Remember Corinthians... those big-headed footballer models that were super-popular in the 90s? We got the author of a new book about the figures to pick out some London favourites.
Craig Robinson shares his home with thousands of tiny footballers. These are Corinthian figures, first released in 1996 and now highly collectable.
Craig's first purchase was Alan Shearer in the England 1996 kit — bought from Woolworths almost 30 years ago. From that moment onwards, Corinthian football figures have remained a constant in his life, verging on an addiction.
The hobby has now turned into a book — actually the first in a series — called Football Crazy, Corinthians Mad! It shows off the best of Corinthians, including historic firsts, oddities, unissued rarities, original moulds and figures with a story to tell.
Below, Craig has selected some of his favourite models from each of the major London football clubs (or, at least, the ones for which figures were produced).
Football Crazy, Corinthians Mad! can be bought from Conker Editions here, or via Amazon.
Arsenal
From the days under George Graham and '1 nil to the Arsenal' through the Wenger years of the invincibles, right up to present day squad managed by Mikel Arteta as well as the likes of Russo, Williamson and Mead, Arsenal figures have been available for 30 years.
The FAPL Collection in 1995 saw the first release of club icons like Tony Adams and Ian Wright, released of course with his gold tooth. The ProStars range brought many releases of Thierry Henry including one in the Arsenal centenary shirt.
Chelsea
Chelsea have featured at every stage in the Corinthian collection, often providing some of the best figures. That is certainly the case with one of the most sought-after figures in the entire ProStars range. Petr Cech wearing his protective headgear is a truly superb likeness, but getting one could set you back as much as £75 for a loose figure.
Corinthian were asked to produce a special figure to accompany the season review VHS tape, and that figure was Vialli in yellow away kit. You could only obtain it by purchasing the VHS from WHSmiths and asking for the figure at the till. Many figures went unclaimed and rumours persist that unclaimed stock was sent back to Corinthian and destroyed. Getting a WHSmith Vialli in original sachet can cost north of £200.
Club legends such as Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and Gianfranco Zola all featured numerous times, as did The Special One, Jose Mourinho.
Current Chelsea players are being released by SoccerStarz, including the ice cold Cole Palmer.
Fulham
Backed by Mohamed Al Fayed's money, Fulham reached the promised land of the Premier League. But an even greater achievement — at least in my eyes anyway — was to get some Corinthian figures released.
Corinthian figures were massive in Japan during the Noughties and having a Japanese player on Fulham's books certainly helped, with Junichi Inamoto being an icon in Japan. He was released as a ProStars, ProStars XL and also as a MicroStars figure.
One of my personal favourite MicroStars figures is that of Louis Saha, such an iconic look with the headband and knee slide pose. Portuguese forward Luis Boa Morte was released as both a MicroStars and as a ProStars figure, later going on to be a coach at Fulham.
SoccerStarz would also release some Fulham figures, including manager Martin Jol and one of the rarest SoccerStarz figures, Kerim Frei. Fulham sold Frei to Turkish club Besiktas, which meant the Fulham figure of Frei was cancelled. Some had already been produced, however, and packed into the 2014 foil bag. They made their way to the shops, giving some lucky collectors a real rarity.
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers was the team supported by fictional character Eddie in the TV show Bottom, one of my all time favourite shows. I still regularly watch it 30 years on, and get more of the jokes now than I did when I was nine... but let's move onto the figures shall we?
Corinthian released just four figures, those being Kevin Gallen, Andy Impey, Alan McDonald and the moustachioed Gary Penrice. This really is peak 90s obscure football territory.
Far more figures were sculpted, but due to QPR's relegation these were cancelled. I am fortunate to have the unreleased master model of Mark Hateley (below) in my personal collection, such a superb looking sculpt and you have to love that mullet!
SoccerStarz also released some QPR figures. Like Corinthian, they stopped once the club was relegated. However, before that, we got some superb figures like Djibril Cisse, the opinionated Joey Barton, manager Harry Redknapp and owner Tony Fernandes
Tottenham Hotspur
I am a Newcastle United fan. The reason for this is that my favourite player was Ruel Fox. Like myself, Fox was diminutive in stature but tricky and pacey. Fox would not be released by Corinthian for Newcastle due to his move to Tottenham Hotspur. With my family all being Spurs fans, I was tempted to switch allegiances; but your team is for life, so a Newcastle fan I remained.
Corinthian would go on to release many Spurs figures, including club legends like Ardiles, Jennings, Archibald, the iconic Jurgen Klinsmann and instantly recognisable player of Edgar Davids. The Edgar Davids in brown away kit and Jurgen Klinsmann are from the ProStars Select 50 range, meaning only 50 of each were made. These are very scarce and can cost upwards of £75.
The MicroStars range gave us more modern-day players like Gareth Bale, Luka Mordic and of course every team needs a Robbie Keane!
Tottenham Hotspur have always featured as part of the SoccerStarz range, including Son, Harry Kane and current squad players like club captain Romero and Van der Ven.
West Ham
West Ham United figures have been ever-present in the Corinthian Collection, starting off in 1995 with a release of 10 figures as part of the FAPL Collection. They offer an eclectic mix of players, including club legends like Tony Cottee along with the likes of Slaven Bilic and Ludek Miklosko.
The rarest figure from this set is without doubt Iain Dowie. A loose figure can set you back £100 and for a blister pack you can probably double that amount.
More figures were sculpted but sadly not released. One such figure is Paulo Futre (above), who refused to play for the club until he was given the #10 shirt, which John Moncur held. I have the unreleased master model of Futre in my personal collection.
The iconic Paolo Di Canio featured in the very first range of Powerpodz MicroStars. Can we all recall the taste of that cheap chocolate ball?
West Ham United figures are currently being released by SoccerStarz. Players like club captain Jarrod Bowen have been made, along with striker-cum-podcaster Michail Antonio.
Wimbledon
Those with long enough memories will recall the 'crazy gang' of Wimbledon, led by the charismatic Vinnie Jones who Corinthian released as part of their FAPL Collection in 1995.
A set of nine figures was released including the likes of Efan Ekoku, Oyvind Leonhardsen and Alan Kimble, with Kimble being exceptionally hard to find in original blister packaging. The Dons figures, in general, are becoming increasingly rare, especially for those collectors who want them in original packaging.
Some figures never made it into production. I have in my personal collection two unreleased Master Models of Andy Pearce, one of which has a mullet to rival that of Pat Sharp.
What about Brentford and Millwall?
Corinthian never made any figures for Brentford or Millwall, however that has not deterred talented re-painters from creating some custom figures.
Chris Baggaley has been re-painting figures for many years, including a superb figure of Tim Cahill during his time at Millwall, along with Fabio Carvalho for Brentford
SoccerStarz are yet to release figures for Brentford, although they have released Ivan Toney in England national kit.
Football Crazy, Corinthians Mad! can be bought from Conker Editions here, or via Amazon.
