Chaos and Kanji is the blog where I write about my adventures through Japan!

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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A Bevy of Starting Lineups

It never rains, but what it pours.

Last year, I managed to find only one figure to add to my collection: an Albert Pujols bobblehead I found at a small shop in Osaka. I still have a dozen-plus more figurines on my want list for my player collections, but I've been avoiding eBay due to high shipping fees. Sunday, I picked up four Starting Lineup figures to go along with the two Topps ... things ... that I got on New Year's Day.
This Timeless Legends figure is in a virtually-destroyed box, and I didn't realize it but the card is damaged too. I'm a little disappointed in myself for actually buying this - I should have just left it behind. But I can upgrade in the future and maybe add more from the set, too.
Hasbro got rid of the Kenner name in 2000, so figures from 2000 and 2001 were issued under the Hasbro name. Also in 2001, the toy company improved their figure quality in a bid to match MacFarlane. Note the "Bigger Figures" and "More Realism" tag near the top. These do look much better than the figures of the late '80s and 1990s, but it wouldn't be enough. 2001 was the last year for Starting Lineup.

Barry Bonds heads into my player collection.
Here are two more 2001 figures. The Pokey Reese is from the regular series, while Jorge Posada was in the Extended Series.
My final figure is this 2000 Scott Williamson from the Extended Series. You can see the difference in quality and size here. The packaging is all the same size.

These three figures are entered into my type collection. 

The Comaneci figure was bought at that thrift shop where I got the two jerseys I posted about yesterday. They had a couple baseball bobbleheads and figures too, but those were overpriced and out of my budget anyway.

The four baseball figures were part of a Yahoo Auctions group of purchases from one seller. Combined with shipping, I think I spent under 1000 yen (less than $10)! And these figures are in really good shape.

Who knows? Maybe this will be a lucky year and I'll be able to add several figures to my collection!

3 comments:

  1. SLU posts are always my favorite reads. I was addicted to these a few years ago... but lack of space fixed that. These days I still collect the cards and have two binders I'm in the process of filling.

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  2. Was there ever a similar Japanese product released? I've read several articles recently on mega collectors...maybe they are making a small comeback?

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  3. Fuji: I remember your SLU figure days. SLUs are a part of my type collection, though with all the moving and such I don't know how exactly I've been counting them. I have some single cards without figures in the collection too. I used to have figurines as a separate listing in my type collection but I don't know what I have anymore! I still pick up cheap figurines and bobbleheads wherever I can for my collection.

    R Laughton: There have been some figurines released in Japan for NPB players, but I have only seen them in secondhand hobby shops and team stores. I have a Marines player somewhere in a box. I've also seen bobbleheads - the Golden Eagles had some giveaway promotions with bobbleheads I believe for at least a couple of years. The new figures run about 3000 yen each when I see them in stores, so I don't pay enough attention.

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