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MANCHESTER UNITED 96/97

A whopping 26 figures were released for Manchester United in the 1996/97 kit, with the release spanning over 2 seasons. 11 of these figures were previously released in the 95/96 kit, those 11 being, Giggs, Cantona, Cole, Butt, Schmeichel, Irwin, Pallister, G.Neville, Scholes, Keane and McClair. Released for the first and only time was David May, he was planned to be released in the 95/96 set but was dropped from the range.

David Beckham was sculpted and released for the first time, although unless you read the name on the base you will have had a hard time identifying which player it was, thankfully the Beckham figures after this were a vast improvement and Corinthian used the England 98 beckham sculpt for the Beckham release for the 97/98 season, again though the figure was in the 96/97 kit.

This set also featured some new sculpts of existing figures, Keane was resculpted, minus his goatee beard and assiged a new base number as it was a new sculpt.Danish keeper Schmeichel was also resculpted and this figure was a spot on likeness of the imposing shot stopper, it was also a huge improvement on the previous release. This Schmeichel was also released in both kits, firstly in the Purple kit in January 97 for the 96/97 season and secondly in the Green kit for the 97/98 season but again in the 96/97 kit, he too was assigned a new base code.

The ever controversial Frenchman Eric Cantona was also resculpted into an iconic pose which had him sculpted with his shirt collar up! This is one of the most popular figures Corinthian ever released and was sold in huge numbers despite many people believing it to be rare, the reality is it was far from that.

Phil Neville was scuplted for the first time and Teddy Sheringham was repainted into the Manchester United kit after previously being released for Tottenham Hotspur, but this new figure was given a new base code. 2 Norwegians were released for the first time, those two being Rohnny Johnsen and the 'baby faced assassin' Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, both are great sculpts and the Solskjaer was a much anticipated release. Two first time sculpts were also released and both were never used again, those two being Karel Poborsky and Jodi Cruyff. The Poborsky was very detailed and the Cruyff was unique at the time, as it was sculpted without a football at his feet, the first time Corinthian had done this but not the last.

Completing this set are the brains behind this hugely successful side, Alex Ferguson was released for the first time as was his right hand man Brian Kidd. The Ferguson used the same body pose as the other manager figures but as Kidd was an assistant manager Corinthian sculpted him with a more casual feel, painted wearing a tracksuit, complete with whistle and clipboard, making this figure very unique at the time. I was not a Manchester United fan or a fan of Brian Kidd but even i snapped up this figure, just becasue it was so different. The likes of Poborsky,Cruyff, Solskjaer are the rarer ones but most of these figures can be acquired for under £5.

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Ryan Giggs

Manchester United

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