SERIES 10

ProStars Series 10 marked a definitive change in the product, as Corinthian fully redesigned and upgraded the blister pack backing card, plastic used and also upgraded the quality of the collector cards. The all new collector cards had the figure image on both sides, giving the product a much for collectible focus, using an all new colour scheme of Purple and Green and introduced a new version of the ProStars logo in the new colours.

 

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I can't start the review of ProStars Series 10 in any other way than to mention the stand out, top seller in this series and first time sculpt, Francesco Totti. The Italian was asserting himself in the side and already an integral part of the Roma side, this sculpt of Totti is simply superb and a must for any collection.

 

 

We will stay in Italy's Serie A as we get another first time sculpt from Roma's bitter rivals Lazio, as Argentine Claudio Lopez makes his Corinthian debut, a very well received figure. From Parma we have Sergio Conceicao, the popularity of this figure took Corinthian by surprise, with many collector centres placing 2nd and 3rd replenishment orders for him. Conceicao was first released in Portugal national kit as part of the Headliners range, however that is a rare figure, so this new release enabled collectors to pick him up and and him to their collection.

 

 

Both halves of Milan are of course represented and by first time sculpts to, for AC Milan we have Fernando Redondo and for Inter Milan we have Robbie Keane, with sales of Keane not hitting the heights Corinthian hoped for, which can perhaps be attributed to the fact he had moved on loan to Leeds United.

 

 

Corinthian produced an all new sculpt of Patrick Vieira and it far exceeded the sculpt that preceded it, really capturing the power and determination of the French midfielder. Lee Hendrie is released in Aston Villa home kit, the sculpt being the same as seen in the England 1999-2000 team pack.

 

 

For Chelsea we have centre back Winston Bogarde, who actually made just 9 appearances in 4 years for the London club. This was the only release of Bogarde in the ProStars range, his figure in Ajax kit as part of the Dutch club range of Headliners is amongst the rarest ever released, with help from dutch collector extraordinaire Lennart Van De Winkel  essential  if you are trying to locate one for your collection.

 

 

Alan Smith was fast establishing himself in Premiership, here he gets his very first ProStars release, in the Leeds United home kit. Christian Ziege had transferred to Liverpool from Middlesbrough, this was actually the only ProStars figure would release of the German international, he was set for a Boro release prior to his move, and Corinthian also produced a sculpt of him for Germany as part of the planned German national release which was cancelled, that unreleased master model resides in my personal collection.

 

 

Roy Keane has an all new sculpt, released in the Manchester United home kit, was always hoping Corinthian would have done a chaser edition of him including a Prawn Sandwich. Nolberto Solano is in Newcastle United away kit, which is the only away kit figure in Series 10 and is actually the only regular blister release of Solano released by Corinthian.

 

 

Frank Lampard is released in West Ham United home kit, his first appearance being in Series 7 England Squad, while for Rangers we have a first time sculpt in Lorenzo Amoruso.

 

 

Completing Series 10 is a real favourite amongst collectors, which is the free kick taking Jose Luis Chilavert, released in Paraguay home kit, a truly excellent sculpt and a figure which has always remained popular and in demand. The only other release of Chilavert would be as a redemption figure as part of Series 16.

 

 

Series 10 blister packs were available from collector centres from January 2001, with blisters priced at £3 each and you could also order the figures from Corinthian Direct as figure and card in sachet for £2.49. Included in each pack was the figures collector card.

 

 

There was no redemption figure, in it's place was the free platinum pack offer, with 8 tokens needed to claim a free platinum pack.

 

 

Along with the regular blister packs, Corinthian produced something special called the Platinum Pack, these were produced in much lower numbers and not available for direct sale, they were given away free for money spent with Corinthian Direct, however you could also buy them from official Corinthian Collector Centres. The figures are identical to those in the standard blister but are placed on a specially designed blister card.

 

 

Corinthian did not make public how many of each blister pack or platinum pack were produced, only to say that the best seller in the series; and by some considerable margin, was Francesco Totti, and the ones made in the lowest volume were Solano, Lampard, Hendrie and Conceicao.8