NEWCASTLE UNITED 1997/98

Corinthian released a further 5 Newcastle United figures throughout 1997/98, 4 of them were painted in the kit worn during the 97/98 season and the other was manager (i use the term loosely) at the time Kenny Dalglish.

 

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Kenny Dalglish was sculpted wearing a Tracksuit, as opposed to the traditional suit that the majority of the other manager figures were sculpted in. The figure was by no means a huge seller which has lead to him becoming hard to find years later.

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The other 4 figures are all painted in the 1997/98 kit, which is the one with the shield on the back for the players squad number, a really detailed shirt replication.

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Of the 4 figures released only 1 was a new figure, but even that was an existing facial sculpt just on a new body pose, that figure was Stuart Pearce. Pearce was previously released for England and Nottingham Forest, the figure was exactly the same for both releases, this Newcastle release varied only with the body pose, the face was the same.

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The other 3 were mere repaints of the existing 95/96 FAPL figures. Very slight changes, Batty's hair was a different shade of green for some reason and the skin shade of Shearer was paler than the 95/96 figure.

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For a long time many collectors believed the Asprilla figure to be very rare and expensive, the reason for this is that Corinthian omitted him from the 1999 collectors rating guide which led to many collectors assuming he was released by mistake or in small quantities. This was the time before the internet really advanced, so it was very hard to find out which figures where released and which were not, however Asprilla in 1997/98 kit is very elusive, with a blister pack version seldom seen for sale.

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Although this set is largely made up of repaints, it is still very nice set, thanks mostly to the fantastic kit and is a must for all Newcastle collectors.

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The figures were releases as single blister packs, which came with collector card and collectors information leaflet.