Merlin Publishing Limited, commonly known as Merlin and sometimes branded as Merlin Collections was a British publishing firm who released a variety of sticker collections during the late 1980s and 1990s, they also designed trading cards, card games and pogs. Although most notably releasing football stickers in particularly for the Premier League and Serie A, they also designed collections around television shows and other points of interest.

Merlin Publishing Ltd.
IndustryCollectibles, distribution, licensing, and publishing
Founded1989; 35 years ago (1989)
FounderJohn Warsop, Robert Warsop, Robert Windmill
Defunct1995; 29 years ago (1995) (absorbed into Topps, the Merlin name would continue as a brand under the Topps franchise)
Headquarters,
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom, Europe
ProductsBooks, comic books, magazines, stickers, trading cards and trading card games
OwnerTopps

In 1993 the company became known as Merlin Publishing International PLC before being bought out by Topps in 1995. They were absorbed into the company, being renamed Topps Europe Limited, although the name Merlin would continue as a brand under the Topps name initially until 2008. In 2014 the Merlin brand returned to the Premier League sticker collections until Panini was awarded the contract in 2019. Today the Merlin brand is used by Topps as a retro range designed around its UEFA Champions League trading cards.

History

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Competition License Held
2020– UEFA Champions League
1998 Norwegian Tippeligaen
1995–1999 Danish Superliga
1994–2019 English Premier League
1992–2007 Italian Serie A

Merlin Publishing Ltd was founded in 1989 by Robert and John Warsop and Robert Windmill. They had previously worked for Panini Group, but decided to leave after Panini were acquired by Robert Maxwell. Merlin grew very quickly to become a major player in the European market for collectable stickers and cards. It became public by 1993 as Merlin Publishing International PLC. By 1995, the company's progress was such that it won the prestigious Price Waterhouse/Independent on Sunday award for the fastest growing privately held British company.[1]

The company's official Premier League football collection launched in 1994 and has become, annually, the world's best selling sticker collection, the Merlin name would continue on the official collection until 2008 where it was rebranded as Topps before Panini won the contract in 2020. Merlin reached the old Panini levels, shifting 76m packets in the Premier League's early years, while Panini's last British domestic album dived to sales of no more than three to four million packets, in 1990.

In this period, as well as producing BattleCards in 1993, the company produced other best selling sticker and card collections including The Magic of Beano, Nintendo, World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars, Gladiators, Street Fighter II, Jurassic Park, Batman, and Power Rangers.

In 1995, the Topps Company Inc. completed its takeover of Merlin Publishing. Merlin's official company name changed to Topps Europe Limited, but its products still carried the Merlin brand until 2008 as it was easily recognized by consumers.[2]

In 2014 Topps announced it would once again it would use the Merlin brand for its 2015 Premier League sticker collection.[3]

Products

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Merlin's Premier League stickers

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A box of 'Merlin's Premier League 95' sticker packets as they would appear for sale in a supermarket or newsagent's shop.

The Premier League was founded in 1992, but the only sticker album to feature the 1992–93 season was Panini's "Football 93" that wasn't an official product. In 1993 the Premier League chief executive David Dein approached Merlin about producing an album for the 1993–94 season, with Dein approaching Merlin because of his friendship with director Patricia Kluge.[4]

Merlin's Premier League 94 was the debut collection with Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Arsenal's Paul Merson chosen as the players featured on the album cover. The album consisted of 479 stickers across 80 pages, featuring all twenty-two teams, each having 15 player stickers, a shiny glitter backed club crest, a team photo, shiny club jersey sticker and matchday programme sticker. The foreword was written by Sky Sports co-commentator Andy Gray. Other notable stickers include the "Number 1" which was the Premier League logo, the trophy and the Sky Sports logo. Merlin struggled to meet demand of reprints such was the popularity and demand.

In 1995 following the companies take over by Topps, The Merlin 95 collection included 3D stickers and inserted 3D glasses, stickers were also promoted by Kellogg's in Corn Flakes with free packets of stickers given away.[5] They also released "Magicaps" a form of pogs consisting of 264 caps featuring some of the players and logos featured in the sticker collection.[6]

McDonald's became a feature of Merlin's 96 collection with specialised stickers in the central page sections, these franchise stickers were also featured in the 97 and 98 collections.[7] The 96 collection also featured a promotion by Nestle Shreddies who also gave out free packets with their cereal.[8]

The Merlin brand on the Premier League collections would run until 2008, when the collection was finally branded "Topps Premier League", this lasted until 2014 when the name Merlin was re-introduced as a brand.

In 2019, Topps would lose the Premier League contract for the first time with Panini winning the rights to take over the series for the impending 2019–20 season, thus ending the series.[9]

Games

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BattleCards featured a unique "Scratch and Slay" system created by Steve Jackson. The cards came in 10 card booster packs which included warrior cards, spell cards, advanced combat cards, quest cards, and treasure cards. The game was published in both the UK and the United States with a number of differences between the two releases. debuted at Gen Con 1993 (exactly same time as Magic: The Gathering saw public release) and was marketed as a trading card game.

On rare occasions, it is debated whether the game counts as the world's first CCG along with Magic. However, the game is not played with a deck and there is no collectibility involved. The Scrye guide acknowledges the limited playability of the game as "use them once and they're worthless" which strictly disqualifies it as a collectible card game.[10] Darwin Bromley of Mayfair Games noted that the scratch-offs would crack when shuffled, and once scratched off "you had to either play the game or collect it." "You couldn't have your cake and eat it too."[11]

In 1997 the company released a marbles game based on their Premier League 97 sticker collection, coined "Flick-A-Balls", with a collection number of 240, each marble contained the image of one of the football players from the sticker collection, the collection was not repeated in 1998.[12]

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In 2021, the "Searching for Shineys" podcast launched in which the presenters attempted to track down and interview players who featured in Merlin's Premier League 97 sticker album. The podcast ran for 20 episodes over two seasons.[13][14]

Legacy

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Merlin's Premier League stickers have become a synonymous with British culture of the 90's, along with Panini's collections they are widely recognised amongst British football fans as a past time mainly collected by children and swapped about in school playgrounds.[15][16][17][18] The "Number 1" sticker (usually the Premier League badge) was often depicted as the most sacred sticker to collect, other childhood habits included dealing in such a way that a shiny sticker was worth the value of several normal stickers.[19]

In 2013, a man from Portsmouth found his old 'Premier League 96' album in his attic and realised he hadn't completed it like he thought. He then set off on a mission to locate the remaining six players to take his own photograph of them to stick in his book. It took him six months to locate and travel and visit each player they were Keith Curle, Stuart Ripley, Scott Minto, Gary Penrice, Lars Bohinen and Philippe Albert. He later wrote a book about the experience.[20][21]

In 2020, Topps released "Merlin Heritage 95" card collection for the seasons UEFA Champions League collection, the packaging and card design was based on the same design as the 'Merlin Premier League 95' collection.[22] In 2021, Topps announced their UCL cards for the 2021–22 season would be named "Merlin Heritage 97" and would be released using the same template designs used in from "Merlin's Premier League 97"[23]

Collections

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Football

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Football sticker and card collections released by Merlin Publishing or later by Topps using the Merlin brand.[24]

Year Collection Name Competition / League / Team Sticker/Cards in collection Players Featured on Album Cover
2021 Merlin Heritage 97 2021–22 UEFA Champions League Phil Foden, Cristiano Ronaldo, Federico Chiesa, Jamal Musiala
2021 Merlin Chrome 2020–21 UEFA Champions League & UEFA Europa League 2609 Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Son Heung-min, Wesley Fofana
2020 Merlin Heritage 95 2020–21 UEFA Champions League 1288 None
2018 Merlin's Premier League 2019 English Premier League 310 Marcus Rashford, Roberto Firmino, Dele Alli, Eden Hazard, Sergio Aguero
2017 Merlin's Premier League 2018 English Premier League 344 Gabriel Jesus, Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Eden Hazard
2016 Merlin's Premier League 2017 English Premier League 344 Sergio Aguero, Dele Alli, Paul Pogba, Diego Costa, Philippe Coutinho
2016 Merlin's Premier League 2016 English Premier League 505 Theo Walcott, David Silva, Eden Hazard, Christian Eriksen, Anthony Martial
2015 Merlin's Premier League 2015 English Premier League 505 Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Aaron Ramsey
2007 2007–08 Super Campianato: The Evolution Italian Serie A 440 Gianluigi Buffon, Kaká, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mauro Esposito, Simone Del Nero
2007 Merlin's Premier League 2007–2008 English Premier League 649 Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, John Terry, Michael Owen
2007 Merlin's Premier League 2007–2008: Kick Off English Premier League 208 Nani, Freddie Ljungberg, Cesc Fabregas, Didier Drogba
2007 Merlin's Premier League 06–07 English Premier League 528 Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Scott Parker, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard
2007 Calcio 2006–2007 Pocket Collection Italian Serie A 445 Alessandro Del Piero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaká, Francesco Totti
2006 Merlin's Premier League 06–07: Kick Off English Premier League 213 Michael Carrick, Thierry Henry, Michael Ballack, Damien Duff
2006 Italia Passaporto per la Germania 2006 Italy national team for World Cup 2006 124 Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo
2006 Worldstars 2006 Pocket Collection World Cup 2006 92 Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Deco, Hernan Crespo, Patrick Vieira, Fernando Carvalho
2006 2006 England England national team for World Cup 2006 448 Michael Owen, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney
2005 Calcio 2006 Pocket Collection Italian Serie A 440 Andriy Shevchenko, Adriano, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Luca Toni
2005 FA Premier League 2005–2006: Sticker Quiz Collection English Premier League 236 Tim Cahill, Cristiano Ronaldo, Edgar Davids, Fernando Morientes
2005 Premier Stars 2005–2006 English Premier League 227 Alan Shearer, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, Jay Jay Okocha, Ryan Giggs, Emile Heskey
2005 Merlin's FA Premier League 06 English Premier League 528 Michael Owen, Thierry Henry, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard
2004 Merlin's Calcio 2005 Pocket Collection Italian Serie A 456 Adriano, Gennaro Gattuso, Emerson, Antonio Cassano
2004 Merlin's Kick Off 2004–2005 English Premier League 402 Frank Lampard, Louis Saha, Juan Pablo Angel, Michael Owen, Thierry Henry
2004 Merlin's Premier League 05 English Premier League 574 Thierry Henry. Wayne Rooney, Patrick Kluivert, Milan Baros, Frank Lampard
2004 Merlin's Calcio 2004 Pocket Collection Italian Serie A 402 Francesco Totti, Kaká, Obafemi Martins, Mauro Camoranesi
2004 Eurostars 2004 Pocket Collection UEFA Euro 2004 208 Frank de Boer, Raul Gonzalez, Patrick Vieira, Andriy Shevchenko, Martin Petrov
2004 England 2004 England national team for UEFA Euro 2004 384 Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney
2003 FA Premier League 2003–04 Pocket Collection English Premier League 162 Nicolas Anelka, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry. Svetoslav Todorov
2003 Merlin's Premier League 04 English Premier League 598 Steven Gerrard, Nicolas Anelka, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron, Thierry Henry
2003 The Official FA Premier League 2002–2003 English Premier League 578 David Beckham, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Michael Owen, Patrick Vieira, Kieron Dyer
2002 England 2002 England national team for World Cup 2002 310 Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Michael Owen
2002 Ireland 2002 Republic of Ireland national team for World Cup 2002 242 Robbie Keane, Roy Keane, Ian Harte, Jason McAteer, Steve Finnan
2002 Calcio 2001–2002 Italian Serie A 600 Filippo Inzaghi, Ronaldo, Pavel Nedved, Hidetoshi Nakata, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Nesta
2002 The Official FA Premier League 2001–02 English Premier League 508 Juan Sebastian Veron, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2001 Calcio: Merlin Extreme Italian Serie A 256 None
2001 Calcio Merlin 2001 Italian Serie A 686 Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Nesta, Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri, Andriy Shevchenko
2000 Calcio Merlin 2000 Italian Serie A 712 Zinedine Zidane, Oliver Bierhoff, Alessandro Nesta, Christian Vieri, Gabriel Batistuta
2000 The Official FA Premier League Collection English Premier League 448 Michael Owen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Paolo Di Canio
2000 Merlin's Euro 2000 UEFA Euro 2000 195 Steve McManaman, Paul Scholes, Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Edgar Davids, Fernando Hierro, Emmanuel Petit
1999 Merlin's Premier Gold 2000 English Premier League 160 David Ginola, David Beckham, Tore Andre Flo
1999 Serie A 2000 Italian Serie A 324 Hernan Crespo, Hidetoshi Nakata, Mauro Esposito, Ibrahim Ba, Edoardo Artistico, Mohamed Kallon, Alessandro Lucarelli, Alvaro Recoba
1999 The Official FA Premier League 2000 English Premier League 552 Dwight Yorke, Harry Kewell, Thierry Henry, Gianfranco Zola
1999 Merlin's Faxe Kondi Ligaen 2000 Danish Superliga 153 Peter Madsen
1999 Merlin's Premier League 99: Transfer Update Edition English Premier League 67 Dion Dublin, Duncan Ferguson, Wes Brown
1999 Kick Off 99 Italian Serie A 228 Christian Vieri, Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi, Marcelo Salas
1998 Merlin's Calcio 99 Italian Serie A 644 Gabriel Batistuta, Francesco Totti, Paolo Maldini, Christian Vieri, Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Baggio
1998 Merlin's Calcio D'Inizio Kick Off 98–99 Italian Serie A 210 Ronaldo, Oliver Bierhoff, Alessandro Del Piero, Gabriel Batistuta
1998 Merlin's Premier Gold 99 English Premier League 182 Tore Andre Flo, Peter Schmeichel, Dennis Bergkamp
1998 Merlin's Serie A 99 Italian Serie A 226 Hidetoshi Nakata, Roberto Baggio, Leonardo
1998 Merlin's Premier League 99 English Premier League 557 Dennis Bergkamp, David Beckham, Michael Owen
1999 Merlin's Premier League Kick Off English Premier League 192 Peter Schmeichel, David Ginola, Michael Owen, Dennis Bergkamp
1998 Merlin's Faxe Kondi Ligaen 99 Danish Superliga 152
1998 Premier Gold 98 English Premier League 186 Robbie Fowler, Alan Shearer, Steffen Iversen
1998 England 1998 England national team for World Cup 1998 308 Glenn Hoddle, Steve McManaman, Paul Ince, Alan Shearer, David Beckham
1998 Azzurri Con IP 1982–1998 Italy national team for World Cup 1998 100 None
1998 Merlin's Tippeligaen Trading Cards 98 Norwegian Tippeligaen 124
1997 Merlin's Calcio D'Inizio Kick Off Italian Serie A 180 George Weah, Ronaldo, Alessandro Del Piero
1997 Merlin's Premier League 98 English Premier League 504 Gary Neville, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ian Wright, Eyal Berkovic, Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola
1997 Merlin's Premier League Kick Off 97–98 English Premier League 217 Tim Flowers, David Beckham, Gianfranco Zola
1997 Newcastle United Photocards 1997–1998 Newcastle United 172 None
1997 Merlin's Faxe Kondi Ligaen 98 Danish Superliga 155
1997 Merlin's Calcio 98 Italian Serie A 576 Ronaldo, Alessandro Del Piero, Paolo Maldini
1996 Merlin's Premier Gold English Premier League 196 Eric Cantona, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Alan Shearer
1996 Merlin's Premier League 97 English Premier League 563 Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer
1996 FA Premier League Collector Cards English Premier League 96 None
1996 Liverpool FC Photocards Liverpool 72 None
1996 Merlin's Faxe Kondi Ligaen 97 Danish Superliga 129
1996 UEFA Euro 96 UEFA Euro 96 609 None
1996 Merlin's Premier League 96 English Premier League 530 Nick Barmby, David Ginola, Jamie Redknapp
1995 Merlin Ultimate: Premier League Cards English Premier League 245 Jamie Redknapp, Alan Shearer
1995 Merlin's Coca-Cola Superligaen 96 Danish Superliga 240
1995 Merlin's Calcio Cards 95 Italian Serie A 324 Gabriel Batistuta, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Paolo Maldini
1994 Merlin's Premier League 95 English Premier League 529 Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, Andy Cole. Alan Smith
1993 Merlin's Premier League 94 English Premier League 479 Ryan Giggs, Paul Merson
1993 Official Premier League Collectors Cards English Premier League 120 None
1993 Merlin's Calcio 94 Italian Serie A 427 Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio, Ruud Gullit, Eugenio Corini, Ruben Sosa, Giuseppe Signori
1992 Calcio 92 Italian Serie A 418 Franco Baresi, Salvatore Schillaci, Michael Laudrup, Roberto Mancini, David Platt, Lorenzo Minotti, Ciro Ferrara
1992 Calcio Cards Italian Serie A 54 Gianluca Vialli
1992 Merlin Shooting Stars Dutch Eredivisie 272 Marc Overmars
1992 The Coca-Cola Collection British International footballers 17 None
1991 Shooting Stars English Football League 408 None
1991 Shooting Stars Italian Serie A 363 None
1991 Shooting Stars Dutch Eredivisie 270 Dennis Bergkamp
1990 World Cup Sticker Collection: Italia 1990 World Cup 1990 344 Gary Lineker, Richard Gough
1989 Team 90 English Football League 450 None

Other Sports

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Other sports sticker and card collections released by Merlin Publishing or later by Topps using the Merlin brand.[24]

Year Collection Name Competition / League / Team Sticker/Cards in collection
2008 WWE Heroes World Wrestling Entertainment 230
2007 WWE Champions World Wrestling Entertainment 260
2008 WWE Superstars: Uncovered World Wrestling Entertainment 232
2008 WWE Heroes World Wrestling Entertainment 230
1999 IRB Rugby World Cup 99 Rugby World Cup 1999 252
1996 Cyclisme 96 Tour de France 243
1996 Merlin's Sky Sports 1996 A collection of sports featured on Sky Sports. 240
1995 Giro d'Italia 78 Giro d'Italia 336
1995 Rugby World Cup 1995 Rugby World Cup 1995 288
1993 WWF – World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Federation 300
1992 WWF 1992 World Wrestling Federation 300
1991 WWF Superstars of Wrestling Series 2 World Wrestling Federation 396
1991 WWF Superstar World Wrestling Federation 150

Film and television

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Film and Television sticker and card collections released by Merlin Publishing or later by Topps using the Merlin brand.[24]

Year Collection Name Related Show Sticker/Cards in collection
2009 The Adventures of Merlin Merlin 204
2008 Ben 10 Ben 10 204
2008 Ben 10: New Adventures Ben 10 206
2008 Winx Club. Pocket Collection. Dalla A alla Z Winx Club 160
2008 Winx Club. Enchantix. Pocket Collection Winx Club 190
2008 SpongeBob SpongeBob SquarePants 200
2008 Star Wars II: The Clone Wars Star Wars 240
2008 Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones 240
2007 Winx Club: Pocket Collection Winx Club 160
2007 SpongeBob SpongeBob SquarePants 250
2007 Doctor Who 3 Doctor Who 264
2007 TransFormers Transformers 200
2006 Barbie au Bal des 12 Princesses Barbie 204
2006 Winx Club: Pocket Collection Winx Club 160
2006 Happy Feet Happy Feet 198
2006 Doctor Who 2 Doctor Who 282
2006 Doctor Who Doctor Who 208
2005 Barbie Fashion Barbie 242
2005 Dora the Explorer Dora the Explorer 169
2005 SpongeBob SpongeBob SquarePants 160
2005 Yu-Gi-Oh! Series 2 Yu-Gi-Oh! 256
2005 La Principessa e la Povera Barbie 168
2005 Star Wars: Episode III Star Wars 248
2005 Pokémon: Ultimate Stickers Pokémon 368
2004 Hamtaro: Series 2 Hamtaro 160
2004 InuYasha InuYasha 246
2004 Mew Mew Mew Mew 205
2004 Pokémon Advanced Pokémon 241
2004 Pretty Cure Pretty Cure 210
2004 SpongeBob SquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants 264
2004 Yu-Gi-Oh! Pocket Collection Yu-Gi-Oh! 58
2004 Barbie Collection Princesses Barbie 246
2003 Hamtaro Series 1 Hamtaro 201
2003 Pokémon Advanced Pocket Collection Pokémon 222
2003 Tourtes Ninja Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 248
2003 Totally Spies! Totally Spies! 236
2003 Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! 110
2003 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Lord of the Rings 248
2002 Holly e Benji Captain Tsubasa 180
2002 Pokémon 5: Johnto League Champions Pokémon 198
2002 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Lord of the Rings 200
2002 Star Wars: Episode II Star Wars 248
2002 Spider-Man Spider-Man 168
2001 Jurassic Park 3 Jurassic Park 134
2001 Pokémon 4 Pokémon 198
2001 Pokémon 3 Pokémon 126
2001 Rossana Rossana 204
2001 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Lord of the Rings 280
2003 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Lord of the Rings 248
2000 Pokémon 2 Pokémon 216
1999 Magica Doremi Ojamajo Doremi 192
1999 Medabots Medabots 216
1999 Star Wars Episode I Star Wars 267
1999 Magica Doremi Ojamajo Doremi 192
1998 Small Soldiers Small Soldiers 206
1998 Zorro Zorro 168
1997 Goosebumps Goosebumps 180
1997 Street Sharks Street Sharks 204
1997 Star Wars Trilogy: Movie Trading Cards Star Wars 192
1997 Rugrats Rugrats 174
1997 Calimero Calimero 126
1996 Dragon Flyz Dragon Flyz 204
1996 Il Commissario Rex Inspector Rex 108
1996 Lupin III. Lupin, L'Incorreggibile Lupin Lupin the Third 180
1996 Manga Manga 168
1996 Sailor Moon: New Series Sailor Moon 289
1996 Sailor Moon Sailor Moon 163
1996 The Mask: The Animated Series The Mask 160
1996 Balto Balto 174
1996 Independence Day Independence Day 156
1996 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Jurassic Park 228
1995 Holly e Benji Captain Tsubasa 180
1995 Power Rangers 2 Power Rangers 198
1995 Power Rangers: The Movie Power Rangers 198
1995 Sailor Moon Sailor Moon 240
1995 Taz-Mania Taz-Mania 180
1995 The Adventures of Mighty Max The Adventures of Mighty Max 200
1995 The Pagemaster The Pagemaster 204
1995 Wallace and Gromit Wallace and Gromit 180
1995 Batman Forever Batman 210
1995 Pokémon Pokémon 276
1995 Polly Pocket Polly Pocket 216
1995 RoboCop RoboCop 228
1995 The Smurfs The Smurfs 210
1994 Power Rangers Power Rangers 246
1994 Stargate Stargate SG1 180
1994 Super Street Fighter 2 Street Fighter 216
1994 The Beano and The Dandy: All Time Greats The Beano/The Dandy 246
1994 The Mask The Mask 168
1994 Biker Mice from Mars Biker Mice from Mars 216
1993 Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons 192
1993 Gladiators Gladiators 356
1994 James Bond Jr. James Bond Jr. 246
1993 Jurassic Park Jurassic Park 240
1993 Marmalade Boy: Piccoli Problemi di Cuore Marmalade Boy 180
1993 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Young Indiana Jones 180
1992 Gladiators Gladiators 192
1992 Gladiators Gladiators 264
1992 Tiny Toon Adventures Tiny Toon Adventures 162
1991 Street Fighter 2 Street Fighter 240
1989 The Magic of The Beano The Beano 224
1989 Dragon Ball Dragon Ball 180

Other Collections

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Film and Television sticker and card collections released by Merlin Publishing or later by Topps using the Merlin brand.[24]

Year Collection Name Sticker/Cards in collection
2002 Baby Animals 144
2000 Precious Kitties 120
1994 Crash Dummies 180
1992 Nintendo 276

Games

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Card released by Merlin Publishing or later by Topps using the Merlin brand.[24]

Year Collection Name
1997 Merlin's Premier League 97 Flick-A-Balls
1993 BattleCards

Pogs

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Pogs released by Merlin Publishing or later by Topps using the Merlin brand.[24]

Year Collection Name Competition/Theme
1996 Merlin's Premier League 96 Magicaps English Premier League
1995 Merlin's Premier League 95 Magicaps English Premier League

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Selling Stickers at Lunch: Q&A with Panini America CEO Mark Warsop - Beckett News".
  2. ^ "Whole new ball game at Merlin". Independent.co.uk. 17 May 1995.
  3. ^ "Topps brings back Merlin brand for football stickers".
  4. ^ "History of Panini Stickers in British Domestic Football". 30 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Football Cartophilic Info Exchange: Merlin - Premier League 95". 14 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Merlin Magicaps > Premier League 95".
  7. ^ "Merlin Premier League 96 Sticker - Ian Rush McDonalds Sticker | Ian rush, Premier league, League".
  8. ^ "1996 Premier League 96 Merlin Stickers issued with Nabisco Shreddies cereal".
  9. ^ "Panini are set to launch launch their first ever Premier League sticker album". 12 December 2019.
  10. ^ Miller, John Jackson (2003), Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition, p. 687.
  11. ^ Owens, Thomas S.; Helmer, Diana Star (1996), Inside Collectible Card Games, p. 142.
  12. ^ 90s Football [@90sfootball] (14 October 2014). "Who remembers collecting Merlin's 'Flik a Ball' Premier League marbles? http://t.co/3s7AfTy6fX" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Searching for Shineys".
  14. ^ "Searching for Shineys: The 90s Football Podcast".
  15. ^ "Haunted by recurrent football stickers". BBC News. 30 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Swap you a Chris Waddle for an Arsenal 'shiny'... The magic of football stickers". 8 January 2013.
  17. ^ "Show and Tell | Merlin Sticker Album '97".
  18. ^ "Tales of Premier League sticker collection from two people who completed 1990s albums". 12 August 2017.
  19. ^ "Got, Got, Need: The things we learned from Premier League sticker collecting". 7 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Fan 'completes' 1996 Premier League sticker album". BBC News. 19 November 2013.
  21. ^ "Man finally completes 1996 football sticker album". 19 November 2013.
  22. ^ "The Best 2020–21 Topps Merlin Heritage '95 UEFA Champions League Cards: RCS, Guide, and Buying/Selling Advice". 12 April 2022.
  23. ^ "UEFA Champions League - Merlin97".
  24. ^ a b c d e f "Merlin".
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