[1] In 1960, Panini purchased a collection of unsold football stickers from the Milan-based publisher Nannina.

[1][3] He hired photographers from La Gazzetta dello Sport and several printers in Modena to make stickers based on photos of all the footballers in the Italian championship.

Panini's stickers were printed on sheets of 90, then cut and packaged, and delivered to newsstands to sell.

[1] He moved to a larger headquarters in 1965 and made his business a joint-stock company, Edizioni Panini SpA.

[1] As the business grew, Panini's family sold their distribution agency to focus solely on producing stickers.

In the late 1960s, Panini began making other types of stickers, including ones relating to television series.

[1] His club featured 14 players who were later inducted into the IVHF and Modena Volley also won 13 European trophies, including CEV Champions League title four times.

[2] A member of the Italian Socialist Party, Panini ran for election to the Senate of the Republic in 1992, but did not win a seat.

[3] He also collected accordions and newspapers; by the time of his death, he held every copy of La Gazzetta dello Sport that had been produced since 1929.