SandyLion Stickers Were an '80s Favorite. Creators Sandy and Lionel, Now in Their 80s, Tell the Story of the Beloved Brand

A proud granddaughter has shared her grandparents' typical bequest successful hopes of reaching their biggest fans.

Allison, connected TikTok @allidoes1, made a video pinch her grandparents, Sandy and Lionel Waldman, astir their travel building SandyLion stickers, a beloved marque for trade enthusiasts and sticker collectors passim nan 80s and 90s.

The institution came from humble beginnings and 2 different worlds colliding, arsenic nan mates tells PEOPLE.

"In nan early days, Lionel mislaid his begetter erstwhile he was 15 and had to driblet retired of schoolhouse to subordinate nan family business pinch his overmuch older brother, and he did business assemblage astatine night. Unfortunately, nan business failed," Sandy recalls. "He worked for a leather equipment company, aft which he worked arsenic a rep astatine Mattel Toys trading Barbies, sold electrical components, and he was a carpet salesman."

"Prior to nan sticker business, I did manner show commentating and was a aesculapian secretary. I ever loved artistry, and I would spell to charitable organizations and get sponsors to put together manner shows," she continues. 

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The brace started their business arsenic printers, capable to grow aft purchasing their ain printing press.

"We started arsenic Labelad, manufacturing labels for user products like shampoos, moisturizers, socks, beverages, pharmaceutical and promotional items," Sandy says.

It was erstwhile they sewage nan thought to make stickers that nan business "grew very rapidly." At first, it was intimidating because nan mates "needed financing to screen that growth."

"The slope was not very acquainted pinch nan industry, and truthful it took a batch of persistence to person them to springiness america nan costs needed," Sandy explains. "It was a situation successful nan opening to person awesome licensors/studios to assistance america licenses. It took a agelong clip to triumph Disney over. After that, they each started coming."

Over nan years, SandyLion delighted kids pinch original sticker designs, arsenic good arsenic stickers featuring their favorites from Disney, Star Wars, Pokémon, Barbie and more.

"In nan beginning, erstwhile location weren’t arsenic galore licenses, a licence for thing for illustration a Disney movie was very lucrative because retailers would make re-orders erstwhile they sold out. As nan marketplace sewage much saturated pinch licenses, nan retailers would not beryllium willing successful re-orders and would move connected to nan adjacent hottest property," she says, adding, "Knock-offs besides impacted nan market."

As for nan astir successful sets, "Pokémon was nan astir successful. It was difficult to support up pinch demand, and location were aggregate orders from retailers to support up pinch demand. It was a immense windfall."

While increasing exponentially was awesome news connected nan financial front, it presented a batch of logistical challenges

"We had to negociate growth, ensuring we had capable beingness abstraction for manufacturing and inventory," Sandy says, noting "everything from artwork and pre-press to finishing" was happening wrong nan aforesaid institution and location.

"We had to root machinery globally to do printing presses pinch further people stations and packaging and finishing."

The business broadside had its ups and downs, but nan imaginative work, and really it was being received worldwide, provided respite and reward.

"At nan tallness of our business, 1 of nan astir breathtaking achievements was successfully exporting passim Europe and Asia. We exported to complete 50 countries. There was nary limit to our creativity. Our artists each had voracious appetites for productivity and truthful nan good ne'er ran dry," Sandy says.

"It was very breathtaking to collaborate pinch nan artists. We grew from 1 to 10 to 12. Each 1 had their ain talent successful circumstantial areas. We ne'er ran retired of awesome designs," she continues, noting really it was a very collaborative environment.

"Our merchandise statement contained scrapbooks, insubstantial plates, napkins and different statement items. I deliberation that nan hum of nan presses erstwhile we walked done nan works fueled nan excitement of our success," she proudly shares. 

"However, location was besides a batch of unit to continuously innovate. Creating caller products for illustration scrapbooking, worth packs, schoolhouse supplies, statement equipment and albums," Sandy shares. "As we grew, nan title grew. This impacted nan marketplace and started compressing margins."

As if that wasn't capable for nan mates to manage, Sandy and Lionel were besides raising 3 kids arsenic nan institution grew.

"While we were increasing our business, we were raising our girl Nancy, our boy Mark and our eldest boy Lenny. As awesome arsenic nan occurrence of nan institution was, thing compared to raising 3 fabulous children who surely appreciated stickers," nan proud mom shares.

"The kids did springiness america ideas sometimes. They besides sewage to recreation and thief astatine waste and acquisition shows. They besides worked successful nan business from a young age. Eventually, each of them entered nan business successful different areas."

That appreciation trickled down to Alli, who helped stock her grandparents' communicative connected a wider scale.

"I was calved successful nan early 2000s, truthful I missed nan large sticker roar but was fortunate capable to unrecorded done astatine slightest a fewer years of them owning SandyLion," Alli shares.

"They had a mill successful Markham, Ontario, and attached was a elephantine storage shop that was filled pinch stickers. There were bins of sticker rolls, and each wall was lined pinch tons and tons of stickers. Even though nan shop has been closed for years, I tin still smell nan stickers truthful clearly."

As a kid, Alli remembers enjoying checking retired nan scrapbooking stickers. "Going to that sticker shop felt for illustration eden because I could prime unlimited stickers to bring home, and it felt for illustration they were each free. Obviously, they weren’t because nan institution had to salary for them, but arsenic a small kid, I had nary hint really businesses worked," she laughs.

Though nan mates sold SandyLion successful 2010, nan institution and its effect still clasp a batch of meaning.

"For arsenic agelong arsenic I tin remember, my Grandpa, aliases arsenic I telephone him Papa, has ever kept stickers successful his wallet. Every edifice we went to, my Papa would manus nan waiter stickers on pinch nan check, and springiness immoderate kid he saw a quadrate of stickers arsenic well," Alli recalls.

"Because I was truthful young erstwhile my grandparents owned nan institution and past sold it, I don’t deliberation I was capable to genuinely understand nan grade of their effect and success," she admits. "It wasn’t until I sewage a spot older that I would either spot my Papa manus a waiter stickers and spot their faces ray up instantly and show a heartwarming communicative astir nan effect SandyLion had connected them that I started to understand."

The TikTok video came to beryllium aft Alli's mom showed her different Instagram Reel featuring nostalgic things that included nan family's beloved stickers.

"The remark conception was filled pinch saccharine messages astir nan institution and really group miss nan sticker," Alli shares. "My mom commented connected nan station explaining that nan institution was founded by my grandparents and was met by much saccharine messages astir people's sticker collections, experiences going to nan shop arsenic a kid and various different anecdotes."

"Seeing nan consequence that this video received, I figured that location must beryllium much group retired location who loved playing pinch SandyLion stickers arsenic a kid and would beryllium willing to cognize nan faces down nan brand."

The consequence was still overmuch bigger than they anticipated, leaving nan full family emotion "emotional and very surprised."

"I was checking my telephone each 3 minutes to find truthful galore caller comments from group from each complete nan world sharing their stories astir SandyLion stickers. I don’t deliberation I realized really large of a scope nan stickers had."

The family was peculiarly touched to spot "comments from group who grew up successful difficult circumstances, and because SandyLion stickers were reasonably inexpensive, they were nan only artifact they were capable to afford."

"My grandparents person been giving stickers to SickKids infirmary successful Toronto for years, but it was besides truthful astonishing to perceive nan individual stories of nan group who were successful nan infirmary and recovered joyousness successful nan stickers done specified challenging circumstances. It has besides been specified an astonishing measurement to perceive nan stories of group who worked astatine nan company. There are truthful galore companies retired location pinch unthinkable stories, but you would ne'er cognize because they aren't shared," Alli says.

"It was a humbling acquisition to witnesser nan unthinkable consequence from our worldwide assemblage astir nan multitude of designs we printed, astir sending stickers to hospitals, astir giving retired stickers successful societal environments and seeing nan joyousness they brought to people’s lives. Over nan years, we sewage a batch of instrumentality mail, but it has been complete 15 years since we had nan business. The standard of consequence was truthful incredibly uplifting to us," Sandy says. 

"The business was ever for illustration a 4th kid to us, and truthful we mislaid a portion of ourselves erstwhile we sold nan business," she continues. "Lionel is now 88, and I'm 86. Feeling truthful overmuch emotion and being reminded that we made a quality successful truthful galore lives really uplifted america and made america very emotional."

"As you get older and person to woody pinch nan wellness issues that travel pinch that, arsenic good arsenic society's cognition of you based connected appearances and beingness challenges, it intends a batch to beryllium reminded that your life mattered and that you had specified a ample impact."