An Idea that Sticks to the Wall...Literally

E-MAIL OFFERS rarely, if ever, catch my eye. I love advertising mail that comes to my home because a) it is the least intrusive type of advertising, and b) when I am ready to ponder offers, they're sitting in a pile on my table, waiting patiently for me and not interrupting dinner.

But I'm not on a mailing soapbox (this month's PI has plenty of articles on mailing, by the way). But I love fun ideas that make you smile, and one in particular has ties to a graphic arts company here in Philadelphia.

Since I am on Topps' e-mail list and am a sports card collector of 30-plus years, the subject line of "Topps Larger-than-Life Wall Graphics" in a recent missive was intriguing. And, upon opening the e-mail, I was ready to reach for my wallet and wear out my credit card.

Topps is another venerable brand that has chosen to align itself with LTL Prints (www.ltlprints.com), which transforms well-known images into full-size wall graphics, the type that appeal to children of all ages. These peel-and-stick graphics affix to all surfaces and can be repositioned 100 times without damaging the surface, according to the LTL Website.

The graphics are printed at 1,440 dpi resolution with eco-solvent digital inks on 10-mil repositionable fabric paper, with sizes ranging from 12˝ to 7' in height. The prints feature UV coating and illuminate with back lighting. But one spec feature stands out above the rest: they're really, really neato.

For example, the accompanying images depict 1980s-style baseball card wrappers. Older folks might appreciate the penny pack wrappers from the early 1950s, which would make for an amazing game or hobby room adornment. There's nothing like a pleasant memory from your past to spruce up the living space of the present.

Other products in tandem with the Topps brand include Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids. The company also has a variety of general themes for its wall hangers, from kids and sports to animals and Kanji symbols. And LTL offers corporate identity solutions for businesses.

LTL is cashing in on a fun idea and a great B2C model that incorporates printing.

HEY, SIMMER DOWN: Think the passion for printing is going away? In certain parts of the world, people will stake their lives on matters related to print.

Take Kiev, for example. Ukrainian police there arrested 22 people during a mass free-for-all over control of a government company responsible for printing election ballots, according to the Gulf Times, an English newspaper from Qatar. It seems candidates in the election were accusing each other of trying to fix an upcoming presidential vote.

The fracas began when workers who showed up for their shift at the state-owned Ukrainian printing plant in Kiev and promptly found more than 20 men blocking the entrance. Company workers, security personnel and the interlopers were soon duking it out with fists, boots, metal poles and smoke grenades, according to the Times. Apparently, no dangling chad went unpunched as police had to haul away brawlers en masse.

An observer told the paper that the interfering men had intended to take control of the printing company and produce 1.5 million ballots in order to fix the results of the Feb. 7 presidential run-off between Viktor Yanukovich and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. There were also murmurs about inappropriate shenanigans after a Tymoshenko underling hired a new director of the government printing house.

BETTER STAY AWAY: It took Scottish firefighters more than an hour to extinguish a fire at a facility that formerly served as the home of a printer, Stewarts of Edinburgh, according to the Edinburgh Evening News.

An unfortunate, but unremarkable news brief, except for the fact that it occurred just three months after another fire struck the same building.

Yikes! Nationwide isn't on their side, and I doubt if any insurer from any continent would want to cover that property. But at least Stewarts knew enough to clear out, having already moved to another facility. PI

—Erik Cagle