Paninimania: Sticker Rarity and Cost-Effective Strategy
June 18, 2014 2:47 AM Subscribe
Mario Balotelli covers up Italy team with his own stickers in Panini album
posted by BeerFilter at 4:55 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by BeerFilter at 4:55 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
I just read about Panini stickers for the first time yesterday, in The Grauniad's profile of their operations in Brazil. This is something that I've never heard of, living in the U.S., and it sounds kind of nuts. Not that we don't have our own collection manias to more than make up for it.
posted by ardgedee at 5:06 AM on June 18, 2014
posted by ardgedee at 5:06 AM on June 18, 2014
They were very popular in the 80s and early 90s in Canada, Ardgedee. I had a dinosaur one, a World Wildlife Fund one and I want to say one about animals. We also had hockey albums from O Pee Chee too, and I don't know who made my My Little Pony one. Hmm, my brother had a Transformers movie one...rather fun! I remember the careful checking and rechecking of number lists when ordering the missing stickers by mail.
posted by Calzephyr at 5:28 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Calzephyr at 5:28 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Maybe a derail, but this post is pretty much exactly why I love Metafilter. Something I know nothing about, but is apparently a Huge Thing, gone into in so much geeky depth that I get to choose between remaining in ignorance without feeling inferior, or go down the rabbit hole for way more time than I planned to spend, just to feel smarter and/or more with-it. Love it.
The animator took me to £16.00 before it got anyone from the Algerian team. Does that mean those are (among) the potentially scarcer ones being referenced, or just luck of the draw?
posted by Mchelly at 6:19 AM on June 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
The animator took me to £16.00 before it got anyone from the Algerian team. Does that mean those are (among) the potentially scarcer ones being referenced, or just luck of the draw?
posted by Mchelly at 6:19 AM on June 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
Now I want an instagram of Landon Donovan holding a Landon Donovan 2014 world cup sticker. Preferably watching the World Cup.
posted by Sphinx at 6:27 AM on June 18, 2014
posted by Sphinx at 6:27 AM on June 18, 2014
The animator took me to £16.00 before it got anyone from the Algerian team. Does that mean those are (among) the potentially scarcer ones being referenced, or just luck of the draw?
The mathematical study showed that the cards are randomly distributed, so there are no scarcer cards. It offers an explanation of why people think some cards are scarcer than others in §2.2.
posted by alby at 7:26 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
The mathematical study showed that the cards are randomly distributed, so there are no scarcer cards. It offers an explanation of why people think some cards are scarcer than others in §2.2.
posted by alby at 7:26 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Soccer fans go wild over Panini stickers, turning Jackson Heights strip into open-air market
posted by lalochezia at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2014
posted by lalochezia at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2014
I was suprised that 2/3ds of the cards would be doubled, but i wonder about the playground economy of traded cards.
posted by PinkMoose at 7:41 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by PinkMoose at 7:41 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
> The mathematical study showed that the cards are randomly distributed, so there are no scarcer cards. It offers an explanation of why people think some cards are scarcer than others in §2.2.
In the Guardian's story, the Panini rep says that you improve your odds of coverage by buying from a variety of retailers rather than blowing your budget on a whole lot of packs in a single store visit.
posted by ardgedee at 7:48 AM on June 18, 2014
In the Guardian's story, the Panini rep says that you improve your odds of coverage by buying from a variety of retailers rather than blowing your budget on a whole lot of packs in a single store visit.
posted by ardgedee at 7:48 AM on June 18, 2014
Very disappointed about the lack of Rarity stickers in this post.
posted by bouvin at 7:49 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bouvin at 7:49 AM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
My mind is blown to know that Panini still exists, and in a context (international football) that I am totally unfamiliar with. When I was a kid (ca. 198X) I had a Masters of the Universe and (IIRC) Thundercats sticker books from Panini, and they were totally an obsession. My mom would buy me one pack of stickers for each every week at the grocery store, and I remember spending hours gazing at the empty spaces wondering what they'd look like with the stickers applied. After about a year of doing this, I had about 85% of the book complete and we just sent off for the exact stickers needed to finish, but I remember it being a pretty awesome day when I finally added the last one.
To the best of my knowledge, the distribution of stickers was totally random and there didn't seem to be any such thing as "rarity" (in the collectible card-game sense) at that point in time.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:05 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
To the best of my knowledge, the distribution of stickers was totally random and there didn't seem to be any such thing as "rarity" (in the collectible card-game sense) at that point in time.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:05 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
In the Guardian's story, the Panini rep says that you improve your odds of coverage by buying from a variety of retailers rather than blowing your budget on a whole lot of packs in a single store visit.
The mathematicians tested this by buying boxes from four different stores in four different Swiss cantons, and then multiple boxes from the same store, and rejected the null hypothesis (i.e. "there are rare cards") in both cases.
posted by alby at 10:08 AM on June 18, 2014
The mathematicians tested this by buying boxes from four different stores in four different Swiss cantons, and then multiple boxes from the same store, and rejected the null hypothesis (i.e. "there are rare cards") in both cases.
posted by alby at 10:08 AM on June 18, 2014
Haha Strange Interlude! Yes, the mystery of missing stickers, especially if it was a two or four part scene (try getting those to line up!). The My Little Pony one was genius because it came with a decoder - all the images were there, just hidden under blue ink. I thought that was a nice touch. I was only missing four stickers from that one.
posted by Calzephyr at 12:04 PM on June 18, 2014
posted by Calzephyr at 12:04 PM on June 18, 2014
Panini Cheapskates is so much fun indeed, missmerrymack. I love the commentary on their subjects!
Mix Diskerud. MIX DISKERUD. What a name and, indeed, what a man, with his locks flowing with such abandon that they refuse to be constrained by the mere confines of the picture frame.posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:49 PM on June 18, 2014
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posted by fairmettle at 4:17 AM on June 18, 2014 [2 favorites]