If you walk by Anastasi’s store in Merchants Street, Valletta, you can hear the endless mantra of “got, got, need” as collectors swap Panini sticker doubles in exchange of numbers which they do not have. It’s a mantra which Dominic Anastasi, sole agent for Panini stickers in Malta, has been listening to for decades.
Such is the craze for Panini stickers – which is reaching fever pitch in the run-up to the first Euro 2016 game kicking off in Paris on Friday – that the area in front of the Anastasi shop has become a designated ‘swap shop’.
“Any pre-tournament sticker swap ritual – carried out with near-religious fervour by select groups of swappers –requires dedication and patience,” says Anastasi.
Taking us on a trip down memory lane, Anastasi remembers how it all started.
“Being a football fan and having an affinity for business, I began importing football-related memorabilia in 1969. I got to know about Panini through an elderly friend who, while talking, had shown me a sticker of Inter FC player Giacinto Facchetti. He also suggested contacting the sticker producer, Edizioni Panini Modena.
“Within a week I received a letter with samples and prices. The first collection I imported was Calciatori 1969/1970. The beginning was tough, as with any new product. I had found resistance from retailers too. I am grateful to the help my late father gave me. Without hesitation, he gave me support and financial aid. Moreover, he had joined me on a trip by train from Syracuse to Modena,” he remembers.
Having been in the business of swapping and trading all these years, does Anastasi collect anything himself?
“Apart from collecting the Panini collections – which I can say I have a complete collection of all albums from 1961 to today – I collect lapel pin badges, of which I have over 38,000, mainly of local football clubs. I also have the best collection worldwide of ACF Fiorentina pin badges,” Anastasi proudly says.
“I used to collect phone cards, but nowadays cards are no longer used, and this collection has died a natural death,” he adds.
Football is my passion and I managed to make a career out of it
Anastasi says that his favourite Panini collection is that of the 1970 World Cup held in Mexico.
“Apart from the importance it still has worldwide – as any collector of football albums knows – that album is the holy grail of Panini albums. It was also the first World Cup collection I imported locally.”
Anastasi believes he was lucky to be able to get in this line of work.
Football sticker collecting is as nail-biting as a penalty shoot-out.“Football is my passion and I managed to make a career out of it. I get asked by many people to come and work for me, but our job requires dedication and passion. We are a family-run business and we have been this way for nearly 50 years.
“Despite the cyber world we live in today, people are still keen on collecting albums. One of the reasons is that the internet has enabled collectors to come together as communities.
“Locally we have set up a group on Facebook called ‘Panini Stickers Malta’ with thousands of members swapping stickers all across Malta and Gozo to be able to complete their collection. This phenomenon is seen worldwide as Panini products have become popular all over the world.”
Anastasi points out that: “It is good to note that we are the only country in the world to have complete collections from 1970 to today. We had the vision back in 1970 to keep the loose stickers, as we assumed these might have value in the future. We are informed that the missing sticker archive isn’t available anywhere else in the world. We have clients from all over the world contacting us to complete their collection.”