EUROS STICKER WARS: FANS FACE £122 ON TOPPS OR £77 ON PANINI VERSIONS
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Die-hard football fans are facing an expensive conundrum as two sticker book albums with varying quality are competing ahead of the Euros this summer.
Panini's 47-year dominance in holding the rights for the official European Football Championship sticker book came to an end when rival Topps won the contract for 2024 and 2028.
But it has left some fans irate and less than impressed as Topps' complicated contract means the American firm does not have the rights for five of the teams to show them in their kit - including England - nor for some individual players.
Despite losing out in the sticker book contract battle, Italian company Panini is not going down lightly and it has produced a 'tournament edition' featuring England, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy.
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Although it is a slimmed-down 387 stickers, fans would have to pay £70 to fill the album with five stickers costing 90p. Whereas those who favour Topps' will pay £122 to fill up the 728 stickers in the album with packets of six costing £1.
But in reality, many who finish the album will pay several times this, with The Times reporting statisticians as estimating a cost of £1,000 to fill both.
Many fans have been left baffled by the Topps album as it includes teams who will not be playing in the tournament in Germany - such as Wales - as it was printed before the qualification stages were complete.
For some teams, Topps can only show headshots of the players and has to fill the squad with players who are not in the team as they do not have the rights for all of them. For example, for England Leicester City defender Luke Thomas is included despite not yet winning a cap.
The host of popular YouTube trading card channel Blazey Collects told his 8,000 subscribers: 'Both manufacturers have dropped the ball on this one, which is really disappointing,' he said. 'This should be the most exciting time of the year for collecting. You’ve got your albums, you’re excited to get it complete.'
Topps, who counts former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho as an ambassador, was acquired by memorabilia giant Fanatics for almost $500million (£382million) in 2022, and is already the official partner of the Champions League and other UEFA club competitions.
A Topps spokesperson said: 'Topps is proud of its first EURO 2024 sticker collection for the upcoming competition.
'While we are disappointed that a small number of players are missing, this is due to the tournament's former sticker partner having blocked certain parts of the collection to the detriment of the fans.
'Unlike the former sticker partner, we are committed to the fans and believe the offering of stickers and cards – and range of current and former players – will get everyone excited for the tournament.'
MailOnline has contacted Panini for comment but is yet to receive a response.
Mark Catlin, general manager of international sports and entertainment at Topps, said in a statement previously: 'The European Championship is the biggest and most prestigious football event on a national level in Europe. [They boast a] legacy when it comes to stickers, trading cards and collectables.
Mourinho previously confirmed the partnership in a video on Instagram and wrote the caption: 'It’s official! You can call me manager of all European national teams for 2024 for @topps.
'Topps will be the the official licensed partner of the @UEFA EURO 2024™️ and I will select the players that will be included in the sticker album and Topps collections. You want to know which players are on my watchlist? Well, all of them!
Panini will remain FIFA's partner for the World Cup in Qatar later this year, having produced sticker albums for the competition since 1970.
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