ASTON VILLA 1995/96

Aston Villa had 15 figures released as part of the 1995/96 FAPL Collection. The set included their manager at the time Brian Little, however, he was not released until January 1997. All 15 figures were first time sculpts, many of which were never released again by Corinthian.

 

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Eccentric goal keeper Mark Bosnich was released for the very first time and a superb job they made on this sculpt too, so accurate in fact it was used for all the future releases of the player.

 

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Rising star Dwight Yorke was released looking very fresh faced, Corinthian never again used this sculpt of Yorke. It is worth mentioning that Yorke was released with two different squad numbers. He was originally released as a single blister in January 1996 for the 95/96 season, with his squad number being 18 as he was not yet an established first team member.

 

 

Corinthian released an Aston Villa 12 player box set in October 1996 again with the players in the same kit but this was done for the 1996/97 season and Yorke by this time had become a first team regular and so took up the number 10 shirt. Corinthian liked to keep the figures as accurate as possible so made this subtle change without alerting collectors, so many were unaware of this change. To get a Yorke with 18 on the back buy a single blister and a 12 player pack/ 4 player pack to get a Yorke with 10 on the back.

 

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Andy Townsend was also released with two different squad numbers. He was first released as a single blister in January 1996 when his squad number was 11, however Tommy Johnson moved to the club and took up the number 11 shirt, so for the 1996/97 season Townsend wore the number 6 shirt.

 

 

The Tommy Johnson blister was not released until October 1996, the same time as the 12 player pack which featured Townsend in his new number 6 shirt. So to get a Townsend with number 11 on the back obtain a single blister and a 4/12 player pack to get a Townsend with number 6 on the back. Both Yorke and Townsend were released in a 4 player pack so buying that pack will also ensure you get the two figures with their new numbers for the 1996/97 season.

 

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There were some fantastic sculpts as part of this set, a particular favourite of mine is the one of Ugo Ehiogu, a really powerful sculpt and the sculpt of Ian Taylor was also very detailed with loads of character. Also in the set were Paul McGrath sculpted with his stubble and also Julian Joachim who was released sporting a moustache. The Joachim figure the second rarest of the set and was certainly produced in much lower numbers than the others.

 

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The rarest of the lot is without question Alan Wright, he was just not produced in as high a volume as the others and the fact he is not included as part of the team pack only adds to his rarity, with the blister being released in February 1997.

 

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Gareth Southgate was sculpted for the first time but the skin tone Corinthian chose was very unusual and was almost orange like in appearance, amazing the figure was ever approved by the player or club. Completing the set are Savo Milosevic, Steve Staunton, Gary Charles, Mark Draper and Tommy Johnson. The Milosevic is a fine sculpt and captured the player perfectly as did the sculpt of Steve Staunton, with none of those 5 ever being released by Corinthian again.

 

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Corinthian did release a 12 player pack and the 3 figures which were not included are manager Brian Little, Julian Joachim and Alan Wright, which is another reason as to why Wright and Joachim are rarer than their team mates

 

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There was also 2 different 4 packs released, AV4A features Townsend, Southgate, Bosnich and Yorke, with AV4B containing McGrath, Ehiogu, Johnson and Staunton.

 

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One final thing to note is that manager Brian Little was released twice, the later has his blister with the Headliners logo on, which also appears on his collector card, so for those collecting cards or blisters, this is another version to pick up.