EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 195
album: EURO 1960 (Qubotondo)
stickers: 170 (not numbered)
album + complete set 45,00€
It all started here, with Lev Jashin’s Great Soviet Union. The friends of Qubotondo complete the realization of the albums on the pre Panini European championships, with this one dedicated to 1960 and that of 1964, we will do the review later.
The choice of separating them was excellent, unlike what was done with 1968 and 1972 presented together. It will also be an amateur production but the passion is worth much more than many top-rated publishers. Among other things, the graphics work is done by professionals in the sector, you can see.
The final rounds are still far away, this first edition is absolutely special, just 17 national teams sign up, with the final phase in France for the last four games. Football and history that intertwine and tell us about a world that no longer exists, the final match between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, now divided into many different countries, often unfortunately in contrast with each other.
The album alternates stickers, beautifully in black and white with highlights from the matches played in France, to the presentation of the four finalists: Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, France and Czechoslovakia. For each of these 25 stickers, including the 4-sticker formation, the coach (it is incredible how much this fundamental figure is not present in the Panini, except in rare cases and far from recent years) and 20 players.
Stickers with the foreground of the players inside a circle, a necessary and captivating graphic choice, necessary because it was perhaps impractical to have the correct photos for all the players, in this way the space underneath with the national team logo uniforms the presentation of the various teams. The flag in the wind is a nice touch! The explanatory notes are also interesting, with appearances in the final phase and in the qualifications, club of belonging and year of birth, it must not have been so immediate to discover this information for everyone.
The next 13 participating teams have 6 stickers Austria, Portugal, Romania, Spain. The other 2 stickers, team and main player: Eire, Hungary, Turkey, Norway, East Germany, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark.
The album closes with 4 teams, national teams who decided not to participate in the competition, the names are incredible: Italy, West Germany, England and the vice world champions of Sweden! To further emphasize the consideration that these teams were not part of the competition, Qubotondo decides to present the players in action, clearly different stickers to the previous ones on the album.
An important detail, the product was created for the international market, rightly so, hence the choice to present all the texts in English.
Well done Qubotondo, now with what to continue? Maybe with the World Cup before Mexico70 or with the Copa America, who knows what they will surprise us with!
For further informations visit http://www.qubotondo.it/
(EN)