MANCHESTER UNITED 1995/96

Manchester United, the side who have won the Premiership more times than any other club, also had the most figures released in the FAPL Collection. They had whopping 42 in total, 16 of which were released in the 1995/96 kit, two of those in the away kit.

 

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The entire squad of 14 players were all released in November 1995 as single blisters, many of which were first time sculpts. Welsh wing wizard Ryan Giggs had the honour of being assigned the base code of PL01 and for me is still one of the best sculpts Corinthian have ever produced and the number they must have sold of him will have been incredible.

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Old Trafford icon Eric Cantona was the best selling Corinthian in the FAPL Collection and no surprise given his popularity at not only the club but with fans of football all over the world. Andy Cole was another favourite amongst collectors and the same sculpt was used for the England national series of Headliners but the body pose was different, this was also the case for Gary Neville.

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Gary Pallister and Paul Scholes were also released for in the England national kit. The sculpts of Sharpe and Keane were both very accurate likenesses of the players, Keane being sculpted with his beard also. Legendary goal keeper Peter Schmeichel was sculpted for the first time but certainly not the last. For me this sculpt was the worst Schmeichel Corinthian have ever done but the one released as part of the 1996/97 range was a vast improvement, the 95/96 sculpt just did not capture the character and authority of the player.

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The Manchester United collectors information file depicted all 14 figures released in this range and even a few that were not! Pictured last on the file as the 15th figure was David May in the 1995/96 kit with base code listed as PL341, however this figure was never released in this kit but was included in the 1996/97 set painted in the kit from that season.

 

 

Also worth a mention is that the Schmeichel body pose was not the one released, the one on the file showed in cupping the ball about to kick it with his right leg bent at the knee, this for me was a far better body pose for a goal keeper and a real shame they decided against using it.

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That was an obvious spot, however only the more observant collectors will have spotted the other 3 unreleased figures! On the back of the file was a small picture of a display podium which pictured 14 Manchester United master models, 3 of these were never released. Those 3 are - Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Hughes. Kanchelskis was released for Everton but the body pose changed and the Hughes was released for Chelsea, the Ince was released for England and later Liverpool, look closely at the file and you will see this.

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2 redemption figures were also made available with this set and all you had to do was collect the tokens that came with each figure or box set. The 2 figures on offer were Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona, both were painted in the Grey away kit.

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The Manchester United 1995/96 figures were released on a whole host of different packaging formats, all 14 were done as single blisters, which came with collector card and Manchester United collectors information leaflet

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All 14 were done as single gift boxes, which had the figure in a window box, coming with single display stand, Manchester United backing card, collectors card and Manchester United collectors information leaflet. Although all 14 were listed as being released it has long been debated if Andy Cole was indeed released on this format.

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A Manchester United sealed sachet was also produced, these were sealed sachets so you were not sure which figure you would pull out the sachet, all 14 featured in the range.

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There were 3 different versions of the 4 figure pack

• MU4A - Ryan Giggs, Dennis Irwin, Steve Bruce & Roy Keane

• MU4B - Eric Cantona, Brian McClair, Paul Parker & Paul Scholes

• MU4C - Andy Cole, Peter Schmeichel, Lee Sharpe & Gary Pallister

 

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Corinthian also produced 3 different versions of the 4 figure gift box, each gift box came with 4 figures, 4 collector cards, collectors information file and a boxed 4 figure display stand

• G-MU4A - Ryan Giggs, Dennis Irwin, Steve Bruce & Roy Keane

• G-MU4B - Eric Cantona, Brian McClair, Paul Parker & Paul Scholes

• G-MU4C - Andy Cole, Peter Schmeichel, Lee Sharpe & Gary Pallister

 

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A 12 figure team pack was also done, the only 2 players not included in the pack were Nicky Butt and Gary Neville. The pack contained the 12 figures, 12 collector cards and Manchester United collectors information file

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There was also a 14 figure team pack released, which of course had all 14 figures included, along with 14 collector cards and Manchester United collectors information file.