your records inside the original shrink wrap packaging might cause you a bit of trouble in the long run. However, there were cases where folks preferred to buy “unopened” records since that kind of signalized that records were taken good care of, which, of course, isn’t necessarily the truth. 

Also, imagine you’ve got an original copy of Pink Floyd’s album Wish You Were Here in the black shrink with the famous “handshake” sticker. In such a situation, keeping the record “unopened” is recommended. That’s because it holds some good value as a collector’s item.

All in all: most folks would recommend you remove the shrink wrap and keep the sticker if we’re not talking about certain exceptions to the rule (such as the aforementioned album). 

Wait, do hype stickers increase value or not?

Let’s imagine another scenario where you remove the shrink wrap, keep the sticker & glue it onto the record case. You might be wondering whether that will increase the value of the record you’re trying to sell. Here’s our answer: nope, it won’t, it’ll probably only diminish it. Experts (and regular folks, too) advise you not to put anything on your record jacket, hype stickers were placed on the plastic wrap for a good reason. Speaking of the value of the record, learn if warped records are worth anything in our blog.

Final thoughts

Alright, dear folks, that’s about all there’s to say about saving hype stickers on vinyl records. Hopefully, you’ll use some of the methods we’ve shown you above to handle the process without any issues whatsoever. Also, we’re hoping you’ll check some of the articles you’ll find on our blog page. Until next time!