Panini’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 album, a tradition that takes place every four years leading up to the competition, is unleashing a furore in Latin American countries, he says an article the BBC published this week. And Uruguay is no exception to this phenomenon when there are still more than two months to go (November 20) before the ball rolls for the first match of the Soccer World Cup.
Proof of this is how much the kiosks and figurine stalls that are located on Avenida 18 de Julio ask for the top star of the Uruguayan team and current National player, Luis Suarez.
The figure of the number 9 is offered for $200 in some street stalls and up to $350 on the Mercado Libre platform, while those of other figures in the selection are about $ 50; the rest of the figurines from the other countries are offered at $20, while some stalls accept the exchange for players. The sealed envelope of five figurines sells for $40.
There are other figurines that are also listed at a relatively high price on the parallel market to the official one. That of the Argentine star Lionel Messi is offered from $350 to $690, while that of the figure of Brazil, Neymar, is offered in a range of $190 to $400 in the web sales portals.
The cheapest option
In the official Panini store on San José street, there are often queues of people who go in search of their latest figurines to complete the Qatar album. Here you have to spend a few minutes waiting but the price of all the individual figurines is $14 without distinction by name or selection.
“We noticed a very high fervor. It had been a long time since we had an event with such an impact; with so much demand from consumers and points of sale”, had declared to The Observer Gerardo Patiel, marketing manager of Durulte, partner or strategic Panini for the distribution of the figurines.
Panini estimated that they will reach 25 thousand points of sale distributed throughout the country, from large stores to spontaneous vendors who set up tables in the large avenues. Among the items added this year are pharmacy chains, bookstores, among others.
The companies planned to market 220 thousand albums in Uruguay and millions of envelopes to market.
“Uruguay is in the top per capita sales of figurine envelopes worldwide,” said Paciel.
