Every year around my birthday I hop on eBay and search for Starting Lineup figures to recapture a piece of my youth. There are select few sports (and non-sports) cards that have the same effect, but sports trading cards are still produced. Topps is still a thing, even if they are owned and run by a garbage conglomerate enshittifying the sports memorabilia landscape.
The Kenner Starting Lineup line just happened to perfectly dovetail with my adolescence. The first figures were released in 1988 - the first year I was well and truly obsessed with sports. Topps sports cards existed before then. Nintendo games existed before then. Garbage Pail Kids existed before then. Panini sticker albums existed before then. [editor's note: Panini did not have baseball or (American) football sticker albums before then, but Topps did.]
And unlike the sports cards and stickers I collected as a kid, SLU figures are no longer produced. In fact the line ended right around the time my childhood ended: 2000-01. Just as I was entering my twenties.
While trading cards are much easier to protect and store, Starting Lineup figures were opened and handled even more frequently than their flat cardboard counterparts. By 1988, collectors knew that trading cards could increase in value. I doubt anyone expected these toys to do the same.
SLU figures came with a free collector's card of their own, giving collectors even more incentive to rip open the package. While most pieces (especially 1990s figures) never increased in value beyoud their initial SRP, the 1988 and 1989 lines in particular have become tougher to find in decent shape. You've got figure collectors hoarding higher-end pieces, you've got trading card enthusiasts searching out any cards they can find in grade-worthy condition as if the figures are an inconvenience, and with the resurgence of 'vintage' hobbies - particularly with collectibles approaching 40 years old - it's getting tougher to find any sealed piece in presentable condition.
Which brings me to this year's purchase: a 1988 Marcus Allen figure for $32. Allen's best years were early in the 1980s - long before I was even aware of football - and as a result I didn't really understand why he was seen as a superstar and future Hall of Famer when I was a fan in the 1990s. Still, this is a nice looking first series figure in packaging that looked a clean as it gets.
The seller even included a nice note in the box:
I was all set to add this to my sealed Starting LIneup collection when I noticed that the trading card was out of alignment. I tried to shake it back into its plastic pocket and.. the bubble started coming unglued.
Since it was half opened just from me gently shaking the bubble, resealing it seemed pointless.
So I ended up paying $32 for an open figure and card that would have cost me half as much if I'd bought it already opened. It's a bummer, but I'll add Marcus to my shelf. He's already got a teammate there:
That's Todd Christensen, All-Pro tight end in 1983 and '85, and host of Touchdown Trivia on Married... With Children. Now I'm wondering If I can collect the whole Raiders team set. Who else is in there?
Just Howie Long and Marc Wilson? Easy peasy. Long is a litlle more money than Marcus Allen, but manageable. Meanwhile Marc Wilson is...
....one of the most expensive Starting Lineup figures ever.
If you're curious, there is an even more rare and expensive Starting Lineup football figure: Bill Fralic. Losing team with no national presence + regional Georgia-only release + offensive lineman = no one bought this thing and/or Kenner produced far fewer Fralic pieces. [editor's note: a comment on this video states there were only one or two Fralic figures per case.] There's one online now for $1,000.
Opened.
The last sealed Fralic figure sold (on eBay at least) for $4,250. I love rare and random Starting Lineups but ... yikes! Even if I had $4K+ lying around to spend on a hobby acquisition there's no way I'd choose an action figure over, say, a Hank Aaron rookie card or Roberto Clemente rookie card.
While it would be a dream to have a collection like this in my 'man cave' I've barely got enough room for the figures I have. And I'm content with picking up 1 or 2 new (to me) pieces every couple years or so.
I might be wrapping up my sports card collection but SLU figures are another story. We'll see if I get the urge to keep buying back my childhood next August.
Thanks for reading!
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Always loved Starting Lineups. I had a pretty large collection in the early 90's with some really good rookie pieces. They are all gone now, sold off. I think I still have a JT Snow that my son and I got signed in person, and maybe a couple others packed away somewhere.
ReplyDeleteChris other than Fralic figure lmk if I can help you find some I have places I can check for you on the figures & I remember when the Gretzky/Hasek piece came out I found 4 of them at a Target in all places Albuquerque New Mexico still in the boxes I bought all 4 & had them shipped to a dealer friend of mine cause they were selling them for $2 a piece which was a shocker to me cause most of them were hoping to get the Tkachuk/LeClair piece instead & this was in 1999 2 years after they were 1st released.
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ReplyDeleteI see these in thrift stores all the time, usually in the $5-$10 range. I think they are always from the 90s though.
ReplyDeleteMy son got really into the (baseball) McFarlane figures, 25 years ago? There’s probably 3 or 4 dozen, still in sealed clamshells, in several plastic tubs in the basement. My wife has been complaining about them for several years.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there’s any of them that are even worth the price I paid.
I love collecting Kenner SLU's. Love them sealed. Love them opened. Love the cards. There was a time when I'd grab them for $1 to $5 at the flea market, but eventually storage space became an issue. I ended up opening most of them. Only kept a handful of figures sealed.
ReplyDeleteThat Marcus Allen is really cool. Although his Raiders years were all spent in LA, him and the Raiders still had a solid fan base in the Bay Area. I vaguely remember hearing about the Wilson piece (probably read an article in Tuff Stuff back in the 90's or something). Sorry he's a roadblock into your team build.
Didn't know about those high priced figures! All the early SLUs I got are opened. Some of the later ones I got (including the Starting Lineup 2 release) are still in the packaging, mainly because I found it easier to put them away than to open them but those later purchases were all when they were on clearance. My brother has been giving me SLU baseball figures from the late 90's as Christmas gifts the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteSeeing these still gives me a big hit of nostalgia. It's funny how cheaply you can get most figures today but there's always some that cost an arm and a leg randomly.
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