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Football Stickers


Kaz Hayashi

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TIL that the Panini and Merlin sticker offices were directly opposite each other in Italy and any time a celebrity was spotted on the street, staff from the offices would rush to the window to see what door they walked in, as not everyone at every level was privy to licensing agreements at early stages.

This was perfectly summed up when Pierluigi Collina was walking down the street, loads of Merlin staff ran to the window, watched Collina walk in to the Panini offices, so they all started shouting abuse at him, calling him all sorts.

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12 minutes ago, Kaz Hayashi said:

TIL that the Panini and Merlin sticker offices were directly opposite each other in Italy and any time a celebrity was spotted on the street, staff from the offices would rush to the window to see what door they walked in, as not everyone at every level was privy to licensing agreements at early stages.

This was perfectly summed up when Pierluigi Collina was walking down the street, loads of Merlin staff ran to the window, watched Collina walk in to the Panini offices, so they all started shouting abuse at him, calling him all sorts.

Lovely stuff. You got a link to that?

I think Merlin was set up by a couple of renegade Panini workers who'd had enough. Of what I'm not sure. 

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1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

Lovely stuff. You got a link to that?

I think Merlin was set up by a couple of renegade Panini workers who'd had enough. Of what I'm not sure. 

We had a chap called Rich on our BBG wrestling pod who worked for Merlin. I’ve just listened back to it today and he briefly discusses it on the show. 
18 mins in - https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/PnKPNc7S5N1aB8rT7

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1 minute ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I was always a Merlin kid growing up. Panini may have had the World Cup but Premier League 95/96 - 98/99 was the peak of childhood collecting.

Merlin getting the Premier League contract was a massive blow to Panini.

Its really only the last few years that there's been a resurgence for Panini. 

There's a superb documentary called Stuck On You which was on ITV a while back. Well worth seeking out.

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2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

There's a superb documentary called Stuck On You which was on ITV a while back. Well worth seeking out.

Just to second that, it really is worth a look, even covers the WWE's relationship with the sticker companies around Summerslam 1992. 

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There is a book that's more comprehensive too. The doco is very good on it's own though.

I wrote a bit on sticker collecting for a fanzine a couple of years ago which includes a short version of story told in the book/doco. I'll spoiler tag it for length.

Spoiler

I am a grown man. It is a World Cup year. So what excites me most? The plethora of televised football? No. The chance to see new stars from around the world? No. The prospect of England reaching the latter stages? Don’t be ridiculous.

The Panini sticker album? OF COURSE!

There has been plenty written about the rebirth of the football sticker since the Brazil World Cup in 2014 but, truthfully, I never grew out of them in the first place. I was just too embarrassed to buy them. Too afraid of my local newsagent to buy them there and too worried by what my wife would think to buy them online. I collected the album for most of the tournaments, free with some magazine or newspaper, but lacked the balls to commit.

The awakening of interest in Panini and the history of the company and football stickers in the UK has been brilliantly told by Greg Lansdowne in his book “Stuck on you”. It was then turned into a documentary of the same name by ITV – also marvellously done. It’s a fascinating story and one with huge aspects I was unaware of. 

I started collecting football stickers in the mid-80s through Panini’s Football ’85 or ’86 album and the 1986 World Cup sticker book. My most vivid memory though is of collecting Football ’88 with the oval stickers. I stuck Tony Cottee on my new, white wardrobe and got a hammering. I’ve no idea why my Mam was annoyed – it was only a swap! 

These were some of Panini’s most successful years in the UK having jumped into the market in the early 70s. Originally, their distribution was done through WH Smith and some key personnel who’d helped set up that network would have a major role to play in the formation of Panini’s greatest rival – Merlin. I was fascinated to see this story play out in “Stuck on you” having never known quite what happened to Panini in the late 90s or where Merlin came from. As far as I was concerned, Merlin were a cheap imitation although I did collect their (admittedly very good) Premier League sticker books in my early teens through lack of any other choice.

Panini were formed by brothers Benito and Giuseppe Panini in Modena, Italy in the early-60s when selling stickers became far more popular than the newspapers they’d previously distributed. Success in Europe led to their first World Cup sticker collection in 1970 and they entered what would become a hugely popular market in the UK not long after. Football cards had been around in this country for decades going back to the old cigarette cards and albums weren’t new either. However, the market for self-adhesive stickers was very small and Panini grew very quickly into the market leader and their association with Shoot! Magazine was very much the catalyst. Giving away their sticker books free with copies of Shoot! was a genius move that helped sell millions of packets of stickers.

Competition to Panini came through several companies such as Transimage and Quadriga but it rarely lasted, and they dominated the market place until 1990. Panini’s partnerships with magazines such as Match and Shoot! and the Daily Mirror newspaper had been key in establishing their dominance. However, in 1987 The Sun newspaper wanted a slice of the Panini pie and their then-Editor, and vermin, Kelvin McKenzie flew out to Modena to pitch against the Daily Mirror for the partnership. More than just The Sun vs. The Mirror, this was Sun-owner Rupert Murdoch vs. Mirror-mogul Robert Maxwell and Maxwell was furious when Panini chose to take the deal on offer from the Sun. After failing with his own foray into the Sticker world, Maxwell just went out and bought Panini.

Peter Dunk and Kelvyn Gardner who had been the backbone of the Panini operation in the UK didn’t fancy working for Maxwell so they formed Merlin along with Peter Warsop from WH Smith. They found that taking on Maxwell was far from easy and within a couple of years they were faced with losing everything they’d gambled on the business. An unlikely saviour appeared in the WWF – the wrestling version, not the big Pandas. A licensing deal to produce WWF sticker albums was a major success and it turned around Merlin who then secured those rights to produce the Premier League sticker books. 

As unaware as I was about where Merlin came from, I was equally stumped as to where they went. The ITV doco revealed the men and their investors sold the company to Topps in 1996 for $50m and lived happily ever after!

There was a major lull in the football sticker market for almost a couple of decades after that with cards such as Match Attax taking over as the must have football collectable for kids. Panini held on to the licencing for the European Championships and World Cup collections and continued to do very well but away from the conscience of most in the UK. I picked up the books for Euro 2004, the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the very enjoyable Euro 2008 (enjoyable because England weren’t around to ruin it) but they remained empty due to my pretending that I’m a grown-up and not the (very) large 8-year-old that I really am.

I noticed the start of the revival of Panini in 2010. They produced a very clever “Virtual sticker album” online in conjunction with Coca-Cola. It let you “open” packets of stickers and fill the album as well as swapping with other people online. Several packets a day were free and bonus packets could be opened with codes from Coca-Cola and the actual stickers. Millions of people were reminded of the excitement of opening that little packet of mystery, the agony of needing that last sticker and the joy that came from finding it.

By the time the 2014 World Cup came around, stickers were back. A grown man buying stickers was still shameful but it was a shame shared by millions of overgrown 8-year-olds riding a wave of nostalgia and enjoying the fact we could actually afford these things. No sweeping your Mam’s kitchen or mowing the lawn to earn sticker money. 

The benefits of adulthood and the joy of childhood. Where else are those things ever “stuck” together? All hail Panini.

 

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Love that @tiger_rick. I confess that I spent a lot more money that I should've done in the World Cup 2018 sticker book. I think I must've spent over £150 :)

I also literally risked my life to raid various Argos of their tinned stock which were often reduced. I noticed that there was one tin in Argos at Shepherds Bush so did the old reserve and collect. Travelled (after work) there to be told that it was a stock error, even though I was sure that the lads behind the tills had them for themselves. I was a bit miffed so went in to the Poundland across the shopping centre, saw a massive bag of M&M's which would be an ok compensation for having a long journey home, the queue was absolutely massive and there only seemed to be self serve tills open. I thought about not waiting but I wasn't coming away empty handed twice. All of a sudden I saw a lad riding a bike in the shop and riding straight to the front of the queue, the lady in front of me shouted at him and I shit you not he pulled a fucking huge knife out and threatened us all. I was fucking petrified. The lady in front of me kept having a go at him though, luckily he paid for his bread quick time and rode his bike out of the shop. I bought my stuff and just outside the centre by the green the lad was being arrested by about 4 coppers. I consoled myself with a McDonalds before getting on the tube, stickerless, a belly full of MaccyD's and shit stained pants, I thought was it worth it. Abso-fucking-lutely.

Here's hoping for a Euro 2021 book.

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1 hour ago, stewdogg said:

I bought my stuff and just outside the centre by the green the lad was being arrested by about 4 coppers. As they carted him off he dropped an Argos bag with a tin in it, which I duly picked up and kept once they'd gone.

Needless to say, I had the last laugh.

Fixed.

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On 12/8/2020 at 2:29 PM, SuperBacon said:

There's a superb documentary called Stuck On You which was on ITV a while back. Well worth seeking out.

I remember seeing that a while back, but it's pretty difficult to find now I think, which is a shame. There's also this, which isn't as good but still worth watching if you have the time.

 

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I had a sticker album in the late 80's/early 90's which covered all sports (possibly not football can't remember).  I remember my nan buying me stickers for it and I bloody loved it.  Much like all sticker albums I have owned though never completed it 

 

Also loved this doozy which again I doubt I completed and probably got binned 

 

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orbis-World-Cup-1990-20-Part-Binder-And-Incomplete-Sticker-Collection/264887891932?ul_ref=https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?ff3=2&pub=5575376664&toolid=10044&campid=5338268676&customid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVggs4eGobX9WLFROEMrF9vmDj-jW9O-VgZVyonnjhZuEcxMckhSyZLqRoCOHQQAvD_BwE&lgeo=1&item=264887891932&srcrot=710-53481-19255-0&rvr_id=2722088669732&rvr_ts=490452f41760a9cd50078dd8ffbfcc7d&_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1&ul_noapp=true&pageci=22bbfbd9-1c8c-4bb0-8984-6bdf2d4ec2f2

Edited by Dazzer
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