SPLAT

The Society for the Preservation of Letraset Action Transfers

Links to sections on this page:

Forthcoming Attractions:

What are Letraset Action Transfers?

Today Letraset provide resources for the graphic design market, including digital fonts, but originally (as the name suggests) they were the pioneers of rub-down instant lettering, & in consequence have had a huge influence on just about every aspect of popular culture.

In 1964, Dai Davies (the original inventor) realised that since kids thought it great fun to mess around with instant lettering, there might be a market for toys designed around this technology.

So Action Transfers (initially as "Instant Pictures") were born.

My own particular area of interest is the series of Panoramas that appeared in 1965. Letraset (later 'Waddington/Letraset') Panoramas consisted in 3-foot (in a 3-section fold-out) backgrounds together with sheets of rub-down transfers. These started with one sheet of black only & one sheet of white only transfers, & as the technology developed, spot colours were added until eventually full-colour (CMYK) printing emerged - which is, of course, how all modern transfers are printed. The transition from one colour to four spot colours took place in 1966; full-colour had arrived by 1967.

Other companies licensed Letraset's technology, including Waddingtons, Patterson Blick, Gillette (as Kalkitos & PrestoMagiX) & many more.

Action Transfers are ephemera, & once they've been used they're essentially rubbish & are almost always thrown away. Hardly anybody keeps their old Action Transfers; but on the other hand, if you ever do find a set, it should be very cheap — despite its rarity. Lots of the 1970s / 1980s sets do surface, usually from old unsold shop stock, but very few from earlier.

About SPLAT:

I decided that as there were no websites & no information available on the web, I would contact other bidders for Letraset products with a view to sharing information & generally helping each other out.

The membership of the Society for the Preservation of Letraset Action Transfers is still growing quickly. SPLAT started in 2003, but only officially gained its name on 13th October 2004.

Anyone is welcome to join as long as they have a genuine interest in the subject.

Benefits of membership (which of course is free) include notices concerning upcoming offers & auctions, questions & information, useful tips & tricks on a wide variety of relevant topics, & quite often even FREE GIFTS from generous members.

We also have private sales & swaps, "Wants" lists, & even pages where some brave members have displayed their personal collection catalogues for cat burglars to assess.

All this takes place on our Forum, which has become hugely successful at gaining new members, finding new items, and increasing our knowledge; what started as a field empty of information has now become verdant. SPLAT has uncovered a wealth of information (& hundreds of unused sets) in just a few years.

The Forum is private and secure, and open to SPLAT members only.

So we hope to see you there!

Credits:

Shedloads of people deserve heaps of credit for all the help they've provided with this website & the forthcoming book; thanks to all of them. Individuals will be credited where appropriate throughout the site, & when I've collated enough names I'll post them all here as well.

Links:

For our other sites, check out:

How to Join SPLAT:

Most places only have one form to let you join; SPLAT has two. This confuses a lot of people, so don't make the mistake of filling in the form & thinking you've joined! You have to fill in two forms, one after the other, immediately & without waiting for a reply in between.

Although it's simple really, if you don't read these instructions carefully you'll miss the Secret Magic Key & will be left wondering why we haven't got in touch. If we didn't get in touch, it's because you didn't find the Secret Magic Key! Actually, it's not a puzzle; it's very, very easy. I'll talk you through it…

Firstly, you need to have four pieces of information handy: your name, your email address, your username, & your password.

Your name: this won't be revealed on the Forum (unless you tell people yourself, of course, which is fine).

Your email address: obviously we need to contact you to let you in, so as long as your email address works this won't be a problem.

Your username: this is what you'll be called on the Forum. We strongly recommend that if you already have an eBay ID, you use it here as well — because a lot of what we do involves eBay, & it saves trouble & confusion if members can recognise each other there.

Your password: you can make this up the first time you're asked for it. Don't use one you've used somewhere else before. We will never get to see what it is (so it's no good asking us what it is, later on).

Okay, that was easy. Here's what needs to happen next: first of all, you have to contact us using the contact form next door. Then you need to come back here & click on the Secret Magic Key. Got it? That's two things. Don't forget to come back to this page (the one called "SPLAT" in the navigation menu at the top of each page), or nothing will happen!

So… filling in the contact form. On it, you need to fill in your email address & your real name, as mentioned earlier. As well as that, you should also tell us that you'd like to join SPLAT, mentioning the username you chose. Here's the thing: if these bits of info don't match up with the application you're going to submit after completing this form, the whole thing falls apart. So email address, real name, & username all need to go in the contact form. We also much prefer it if you could say something about yourself, such as why you like transfers (or hate them)… or anything just to show us you're a real person & not a web robot or a web spider. And for goodness' sake, mention joining SPLAT!

AT_Contact_Form

That's what the form looks like (above), so now go next door & fill it in. But don't forget — as soon as it tells you your message has been sent, come back here to the SPLAT page to complete your mission! The form is next door, on the Contact page. See you in a minute…

…Okay, you're back. — Well done! You'd be surprised how many people don't make it back here… anyway… on to the next step.

Here's what's going to happen after you follow the Secret Magic Key. First of all, you'll be taken to a Dastardly Trap. Do not fall into the Dastardly Trap. Here's what it looks like:

SPLAT_Log_in

It's actually the SPLAT Forum Log-in page, & you'll often be using it once you've joined, but for now you have to avoid using it. Here's how: don't fill in any of the text fields; just click on the link which says "Apply for membership".

Having avoided the Dastardly Trap, you will find yourself facing a new challenge:

SPLAT_Membership_Application_Form

Easy, right? You already know this stuff. So: as long as you contacted us first (using the contact form), then once you click on the 'Proceed' button, all you have to do is wait for a message saying your application to join has been approved. By me. I do all the approving round here; it's not automated or anything. I promise to be as quick as I can! So click here to follow the Secret Magic Key.

P.S.: There are no fees or obligations, you can remove yourself at any time, & we will not reveal your details to anyone else.

Waiting to hear from us?

If you have applied to join, but haven't heard back from us, please try again. We won't have contacted you, to tell you so, if you got it a bit wrong.

For Current Members Only: The SPLAT Forum — Member's Entrance