We sent our man Alex Reid to the home of Panini stickers to find out why the primitive ritual of tearing open a packet of stickers and filling an album still stirs a magical feeling in a digital age. Prepare to indulge yourself in swapsies, shinies and the search for Gary Lineker...
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00:00 (crowd chanting)
00:02 (camera shutter)
00:09 - Panini already knows two months before.
00:12 They have a secret, yes we have a secret.
00:14 - And I'm being told by their own team, he's a bit ugly.
00:18 Could you please change his photo?
00:20 - Our collectors like simplicity.
00:23 They like Panini.
00:24 They don't want to be hassled with problems.
00:27 (upbeat music)
00:30 - Whether you're a young kid or a full grown adult,
00:41 there's nothing like the simple thrill
00:43 of tearing open a pack of stickers.
00:45 Will I get the England Shining?
00:47 Will I get Lionel Messi, Mo Salah, Harry Kane?
00:51 Will I get the last player I need to complete Brazil?
00:53 No, I will get Armando Cooper.
00:57 Right, one down, lots more to go.
00:59 I'm Alex Reid, digital features editor at 442.
01:03 This is the moment when World Cup fever becomes real to me
01:06 and thousands of others around the globe.
01:08 The moment when you've got a packet of Panini stickers
01:10 in your hand and you're ready to fill a new album
01:12 with the world's best footballers.
01:14 What makes this simple thing so timelessly appealing
01:18 that it gets everyone from children in playgrounds
01:20 to adults in offices, got, got, needing
01:24 for a stack of a friend's swaps?
01:25 Only one way to find out.
01:27 Let's talk to some serious collectors who put me to shame.
01:30 (upbeat music)
01:33 - Hello.
01:43 - Great, nice to meet you.
01:44 - Andrew, come in.
01:46 How did you first get involved in collecting stickers?
01:49 - It was 1979 with Panini's Football 79.
01:54 I was very young, only five.
01:56 So it was all down to a kindly brother
02:00 who decided that he was going to support my sticking,
02:04 sticker collecting habit for Football 79.
02:07 And it was one of their biggest albums ever.
02:09 Now, fortunately, we've got the cyber playground.
02:12 So we've got Twitter, people do it on Facebook
02:16 and something that you can actually do with your friends
02:18 and spark up friendships with people that you never knew.
02:22 And you can even end up swapping with celebrities.
02:26 There are people like Ed Sheeran and Ed Balls
02:29 and Josh Whitacombe, they were all tweeting
02:31 their swaps lists for the 2014.
02:34 And I'm sure there'll be plenty doing the same in 2018.
02:37 - Have you seen a resurgence of interest in recent years?
02:40 - The real resurgence in Panini stickers came in 2006
02:45 when the Germany World Cup came around.
02:48 2010, people carried it on.
02:51 And then 2014, there's never been anything like it
02:55 around the world.
02:56 I think it was the social media that helped.
02:59 Twitter was about in 2010,
03:01 but not quite as big as it was in 2014.
03:03 So a lot of people were doing their swap in there.
03:06 You had Facebook as well.
03:08 But it was something fun that people were doing.
03:11 And when you finish it, it's the sense of achievement.
03:15 While you're doing it,
03:16 it's hoping that you can achieve finishing it.
03:19 But as I say, I think the most important thing
03:22 is that people enjoy it.
03:25 - It's not just the UK where the Panini craze strikes.
03:28 This is a global phenomenon.
03:30 The Russia 2018 album is available in over 100 countries.
03:34 That's more than treble the number of nations
03:36 who've actually qualified for the World Cup itself.
03:39 In particular, the continent of South America
03:41 is home to some of the planet's most avid collectors.
03:44 - I don't think any of us realized when we started this
03:46 just how popular Panini stickers are
03:50 across all of South America.
03:52 It's a huge thing in Colombia, isn't it?
03:54 - Yeah, massive.
03:55 Not only in Colombia, all of South America.
03:57 I mean, it's something that we look forward to.
04:00 It's like a dream to us in South America.
04:03 Let's say it was Tempe.
04:04 The moment you had Tempe,
04:05 there's only one thought in your head.
04:06 Run to a shop and get a pack.
04:07 It's always the case.
04:11 - So who was the really popular player
04:13 that everyone wanted to get in 1986?
04:16 What was the player?
04:16 - Definitely Maradona.
04:18 And I was lucky enough to get him twice.
04:20 And I actually kept the other one,
04:21 but I kind of misplaced it, unfortunately.
04:26 - So how much would a Maradona in 1986
04:29 be able to command in the playground?
04:31 - People were trading up to 10 stickers
04:32 just for the one Maradona sticker.
04:34 So yeah, popular, very popular.
04:37 - We have a phrase in England
04:41 when we're swapping stickers in the playground,
04:43 which is like, got, got, need.
04:45 If you're going through the stickers,
04:46 you've got, you've got, you've got, you need.
04:47 Is there a similar thing in Spanish?
04:48 - Exactly the same translation, la tengo.
04:51 - La tengo. - La tengo, la tengo.
04:53 No la tengo, la tengo.
04:54 - Fernando, we see here that you've gone to the trouble
04:57 of getting these collections bound, which is amazing.
04:59 They do look incredible.
05:01 Why do they mean so much to you
05:04 that you wanted to keep them in this way?
05:06 - I've always wanted to,
05:08 I mean, I wanted to start something
05:09 that could carry on within the family.
05:12 Thought was always to leave it with my son,
05:15 who also is passionate about football.
05:16 And remember ever since he was little,
05:18 he would help me stick him.
05:20 And I would just scream that you have to put it
05:22 in the inside of the squares, you know.
05:25 So it was always the idea that to pass them on.
05:29 - Okay, grownups like myself, Greg and Fernando
05:32 love collecting stickers.
05:33 Bitten a digital age of smartphones
05:35 and hundreds of hours of live football
05:37 on TV every single week.
05:39 Why do kids still get bitten by the sticker collecting bug?
05:42 It's time to talk to a true professional.
05:45 (knocking)
05:47 - Hi Alex, come on in.
05:49 - Hey Billy, how you doing?
05:50 Thanks for inviting me over.
05:52 - No problem.
05:53 - So Billy, you're a big fan of Panini, like myself.
05:56 Big fan of stickers.
05:57 - I finished two albums.
06:00 - Pretty impressive.
06:01 So I know you've got like the picture of Neymar
06:04 up there on the wall.
06:05 Were you particularly excited when you got him?
06:07 - Yeah, because he's my favorite player.
06:12 - Well, it's awesome that you've completed
06:13 both of these albums.
06:14 Let's sit down and take a look for them.
06:16 - Yeah.
06:17 - And what do you enjoy about doing it?
06:18 What do you think is fun about it?
06:20 - Like getting them from shops and seeing new ones
06:24 or old ones that you already have.
06:26 And yeah, and sticking them down takes quite a while
06:30 if you want to get it perfectly in the box.
06:32 - Have you got the technique down then, Billy?
06:34 If you've got like the, I don't know,
06:36 these look pretty good to me.
06:37 - Yeah, but some of them my dad did.
06:41 - This is how old I am.
06:41 That is the first album that I had, World Cup album,
06:45 which was Italian '90.
06:46 - Gosh.
06:47 - I know, I didn't get anywhere near to complete it.
06:50 I didn't do anywhere near as well as you.
06:51 - Wow, you did not complete many.
06:53 - I know, I didn't do very well at all, did I?
06:56 Look at that, Italy, dreadful.
06:58 Right, that's how far I got with England, not too bad.
07:01 No, you're not impressed at all, are you?
07:02 So tell me about doing it with your dad, Billy.
07:05 Did the two of you just sit down
07:06 and open some stickers together, start sticking them in?
07:10 - Yeah, like on weekends or after school.
07:13 And then I used to go out with my grandpa to the shops.
07:18 And then I used to buy two penny packets and a,
07:23 what's it, bubble gum.
07:26 - So Billy, I'm really impressed
07:27 that you've completed 2014 and 2016.
07:31 That's amazing work.
07:32 So I think it's pretty important that we get started
07:36 on There We Have It, Russia 2018.
07:39 - Thank you. (laughing)
07:41 Okay, so Javier Hernandez.
07:44 - You got it, there you go.
07:46 - Come on, silence.
07:48 No.
07:50 - I mean, that's, Billy, that is absolutely perfect.
07:57 Spot on, the first sticker.
07:59 So Billy, we've given you a bit of a start here.
08:01 Good luck completing your album.
08:03 - Thanks.
08:04 - High five.
08:07 The fun of swapping and collecting stickers
08:09 crosses generations and countries.
08:11 But where did it all begin?
08:13 How did this simple collectible grow to become so iconic?
08:19 And what's kept Panini at the top of the pile?
08:22 There's only one way to find out.
08:24 Head to Panini headquarters in Italy
08:26 to talk to group publishing director
08:28 and self-confessed collector Fabrizio Melligari.
08:31 How many hours, how much work has gone into creating
08:35 what we see before us right now?
08:37 - Well, first of all, because you've seen it,
08:39 now we are forced to kill you.
08:41 (laughing)
08:42 So-- - I'm not a happy man.
08:43 - Well, okay.
08:44 Well, the minute the winning team
08:49 lift the trophy and celebrate the victory,
08:54 well, that is the minute we start working
08:58 on the following World Cup.
09:00 The company started in 1961.
09:06 The real founder was Mr. Giuseppe Panini,
09:10 who very quickly called his family to work with him.
09:17 This is the first Panini album.
09:20 The stickers were very simple.
09:23 They were all created starting from black and white pictures
09:27 which were mechanically colored in pre-press.
09:32 And this one that I'm showing you is Mr. Bruno Bocchi.
09:36 This is the first sticker produced by Panini.
09:41 - Fabrizio, have there ever been any turning points
09:44 in the history of Panini?
09:47 One where it's been a success,
09:49 but it could have gone the other way,
09:51 any kind of moments where there was a real fork in the road?
09:54 - 1970, the first World Cup.
09:57 For the sake of being able to distribute it
10:00 immediately everywhere, for the first time, as I said,
10:03 it appeared a multi-language caption.
10:10 Let us say that strategically,
10:12 that was the key point to go like that all over the world.
10:17 And that was the turning point because Mexico '70
10:27 granted to Panini the possibility to be international.
10:30 - I'm obviously, I'm a huge fan
10:32 and I know lots of people that are,
10:33 but do you ever get any sort of famous people
10:37 or footballers themselves who've revealed to you
10:40 that they are collectors
10:42 or were collectors in their childhoods?
10:45 - Well, I think the first one that comes to my mind
10:48 is Gianluigi Buffon,
10:50 the international football player of Juventus
10:55 who is a big fan of ours and a big collector.
10:58 It's the first one that I would think of.
11:02 - Yeah, not a bad goalkeeper.
11:04 He's no Joe Hart.
11:06 - I see what you mean.
11:07 - In the frenzy of opening a new pack of stickers
11:10 and carefully placing them in our album,
11:12 we don't consider how much work goes into creating something
11:15 that seems so simple.
11:16 How do you obtain the rights
11:18 from 32 different governing bodies?
11:20 How do Panini ensure that the World Cup squads
11:22 are as accurate as humanly possible in advance?
11:25 And who will help me finish my Italian '90 album?
11:28 We headed to Modena, home of Ferrari, Lamborghini,
11:34 balsamic vinegar, and of course,
11:37 the place where Panini stickers are actually created.
11:40 It's not just us collectors
11:44 who have to be kept happy, however.
11:45 There's the footballers and their federations too.
11:48 It's a mammoth planning task
11:49 that brings its own unique challenges.
11:51 - What I receive are incredible requests of changes
11:56 with respect to pictures that we are willing to use
11:59 for incredible reasons.
12:01 The hair are not perfect, for example.
12:04 It was raining, so the player I'm using the picture of
12:10 is wet.
12:12 The expression is not perfect.
12:16 I'm being told by their own team, "He's a bit ugly.
12:20 "Could you please change his photo?"
12:23 - Have you ever had any situations in the past
12:25 where you've gone to a certain squad
12:30 and it's caused any stories about players
12:32 you've left in or left out?
12:34 - I remember very well in 2014,
12:37 when the German journalists arrived in Modena
12:41 and see the pages of the new album,
12:44 see that Mario Gomez was not inserted in the collection.
12:49 Mario Gomez, "Well, guys, you are completely crazy.
12:53 "Mario Gomez is one of the most important players."
12:58 One week before the World Cup,
13:00 the coach of Germany announced the final list.
13:04 Mario Gomez was out.
13:06 And the sounds of the titles in Germany completely changes.
13:12 Panini already knows two months before.
13:15 They have a secret.
13:16 Yes, we have a secret.
13:18 We say here in Italy that football is the most important thing
13:23 of the less important things.
13:26 - Now it's time to head to where the action really happens,
13:29 the factory where thousands of stickers are printed,
13:32 cut, mixed, and packeted every single day.
13:35 - This is the heart of our production department.
13:38 Here we borrow our stickers.
13:41 - This is me in the factory
13:42 with production manager, Simona Spiaggia.
13:45 She's explaining how the whole system works
13:47 and trying to ensure that I don't leave
13:49 with 260 packets of stickers inside my own pockets.
13:54 The FIFImatic packaging machines
13:55 use the same original design
13:57 created by Umberto Panini in the 1960s.
14:00 It can't be found anywhere outside of a Panini factory.
14:03 However, what truly amazes me is that you never get a swap
14:07 or even two footballers from the same national team
14:10 in the same pack of Panini stickers.
14:12 Simona explained to me that this is because
14:14 each sheet of stickers is mixed,
14:15 both before and after the individual stickers are cut
14:18 to ensure a fair mix.
14:20 The exact science of it totally went over my simple brain,
14:24 but it's clearly a well-oiled machine
14:25 run with razor-sharp precision.
14:27 All of that work for this,
14:36 but this is something very special.
14:38 Even though Antonio Allegra and Giorgio Arevecchia
14:42 have been at Panini for a combined three decades,
14:45 they still understand better than anyone
14:47 why we still get that unmistakable buzz
14:50 when we rip open a pack of stickers.
14:52 We believe that Panini is as strong today,
14:57 as it was 50 years ago,
15:00 because in a pack of stickers
15:03 there are a series of unique magical sensations.
15:07 Let me try to explain this better.
15:09 Let's imagine a boy
15:11 who has a pack of stickers in his hand.
15:14 It's something physical,
15:16 it's something mysterious.
15:18 I don't know what's inside, I have to find out.
15:20 To find out, I open it and tear it open.
15:23 It's almost a liberating gesture.
15:25 Here it is.
15:26 The smell of the stickers.
15:28 We all have a smell of stickers in our heads
15:30 that gives us a special feeling.
15:33 Then I find out if I won or lost,
15:36 if I found my favourite player.
15:39 So maybe I'll say, "Oh, I missed this,
15:41 I found this,
15:43 I can always take this with me,
15:45 or I can stick it on the album
15:47 with the other heroes,
15:49 because they're my heroes
15:51 that I can collect."
15:52 We believe that this set of sensations
15:55 is not found in a smartphone or a tablet,
15:58 but are typical of a physical product.
16:00 And above all, we're talking about football,
16:03 the World Cup,
16:04 so something that is a mass phenomenon,
16:07 a phenomenon that can be shared
16:09 even at the global level.
16:11 This is why, in our opinion,
16:14 today's Panini figures are more alive than ever.
16:16 The real magic of Panini
16:18 is to keep simple a product
16:20 that actually is very difficult to create.
16:23 It's difficult to make something
16:25 that in the end is so simple,
16:27 so wonderfully easy.
16:28 Yes, when the work behind is difficult,
16:31 you need to keep simple
16:33 because our collectors like simplicity.
16:37 They like Panini.
16:38 They don't want to be hassled with problems.
16:41 Now we come to the heart of the matter.
16:43 This entire trip to Italy
16:44 is just an excuse for me
16:46 to try and finish my Italia '90 album
16:48 and stop nine-year-old kids like Billy
16:50 laughing at me in the street.
16:52 It's time to do what every England midfielder
16:54 was looking to do
16:55 when they had the ball during the 1990 World Cup,
16:59 find Gary Lineker.
17:00 So how far does your archive of stickers
17:03 actually go back here?
17:05 We start our availability from 1964, 1965.
17:10 We have special shuttles.
17:12 We call them shuttles
17:13 because they are automatic machines
17:16 that can contain millions,
17:19 really millions of stickers.
17:21 So you have helped me today
17:23 by finding me this is very precious.
17:25 I was actually very excited
17:27 when you showed this to me.
17:28 That is an actual Gary Lineker sticker.
17:31 All the stickers that you have to find
17:35 at Panini are original.
17:36 So our company never reprints stickers.
17:40 There, we may be 28 years late,
17:42 but Links is finally in there
17:43 alongside his strike partner, Peter Beardsley.
17:46 Yet while the timeless joy of Panini
17:48 is a huge part of its appeal,
17:50 the company still needs to change with the times.
17:52 So understandably, it's embracing new media,
17:55 from games to digital swapping.
17:57 As a new media, we need to give some value added
18:02 to this way of naturally collecting.
18:06 And for example, we use the technique
18:11 such as augmented reality
18:15 rather than other techniques
18:17 to give additional content
18:20 to the traditional stickers.
18:22 We created an app called Panini Collectors App
18:25 that is being completely re-engineered
18:27 for this World Cup,
18:29 where kids can track the completion of their collection,
18:34 scanning the stickers,
18:37 creating the swapping list,
18:40 swap these lists online on social networks,
18:45 and have fun because there will be games
18:48 based on the stickers collected.
18:50 From the UK to Italy to South America,
18:52 via the unlikely pairing of famous collectors
18:55 such as Ed Sheeran and Jean-Louis Buffon,
18:57 it's clear the joy of collecting stickers
18:59 has a universal appeal that crosses boundaries.
19:02 To me, it's a bit like vinyl records,
19:04 something that should belong to another era,
19:06 but its vintage appeal actually means
19:08 it's becoming more popular than ever.
19:10 That's why I think people will always be collecting Panini.
19:13 Now, good luck completing your own Russia 2018 album.
19:17 Got, got, got, ninned.
19:19 (upbeat music)
19:25 (upbeat music)
19:28 (upbeat music)
19:40 (upbeat music)
19:43 (upbeat music)
19:50 Give it a dab, do it aye.
19:52 Do it I