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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00:00Panini already knows two months before, they have a secret, yes we have a secret.
00:14And I'm being told by their own team, he's a bit ugly, could you please change his photo?
00:21Our collectors like simplicity, they like Panini, they don't want to be hassled with
00:26problems.
00:39Whether you're a young kid or a full grown adult, there's nothing like the simple thrill
00:43of tearing open a pack of stickers.
00:45Will I get the England Shining?
00:47Will I get Lionel Messi, Mo Salah, Harry Kane?
00:51Will I get the last player I need to complete Brazil?
00:54No, I will get Armando Cooper.
00:57Right, one down, lots more to go.
00:59I'm Alex Reid, Digital Features Editor at 442.
01:03This is the moment when World Cup fever becomes real to me and thousands of others around
01:07the globe.
01:08The moment when you've got a packet of Panini stickers in your hand and you're ready to
01:11fill a new album with the world's best footballers.
01:15What makes this simple thing so timelessly appealing that it gets everyone from children
01:20in playgrounds to adults in offices got, got, needing for a stack of a friend's swaps?
01:26Only one way to find out.
01:28Let's talk to some serious collectors who put me to shame.
01:43Hello there.
01:44Great, nice to meet you.
01:45Andrew, come in.
01:47How did you first get involved in collecting stickers?
01:50It was 1979 with Panini's Football 79.
01:54I was very young, only five, so it was all down to a kindly brother who decided that
02:01he was going to support my sticking, sticker collecting habit for Football 79 and it was
02:07one of their biggest albums ever.
02:09Now, fortunately, we've got the cyber playground, so we've got Twitter, people do it on Facebook
02:16and something that you can actually do with your friends and spark up friendships with
02:21people that you never knew and you can even end up swapping with celebrities.
02:26There are people like Ed Sheeran and Ed Balls and Josh Widdicombe, they were all tweeting
02:31their swaps lists for 2014 and I'm sure there'll be plenty doing the same in 2018.
02:37Have you seen a resurgence of interest in recent years?
02:41The real resurgence in Panini stickers came in 2006 when the Germany World Cup came around.
02:482010, people carried it on and then 2014, there's never been anything like it around the world.
02:56I think it was the social media that helped.
02:59Twitter was about in 2010 but not quite as big as it was in 2014, so a lot of people
03:05doing their swapping there, you had Facebook as well, but it was something fun that people
03:11were doing and when you finish it, it's the sense of achievement.
03:15While you're doing it, it's hoping that you can achieve finishing it.
03:20But as I say, I think the most important thing is that people enjoy it.
03:25It's not just the UK where the Panini craze strikes.
03:28This is a global phenomenon.
03:30The Russia 2018 album is available in over 100 countries.
03:34That's more than treble the number of nations who've actually qualified for the World Cup itself.
03:38In particular, the continent of South America is home to some of the planet's most avid collectors.
03:44I don't think any of us realised when we started this just how popular Panini stickers are
03:50across all of South America.
03:52It's a huge thing in Colombia, isn't it?
03:54Yeah, massive.
03:55Not only in Colombia, all of South America.
03:57It's something that we look forward to.
03:59It's like a dream to us in South America.
04:03Let's say it was 10p.
04:04The moment you had 10p, there's only one thought in your head.
04:06Run to a shop and get a pack.
04:08It's always the case.
04:11Who was the really popular player that everyone wanted to get in 1986?
04:16Definitely Maradona.
04:18I was lucky enough to get him twice.
04:20I actually kept the other one but I kind of misplaced it, unfortunately.
04:26How much would a Maradona in 1986 be able to command in the playground?
04:31People were trading up to 10 stickers just for the one Maradona sticker.
04:35So, yeah, popular. Very popular.
04:37We have a phrase in England when we're swapping stickers in the playground
04:43which is like, got, got, need.
04:45If you're going through the stickers, you've got, you've got, you've got, you need.
04:47Is there a similar thing in Spanish?
04:49Exactly the same translation, la tengo.
04:51La tengo, la tengo, la tengo.
04:53No la tengo, la tengo.
04:54Fernando, you see here that you've gone to the trouble of getting these collections bound,
04:59which is amazing. They do look incredible.
05:02Why do they mean so much to you that you wanted to keep them in this way?
05:06I've always wanted to, I mean, I wanted to start something that could carry on within the family.
05:12Thought it was always to live it with my son, who also is passionate about football.
05:16And remember, ever since he was little, he would help me stick him.
05:20And I would just scream that you have to put it in the inside of the squares, you know.
05:25So it was always the idea to pass them on.
05:29OK, grown-ups like myself, Greg and Fernando love collecting stickers.
05:33We've been a digital aid of smartphones and hundreds of hours of live football on TV every single week.
05:39Why do kids still get bitten by the sticker collecting bug?
05:42It's time to talk to a true professional.
05:48Hi Alex, come in.
05:49Hey Billy, how are you doing?
05:50Thanks for inviting me over.
05:52No problem.
05:53So Billy, you're a big fan of Panini, like myself. Big fan of stickers.
05:57I finished two albums.
05:59Pretty impressive.
06:01So I know you've got the picture of Neymar up there on the wall.
06:05Were you particularly excited when you got him?
06:07Yeah, because he's my favourite player.
06:12Oh, it's awesome that you've completed both of these albums.
06:14Let's sit down and take a look for them.
06:16Yeah.
06:17And what do you enjoy about doing it? What do you think is fun about it?
06:20Like getting them from shops and seeing new ones or old ones that you already have.
06:26And sticking them down takes quite a while if you want to get it perfectly in the box.
06:32Have you got the technique down then, Billy?
06:34I don't know, these look pretty good to me.
06:37Yeah, but some of them my dad did.
06:40This is how old I am. That is the first album that I had, World Cup album, which was Italian 90.
06:47Gosh.
06:48I don't know, I didn't get anywhere near to complete it. I didn't do anywhere near as well as you.
06:52Wow, you did not complete many.
06:54I know, I didn't do very well at all, did I?
06:56Look at that, Italy, dreadful.
06:58Right, that's how far I got with England, not too bad.
07:01No, you're not impressed at all, are you?
07:03Tell me about doing it with your dad, Billy.
07:05Did the two of you just sit down and open some stickers together, start sticking them in?
07:10Yeah, like on weekends or after school.
07:14I used to go out with my grandpa to the shops.
07:19I used to buy two penny packets and a bubble gum.
07:26Billy, I'm really impressed that you've completed 2014 and 2016.
07:31That's amazing work.
07:32I think it's pretty important that we get started on, there we have it, Russia 2018.
07:41Okay, so Javier Hernandez.
07:44You got it, there you go.
07:46Come on.
07:47Silence.
07:49No.
07:50Yeah, I mean that's, Billy, that is absolutely perfect.
07:56Yeah.
07:57Spot on, the first sticker.
07:59So Billy, we've given you a bit of a start here. Good luck completing your album.
08:03Thanks.
08:04High five.
08:06The fun of swapping and collecting stickers crosses generations and countries.
08:11But where did it all begin?
08:15How did this simple collectible grow to become so iconic?
08:19And what's kept Panini at the top of the pile?
08:21There's only one way to find out.
08:23Head to Panini headquarters in Italy to talk to group publishing director and self-confessed collector Fabrizio Melligari.
08:31How many hours, how much work has gone into creating what we see before us right now?
08:37Well, first of all, because you've seen it, now we are forced to kill you.
08:42I'm not a happy man.
08:44Well, okay.
08:46Well, the minute the winning team lift the trophy and celebrate the victory,
08:54well, that is the minute we start working on the following World Cup.
09:00The company started in 1961.
09:05The real founder was Mr. Giuseppe Panini, who very quickly called his family to work with him.
09:17This is the first Panini album.
09:20The stickers were very simple.
09:23They were all created starting from black and white pictures, which were mechanically coloured in pre-press.
09:32And this one that I'm showing you is Mr. Bruno Bolchi.
09:36This is the first sticker produced by Panini.
09:41Fabrizio, have there ever been any turning points in the history of Panini?
09:47One where it's been a success, but it could have gone the other way,
09:51any kind of moments where there was a real fork in the road.
09:541970, the first World Cup.
09:57For the sake of being able to distribute it immediately everywhere,
10:02for the first time, as I said, it appeared a multi-language caption.
10:11Let us say that strategically, that was the key point to go like that all over the world.
10:22And that was the turning point, because Mexico 70 granted to Panini the possibility to be international.
10:30Obviously, I'm a huge fan and I know lots of people that are,
10:33but do you ever get any sort of famous people or footballers themselves
10:39who've revealed to you that they are collectors or were collectors in their childhoods?
10:44Well, I think the first one that comes to my mind is Gianluigi Buffon,
10:50the international football player of Juventus who is a big fan of ours and a big collector.
10:58It's the first one that I would think of.
11:02Yeah, not a bad goalkeeper. He's no Joe Hart.
11:05I see what you mean.
11:08In the frenzy of opening a new pack of stickers and carefully placing them in our album,
11:12we don't consider how much work goes into creating something that seems so simple.
11:16How do you obtain the rights from 32 different governing bodies?
11:20How do Panini ensure the World Cup squads are as accurate as humanly possible in advance?
11:25And who will help me finish my Italian 90 album?
11:31We headed to Modena, home of Ferrari, Lamborghini, balsamic vinegar
11:36and, of course, the place where Panini stickers are actually created.
11:42It's not just us collectors who have to be kept happy, however.
11:45There's the footballers and their federations too.
11:48It's a mammoth planning task that brings its own unique challenges.
11:51What I receive are incredible requests of changes with respect to pictures
11:57that we are willing to use for incredible reasons.
12:01The hair are not perfect, for example.
12:05It was raining, so the player I'm using the picture of is wet.
12:14The expression is not perfect.
12:16I'm being told by their own team, he's a bit ugly.
12:20Could you please change his photo?
12:23Have you ever had any situations in the past where you've gone with a certain squad
12:30and it's caused any stories about players you've left in or left out?
12:34I remember very well in 2014, when the German journalists arrived in Modena
12:41and see the pages of the new album, see that Mario Gomez was not inserted in the collection.
12:49Mario Gomez.
12:50Well, guys, you are completely crazy.
12:53Mario Gomez is one of the most important players.
12:58One week before the World Cup, the coach of Germany announced the final list.
13:04Mario Gomez was out.
13:07And the sounds of the titles in Germany completely changes.
13:12Panini already knows two months before.
13:15They have a secret. Yes, we have a secret.
13:18We say here in Italy that football is the most important thing of the less important things.
13:27Now it's time to head to where the action really happens.
13:29The factory where thousands of stickers are printed, cut, mixed and packeted every single day.
13:35This is the heart of our production department.
13:38Here we bought our stickers.
13:41This is me in the factory with production manager Simona Spiaggia.
13:45She's explaining how the whole system works and trying to ensure that I don't leave with 260 packets of stickers inside my own pockets.
13:54The FIFIMATIC packaging machines use the same original design created by Umberto Panini in the 1960s.
14:00It can't be found anywhere outside of a Panini factory.
14:03However, what truly amazes me is that you never get a swap or even two footballers from the same national team in the same pack of Panini stickers.
14:12Simona explained to me this is because each sheet of stickers is mixed both before and after the individual stickers are cut to ensure a fair mix.
14:20The exact science of it totally went over my simple brain, but it's clearly a well-oiled machine run with razor-sharp precision.
14:34All of that work for this.
14:36But this is something very special.
14:38Even though Antonio Allegra and Giorgio Arevecchia have been at Panini for a combined three decades,
14:45they still understand better than anyone why we still get that unmistakable buzz when we rip open a pack of stickers.
15:15It's something physical.
15:17It's something mysterious.
15:19I don't know what's inside.
15:21I have to find out.
15:23And to find out, I open it and rip it open.
15:25It's an almost liberating gesture.
15:27The smell of the stickers.
15:29We all have the smell of stickers in our heads.
15:31It gives you a special feeling.
15:33And then I find out if I won or lost, if I found my favourite player.
15:39And then I think, oh, I missed this.
15:41I found this.
15:43I can take this with me.
15:45Or I can stick it on the album with the other heroes.
15:49Because in the end, they are my heroes that I can collect.
15:53We believe that this set of sensations is not found in a smartphone or a tablet.
15:59But they are typical of a physical product.
16:01And above all, in this case, we are talking about football, the World Cup.
16:05It's something that is a mass phenomenon.
16:07A phenomenon that can be shared, even on a global level.
16:11This is why, in our opinion, today the Panini figures are more alive than ever.
16:17The real magic of Panini is to keep simple a product that actually is very difficult to create.
16:23It's difficult to make something that in the end is so simple, so wonderfully easy.
16:29When the work behind is difficult, you need to keep simple.
16:33Because our collectors like simplicity.
16:37They like Panini. They don't want to be hassled with problems.
16:41Now we come to the heart of the matter.
16:43This entire trip to Italy is just an excuse for me to try and finish my Italian 90 album.
16:49And stop 9-year-old kids like Billy laughing at me in the street.
16:53It's time to do what every England midfielder was looking to do when they had the ball during the 1990 World Cup.
16:59Find Gary Lineker.
17:01So how far does your archive of stickers actually go back here?
17:05We start our availability from 1964-1965.
17:10We have special shuttles. We call them shuttles because they are automatic machines.
17:16That can contain millions, millions of stickers.
17:22So you have helped me today by finding me this. This is very precious.
17:25I was actually very excited when you showed this to me.
17:28That is an actual Gary Lineker sticker.
17:31All the stickers that you find at Panini are original.
17:36So our company never reprints stickers.
17:40There. We may be 28 years late, but Links is finally in there alongside his strike partner Peter Beardsley.
17:46Yet while the timeless joy of Panini is a huge part of its appeal, the company still needs to change with the times.
17:52So understandably, it's embracing new media, from games to digital swapping.
17:57As a new media, we need to give some value added to this way of naturally collecting.
18:07And for example, we use the technique such as augmented reality rather than other techniques
18:17to give additional content to the traditional stickers.
18:22We created an app called Panini Collectors App that is being completely re-engineered for this World Cup
18:29where kids can track the completion of their collection, scanning the stickers, creating the swapping list,
18:40swap these lists online on social networks and have fun because there will be games based on the stickers collected.
18:50From the UK to Italy to South America, via the unlikely pairing of famous collectors such as Ed Sheeran and Jean-Louis Buffon,
18:57it's clear the joy of collecting stickers has a universal appeal that crosses boundaries.
19:02To me, it's a bit like vinyl records, something that should belong to another era,
19:07but its vintage appeal actually means it's becoming more popular than ever.
19:10That's why I think people will always be collecting Panini.
19:13Now, good luck completing your own Russia 2018 album.
19:17Go, go, go, go.
19:47Give it a tap, do it high.
19:50Give it a tap, do it high.