EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 260
album: ANTEPRIMA Calciatori 2022/23 (Panini)
stickers: 216 (1-216)
starter pack: album + 3 packets 2,90€
box: 24 packets (6 stickers per packet) 1,00€ cad.
This album has very little to do with last season’s edition, of course it is a matter of taste, to us it seems a substantial and important improvement both in form and in content, so much so that seeing this edition, someone may look for the previous one.
This album has nothing to do with the classic Calciatori if not for some defects that unfortunately continue to grip the Panini collections in recent years, the folds in the pages are not a pretty sight. Someone has already written that the central page comes off easily, honestly in the copy in our possession we have not encountered this problem. We also tried to hold the page with the full weight of the album (empty) suspended in our hands and it holds up without problems. Maybe something changes with the stickers attached, but the presence of three staples for a medium-small album seems to us at least an attempt to improve. For the quality of the paper, at this point, all you have to do is wait for the contract with the current printers to expire (Panini hasn’t printed albums on site for years) and for someone from the Modena-based company, perhaps even spending a little more, to go to look for higher quality elsewhere. The short circuit between the (low) quality of the paper and often the excellent work of preparation and graphics of the Panini albums, sooner or later, hopefully sooner, will have to end, right?
We apologize for the long introduction, we only hope that in December with the new players we will already see substantial improvements. Having said that, “accepting” these small problems, the album is very interesting, we like it and we will try to explain why.
The greater number of stickers and also the greater space available, allows us to present our Serie A in a more complete and more articulated way. Last year each club had just 4 stickers and only four players, now we have two pages per club where, correct choice, you do not see a copy of what we will see in December. Indeed, we like to think that some stickers can also be tests to be used in the main album.
Each club has 10 stickers, the newly promoted Monza has the same number as the Italian champions of Milan. Exactly as it happens, albeit with a much higher number of club stickers, with the classic Calciatori. Right! And each club has a page with more engaging graphics than last year’s more basic one. It couldn’t be otherwise, thanks to the biggest album. Also interesting are the choices, the phrase of a player that reflects the values or love for the team where he plays, a brief introduction to the possible results of the new season and a photo with a detail of the curve. The choice to put some clear photos and others blurry, from Diego’s lovers, is a beautiful detail on the page of Napoli of a flag with the face of the Pibe de Oro.
We come to the stickers, after all they are always the absolute protagonists. Looking at the album, the first for the team is a close-up of the “flag” player, often not exactly as such, but the words that are written next to him are his. The sticker is unveiled on the album, Panini will not like the combination but they are reminiscent of certain albums by the South American publisher Navarrete.
The next three are the team roster, 5 players per sticker, fifteen in total. In other areas not suitable but in this preview album a valid way to present a good number of players. Of course, as with the cards, the release in August brings several players back to the wrong teams, for example Simeone no longer in Hellas Verona but moved to Napoli.
The following stickers are in our opinion the most interesting, we like the Club Identity stickers, which ranges from details of the curve to the game jerseys, it lacks a bit of uniformity between the various pages, but on the contrary it is precisely the differences that make the whole. more pleasant.
The next two are the news of the club (for Juventus, for example, we find the newly acquired Angel De Maria) with a double image of the player, with the game shirt and often on arrival at the new club, in civilian clothes, sometimes with the club scarf on display. The second sees the champions in training. The last three stickers on the page focus on the champions in action, in some ways they refer to the Adrenalyn cards but applause is the choice of leaving the original background where you can savor the smell and passion of the stadiums and stands.
Speaking of cards, the initial pages of the album are dedicated to the top performers, even here the players portrayed in action with an important statistic (after all there is a reason if we find them here). Particular graphics, as if the players had taken the super speed of Flash, perhaps it is a tribute to the DC Comics comics, recently passed to Panini.
Compared to the first edition, the album is larger, more defined, more colorful, more complex, for us a clear step forward. Of course it becomes a more challenging album to complete. Making a comparison between the costs of the packets is unrealistic, given the completely different format. The price of 1 euro for 6 stickers makes you tremble a little thinking about the players, but now and unfortunately that’s where we are going. The solution of the 24 packets box clearly makes it impossible even to approach the completion of the collection with a single box. For a product linked to football and with possible potential, it was possible to dare and make boxes of 36 packets.
The advantage for Bolognese collectors is that they will be able to come to the appointments of the Figurine Day organized by Figurine Forever at the Edicola Birra, a good opportunity to try, through swaps, to find the missing ones. Whatever happens, there are always Comics Fairs and for the most “true believers” our FIGUCON on January 15, 2023 in Bologna, without forgetting the appointment in Rome on September 24 and 25, 2022.
In stickers we trust, yesterday, today, tomorrow, always
(EN)