Contemporary release of Qubotondo, together with the album dedicated to the Euro 1960 album, previously reviewed. After the Great Soviet Union of Lev Yashin, here the Spain of Luisito Suarez wins.
We confirm the excellent choice of separating them, unlike what was done with 1968 and 1972 presented in a single album. Certainly the setting is similar, almost the same, but we like that each edition of the European has its own album. Indeed, we launch a provocation to Qubotondo, once the printed copies of the 68/72 album have run out, it would not be bad in the future to propose them each on his own.
Unlike in 1960, almost all the great national teams take part in the tournament, with direct elimination, home and away matches, with the final phase (the two semifinals and the final) played in Spain. Here too Qubotondo rightly gives ample space to the four finalists, let’s say that it suits him, because after a 5-5 overall and subsequent play-off lost with Denmark, the little Luxembourg was one step away from flying to Barcelona, to play for access to the final against the Soviet Union. Perhaps they would have had some difficulty in finding the images of all the GranDucato players.
The album introduces the final phase with splendid black and white stickers, with highlights from the matches played in Spain, plus ample space for the four finalists: Soviet Union, Spain, Hungary and Denmark. Each with 25 stickers, 4 puzzle stickers for training, coach and 20 players.
As also for Euro 1960, the players’ stickers are with a close-up inside a round, 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 below with national team logo uniforms the presentation of the various teams. Notes with the scores of the four final matches and details on the individual players.
The nice setting of the album is to allow space based on the result achieved, without looking too hard at the high-sounding name of the national team. It is therefore right that those who have reached the quarter-finals have more stickers: Eire, Sweden, France and precisely Luxembourg; each with 6 stickers, team and five players.
For the teams stopped in the second round, mention of presence with three stickers, team and two of the most representative players including Gianni Rivera: Eire, Italy, East Germany, Albania, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Holland.
The album closes with 4 black and white stickers with some highlights during the qualifiers.
An important detail, the product was created for the international market, rightly so, hence the choice to present all the texts in English.
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!
comment: it is really difficult to find a better album to inaugurate this 2020, certainly a rich vintage since we will have Euro, Copa America and maybe even an album on Copa Africa. Football will really be at the center of the stickers world!
For the friends of Qubotondo we have so much respect, so much so that we have given them the graphic management of our Celebrative Stickers, work that they are carrying out in an excellent way, just as this album was made.
Finally, after Euro76 (always Qubotondo), the Europeans of 1968 and 1972 also have their album. It is not an anastatic product (there is nothing released then), the amateur concept here is valid only in terms of the incredible passion with which Daniele, deux ex machina of Qubotondo, makes his albums.
The luck of a post album is the power to set it based on the results on the field, giving greater importance to the national teams that have reached the final stages. Always keep in mind that we are talking about competitions not like the current ones. Only semi-finals and finals were organized in a single country, previously all of Europe was involved in the tournament. We can also speculate about the enormous difficulty in finding the images to prepare the stickers, especially with the smaller national teams. Also from this point of view the work has been excellent. The choice to unify the two editions is due to the need to make the album full-bodied, the choice to make it in English is a wise idea to go beyond the border. Scoreboards, statistical data, period photos, stickers as a fantastic fill.
The album opens with Euro 68 and of course with the European champion Italy (only once, at least so far), 27 total stickers of good quality and attention to detail. Following Yugoslavia, England and the Soviet Union, all with three pages of images and stickers, it is difficult to find even almanacs of the time with the same images. Following the other protagonists who did not reach the final phase, 18 stickers each for Bulgaria, France, Hungary and Spain. The other national teams are presented by qualification group in which they participated, from 4 to 1 stickers per national team but there are ALL! Grand finale with the scores of all the qualifying matches of the groups and their scorers.
Euro 72 is Franz Beckenbauer’s West Germany European Championship (who will also win the 1974 World Cup against their favorite Netherlands). Unlike the ’68 we find stickers of moments of the final match between West Germany and the Soviet Union, then many stickers of the two national teams and the other two semi-finalists: Belgium and Hungary. Honestly, finding all those images of different players from Hungary and the USSR for 1972 and 1968 must not have been easy at all. Here too the album continues with 18 stickers from other great national teams such as England, Yugoslavia, Italy, Romania and finally all the others, from 4 to 1 stickers per national.
Some may not agree on the limited number of stickers for the other national teams, but in addition to a certain difficulty in finding the images, the album would have become monumental. Moreover, it is set up as the Panini of Euro80, in relief the national teams reached the final stage and in the background the stickers of the other unqualified.
Even the choice not to number the stickers (probably linked to economic reasons) makes research more exciting, discovering the names and faces of footballers of an era that seems really light years away from today. In addition, the album is sold with the complete set so there is no spasmodic search for the missing sticker of a standard product.
And now? Of course we hope for the release of another unified album for Euro 60/64, perhaps on the occasion of Figurine Forever 4 in January 2021. In order not to remain just a dream, it would be necessary to help Qubotondo in finding the necessary images and maybe .. in making them know that THAT must be the next album!
Simply unique, always limited edition, pleasure for a few, but absolute pleasure
Final judgment 10/10 (praise will be added to the announcement of the album 60/64 :P)
(EN)
EUROPEAN CUP 1956/1986 (Qubotondo Italy)
EDICOLA NEWS: THE REVIEWS nr. 57
stickers: 600
album + complete
set of stickers € 99.00
comment:
the friend Daniele, “deux ex machina” of the EdizioniAmatorialiQubotondo,
combines another of his realizing an incredible album (after the splendid one
made for Euro 76) dedicated to the first 30 years of the Champions Cup.
To call it
an amateur production is right in form, but ungenerous in substance.
The quality
is really good, starting with the inaugural edition of 1955/56 the winning
teams are presented, both with stickers that draw the highlights of the most
important matches, and with the stickers of the 11 champion players. On the
sidelines for each edition the top player of one of the other clubs protagonists
of the event, sticker that we find in almost all the pages until 1978/79.
To complete
all the tables with all the results and the final.
The stickers
are not reproductions of previously made albums but they are mostly unpublished
photos, all with an excellent quality both of printing and of the album as a
whole. If anything the problem, probably to contain costs and not wanting to
put the information on the front, is the lack of the numbering of the stickers.
This however helps to linger more in the search for players, to recognize or
discover for the first time the big names that have made the history of
European football.
Final page
with 8 great champions who never participated in a Champions Cup final: Riva,
Reisenbrink, Charles, Dzaijc, Deyna, Netzer, Blokhin, Masopust.
Finally, an
excellent choice to make the album in English so that it can be an interesting
and internationally readable product.
Congratulations!
Remind our members have special discounts for all Qubotondo releases!
