In May of 1998, Corinthian released a set of 12 figures painted in the Norwegian national home kit. They were released as part of Corinthians ‘Headliner’ range and released under the banner of ‘Norges Tropp’

These figures were released on a variety of packaging formats. All 12 figures were available as single blisters, 2 different 4 player packs were produced, as was a 12-player team pack.

The figures are all very rare due to the low production volumes and it is believed that these were produced in even lower volume than the likes of Stroppa, Schwarz and Andersson!

The 12-player pack is for me without doubt the most rare of all the pre1999 multi packs and is very seldom seen for sale. Anybody lucky enough to be offered one can expect to pay in excess of £200 for it, a real collectors piece as very few were produced.

As for the figures themselves, well we were treated to 6 figures never produced again, those 6 of course being- Rekdal, Rudi, Solbakken, Grodas, Haland and Mykland. All 6 were original 1-off sculpts and fine sculpts they are too. The mykland is a particluar favourite of mine purely for his beard. I also like the strong facial sculpt of Solbakken and the Haland figure has a lot of character too.

From the other 6 released as part of the set, we also saw a whole new sculpt of Bjornebye and this version is far superior in my opinion to the one released for Liverpool as part of the FAPL range. The very first sculpt of Solskjaer also appeared and for me this too was never bettered by Corinthian.

Making up the set are Berg, Leonhardsen, Johnsen and Flo. The Berg was a first time sculpt as was the Flo and Johnsen but the Leonhardsen had previously been released for Wimbledon in the FAPL range.

The figures had no collector cards produced but were released with a collectors information file.

Henning Berg
Norway
Home Kit 98
NOR001