The Panini Situation

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

The Panini Situation

I went through my album and the eight packs I got with it last night and have no swapsies yet.

Another few packs this weekend from the local Co-op methinks. Tesco don't sell them and seem to have an exclusive deal to stock Match Attax only.

[Nico Rijnders]

The Panini Situation

The Tesco near my work sells them, but the one nearest home does not. It may be that they are just taking some time to get to all branches?

[XXXXXX]

The Panini Situation

Renart wrote:

Does anybody know if they sell the Panini stickers and album in the U.S.?

I thought, er, my daughter might enjoy collecting them and learning about the players she'll see during the games.

There are a few on-line retailers selling the albums and boxes of stickers and/or Match Attax cards. For example World Cup Cards the owner, David has responded to all my emails (his on-line store is here in Boston). But, they tend to be more expensive than the 'Buy Now' ebay auctions. I just paid $58 for 100 packs off ebay - which you can see is a very reasonable price per pack. I got the package within 6 days.

My daughter stuck 5 packs worth of stickers in the album last night, like a Pro, lined up, not crooked, an excellent start by the rookie. She likes the Argentina strip - and we got a sticker of her favourite Liverpool player, Mascherano (it's a number thing), in pack #5.

[Kurt Bafokeng]

The Panini Situation

I broke Panini's strict prohibition in Germany. They apparently sent out the albums and stickers to the newsagents at the beginning of the week, but with the strict guideline (including threat of legal action) to sell them no earlier than Monday April 26. The reason behind that is that Panini have a deal with Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag: You get one album and some (10?) stickers for free with this Sunday's edition.

So I have five right stadium halves, six South Africans and no Germans. And my first double: Iker Casillas.

[Renart]

The Panini Situation

Vernons Pools wrote:

Renart wrote:

Does anybody know if they sell the Panini stickers and album in the U.S.?

I thought, er, my daughter might enjoy collecting them and learning about the players she'll see during the games.

There are a few on-line retailers selling the albums and boxes of stickers and/or Match Attax cards. For example World Cup Cards the owner, David has responded to all my emails (his on-line store is here in Boston). But, they tend to be more expensive than the 'Buy Now' ebay auctions. I just paid $58 for 100 packs off ebay - which you can see is a very reasonable price per pack. I got the package within 6 days.

My daughter stuck 5 packs worth of stickers in the album last night, like a Pro, lined up, not crooked, an excellent start by the rookie. She likes the Argentina strip - and we got a sticker of her favourite Liverpool player, Mascherano (it's a number thing), in pack #5.

Thanks! If I don't have any luck with the card shops, I might give that a try.

[steveeeeeeeee]

The Panini Situation

"A Bola" are giving away the album and a pack of stickers on Sunday. So, I'm in.

[RayDeChaussee]

The Panini Situation

hmm, the new album was winking at me in the newsagent's this morning, seductively wrapped in cellophane along with some free stickers and a copy of Jugon magazine, all for €2,95. I've resisted the temptation so far but the fact is I'm torn.

[imp]

The Panini Situation

'Jugon' magazine wrapped in cellophane? I should hope so.

The album arrived today, and youngest impette is on board for sticking activities, so I have my child alibi too.

[Guest]

The Panini Situation

I'd like to say that I don't condone armed robbery - however, a story in The Independent today really appeals to me.

'Five heavily armed gunmen yesterday held up a Sao Paolo company that distributes Panini stickers and stole 675,000 of them (worth £40k) according to Brazilian police'

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

The Panini Situation

Kiwi40 wrote:

I'd like to say that I don't condone armed robbery - however, a story in The Independent today really appeals to me.

'Five heavily armed gunmen yesterday held up a Sao Paolo company that distributes Panini stickers and stole 675,000 of them (worth £40k) according to Brazilian police'

Find those guys - they're bound to have some swapsies.

[Kurt Bafokeng]

The Panini Situation

120 stickers bought, 11 doubles.
Only team still virginly untouched are the US of A, whereas there seem to be Spaniards, South Africans and Dutch (again!) aplenty.

[Guest]

The Panini Situation

We have 156 stickers - 19 duplicates.

Portugal and Slovenia went ahead today - 7 each.

Does anyone else like to vary where they buy their stickers in an attempt to find new batches and keep swaps to a minimum despite having no evidence that this does any good?

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

The Panini Situation

Not a single Denmark player yet.

I'm making as much impact on them as I suspect they will on the tournament.

[imp]

The Panini Situation

We've opened 49 of our 100 packets without a single swap so far, which makes me wonder if we'll make it through the whole box and have exactly 500 stickers in the album. Much excitement for my junior collecting partner in getting silver stickers, and even the aloof, bookworm teenager admitted that it looked like fun. Some early thoughts:

* Front runner for ugliest bastard at WC 2010 is Algeria's Hameur Bouazza, with a head so square he could be pure German, massive lugs, and a facial disposition that could be born of either chronic insecurity or a deep-seated psychosis.

* The commentators will have fun with his team mate Lounes Gaouaoui, perhaps the first ever footballer to have seven consecutive vowels in his name. South Africa's Kagisho Dikgacoi will need some practicing too.

* The French players were all photographed in a disused Parisian underground toilet. Or maybe it's a seedy Parisian underage brothel.

* The Slovak Slapheads are topping the charts for brazen shaven-headedness.

* Of the eight North Koreans we have so far, one is actually smiling - Jong Tae-Se, presumably because he was born and plays in Japan and didn't grow up watching films like 'New Lagging Brick.'

[Reed John]

The Panini Situation

I was curious to find out what this was all about and learned the following:

Panini is just the name of the publisher. It's got nothing to do with sandwiches. I suppose, however, that the ancestors of the people that founded the company were bakers or sandwich mongers.

PaniniUSA is the company formerly known as Donruss, which does mostly basketball and football cards. So maybe PaniniUSA doesn't sell the soccer stuff because it just sells the old Donruss lines.

I wonder why stickers are much more popular in Europe than cards whereas the cards have been more popular here. I recall that as a kid I collected NFL cards and baseball cards, but mostly football cards. I also recall a few years where I got football stickers and an album like what you all are describing but I don't think that really caught on and I don't know if anything like that is still produced.

[Jon]

The Panini Situation

Love that Sao Paulo story.

"South Africa's Kagisho Dikgacoi will need some practicing too."

Got him today. Amazed to see he plays for Fulham. Never heard of him until today.

I seem to be getting England players at a faster rate than any other country. (Currently 6). Has anyone else experienced this? I wonder if this is a deliberate ploy for Panini to include more home country players in their packs. And if so, does it work equally with more German players in packs bought in Germany etc.

Or am I just desperately unlucky?

[Jon]

The Panini Situation

Wikipedia has filled me in on Dikgacoi's career so far and I must admit, I'm warming to him:

"He made his debut on 4 October, but was sent off in the 41st minute for slapping Scott Parker."

[RayDeChaussee]

The Panini Situation

I'm in.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

The Panini Situation

Jon wrote:

Wikipedia has filled me in on Dikgacoi's career so far and I must admit, I'm warming to him:

"He made his debut on 4 October, but was sent off in the 41st minute for slapping Scott Parker."

I hope he filmed it on his mobile phone camera as well.

[imp]

The Panini Situation

Just to confirm - 500 stickers and not a single swap. Got the whole Chile team already. It feels a bit like cheating, and I've nothing to trade with.

So I bought 40 packets off amazon UK at newsagent price (they're going for 50p a pack, aren't they?), and was about to click the order when I noticed the postage costs to the US were 28 quid. Got them sent to my sister's for nothing instead, and she'll post them on. Could have saved myself any costs at all, though - frau imp was told yesterday she has to go to Germany today on work travel. Will get her to buy a few more packets anyway.

When we got John Terry I refused to touch him and made my daughter stick him in. "Why do you hate him?" she wanted to know, and now she knows. She's doing a good mimic now too of, "Stevie G, best player in the weeeeeerld."

[RayDeChaussee]

The Panini Situation

imp wrote:
500 stickers and not a single swap

Shurely a Panini record - quite remarkable.
I've got 16 and no swaps yet.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

The Panini Situation

I'm counting down the minutes until I can nip into WH Smiths on the way home from work to get two packs.

[imp]

The Panini Situation

I'm assuming it's because they all came from the same box, and that the Panini factory sticker distributing machine, or whatever it is, is programmed to pack them like that. Otherwise, we'd have to get one of the board's mathematicians to work out the approximate odds of going 500 stickers without a swap. Whoever else bought the 100-packet box off the eBay bloke in Florida can hopefully confirm this is not some freak occurrence.

[ursus arctos]

The Panini Situation

I wonder if that is either a new policy or one that applies [only] in Bolivia. I certainly recall getting duplicates in packets taken from the same box by our erstwhile Italian newsagent.

[steveeeeeeeee]

The Panini Situation

I bought 12 packs at the newsagent this morning. No doubles, England are completely untouched and I've got the left-hand-side sticker of every stadium on the first page of the stadiums, yet no right-hand-side stickers. It's a pity you have to cover up the capacity information when you fill in the stadium stickers. Australia was my first shiny sticker, god it feels good when you get one of them in a pack.

My first sticker album since 1990, it really is great fun. I've got a private student tomorrow who always pays me in cash, so I'm going to buy more after the lesson.