European Handball, described as a mix of soccer, water polo, and basketball is extremely popular over here in Germany. There are tons of local clubs and the German Handball Bundsliga, or DKB, organizes the teams and players as well as controls merchandizing. DKB issued a license this year to Victus GmbH to manufacture these stickers which is something I can get into even if I can't get into the sport itself. Issued in paper packs with 5 stickers to a pack (see above), this method of distribution and manufacturing is popular here in Europe as collectors like to stick their cards in albums rather than plastic sleeves. I don't have the album unfortunately. Let's take a quick look inside this pack:
Card 1 (#184) is of Hendrik Pekeler, a 2016 Bronze Medal Olympian and winner of the 2017 World Staring Contest.
Card 2 (#437) is a mascot card of Viaduck of the SG BBM Bietigheim team. (Wait what, BBM??)
Card 3 (#19) sparkly trophy card.
Card 4 (#494) A team photo of the Second Tier team Handball Sport Verein Hamburg.
Card 5 (#9) This looks to be the last sticker of a 9-sticker puzzle of the championship team victory celebration. The guy holding the trophy looks a lot like Tony Romo, but it can't be since he is on a championship team.....zingggggggg.
Obligatory scan of the back.
There you have it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this set!
Very interesting. I remember guys playing handball in high school. Not sure if it's the same version... and I'm short on time, so I won't be able to search YT videos to find out. But the fact that there's enough interest in Germany to produce an oddball issue is cool.
ReplyDeleteThe handball we play in the US is played in a racquetball court. European handball is played on a court similar to a basketball court.
DeleteYup, I couldn't get much into it either (let alone collecting cards of it!)
ReplyDeleteI bought a few packs, but have no desire to complete the set.
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