Review: Stampin up's UNMOUNTED stamps

I finally purchased my first UNMOUNTED set by stampin up. I was very excited that they FINALLY jumped on board the unmounted train. It saves space, is more portable, and its CHEAPER!!! I've been using stampin up stamps for many many years. Its what got me interested in stamping. Then a few years ago, they jacked up their prices, and so I moved on to unmounted stamp companies. They've recently rectified their mistake and have made stamps more reasonable again, but the real bonus is that they offer every set in unmounted for less! I like that they retained their quality rubber, and though its not see through for easier placement, you at least know that you are getting their quality (and virtually indestructible!) rubber that we all know and love.

So I have this set here, lets take a look......

Ok, first thoughts, love the case! It's a DVD style plastic case. I love that all of the stamps are not only pictured on the front, but also on the spine as well. Perfect for seeing the individual stamps when the cases are stacked. You may need to put on your reading glasses though! It's pretty tiny. 

Moving on , I opened up the case to see that they are all die cut ! Coming from the original years and years of sitting in front of the TV with my stack of new stamps hand cutting each one, I may never get over the joy of pre-cut stamps! This is of course a photo of all the left over rubber. Wish I could come up with something to do with those! 

The popped out stamps in the case. 

Now here's where things start to turn for me. See that cherry? That's a label that I put BACK. As I was looking at the stamps and reading the enclosed directions, I realized that you are supposed to stick the adhesive label right ON the cling mount. That had me worried, so I decided to start small and went with the cherry first. I peeled the label off the sheet, and applied it to the grey side of the stamp, the cling foam. I wondered, is this still going to stick to the acrylic block? My answer, not so well. Unfortunately the label doesn't have the same cling value as the cling foam. I was worried about that. In fact, Stampin up is AWARE of this, the directions clearly state to put pressure on the stamp for several seconds to get it to cling. Unfortunately the stamp just doesn't have the staying power once on there. So while it would be nice to see the actual stamp as Im using it, I'm not willing to sacrifice the quality hold on the block. So I quickly and carefuly peeled off the label and stuck it on the sheet. I'm glad I decided to start small, as I'm not so sure I could have gotten it back off with a larger image and would have been very disappointed. 

So this is what a stamp looks like without the label attached to the stamp. I'm ok with this. I already know what the stamp is, and I can see the edges just fine through the clear bock, so it's still better than trying to look through wood. :) 

So there's my review on how I prefer it. :)