Reviewing The "Vintage" Lisa Frank Stickers Being Sold At Urban Outfitters

One person's account of rediscovering the Lisa Frank stickers of her youth as a grown-ass person.

If you haven't already heard, Urban Outfitters have teamed up to bring the giant surplus of her products made within the years if 1988 to 2008 to the the store. You can buy them online and in stores and the products include all sorts of products from pencils to posters, desk supplies to cookie jars, and most importantly, STICKERS! As a kid, I was obsessed with Lisa Frank stickers, which I would put in my locker and all over my Lisa Frank notebooks and binders.

So when an email popped into my inbox from Urban Outfitters that said "Lisa Frank: Extremely Limited Quantities Available!" I stopped what I was doing and immediately bought two orders of stickers online. Four days later my special Lisa Frank package arrived at my desk and I was thrilled. However, I quickly learned that not all of the sticker sets would be created equal!

The first purchase I made was the Lisa Frank Limited Edition Vintage Sticker Box, $14. The sticker book looks like this and I didn't recognize but now realize were from the late '80s (too young). Here's exactly what else came with it:

The iconic golden puppies.

Early-era painter pandas.

These koalas, which I didn't recall from my childhood but seemed pretty tubular if I say so myself.

This array of Lisa Frank characters, which never seemed colorful enough to me as a child, at least in Lisa Frank's world. (I did really love the bunny ballerinas, though, and recall that I had folders, stickers, and a binder with that design — those were the days when I still thought I could dance.)

These, which look like they could be purchased at any old drugstore or at Staples.

These, which I feel equally "meh" about. What are those, Doodle Bears?

These, which WHAT EVEN ARE THESE? Alien butterflies wearing bell=bottoms?!?! Lisa Frank's late-'90s era had obviously gotten weird after I grew out of collecting stickers.

Finally! A few of her unicorns, which are arguably her best. But only four of 'em, so...

Finally, these smiley faces, which, "eh." Why did everybody love smiley faces in 1999 again?

I felt as if I had wasted my money. Sure, there were a few stickers I remembered from childhood but it was mostly a wash. Reality set in: why had I spent all of this money on Lisa Frank stickers as an adult? Have I taken my love of all things '90s too far?

I waited until later in the day to open the Limited Edition Vintage Sticker Box, also $14. It came with one of those completely useless papers inside of it that showed what you already had in your hands, which I scanned:

This sticker box changed everything. I really DID want to collect them all — 20 years later — and as I went through the following sheets of blinding rainbow colors I became overcome with nostalgia: I'm pretty sure that I actually had this exact same sticker box. The rainbow kittens, panda bears, butterflies, roses, and puppies were all there, just as I remembered:

I hope this is helpful to anyone considering dropping some of their well-earned, adult money on frivolous, barely-vintage sticker sets. I should mention that Urban Outfitters does let you know that you're purchasing a "pack of stickers similar to the ones pictured, but yours may vary from the photo" so if you aren't okay with getting a random assortment, you might want to opt for the Sticker Box, which is sealed and appears to be from a specific era. Either way, all items have "been hiding away in Lisa's own secret stash," so any way you slice it, it's perfect for nostalgia fiends like myself.