If you've been checking in here with me lately, you'll know that I recently mentioned the complete TRASHING of one our vehicles! Back in May, a collision with a HUMONGOUS deer, turned the fairly nice old 2001 Ford F-150 'Super-Crew' pick-up I'd been driving--- into pretty much SCRAP!
Ah well, that's one of the kinds of 'twists & turns' that life can sometimes throw at you! Although, it SURE seems like it's been happening a LOT to us Ferrells!!!
Having to sell the truck for junk, I ended up having to fall back on another of our vehicles (and thank the good LORD that we had it!)-- a kinda-beat-up / WELL-worn 2004 Honda Odyssey mini-van. Not the most 'exciting' mode of transport in the world, and it's definitely seen better days! But, it's mechanically sound, and still runs pretty well! MOST important, it's getting me back-and-forth to my job! Otherwise, life would be even MORE full of those aforementioned 'twists & turns' than we could probably handle around here at 'Supreme Ferrell Headquarters'!
Anyhoo-dooky, after a little under a month of driving it 'as is', I decided to a do a bit of 'fixing up' on it-- mostly 'cosmetics'--- since, as I said, it's in pretty decent mechanical shape! I gave it a good sanding all over (it has the 'peel-and-fall-off' paint-problem, that a lot of early 2000s Honda vans have! So... LARGE areas of 'exposed' factory primer were showing, all over the body--giving it a WEIRD, 'shaggy-polka-dot' look! YUCK!), and went over the whole thing with a matte-finish 'colored primer'. Not exactly 'beautiful'.... but WAY better than it's previous appearance!
One of the very FIRST things I decided to add to it, after my 'back-yard-paint-job'--- to show-off the 'shameless-geek' side of the 'ol Loydster---- (and because it just made me giggle when I spotted it on E-bay!), was this NEAT-O 'custom license plate' and frame for the front bumper!---
Little did I know, after bolting that item onto the 'old Battle-Wagon', that it would lead me into the decision to throw even MORE 'geek-tastic' items onto to it--- as perfect proof that not ONLY am I PROUD of my 'Bat-fandom', but now---- the old van may STILL be an old van, but at least it sure isn't a BORING old van!!
Not that the decision to go with the items I did, was completely based on 'impulse' and without any kind of 'thinking it over'! No--- I already had been thinking of putting on some sort of stickers or decals, (even though it's something I've NEVER done with ANY vehicle I've EVER had!... More about that later!) BUT----I knew I didn't want to do just the normal, kind-of-CLUNKY looking decals or bumper-stickers, plastered all over the back windows and rear-bumper of my vehicle!
I wanted whatever I decided to go with, to be a little on the smaller side, (3 to 4 inches at the largest!) and near the bottom and edges of mostly the rear-windows of the van. Something that wouldn't really catch somebody's eye, unless they were behind me at an intersection, or passing the van in a parking lot! Something that would hopefully make other folks giggle to themselves, and bring a smile to their face! (Not to mention make ME smile, every time I glance at the van!)
That's when, thanks once AGAIN to the wonders of E-bay, (and others-- more on that shortly, too!) I discovered the WAY-COOL items known as 'transfer-decals'! Now, I've seen these things on other vehicles in the past few years, but didn't really understand how they worked. OR-- after I'd done a bit more research on them--- how EASY they are to put on the windows of your car!
The first two, shortly after arriving in my mail box-- were popped into their spots, in about 20 minutes or so, on a Saturday morning! Check out how THEY turned out!----
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| By the way, the kinda-hard-to-make-out license plate frame says: 'Ain't pretty, but it's paid for'! |
---AND-- here's what they look like, up close!---
I also snagged some NIFTY decals for the rear side-windows! The passenger side is simply a smaller version of the 'Bat-symbol', without the 'ellipse' (or--'oval-shape'!) surrounding it. Check out this MONDO-cool one for the driver's side though!----
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| 'ol Bats 'emerging from the shadows'! The decal made me think of all of those COOL Neal Adams or Don Newton-drawn comics I read, way back when I was 're-discovering' Batman comics in the early-to-mid 80s! Just a VERY NEAT-O image! |
Now, what kind of 'TRUE-Bat-fanatic' would I be, if I didn't at least TRY to find another spot or two, to place SOME kind of decals that show my LOVE for my ALL-TIME favorite 'Bat-ride'? (If you don't know that it's the '66 TV show-version--- BOY-HOWDY, you just HAVE NOT been paying attention to THIS blog!)
Thinking that finding a decal representing that exact version of the Batmobile was going to be simple, turned out to be all-the-way WRONG! I had to do some SERIOUS digging around, to find a source that would supply the teeny-tiny-sticker version of that LEGENDARY Bat-vehicle I wanted, to slap onto what's now becoming known--- as the 'GEEK-wagon'!
Finally, by searching around on Etsy--- another NIFTY source for this kind of 'NERD-related' - type stuff---- I finally came across one of the sources for some VERY cool '66 Bat-ride' decals! A little business known as 'The clothed eye' hooked me up with the first set, which I immediately started putting to use!
One went on the cover for a little Samsung tablet I use for goofing around on, when not on my trusty lap-top! The other ended up in THIS spot, near the top of the rear-window!-----
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| VERY cool decal, for only 3 INCHES wide! |
Next on my agenda, was finding a slightly larger set of decals of the '66 car, to go onto the area near the bottom-front of the windows, on the van's sliding doors. I wanted those to be around 4 - 5 inches wide. Not TOO large, but still easy to spot by the other drivers at intersections and in parking lots, etc., like I mentioned earlier!
My source for those decals turned out to be this ULTRA-nifty on-line service, known as 'Sticker Mule'! You upload pretty much ANY kind of design--- as long as it's pretty 'straight-forward' and simple-- and they'll stream-line it a bit further, let you check out a 'proof' of it. (you can even submit changes you want to make in the design at this stage, until you're happy with the design!) Then they produce it, and mail however many copies of it in 'decal-form' to you that you want! How cool is THAT?!? Here's the design I uploaded, which was just an image I grabbed on-line, and tweaked a little!----
I ended up paying a bit higher price, because I only needed the two decals (one for each sliding door). BUT-- still, it only set me back around 20 smackers-plus-postage. For a TOTALLY unique set of decals, I didn't figure that was too bad!
At any rate, here's how the final product turned out--- this one's now mounted-up on the driver's side sliding door-window. (the other one-- on the passenger's side-- is identical, facing the same direction---the front of the van-- meaning it had to be the REVERSE of the 'driver's side' decal!-- VERY tricky stuff for an 'over-fifty'-type like ME to remember! Luckily, I did! I'm pretty proud of the results!)------
Yes, I'm a bit disappointed that the 'Bat-mags' couldn't be reproduced, complete with 'Bat-spinners'---on the decal (TOO small a detail, they said!), and that the side 'body-line' under the car's side-fin also didn't show up! STILL though, a very NIFTY and UNIQUE decal! Over-all, I'm a happy camper!
One more NIFTY little decal--- and I do mean LITTLE--- this thing is less than 2 inches wide!--- This one is mainly visible to just me, (on the bottom-right side of my windshield) as I'm cruising down the road! Something that's called a 'chase' sticker. Folks mostly slap these around the edges of (the inside of) their windshields and rear-windows. I also snagged this one from 'The clothed eye' on Etsy. They have several VERY fun 'Batman-related' stickers! (ALL only an inch or two wide / tall!) Including: the '60s TV Bats & Robin, climbing up a teeny-tiny 'Bat-rope'!
The itty-bitty '89 Bat-ride really caught my eye though, and I've gotta admit, it's just a BLAST glancing over and seeing it as I zip back and forth in my drives to and from work! (an other wise pretty DULL drive!)-----
Now, as I was saying before, in the past I haven't been much of a 'bumper-sticker' -- OR window-decal kind of guy! That's STILL true for our main vehicle, that the wifey also drives. But---- the the mini-van had to be forced into service as my 'schlepping-back-and-forth-to-work' transport! AND, let's face hard facts, it's kind of a BLAH set of wheels--- I figured I'd try to add a bit of fun GEEKSTER-related identity to the old beast!
For me--- this is something I haven't done before!--- and it's just been NEAT thinking about and planning, where to slap all of these 'Caped Crusader'-related decals onto my 'work-ride'! Besides, as with everything that's GEEKY-NERD-OID-related that I do--- it sure brings a smile to my face! As they say, a smile's WAY easier on your face, than an 'ol scrunched-up frown, RIGHT?
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