JUVENTUS 96/97

 Juventus, or the 'old lady' as they are affectionately named, had 9 figures made as part of the 'Italian Superstars' range of Headliners. 4 of which were released in March of 1997, the other 5 later that year in July, it is the ones released in July which are the most sought after.

 This set of 9 figures featured some of the worlds best players at that time. Peruzzi was Italys number 1 goalkeeper at the time and this was the first release of the player and very good job Corinthian made of it too, a highly detailed sculpt with a fantastic kit replication.

 Ferrara, Di Livio and Torricelli were also first time sculpts and the Torricelli has never been released again by Corinthian, making this the only version of this player. Croatian hitman Boksic was sculpted for the 1st time and the sculpt captured the arrogance and indeed the confidence of the player, with a very laboured, somewhat lethargic expression on his face.

 Alessandro Del Piero was a must for inclusion in this range and he featured heavily in the advertising of this product in Italy. He has been re-sculpted and released many times over the years by Corinthian, in many different kits but i still regard this as the finest they ever produced as it captures the youthful maturity that Del Piero had at the time.

 Also in the set were 2 French national legends-Zidane and Deschamps, both perfectly sculpted and well detailed, so much so that Corinthian used the same Deschamps sculpt for many subsequent figures of him later, including the versions of him made while he played for Chelsea.

 What is worthy of note with regards the Zidane figure is his base code, he is 'SER102' in the 'Italian Superstars' range but the same figure was previously released as part of the French national set of Headliners, where his base code is 'FRA008.' Due to the fact that Corinthian repainted the surplus French figures into the Juventus kit, or used the spare plastic moulding figures from the original production run to produce the Juventus figure, a number of the
Juventus Zidane figures have been found to have the 'FRA008' base code on them! This does not make it another figure it is simply an oversight and a way of saving money on Corinthians part, why produce new figures when you have the same figure already but with a different code on the bottom.

 I have saved the best until last, the gem of this set is without question 'Nicola Amoruso.' This figure is one of the rarest figures ever produced and gives the like of 'Kennet Andersson' a run for their money in terms of value. Although not originally believed to be as rare as some of the others released in the second series of 'Italian Superstars' he has over time proved to be just as scarcily found and has seen his value increase over time.
 
 Nicola Amoruso was never again released by Corinthian, which has helped maintain his value but it is a shame as it is a truly fine sculpt. In terms of value you would expect a loose version to sell for in excess of £50 and a blister fecthing nearer the £75 mark. Values for the other figures are about the same for all, roughly £5 for any of them excpet for Deschamps who fetches nearer £15 and the Zidane slighlty more than that at £20.

 A great collection of figures with some superb sculpts and packed full of top quality players, sadly though not many collectors will have a full set due to 'Amoruso' and his rarity.