Todd McFarlane has the right idea!

**FlyerGuy22** · 07-02-2009, 01:51 PM

At least in regards to toys that is. I have to admit that I never had any interest in Starting Lineups growing up. What were you supposed to do with them? Then McFarlane introduced SportsPicks. They were a little bigger, and a little more detailed. Then they got licensed for all four of the major sports and they took off. They can be real nice to get signed and display next to your memorabilia (or take up a few shelves all on their own if you’ve been collecting them for awhile). And after a few years, there are a ton of choices (especially for Yankee fans).
I had a friend who was all about them. He opens them all and his basement is still covered with them. He would buy them by the case load to try to hit the chase pieces (alternate versions with different jerseys or patches on the figures, making them more valuable). I would help him sell the ones he didn’t want. A couple years ago, I was helping him unload a case of MLB Series 18 baseball figures and he handed me a Ryan Howard and told me to keep it. I told myself to keep it sealed and maybe it would be worth something down the road. I opened it. Now I buy 2 of every figure so I can open one and preserve the other. I mostly collect Philadelphia players in all 4 sports, but I love seeing some cool figures of the greats (the Thanksgiving Day uniform Barry Sanders comes to mind). I have around 40 of these now and I am on the lookout for the MLB Series 2 Ken Griffey Jr. variant figure in the Seattle Mariners jersey.
The selection and variety is impressive as well. There are the standard 6 inch figures, but there are also the 3 inch and 12 inch varieties. The normal series come in sets of 6 but can range from 4 to 9 figures. They also put out Collector’s Editions that come in special packaging and have a little more substance to them (Favre has the sideline bench, Jeter has part of the dugout and Mariano Rivera includes part of the bullpen). There are also 2 and 3 figure packs as well.
McFarlane has their occasional exclusive deal with some stores (Toys R Us, Walmart-Canada, BC Sports), but you can usually find the exclusives on eBay. Clarktoys.com tends to have some hard to find figures from a few years back, but they can get quite expensive. EFCollectors.com has all the new figures as they are released and are almost always only $9.99 for the standard figures (although prices are going up on future NHL releases due to higher costs from McFarlane). They sell out faster though, so I order in advance.
All in all, they can be fun to collect (whether you open them or not) and come relatively inexpensively when compared with trading cards or memorabilia. I think it’s a great way to show support for your favorite team or favorite player without breaking the bank.

**gmoney168** · 07-03-2009, 12:24 PM

Todd McFarlane Has the Right Idea

By Brian Ferrell

Todd McFarlane has the right idea, at least in toys. I have to admit that I never had any interest in Starting Lineups figures growing up. What were you supposed to do with them? Then McFarlane introduced SportsPicks. They were a little bigger and a little more detailed. They were then licensed for all four of the major sports and they took off in popularity. They can be real nice to get signed and display next to your memorabilia (or take up a few shelves all on their own if you’ve been collecting them for a while). And after a few years of existence, there are a ton of choices (especially for Yankees fans).

I had a friend who was all about them. He opened them all the time and his basement is still covered with them. He would buy them by the case to try to hit the chase pieces (alternate versions with different jerseys or patches on the figures, making them more valuable). I would help him sell the ones he didn’t want. A couple years ago, I was helping him unload a case of MLB Series 18 baseball figures and he handed me a Ryan Howard and told me to keep it. I told myself to keep it sealed and maybe it would be worth something down the road, as sealed figures were worth more than opened. I opened it. Now I buy two of every figure so I can open one and preserve the other. I mostly collect Philadelphia players in all four sports, but I love seeing some cool figures of the greats (the Thanksgiving Day uniform Barry Sanders comes to mind). I have around 40 of these now and I am on the lookout for the MLB Series 2 Ken Griffey Jr. variant figure in the Seattle Mariners jersey.

The selection and variety is impressive as well. There are the standard six inch figures, but there are also the three inch and 12 inch varieties. The normal series come in sets of six but can range from four to nine figures per set. They also put out Collector’s Editions that come in special packaging and have a little more substance to them (Favre has the sideline bench, Jeter has part of the dugout and Mariano Rivera includes part of the bullpen). There are also two and three figure packs as well.

McFarlane has their occasional exclusive deal with some stores (Toys R Us, Wal-Mart-Canada, BC Sports), but you can usually find the exclusives on eBay. Clarktoys.com tends to have some hard to find figures from a few years back, but they can get quite expensive. EFCollectors.com has all the new figures as they are released and are almost always only $9.99 for the standard figures (although prices are going up on future NHL releases due to higher costs from McFarlane). They sell out faster though, so I order in advance.

All in all, McFarlane figures can be fun to collect, whether you open them or not, and come relatively inexpensively when compared with trading cards or memorabilia. I think it’s a great way to show support for your favorite team or favorite player without breaking the bank.