FIFA Fever: Collecting the World Cup

Footy season may be in full swing but the FIFA World Cup is dominating our screens, media and workplace chat.

Mass attendances at pub and public screenings show a nation enthralled with ‘footy’ or soccer (for us Aussies) fever. From official FIFA competition merchandise to monopoly, LEGO, replica shirts, caps, keyrings, balls, scarves and mock trophies, there are commemorative products to suit all fans, tastes and price points.

And, more interestingly from our perspective, ephemera and collectables. Together with the souvenir lines there are a myriad of collectable products, including collector trading cards, stickers and FIFA branded product ranges.

A visit to your local supermarket – Aldi, Coles and Woolworths for starters – reveals a varied array of ephemera and FIFA World Cup branded products.

Committed collectors will be well occupied eating, drinking and deodorising themselves to complete the team sets.

Licensed valuer and radio personality Rick Milne shares his tips and perspectives on World Cup collecting:

‘World Cup material will definitely remain collectable. While enthusiasm for the socceroos plays a big part, the sport is international, and Australians are united in their love of the competition.  

Material that is produced in Australia is very collectable. Australia has a much smaller population base than Europe or North America, so production quantities are smaller. But the market for FIFA World Cup collectables is a global one, so the scarcer local material will be in demand beyond Australia.

I personally like the odd bod things. The disposable ephemera rather than the mainstream souvenirs and collectables.

The soccer ‘adhesive strips’ are great – buy an extra box and don’t use them. Note they don’t have the endorsed FIFA logo and were produced locally by Game On in Preston, Victoria.

Wrappers from early football cards have brought high prices. Even better would be to find early packs of cards still in their wrappers. If you can resist opening them, put away a few packs of FIFA stickers and collectable cards.

Should I be saving the McDonalds Happy Meal boxes intact?

‘The global products are worth investigating. They may have local variations that will be sought after by collectors.’ The Happy Meal toy boxes distributed here don’t have the same back (with an image of the squishmallows available) as the ones overseas. Australia has a smaller range of McDonald’s FIFA World Cup collectables.

 

What about digital ephemera?  Yes, visit FIFA Collect.

For those interested in the world of digital ephemera, FIFA Collect is the ‘official digital collectible platform.’ As the website describes, FIFA Collect enables fans to buy, collect and trade digital collections.