EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 187
stickers: 692 (1-678 + stickers Coca Cola C1-C14)
starter pack: album + 3 packets 2,90€
packet : 5 stickers 1,00€ (box of 50 stickers)
foreign edition:
Switzerland Pearl Edition (678 stickers + stickers Coca Cola C1-C14)
East Europe blue cover (654 stickers)
Hard Cover version not available for italian edition
This album needs a long introduction, forgive us, normally we don’t talk about prices because it would have to be reported too many times but on this occasion we cannot remain silent. 1 euro for five stickers is a point of no return, also considering the not excellent quality of the European and World Cup albums (the 2018 Russia stickers were unwatchable but it has been seen even worse).
With all due respect to the historical period in which we live, if we add that it is not even an unreleased album since it is the new edition of the one released last year, we are really stunned. Perhaps there is a precedent, the latest Panini album on the Giro d’Italia had the packets even at 1.50. Panini already knew that they would not continue the following year and therefore they tried to collect funds as much as possible, perhaps the same happens here since it seems the Euro2024 album will be branded Topps.
Finally, taking into account that for this edition of the Euro we have 2 albums in 2 years, Panini could meet fans and many collectors while maintaining a decent price, which was not actually last year. Or rather, at least increase the number of stickers inside the packets. That “only for” printed on the price of the starter pack as on many other products made in recent years sounds so mocking that it is almost annoying.
So as the Figurine Forever Association we decided NOT to buy sticker boxes and consequently not to create the conditions for exchanges, which we have done with practically all the albums released on newsstands in recent years (at least the ones that made sense). We have neither the pretension nor the swagger to believe we count for something, but we believe that this is the only way to try to give a message to those who should have greater consideration for their customers.
Then let’s be clear, we are talking about European football, sales will be important in the really important countries (Germany, England, etc.) because often nothing follows the complaint. We, in our own small way, feel like making this gesture, preferring to direct the funds of the Association on other productions, including Panini, the Lyon albums and the Harry Potter cards are many times better than this album.
Panini could not make an album copy of the previous “Preview” and therefore he fished out the horizontal stickers used for the Champions League and repeated Euro 2016 with the stripes in action of the main players. Careful choice do not make a duplicate and the horizontal stickers are appreciable, we would have avoided or limited the second part to return to chapters that fans have always loved such as stadiums and history.
It is not the first time that they become only printed paper, unfortunately it will not be the last. The increase of the teams is certainly a good excuse, but taking into account the price of the packets, it would not have been a bad idea to remove the “in action” part (not very exciting, probably like the younger ones ..) in favor of stadium cards, posters, etc. and perhaps lowering the total number of stickers by at least a hundred.
On the contrary, the squad of the teams is good, 20 players is a good number, never as impossible as this year to find the right players, any cases of Covid could change things even during the tournament. Data of the player on the card to the minimum terms, we feel the lack of the club belong to, forgetfulness or unhappy choice in our opinion. We always focus on the quality of the paper, we have made it our workhorse, compared to the latest releases Panini makes a small leap forward, the cover is valid, the inside a little less but lately it has been really seen very worse.
Note of joy to see the first appearance of North Macedonia as the welcome return of Scotland after 25 years. These are the details that make these albums legendary, even after some time, much more than having 10 times the sticker of the same top player, as some would like.
The most incredible surprise is the presence also in Italy of the Coca Cola stickers, after having seen them for years around Europe and the world, this time the Italian edition is also among the nations involved. The stickers portray the players in pairs but are not actually double stickers, some such as Lukaku (C1) are the same ones used previously.
However nice idea, the extra stickers when proposed with manageable formulas are an interesting solution, more for us Italians who have never seen them on other occasions, less perhaps for other European countries. To understand if these stickers can also be ordered from Panini, in the past they were, be careful because it is not certain that they will then be found in the complete sets that the company will sell later.
If there is the novelty of Coca Cola, we return to being a second-tier country given the lack of a hardcover edition for Italy.
It is a EURO album, it is clearly an album to have, we will have it too and in its variants, but this year we will take a little more time. In stickers we trust, of course, but there is a limit to everything.
(EN)