The disappointing Topps Euro 2024 set of stickers has been on sale for a few weeks now but a major contender for your wallet’s attention this summer has arrived and it is well worth a look.
Panini lost the license to the official Euro 2024 sticker album but has not ignored the tournament completely. It cannot use official branding but it does retain the rights to the England national team, as well as Spain, Italy and France.
This is why Topps was unable to include official kits for those four sides in its lacklustre Euro 2024 album and it has allowed Panini to launch a special ‘tournament edition’ set featuring mostly England, but with four pages each on the other teams whose license the brand still holds.
READ MORE: REVIEW: I BOUGHT THE TOPPS EURO 2024 STICKER ALBUM BUT IT’S A DISASTER
The result is the England Tournament stickers collection priced at a reasonable £4.99 for the album and four packs of stickers.
The album and stickers are superb. High quality, beautifully designed and with some stunning legend and next gen stickers that mean every pack opening is exciting and involving.
The album itself is printed on high quality paper and the classic Panini style of thick sticker borders and plenty of extra information on each player, team and moment make it feel more like an insightful magazine. There are a number of stickers available for each England player – and I imagine the selected side is pretty indicative of Southgate’s eventual squad. There’s no Ivan Toney but most other big name players are there.
There’s a nice next gen section and plenty of legends. I pulled a shiny Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey in the intro pack. The dream partnership England fans were never lucky enough to see. Oh for a time machine.
The shiny stickers are a thing of beauty. Thick and satisfying to hold, the feature a camo silver pattern and feature some lovely design touches such as the players ‘Legacy number’. For example, Cole Palmer is the 1,276th player to wear the Three Lions and that is noted on his sticker.
Everything about this set feels premium. The other sides – Spain, Italy and France – are at the back of the book but don’t feel neglected.
In the modern world of licensing it is disappointing that one brand cannot deliver a complete Euro 24 sticker album that fans deserve. While the England set is superb it’s not one for non-English fans or completists who want the official tournament branding and full squads of players.
However, if you are purely in it to complete a quality collection of stickers then there is really only one choice. I loved the Topps Match Attax Euro cards and that would still be my pick of the card collections for summer 2024. But when it comes to stickers, stick with Panini.
You can buy the starter set from Panini’s Amazon store for quick delivery.
The starter set is priced at £4.99 in supermarkets in the UK and you get four free stickers plus four packs of stickers. You can get a box of 50 packs for under £50 here if you want to give your collection an early boost.,
