[Chris P]

Sports Cards, Video Games, Basketball, and Starting Lineup Figures. Those 4 things basically defined by childhood. They were without a shadow of a doubt the most important things in my life (besides family and friends of course) when I was a kid. Starting Lineup collecting, though was for me one of the more interesting, unique, and more fulfilling hobbies that I had growing up. The "thrill of the chase" so to speak. From 1991 until 2001, I collected these "sports superstar collectibles". At first, as just toys, then as I got older as collectibles, before giving it up for good right before the lineup crash. Over the next few weeks, I'll be doing a multi-part series on my history with Starting Lineups. The beginnings, personal stories, the heyday, and sadly, the end of what was truly a great hobby to be in. The series will be divided up as follows


Part I: The Beginning Years: 1991-1995
Part II: The Collecting Boom: 1996-2000
Part III: Kenner loses it's NBA License to Mattel
Part IV: Other Kenner influenced collectibles
Part V: The Fall of Starting Lineups

I will always have great and fond memories of Starting Lineup Figures and I hope you will find this retrospective entertaining and for those who collected or still collect Starting Lineups, interesting. It's a fun personal recollection of the little sports figures that ruled from my childhood up to my teenage years. Hope you will enjoy!

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[Chris P]

My first foray into Starting Lineups began when I was about 7 years old. At the time to a kid like me, Starting Lineup figures were toys, period. I never once thought about them being collectibles, and my introduction to them was the Christmas of 1991 when my parents bought me the 1991 lineups of Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, and Joe Montana. Now at the time, it was very common to find superstar Lineup figures as they hadn't taken off as collectibles yet. I did what any normal kid would do...I opened them.



The 1st three lineups I ever received. No, they didn't last in those packages!

Not only did I open them, I...gasp....PLAYED with them! In fact, when I was kid, I used them as wrestling figures, along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and my WWF figures. Imagine, Hulk Hogan vs Michael Jordan in a WWF ring! 1992 would be no different. For Christmas I received a lot more Starting Lineup Figures. I vividly remember, Scottie Pippen, Barkley, Bird, Dee Brown, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Coleman, the list goes on and on. Another accessory my parents bought me this time were the collector display stands. These were discounted in the bargain bin at Toys R Us. My parents ended up buying me display stands for all 3 sports. Little did I know, how valuable those would end up being.

Starting Lineup Collector's Stands. They initially didn't sell well at all and ended up in bargain bins. Later during the Starting Lineup boom, the Stands were very sought after.


Again in 1992, I opened every single lineup I received. Again, lineups were readily easy to find, even here in South Texas, finding Emmitt Smith, and Troy Aikman was not a problem. The first lineup I actually kept in the package would be one I found at a local card show in 1993. I bought a 1989 Legends Oscar Robertson there. The reason I kept in package was kinda strange. It looked like an old figure and it was of a Hall of Famer and the Cincinnati Royals were a team that didn't exist anymore so I kept it in the package. It had nothing to do about it being valuable. I was still buying figures and opening them in 1993, like the Griffey Jr, Jack McDowell, Horace Grant etc.

1st unopened lineup in my collection


It was in 1993 though, that I did learn that as a collectible, Starting Lineup figures were more valuable if they were kept unopened in mint shape. The days of opening them up and playing with them were over. I started regretting opening them up and it made me sick to my stomach that what were once so easy to find, were now becoming very hard to find. No more finding Jordans, Emmitts, Nolan Ryan's by the bundle. Starting Lineups were beginning to take off as collectibles now. Now, at this time, I wasn't a huge collector, I would buy them here and there, but it was spread out for the most part. Starting Lineups were still behind cards in the hobby department. It would basically be one of those things I would look for only if we happened to go to a Wal-Mart, K-Mart or Toys R Us. The first lineup I bought at a store that I kept unopened was the 1993 Frank Thomas which I found at our local K-Mart. I thought I had hit the holy grail, and imagined that this piece had to be worth a ton of dough, lol.



1st Lineup I found at a retail store and kept unopened. 1993 Starting Lineup of Frank Thomas


The addition of the Thomas had me officially "collecting" Starting Lineups. No more opening them up at all for me. Like I said, it started it off very small. In 1993, I only added like 5 pieces to my collection. The 93 Steve Young ,93 Michael Irvin, 93 Cal Ripken Jr, 93 Dominique Wilkins, 93 Larry Johnson . I curiously did end up opening the Wilkins for reasons unknown, and in 1994 bought and opened the Laphonso Ellis (of all players) as well. After that though, I would never open up another figure again. Still entering 94, Lineups were a distant secondary hobby, if I managed to find any great, but there was not a really big desire to hunt for them. I was so entrenched in cards and video games, that basically lineups would only come if I received them as gifts, like the 1994 Gary Sheffield, and 94 Latrell Sprewell and Shawn Kemp.


1994 brought in figures of players such as Shawn Kemp and Latrell Sprewell


As 1995 rolled around, it was still more of the same of the last couple years. I averaged around 3-4 new figures a year, so it wasn't that many. 95 only brought in figures of Alonzo Mourning, Jerome Bettis, Barry Bonds and Juan Gonzalez. 1995 would officially signal the end of the 1st phase of my SLU collection because starting in 1996 things really started to take off, and Starting Lineups slowly started it's ascension to the top of my hobby world.





1995 was the official end of the "Initial Era" of my Starting Lineup Collections. It would be the last time I added less than 10 figures in a year to my collection.

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[Chris P]

And to think this was the SLU that started the REAL craze in my collection.

Yep, the 1996 Hank Greenberg Cooperstown collection SLU, kickstarted what would be a 5 year period where Starting Lineups RULED my hobby life. Before 1996, like I said earlier, I was a casual collector, picking up 1 or 2 figures a year. If I came across one, great, but it wasn't something I was really specifically looking for. In 1996 though, for reasons I can't explain, it allllllll changed. It was the summer of 96 and we were visiting my cousin, aunt and uncle in Atlanta (which happened to be the site of the Summer Olympics that year). We had randomly gone to the mall one day and I bought a Jeff Bagwell 96 SLU at the KB Toy Store there (I seemed to have luck in Georgia, I remember buying my 95 Juan Gonzalez at that same KB the year before). We also stopped by a Toys R Us when I saw the Greenberg. Now I was around 10 or 11 and had NO clue who Hank Greenberg was, but my kid mind was "hey he's an old baseball player, they made a figure of him, I should buy it". Idiotic, probably, but I plunked down my money, and now felt the need to buy the whole 96 Cooperstown Collection set. I liked the look and packaging of the set. So that summer I really turned on the SLU radar and starting seriously hunting for lineups. Since this was also Olympic time, Kenner had come out with two 5 figure sets of the 96 Olympic Basketball Team. These were MUST HAVES to me and the Set 2 was easier to find then set 1 (which had Shaq and my favorite player of all time Penny Hardaway)



1996 Dream Team Set, I was sooo excited when I found both

So with the combination of the Cooperstown Collection set and USA Basketball Set, my Starting Lineup collection was quickly growing. The fun thing about it was "the hunt" as I like to call it. SLU's were everywhere in their peak. It became a daily Saturday routine, hit every retailer that had SLU's and go to the Dugout (our local sports card shop) to buy a few packs of cards. It was friggin AWESOME. You never knew what you would come across. We had 3 Wal-Marts, a K-Mart, 2 KB Toys, a Target, Toys R Us, and even a Venture (does anybody remember THAT RETAIL STORE!) and nothing was greater than seeing the latest and newest lineups. Of course the really hard to find ones were probably cherry picked, but nonetheless the anticipation and surprise of going to the stores and maybe finding a gem or two was a great experience indeed. Another thing that really helped grow my collection, was the number of products Kenner was throwing out. Stadium Stars, Freeze Frames, Classic Doubles, Cooperstown Collection, I wanted em all. My favorites were Classic Doubles in all the Sports. I loved the player combinations. There we plenty of stories in this Era that I have to share, but the bottom line is that I was hooked big time. Another thing we would do, is take trips to San Antonio, Austin, Houston, every once in awhile, just to look for SLU's! I tell you, as a kid I was spoiled BIG TIME. My collection grew to epic proportions. On the card front, I still collected, but my obvious focus was on Starting Lineups. I remember even going to our local flea market and marveling at the hard to find lineups they had for astronomically high prices, just wishing and dreaming that one day they would be mine. My next few posts will be dedicated to the stories I remember from this era, and I have plenty to tell. This was a fun time to be an SLU collector and I really wish I could go back to such a fun time in my life!

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[Chris P]

One of the most devastating and critical events that first put a dent in my enthusiasm for starting lineups was when Kenner lost its NBA license. I couldn't believe that after the 1998 series, there would be no more NBA SLU's. The 98 wasn't even anything special. It seemed like a hastily rushed set and there were no new players. There was a Kobe 2nd piece and a Magic Johnson as well, but for the most part the set wasn't too hot. I still bought em up like hot cakes (including Terrell Brandon and Vin Baker, lol) because it would be the last ever NBA Licensed Starting lineup set.

The Marbury piece from the final 98 NBA SLU Set


Basketball has always been my wheelhouse when it comes to collecting anything and that included Starting Lineup Figures. When Starting Lineups were taken away, I was crushed. Kenner tried to still make Basketball SLU's but in college uniforms (kinda like Upper Deck with cards) but it just wasn't the same. I didn't want Jason Kidd or Allen Iverson in college threads, I wanted them in the NBA uniforms.

Just couldn't get excited about these College Basketball SLU's

Needing my NBA Basketball figure fix I had to try and rally behind the company that took over producing figures...Mattel. I wasn't really happy about it, but decided that I had no choice. The one thing Mattel had going for it? A Michael Jordan license. Now that was SOMETHING to get behind and it was very intriguing. MJ hadn't had a figure made since 1993 so sure it would be a hot figure to own right?? Ehhh, the product was lukewarm at best. I thought the figures looked cheaply made and though I bought some, it wasn't with the same enthusiasm as it was with SLU's. I know the Vince Carter rookie figure ended up being really hot, and there was some hard to find figures like Steve Francis and Larry Bird, but for the most part, I don't think Mattel's versions of SLU's were received that well. They overproduced MJ figures, churning out figure after figure and like I said, the figures themselves were just so underwhelming. Mattel would basically put out two series one in 98-99 and one in 99-00. I think it was mistake for the NBA to go with Mattel and not keep Kenner as the figure producer of the league. I mean in the long run, it wouldn't really matter because SLU's would be phased out in the early 2000's, but it definitely would've been sweet to see SLU rookie pieces of Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, and Dirk. This was definitely the beginning of the end for me and SLU's.



The Mattel NBA Superstars Line....Yawn...never got into it, not even with the greatest basketball player of all time in the set

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[Chris P]

During my Starting Lineup Craze, there was a different kind of Sports Figurine Collectible that complimented my SLU's. In 1996 Corinthian came up with their Headliners Sports Figure line. I guess Starting Lineup fever caught up with me, because I instantly started collecting these as well. They were relatively smaller and cheaper than SLU counterparts and unique as well, as they were't toys like SLU's were. They were reminiscent of bobbleheads as the figures sported big heads in proportion to their bodies (thus the name "Headliners"). Corinthian initially had licenses for Football (their inaugural release) Basketball and Baseball and also an NHLPA license. They eventually obtained an NHL License as well. They fairly popular, probably because of their price point as well. I was instantly hooked and now, not only was I looking down toy aisles for SLU's but Headliners as well. Corinthian would create different series including their Headliners X-L series, Throwback Football series, College Football and Basketball series, 4 packs, and more. By 1999 though, the Headliners series had basically worn out their welcome and I believe 2000 was their last release (I remember there being a Griffey Reds Headliner that was a limited edition, I don't remember anything else after 2000). They had a brief but successful run, and they were a huge part of my Sports Figure Craze. I had a lot (probabaly a 100 or more) at one time. Today, I only kept my Cowboys, Penny Hardaways, and Griffey X-L figures. It was definitely something different, and the market at the time could definitely afford to have something a little different in the hobby. Here are some pics of various Headliners.

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