As you may know, Ronaldo went to Saudi Arabia after the 2022 World Cup. After that he was not present in many sticker albums, since, as far as we know, there aren’t any official Saudi League stickers. But Panini Portugal decided to spice things up this season, by adding the “World Series” and “Premium” inserts – which feature Cristiano Ronaldo.
But what are these inserts you may ask: well, the World Series insert, as the name might suggest, features the best players of Portugal, around the World in their respective clubs – these included the following players (number #424-#441):
Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Danilo Pereira, Diogo Dalot, Diogo Jota, Gonçalo Ramos, João Cancelo, João Félix, João Palhinha, OtávioPedro, Neto, Rafael Leão, Raphaël Guerreiro, Rúben Dias, Rui Patrício, Vitinha and William Carvalho.
These are insert stickers, you get around 1 per 3-4 packs. If you are lucky you can get two in each pack. Ronaldo World Series one, chances are around 1 per box – that’s at least what I got in the two boxes I open live, on my Instagram (cheap plug I know, but here is the link https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2LFFC2MX9K/). They have a foil finish to it – but beware, they can absorb the humidity in the air really easily – which creates bents on it. The foil also chips really easily (much like the megacracks cards), so keep that in mind when buying them/grading them.
But the “crown jewel” (pun intended) are the Premium stickers. Much like the 2022 World Cup stickers, they are the “extra” stickers, where you just pack them and don’t stick them in the album. I disagree with the name they use, they don’t have a premium feel to it – the name can be misleading. But one thing I can tell you it’s that they look super cool. There are 10 players in the checklist:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ruben Dias
Bruno Fernandes
Pepe
Diogo Costa
Coates
Pedro Gonçalves
Di Maria
Rafa Silva
Otamendi
You pack around 8 per box – which it’s 1 in each 5/6 packs. One thing I’ve noticed it’s that I’ve got the same 8 premium stickers in two separate boxes, and guess what – no Ronaldo. Just based on my thoughts, I think the Ronaldo it’s the chase sticker of the product.
Summary
To keep it short, I think this Ronaldo sticker will be a really interesting one in the future. It’s hard to predict whether stickers will gain popularity in Saudi Arabia, but if it does, this could be a monster sticker! Overall, its a piece of the Ronaldo history, and I think the real CR7 collectors need this!
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