'Cop Cards' and Panini sticker albums etc

atypical_boro

atypical_boro

Well-known member
My eldest lad is nearly 6 and has a passing interest in football. He knows he's a Boro fan and likes coming to the match sometimes, but hasn't truly been bitten by the bug yet (I was about 7 myself when I became fanatical). He's more into music and stuff at this point, but I want to try and get him into the World Cup (he loves learning about countries and continents and what have you which was part of the initial draw for me too).

One thing that really got me into football was collecting/swapping 'Cop Cards' at primary school during Euro 88. Does anyone else remember them? I still have a full set. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cop-Cards-DURHAM-football-England/dp/B017MU2W10

This was a pretty cheap alternative to filling an entire Panini sticker album, which although I've considered this year doing with him, have just discovered will set me back (on average) £883 to complete! WTF!!!!! Anyone else doing one of those?
 
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I picked up a panini album about a month ago with all the intentions of never finishing it 😅

I just like to have one and look through it, it was something that I picked up as a kid, but they're way too expensive now like you say. I've still got a load of packs to open mind. I did pretty well with last year's Euros.
 
It shouldn't cost anywhere near that to complete. I think that is only the cost if you only buy packs. It all depends on your swaps network. This was a big thing when we were at school. You might struggle to complete it fully but you can get close if loads of kids at school are doing it. That's where all the fun is anyway.
 
Nano said:
It shouldn't cost anywhere near that to complete. I think that is only the cost if you only buy packs. It all depends on your swaps network. This was a big thing when we were at school. You might struggle to complete it fully but you can get close if loads of kids at school are doing it. That's where all the fun is anyway.
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True. It would cost £120 to complete if you were lucky enough (obviously not going to happen in practice) to never get two stickers the same. Still a bit pricey!
 
atypical_boro said:
My eldest lad is nearly 6 and has a passing interest in football. He knows he's a Boro fan and likes coming to the match sometimes, but hasn't truly been bitten by the bug yet (I was about 7 myself when I became fanatical). He's more into music and stuff at this point, but I want to try and get him into the World Cup (he loves learning about countries and continents and what have you which was part of the initial draw for me too).

One thing that really got me into football was collecting/swapping 'Cop Cards' at primary school during Euro 88. Does anyone else remember them? I still have a full set. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cop-Cards-DURHAM-football-England/dp/B017MU2W10

This was a pretty cheap alternative to filling an entire Panini sticker album, which although I've considered this year doing with him, have just discovered will set me back (on average) £883 to complete! WTF!!!!! Anyone else doing one of those?
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I remember in the early 80's there was something else called copper cards and when you approached a copper on the beat they had some collectible cards on them which changed every few weeks and when you got the full set you could send off and get a certificate. Think it was a community engagement thing .
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
I remember in the early 80's there was something else called copper cards and when you approached a copper on the beat they had some collectible cards on them which changed every few weeks and when you got the full set you could send off and get a certificate. Think it was a community engagement thing .
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Were they football related? They may be something similar (or even the same thing).

I have a vague recollection that police officers used to come into our primary school and show us how they train dogs and stuff, and used to bring loads of these cards with them.
 
If you want to fill a sticker album buy boxes containing 100 stickers from Amazon. The way the stickers are sorted if you buy a box you won't have many swaps. Buy 2 of these at £70 each (may have gone up now) and you'll pretty much fill the album. Then you can send off for the remainder.
 
atypical_boro said:
Were they football related? They may be something similar (or even the same thing).

I have a vague recollection that police officers used to come into our primary school and show us how they train dogs and stuff, and used to bring loads of these cards with them.
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No they weren't football related, each had details of a different community officer on and when you got the full set you could get a certificate. I was just thinking about it the other day so thought it funny this should come up. Guessing this was a later incarnation of it
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
No they weren't football related, each had details of a different community officer on and when you got the full set you could get a certificate. I was just thinking about it the other day so thought it funny this should come up. Guessing this was a later incarnation of it
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Like a sort of police Top Trumps??

"I've got a 8 for bullying" or "I've got a 9 for corruption, I win"
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
No they weren't football related, each had details of a different community officer on and when you got the full set you could get a certificate. I was just thinking about it the other day so thought it funny this should come up. Guessing this was a later incarnation of it
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This sounds absolutely bizarre 40 years later. No surprises they changed from police officers to England footballers later in the decade then.
 
atypical_boro said:
My eldest lad is nearly 6 and has a passing interest in football. He knows he's a Boro fan and likes coming to the match sometimes, but hasn't truly been bitten by the bug yet (I was about 7 myself when I became fanatical). He's more into music and stuff at this point, but I want to try and get him into the World Cup (he loves learning about countries and continents and what have you which was part of the initial draw for me too).

One thing that really got me into football was collecting/swapping 'Cop Cards' at primary school during Euro 88. Does anyone else remember them? I still have a full set. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cop-Cards-DURHAM-football-England/dp/B017MU2W10

This was a pretty cheap alternative to filling an entire Panini sticker album, which although I've considered this year doing with him, have just discovered will set me back (on average) £883 to complete! WTF!!!!! Anyone else doing one of those?
Click to expand...
You buy about £50 worth of stickers then you trade on Twitter under the #gotgotneed
 
Never heard of cop cards before. They look like wanted posters.

There was nothing more exciting than ripping open a pack of Panini stickers and looking for that silver foil when I was a kid. It was like modern day lotto cards for 10 year olds in the 80s.
 
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