Transformers: The Movie: The Sticker Album

By samson7point1


It seems like human nature to often place a higher value on the things we missed out on than the ones we experienced.  At least that's how I try to explain my fixation with the Transformers: The Movie and the things surrounding it.  When I was growing up going to see a movie in the theater, even the drive-in, was a rare treat that we only had at the best of times.  1986 was a particularly tumultuous year. As cathartic as it would be to explain why, I'll spare the reader and just say it wasn't practical for me to see The Transformers: The Movie in the theater. 

One thing I did have access to, however, was the Diamond sticker album that told the story in still images.  These were relatively cheap and sold in grocery and convenience stores all over the country.

After putting a couple dozen stickers into mine, I lost track of it during one of many subsequent moves, and promptly forgot all about it.  A couple of years ago my memory was jogged when I came across a picture of the album again.  



Of course the first thing I did was look on Ebay to see if any were in circulation, but I was a little crestfallen to discover that people were mostly demanding absurd amounts of money for them.  I did, however, find one for around $10 that looked like it had been run through a clothes dryer a dozen times.  It had around 1/3 of the stickers populated and it was worth the price for a short trip down memory lane.

Like so many things, my mind would periodically go back to the idea of maybe getting a better specimen and so I would check every now and again to see if the market conditions changed.  This year (2024) seemed to be the one.  For the same $10 I spent on my dog-eared disintegrating book, was able to get a pristine copy with no stickers applied.  Furthermore several sellers were now offloading huge lots of "no duplicates" sets of stickers at pretty reasonable prices.  

I dipped my toe in the water a little, but it wasn't long before I was all the way in.  I think I paid something like $40 for the first 170 stickers, but that was just the hook. Completing the set was a fun distraction that I spent a little too much money on, but thanks to some very helpful Ebay sellers, I still ended at a reasonable number.  For what it's worth, I did try to look outside of Ebay for a potential source of them, but it was ultimately futile.


Making my own decoder

The book was designed to be used with an included "Magic Decoder". The decoder is basically just a red-light filter that reveals images obscured by red "noise".  The decoder allowed you to see a preview of the sticker image even if you didn't see it, and also to reveal hidden messages throughout the pages.

Any kid who had Transformers back in the day likely had a couple of Tech Spec decoders lying around that would serve the same purpose.

Unfortunately my book, otherwise perfect though it was, did not come with the decoder so I decided to make my own.  Using images I found on the Internet, some AI sharpening tools, and font matching, I created a template I could use to print my own decoder flap onto lightweight cardstock.

Anyone who reads this and still has the original decoder, check out the pictures below and drop me a comment to let me know how close I got.


This image is not just an example, it's a template for printing your own - its should already have the correct dimensions.

The cheapest red filter I could find was to just buy this variety set from Amazon:

I printed the decoder, used an X-Acto knife to cut out the flap, then glued the outer edge to the red cellophane sheet, trimmed and viola, decoder. I made 8 of them just so it didn't feel like I was wasting material. 

It turned out pretty much the way I remember.

The decoder can "reveal" the scrambled monochromatic image of the sticker


Some of the scenes you just have to wait until you find the sticker to see.
This image has the correct dimensions for printing your own decoder


There are "secret messages" throughout the book.


When I was a kid, it felt kind of like a superpower that, just like with the Tech Specs, I was able to see the obscured image just fine without the decoder by mentally subtracting the red.


I've "decoded" one of the pages so you can compare them with a slider.

Album pages


For collecting these in an album, I wanted to have not only the stickers but a handful of unopened packs as well.  I did quite a lot of searching online for album sheets for similarly sized cards.  The closest match I could find were for Gloomhaven cards, but they were just different enough that I didn't want to chance it.  Eventually I found this listing on Aliexpress:

"20 Pieces A4 Multiple Formats 11 holes Soft Clear Photo Album Page for Magical Currency Collection Game Star Post Card Binder"

(Apologies that it will probably be invalid by the time you find it as often as Aliexpress vendors come and go.)

Thankfully the vendor allowed mixing and matching as long as a note is added to the order. These were the sizes I ordered which worked quite well.

  • For unopened card packs: E ( pocket size 9.5*10.9) 
  • For the loose cards: U ( pocket size 5*6.8)
The album sheets I found turned out to be perfect for holding the unapplied stickers.

When put together in a binder, it makes for quite a fun little collection.



Since collecting these and looking more closely, I've noticed a couple of fun little details, such as the fact that some of the multi-part stickers are oriented vertically instead of horizontally, and they took the time to change the layout on the rear of the sticker from vertical to horizontal.

At first glance I thought this sticker had a watermark, but it's just one of the opening credits that hadn't quite faded out before they took the still image.


These are the credits you can see mostly faded out on the sticker

Also, the images printed in the book itself are not taken from the same exact frames the stickers represent. In the images below you can see in the book, Bumblebee's mouth is closed, but the stickers show his mouth open.  There are many similar examples throughout the album.

A decoded image from the book. Notice Bumblee's mouth is closed.

The sticker shows a capture of a different frame. Notice Bumblebee's mouth is open in this frame.

If you actually take the time to read the story captions beneath the pictures, there are a lot of silly little misinterpretations and inventions.  Such as this one during the attack on Autobot City, where it says that a Decepticon ship crashed into the cliff.  Not only did the cliff collapse because Megatron shot back at Hot Rod, but the Decepticons didn't even have their own ship in that battle.


Or this one where, although the first time it's mentioned they correctly call it "the Matrix of Leadership", they begin referring to it as the "Matrix of Light" and stick with that for the rest of the book.



And Lastly

If you read up to this point because you're feeling curious or nostalgic about this little footnote in the history of pop culture, thank you.  Since starting this article I have spent more hours than I could count figuring out how to make this album available to everyone in its entirety.  There was already a scan of a partially completed album on Archive.org but I had something more comprehensive in mind.






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