Are You Looking For Original and Authentic Sports Memorabilia

Are you a collector of Sports Memorabilia?

Looking for something unique and different?

Something authentic?

Something for a gift or present?

If so then McFarlane’s Sports Picks action figures are exactly what you need.

McFarlanes are one of the top action figure manufacturers in the world. They have been producing action figures since the mid-nineties and have since gained a worldwide reputation for their excellent sculpting, paintwork and detail.

Initially the company concentrated on horror and movie related figures like so many other manufacturers. One of their most popular series of figures was their Movie Maniacs line which included the likes of Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, Chucky and Leatherface.

Company founder and creator of the Spawn comic book character, Todd McFarlane, gained popularity writing and illustrating on the Spiderman comic book before creating Spawn.

Much of the company’s core products have as a result been centered around the Sawn character but over the years McFarlanes have broadened their appeal and the licenses that they have.

Todd McFarlane has always been an avid collector of sports memorabilia as well as part owner of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team so it was only a matter of time until they started to produce sport figures.

After many months of painstaking negotiations McFarlane’s finally announced that their inaugural set of Sports Picks figures would be released in 2001.

The inaugural set of figures was for 6 NHL figures. Initially many fans, and collectors, were skeptical as to whether McFarlane’s could produce figures of the standard that the fans would not only demand but expect and at a reasonable.

But once fans and collectors were quickly won over when they saw the excellent quality of the sculpting and paintwork as well as care and attention to detail. Each figure was an exact replica of the player complete with all the relevant logos and emblems on their kit and any relevant equipment or paraphanialiar

The choice of hockey rather than basketball or football may seem a strange choice to many but don’t forget that the decision was highly influenced by Todd McFarlane who is not only a huge hockey fan but also part owner of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team.

After the huge success of the NHL figures, McFarlane’s managed to negotiate contracts for the remaining North American sports with its pinnacle being the announcement in Feb 2002 at the American International Toy Fair in New York that they would be producing Major League Baseball figures.

This announcement heralded a great personal triumph for Todd McFarlane who had been unable to secure the MLB license for sometime. In fact McFarlanes solicitations were pretty much ignored and the figures he sent as samples were returned unopened until he bought the Barry Bonds 750 ball for $2,000,000. The, suddenly they began to take notice of him and granted McFarlanes a license for producing official MLB figures gaving him his fourth license in a top North American sport, after clinching contracts with the NFL, NBA and NHL.

Since their initial release back in 2001 McFarlane’s Sports Picks figures have gained a huge following with both collectors and fans due to their excellent detail and sculpting and as a result they have become the benchmark by which others are measured.

McFarlane’s have lovingly and carefully recreated some of America’s greatest sports personalities, including the likes of David Ortiz and Barry Bonds in the MLB, Wayne Gretzky and

Each of the individual lines also includes several different series general consisting of:

A regular series- these are the regularly released figures, i.e. Series 1-19
Legends- generally veteran players who have either retired or have been voted into the Hall of Fame
Collectors Edition- Specially released and limited edition figures generally only sold through the Online Collectors Club
Exclusives- These figure are generally event, stadium or exhibition exclusives only available at these specific places for a limited period or exclusive to a distributor or retailer such as Diamond Comics or Wal-Mart.

As a one time player and lifelong collector of sport memorabilia this has given Todd McFarlane the opportunity to use his company’s vast talents to produce figures that would be truly representative of the players and that fans, collectors and the player would be proud of.Each 6 inch figure comes in its own classic McFarlane’s Sports Picks clamshell packaging, accessories and apparel and a custom base for its display.

Lines currently available in the McFarlanes Sports Picks series are: