Topps instead of panini
That’s why stars are missing from the scrapbook for the European Football Championship
Topps scrapbook for the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany
© Miriam Schmidt / DPA / Picture Alliance
The scrapbook for the European Football Championship is here and some of the biggest stars in the football world are missing? Unfortunately true this year. The manufacturer comments on this.
The collecting fever can break out again. Around two months before the start of the The European Football Championship in Germany is the Panini scrapbook for the tournament in stores. Stop. Panini was once. The Italian publisher has long since become synonymous with sticker collection albums of all kinds, but the company is left out of the 2024 European Championship. The license is for the first time with the US company Topps – and it immediately attracts ridicule and disappointment.
European Football Championship scrapbook with missing stars
Because by no means all top stars will be found in the small bags. Professionals like the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé or the Englishman Phil Folden are missing. The reason: Topps does not have the image rights to all players. For example, fans of the DFB team will miss Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos.
When contacted, Topps said: “We are disappointed that a few players are missing, but this is due to the tournament’s previous sticker partner blocking certain parts of the collection to the detriment of fans.” In plain language: Panini apparently did not hand over the rights to the relevant images to its competitor. The Italian publisher did not want to comment when asked by the DPA news agency.
The sticker business is a million-dollar business – so companies are fighting hard. The fans are the ones who suffer: in the case of the German national team, for example, they have to make do with stickers of “legends” as replacements: 1990 world champion Lothar Matthäus can be found in the scrapbook for the 2024 European Championship.
And the collectors also have to do without the association logos for some teams because Topps does not hold the relevant licenses. Therefore, many players are not shown in their respective national jerseys.
A bag with six stickers costs one euro in stores. There is space for a total of 728 pictures in the Topps album. So there is still enough to collect and exchange.
Sources: Topps, DPA news agency