SwaggerTag custom ID tags

When I discovered personalized labels (the likes of Mabel’s Labels and Lovable Labels), I ordered one of those starter packs that came with a little bit of everything. One of the products was a dog tag-style ID tag; and I’ve had it on The K Man’s backpack ever since he’s had a backpack.

But I replaced it this week with a SwaggerTag.

Mompreneur Karen Walker sent me a pack of three to try out – one “dragon red” for The K Man, one “hot pink” for Miss Q and one “spider grey” for my diaper bag.

THE GOOD

I don’t often see products marketed to parents fall below the $5 to $10 price point. The People Who Make Prices know that we’re a bunch of suckers. So when SwaggerTag informed me that each tag is just $3.99, I was a bit giddy. Considering my son will use this every day when he starts JK, that equals about a penny a day for less than a year’s worth of use.

The SwaggerTag kit that comes in each package is quite well thought out and easy to use. There’s the tag itself, two clear protectors (that sort of snap into place to protect your personal info and whatever image you use), one “ID Circle” on which you write your contact information and a little cardboard circle – which is basically for tracing the right-sized circle onto your image so you can cut it out…smart thinking – and three “Cable Ties” (I call these zip ties myself) that you’ll use to attach your tag to, well, whatever you’re attaching it. 

There’s a good colour selection available with fun names that your kids will enjoy choosing.

SwaggerTag represents the ultimate in customization – I used photos for each of the kids’ tags and I cut out a letter from our family’s monogrammed stationery to use for the diaper bag’s tag. But you could use anything.

They’re not juvenile-looking in any way so you could even use these for yourself, on luggage or a golf bag, for example. You could even put a SwaggerTag on a dog collar.

We’ve all heard the chilling stories of children being more easily abducted because their names were visible to strangers. SwaggerTag is designed so that you can identify your belongings at a glance but it doesn’t display all of your contact info unless you open it. I like this. We included our kids’ names, city/province and home phone number. There’s plenty of room for more, though, if you’ve got small, neat penmanship.

Made by a Canadian, SwaggerTag is designed to withstand unpredictable weather. Made by a mom, it’s also designed to withstand some heavy handling (read: abuse by child owners).

THE GAFFE

While I loved the overall concept of that tracing circle, I used a black pen to trace the first photo I used, and once I cut it out and popped it into place, I could see the pen mark most of the way around. A bit of a bummer. Perhaps the tracer should be slightly larger?

I would love an extra ID Circle in each SwaggerTag kit – I kind of messed one up and now I have a minor error on one of my tags. That’s gonna drive me bonkers every time I look at it. Thankfully, it’ll stay closed 95 per cent of the time.

I don’t love the zip ties; I’d prefer something that matches colourwise and is reusable. I know, I know…we’re talking $3.99! You can buy a replacement kit with more ties (or just go to your local hardware store and buy a pack of them), but a great up-sell – and a more environmentally friendly choice – here for SwaggerTag would be to sell an optional snap-on, colour-co-ordinated rubber or plastic alternative for the zip ties. Of course, few materials can match the strength and indestructibility of a zip tie – I mean, have you seen them used as handcuffs on COPS?

THE GEARS

3.5/5 (fix the tracing circle’s size and create a reusable alternative to the zip ties, and I’d be inclined to give SwaggerTag at least a 4.5/5)

So…where can you buy it?

• Directly from Swagger Tag
• MomsHelpingSchools.com
• Amazon
• eBay (though not sure why shipping is $14 per tag?! Yowsah!)