For the first time since the 1980s, football sticker collectors will not be able to buy Panini stickers for the European championships at Valletta's Anastasi store because UEFA has decided to partner with another company.

Since the 1970s, Panini has produced sticker albums for popular international tournaments, making it a staple in football sticker collecting. However, this year’s Euros will see a change, as the American-owned competitor Topps has taken over as the official UEFA producer for the 2024 and 2028 Euros stickers.

“They are an American brand and this is the Euros, after all, so I doubt whether Topps will succeed. Nonetheless, I wish them luck,” said Dominic Anastasi, the owner of the Anastasi Panini store, the sole distributor of Panini stickers in Malta since 1970.

Anastasi remains confident that his store will not be affected by this decision by UEFA, citing two reasons.

First, he said that the World Cup, for which Panini produces the stickers, is far more popular than the Euros.

Second, sales for the Euros always dip after the schools close for the summer because children will have fewer opportunities to exchange them. Schools will close by the end of the month, while the Euros last until July 15.

When asked if Anastasi would ever sell the Topps stickers and album, he said: “No. My store is called Panini, I can’t do that. After 54 years in business with them, it is a matter of respect.”

Anastasi explained that Panini has launched a separate series of stickers and an accompanying album called World Class 2024. The collection features all eight nations that have won the FIFA World Cup: Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, Uruguay, England and Spain.

Panini still has the advantage of owning the rights of certain teams. As a result, Panini still retains the right to feature some big names, such as Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappé and Marc-André ter Stegen, who will not be featured in the Topps album.

Malta’s distributor for Topps is Miller Distributions Malta.

The price of the Panini sticker pack and the Topps sticker pack are both €1. Yet, the Panini album is €3.50 as opposed to the Topps album, which is €2.99. Panini’s World Class 2024 has 387 sticker slots, while Topps has 728 slots.

Anastasi also noted that the decision has affected the tradition of exchanging stickers in front of his store.

“This decision by UEFA broke the chain of people meeting in front of the store. Some still do but most people have gone online for this cup.”

He wholeheartedly believes that, once the World Cup comes around, we can expect to see people trading stickers outside his store again, just as they have done for decades.