album: Princess Disney – Today is magical (Panini)
stickers: 188 (1-188) + 50 cards (C1-C50)
starter pack: album + 2 packets 2,90€
box: 24 packets (4 stickers + 1 card) 1,00€ each
blister: 5 packets 4,90€
Another Disney Princess album?!? It is important not to make a copy of the previous ones, which are many. If this was the intention, it seems to us that the goal has been achieved. Very interesting, varied, bubbly, dynamic album. Too bad only for the 50 cards, although in this case at least, with a minimum of extra effort, they are appreciated and will certainly be a joy for the many passionate girls.
The album somewhat follows the Calciatori rule, if in the Panini “flagship” each club has the same space, here it seems to us the same happens with our Disney cartoon heroines. Also because, you can imagine the disaster of an internal battle between the Princesses!
In reality, the fun and original aspect of this collection (as of others previously) is that our beautiful girls interact with each other, they are friends, they embrace and take pictures together. The album does not separate one from the other, at least in part.
The quality of the album, its matte paper, its compactness make it appetizing even for older collectors. A multitude of colors invade the pages with many references to cartoons that have immobilized millions of children and families in front of the screen. The underlying concept says it all in the title: space for magic!
Magic is also involving little girls who will be enchanted by the large images of the Princesses, but also by the many small and large games to interact with that we find in the album. Not only thanks to the figurines, but also to the detachable central insert where you can detach the cards with the princesses and their skirts and create magical stories with them.
Then there are pages dedicated to individual Ladies, where in addition to attaching the stickers, you will need to arm yourself with felt-tip pens to color Jasmine, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel. Among the many other gems of this collection, memorable page 20 where the shaped stickers of the 7 Dwarfs find space, naturally around their beloved Snow White.
The stickers and also the cards are a feast for the eyes. At the moment we have only seen a few packets, but either we have been particularly lucky or the work together has really been over the top. Even the cards, as mentioned, while adding to the cost of the collection, are assertive.
You don’t know what to get a granddaughter for Christmas. This could be a solution!
(EN)
STRANGE WORLD (Panini)
EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 281
album: Strange World (Panini)
stickers: 180 (1-168, P1-P12) + 50 cards (C1-C50)
starter pack: album + 2 packets 2,90€
box: 24 packets (4 stickers + 1 card) 1,00€ each
blister: 5 packets 4,90€
“Strange World“, for those who have seen the trailer at the cinema, has everything to be a film to remember, after some Disney missteps in recent years. Perhaps. Above all because personal taste is also touched here, in some distant way it can recall “The treasure planet”, a quality cartoon but which did not have great success at the box office.
Waiting to know whether or not it will be the Christmas film, we have serious doubts that the sticker album could be a success. Perhaps it is not the most appropriate way, but in this case the first part of the review is to point out the defects and the aspects that are not very appreciable for us.
First of all the quality of the paper, lately we have seen a marked improvement in the Panini house, perhaps for this publication they have used returns from stock. The result is visible to the naked eye, very low quality, wrinkled paper. Considering that it’s not even a free album (but even in that case it wouldn’t be an excuse), since with the price of the starter pack you pay just under 1 euro.
The other aspect that leaves us rather perplexed are the exaggerated 50 cards. Necessary evil? Apparently yes, if we think of the concept whereby, in order to maintain the rights, the publisher is obliged to print both stickers and cards. So out of necessity he burdens an album that could have been nice with 50 cards which only makes it that much more difficult (and expensive) to complete.
Cards that in this case really have nothing to be a pleasant extra to the album of stickers. We’d really like to know if that 50 card is the minimum wage that Disney grants to Panini to maintain the rights, or if it’s a self-defeating choice by the Modena company.
The album traces the history of the animated film, so “spoiler alert!”. The advice we give you is to run to the cinema and then attach the stickers so you can enjoy the highlights of the cartoon again. The graphics of the pages are well done, we find the places, the sets, the landscapes of the films.
The stickers rediscover their role, essential for coloring the various pages even more and making them complete. Appropriate choice because we are dealing with a film with many protagonists, an album divided by characters would perhaps not have been suitable.
Central poster with the film poster on one side and the space for the 12 stickers numbered with the letter P on the other. If you have any doubts about the names of the heroes of Strange World, this is the right place to make a quick summary!
The stickers are apparently simple but find, as just written, their rightful charm within the album. Worth noting are our beloved shaped ones that we always like a lot (by now you will have understood it, if you follow our reviews..) and the special ones, with the most sought-after details of recent albums.
Go to the cinema and Merry Christmas!
(EN)
ENCANTO (Panini)
EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 227
album: Encanto (Panini)
stickers: 180 (1-168, X1-X12) + 50 cards (C1-C50)
starter pack: album + 2 packets 2,90€
box: 24 bustine (4 stickers + 1 card) 1,00€ each
The hope of a return to normal also passes through the newsstands. In advance, as it should be, compared to the arrival in cinemas, here is the sticker album of the new Disney film! From the authors of Oceania the premises are very good for it to become one of the most interesting of the new classics, after the splendid Luca set in Italy.
Beware of spoilers! The main problem with early release is to find out the story before going to see the film at the cinema. In fact, the album tells the adventures of Mirabel, our protagonist, from the Liguria Region of the previous cartoon, this time we move to Colombia.
Perhaps the setting of the album is precisely so as not to tell too much about the film, if not through the images of the stickers. The various pages of the album are in fact an explosion of stickers, the captions become less and less as the pages are turned, but they are still functional for a pleasant reading of the story.
Of course, the many shaped stickers made our eyes shine, some really funny and multiple, Mirabel’s “casita” even contains 9 in one page! In reality, the stickers on the album are not very many, 168 plus those for the central poster, but the graphic layout suggests that there are so many to stick to.
As is now customary we also have the set of cards, 50. Too many, although well made. Not an absolute novelty but very nice the solution for the last 16 (C35-C50) that are to be colored. An idea that goes very well with the setting of both the film and the very colorful album itself.
While waiting to see the film at the cinema, we refrained from reading the progress of the album page by page and consequently our review cannot be too specific. Interesting album, we hope it can take advantage of a different and more carefree period, unlike the previous Luca who should have had better luck.
box: 24 packets (4 stickers + 1 card per packet) 1,00€ each
It must be a period of renewal of the contracts for Panini, since the newsstands are literally invaded by new albums, several come out only out of necessity. The binomial now almost always present of stickers and cards follows the same logic. Maintaining existing contracts without the further financial disaster of releasing two separate albums.
It’s not always a bad thing, sometimes even interesting products come out (see for example the latest Harry Potter). Certainly the current market cannot withstand this overlapping of products, but, as written, unfortunately, several releases are born in the awareness of being announced flops. But for those who love stickers and sagas, it can be a renewed pleasure to browse these “best of” collections.
The album traces the trilogy. The first part is therefore destined to the first film of 2006 and to follow the others. The texts are a valid addition to follow the progress of the story through the images of the stickers. The graphic choices of Panini are appreciated, not a mere repetition of classic rectangular stickers but instead special, round and pure shaped with pages very rich in stickers to be attached.
It was an opportune choice to divide the album equally between the three films, everyone certainly has their own favorite, but the trilogy must be celebrated as a whole. It’s fun to find Saetta, first as a simple young car, then as a great champion, and finally as a declining star who will be able to return to the glories of the beginning and above all to mentor a new steering wheel ace. The story is that, always fun, as written the very varied graphics of the pages make the collection nice and fun.
Poster open in the center for the 12 stickers numbered with X, interesting because it looks like the central insert of a car magazine. A solution that we like.
Panini could set up the album by presenting all the protagonists, however, having to add the cards as well, he uses these to create a sort of Cars encyclopedia. The idea works, so 50 different cars are presented. It is a pity that the cards do not contain the name but only the design, indeed by daring they could have been made more intriguing with even some technical features. At least the name was needed anyway! There are actually 52 cards counting the two limited editions that we find in the starter pack.
As already written, the choice of making different stickers, even in shape, to make the album more fun is appreciable. In addition, compared to other collections, they are larger and give due credit to the quality of the images and the cartoons themselves.
Not essential album, but still a valid opportunity for fans of the trilogy, Disney / Pixar and even .. cars!
(EN)
DISNEY PRINCESS (Panini)
EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 220
album: DISNEY PRINCESS (Panini)
stickers: 228 (1-212, B1-B16) + 54 cards (C1-C54)
starter pack: album + 2 packets 2,90€
box: 36 packets (4 stickers + 1 card per packet) 1,00€ each
Will Disney Magic ever end? Will Disney Princess ever go out of style? No, we are ready to bet. From generation to generation the animation of the “mouse house” remains in everyone’s hearts and dreams.
Panini albums dedicated to Disney Princess we have already had many over the years, so it may seem like a mere commercial operation playing on an evergreen of animation. True, in part, in reality we find the work that Panini has done making this latest creation appreciable, we notice a certain care and also some interesting news, unless we are denied by those who perhaps have a better memory than ours on past productions.
The Princesses as if they were footballers have a dedicated space equal to each other, to each four pages, without thinking too much about the favorite or most famous ones, as for the football champions there are no differences. Pages also very rich in stickers, on average 18 per princess, with the presence of some shaped (our favorites, by now you have understood it), silver specials and the others mainly taken from the images of animated films.
Even the text are not trivial but not too invasive, a bit like the legendary albums of the 70s were, many stickers have their own caption, to allow you to know not only the characteristics of the princesses but also the characters of the reference film, so as to rediscover many cartoon icons that we loved and still love today. Small quizzes and games with solutions at the end of the album also fill in.
All the Disney Princess? Actually no. Here is the order of appearance on the album: Ariel, Jasmine, Belle, Snow White, Merida, Cinderella, Mulan, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Tiana, Moana (Vaiana in Italy), Aurora. The lack of Elsa and Anna from Frozen is sensational, but if the reference is the “Disney Princess” commercial line then everything comes back. Even some freedoms that Disney itself takes since in reality Mulan and Pocahontas are not princesses in the classic concept of the term.
At the center of the album we find the poster with the game, a very nice novelty and we also believe it was successful (even though we have not yet tried to play ..), especially for the idea of providing the pieces within the same packets. In fact, the 16 stickers numbered B are actually “pop-up” cards to be used for the game. We can choose between four princesses and their objects: Belle, Cinderella, Merida and Rapunzel. In our opinion, the mistake is to have put the space for stickers 211 and 212 on the first page of the poster, we would have left this insert something completely independent from the rest of the album.
Another aspect of our rather common reviews is the lack of empathy for the album mix between stickers and cards, not in this case. Of course the album could have done without it, but at least we like the quality and even the subjects chosen in a very good part have their own because: .C1-C12 splendid close-ups of the Princess with their “home” in the background .C13-C24 the Princess in motion with great success of the horses, present in 9 out of 12 cards .C25-C30 a couple the princesses (genuinely avoidable) .C31-C42 the villains! .C43-C54 more classic portraits of princesses Honestly, instead of 54 cards, 36 could have been enough (C1-C12, C13-C24, C31-C42), but we don’t pretend that everyone can share our tastes of course.
Album in general that makes you happy, the single stickers make a breach in the hearts because they bring back so many memories and emotions of when we have seen (several times, be honest!) The various films. Disney magic has the advantage that it does not make it necessary to invent cards that are too special, they already are. We are afraid we will not be able to resist the temptation to run to the newsstand to buy more packets, and you?
Haven’t you seen Luca yet? Run to watch it! The film deserves, certainly the Italian setting helps to make our hearts beat, but it is really well done, among the best of the last 10 years, especially after some not so memorable releases by Disney / Pixar. A very delicate and exciting way to address the issues of diversity, unfortunately in everyday life we do not often have a happy ending, but we hope this new Disney work will allow even the little ones to understand and know how to accept who, apparently, is different from us.
This album is therefore a MUST because the son of a high quality film, in reality Panini seems to us to carry out the task without too much soul but still making the final product enjoyable. The quality of the film saves it, the graphic layout of the album is very simple, the captions appear less and less as you turn the pages, many images taken from the cartoon, some special ones, a few shaped ones. We like rectangular stickers, they go very well with the “widescreen” line as you see cartoons in the cinema.
Central poster for the L stickers with the characters in silver version. We also have the cards punctual as the taxes, we remain of the idea that more than once they are not an added value to the quality of the album but only an extra expense, a clear excuse from the publishers to raise the prices of the packets. Above all there are too many, 50! If Panini is “forced” to also make cards for contractual reasons and making two separate albums would be an economic suicide (we agree with this), then at least limit the number.
Positive note, the quality of the album paper has improved compared to recent disasters, it is already something, also taking into account that the album is not a tribute, not even in the starter pack.
Do sticker albums sell less than the usual names? Perhaps it is linked to prices and extra contents that very little marry with the target audience and even more with family economies that are not those of a multinational but of many small daily realities that have to make sacrifices. After having locked themselves up in their four walls long before the health emergency, perhaps taking a few laps into the real world from Modena could prove useful.
Anyway album to have, to collect, the film deserves it.
(EN)
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON (Panini)
EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 179 stickers: 180 (1-170, H1-H10) – 50 cards (C1-C50) starter pack: album + 2 packets € 2.90 packets: 4 stickers + 1 card € 1.00 (box of 24 packets)
The new Disney film arrives on newsstands, we really hope there is the possibility of being able to see it at the cinema. The subject is interesting, dragons and damsels are always very popular. The album is well made, the advice is to start completing it after seeing the film, so as not to lose the taste of knowing the story.
Panini makes a particular but interesting choice, instead of presenting the characters first and then the story of the events, he alternates them in an absolutely effective way. Throughout the album we therefore have “History” pages and “Characters” pages. The formula makes the result more captivating, interspersing the evolution of events with the knowledge of the protagonists of the story.
We also find different captions, we could almost have an illustrated book, one more reason to leaf through it only after having seen the film. The double page to discover the map and all the clans living in Kumandra with the stickers is also very valid. Dragons, battles, the fantasy setting is always very suitable for a sticker album.
In the center of the central poster album with two different posters of the film and stickers to be attached on both sides, here are placed the numbered H from 1 to 10. Not only the poster but the whole album is neat and not trivial, with stickers of various formats that make it fun to complete. Among the stickers, beautiful to look at, we find several special, shaped and frames of various colors.
The album is completed by 50 cards, also non-trivial and more successful than previous Panini products. Numbered from 1 to 50 are divided by category, the last 10 are commendable and tell the story through comic strips. We are not card lovers but on this occasion they are an added factor to the collection and not a mere filler.
The complicated period can also be seen from this new Disney album, with a box of just 24 packets. Clearly it is an album released for contractual obligations and on which Panini believes little, how can you blame her given the closed cinemas? They had already bypassed Soul (released only in some countries), they probably couldn’t do the encore.
The box of 24 packets is an understandable attempt to limit the damage with the returns of unsold items from newsstands (just think how many newsstands there are in Italy), the sticker + card formula is the need to keep the rights on both products without doing release two separate albums (lately only happened with LOL, Fortnite and Frozen 2).
A positive aspect is the album paper, although not excellent, even if glossy, it does not have the unpleasant folds of the latest productions and even has three staples, these days it is already something.
(EN)
ONWARD (Panini)
EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 130 stickers: 192 (1-168, 1x-24x) starter pack: € 3.90 album + 5 packets + 5 LE cards packets: € 0.80 (5 stickers)
comment: not only Thanos is looking for the Gems! For those who follow the world of stickers internationally, the wait for this album was long. The film was supposed to be released in Italy before the summer but clearly everything was postponed, while in other countries the stickers had already been in distribution for many months. The important thing is that it has arrived. The new Disney-Pixar film is very captivating and modern, the two elf brothers in a world that has forgotten the magic in search of a gem to see their father, who has long died, the dream and the hope of being able to spend a day with him. .
The album has everything for pleasure, in reality it is a little less dynamic than we could have hoped for, on the other hand it follows the story of the film and is very didactic compared to previous products. Somehow it returns to the glories of the Panini of the past, we like it! Special mention for the central poster where Panini gives its best, on this occasion it will be necessary to detach it from the album. Inside we not only find the 24 X stickers, but with a little bit of “art attack” it becomes a six-page mini-book where you can attach the stickers, an album within another album. Not immediate but a nice idea.
Attached to the starter pack also 5 limited edition cards, excellent initiative, also taking into account that they do not raise the cost; they do not find space in the album, but I would not be surprised if a collection of cards was created in the following and, in some way, these five cards were also part of it.
Ready to follow the Lightfoot brothers on their adventures? May the magic be with you!
