It's Panini Time

I thought I was not going to do it this time, but I'm now in the thick of it.

I'm talking about collecting the Panini stickers for the Euro 2008 album.

I had my first World Cup sticker album in 1986, and I also did the ones for the World Cups in 1990 and 1994. I vividly remember how I was trading stickers with my schoolmates at a torrid pace during the five-minute recess break at school. It was a fun experience, as I wonder which stickers will emerge from the packs my parents had just bought me (after hours of persuasion and days of behaving like a good son), and it is simply fascinating to see the empty spaces in my album gradually being covered by the stickers obtained in trades. When the album was done, a sense of emptiness oozed in as I wondered, "Hm, what am I going to do next?"

I missed the albums for the World Cup in 1998 and 2002. The reason? Girls. Put it simply, I was devoting all my energy and time to my girl (sometime girls), and just didn't have enough spare time for the albums. More importantly, I didn't want my girl (sometime girls) to think that I had never grown up. A macho thing, you know.

When my pregnant wife was admitted to the hospital for an emergency check-up just weeks before the start of the World Cup in 2006, I couldn't be more worried. Luckily she turned out to be okay, and gave birth to Daryl on the third day of the tournament. Yet anyway, I decided to do something to please myself.

Entered the sticker album again.

Unlike the previous times when I had great difficulties in completing the albums, I found lots of allies and friends from the Internet. Thanks to their help, I managed to finish it in just a couple of weeks' time, right before the start of the tournament.

You know, I'm definitely not the richest guy in the world, and every penny means a lot to us. That's why when I knew that the sticker album for the Euro 2008 was out, I didn't go get it as I wanted to save money and spend more time with Daryl. But when my wife's younger sister picked up an album during her trip in Europe and gave it to me as a souvenir, I knew I was destined to do it.

My advice on the sticker album? Never buy too many stickers. Take this year's album as an example. There are 535 slots to be filled, and there are five stickers in each pack ($3 per pack). So I just bought 107 packs (i.e., 535 stickers in total) and then started trading, buying and selling. That way I won't have to carry too many stickers around, but will theoretically have enough ammunition for trades that will complete the album. Luckily for me, my album was more than 70% completed after my 107 packs, and trading partners have been easy to find thanks once again to the Internet. At this pace, I will be able to finish it at the end of the week.

Some would say it's a waste of money, but I think it's an absolute bargain as my $321 worth of stickers has once again given me the long-lost joy that I have been looking for.