SERIES 38

ProStars Series 38 features some superb first time sculpts and we start our review of this series with my persona favourite, Arsenal's French right back Bacary Sagna. A vastly popular sculpt and a must for any Arsenal collector, this was the only ProStars release of Sagna and with just 1,423 blisters made he is incredibly rare and highly sought after, as is the away kit redemption sachet.

 

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For me the rarest figure from this series is Fernando Torres for Liverpool, although Corinthian made 2,893 blisters it would prove to not be enough to satisfy demand for this all new sculpt of the Spanish forward. Very seldom will you see this Torres figure for sale and finding a blister pack is no easy task.

 

 

Manchester United have 2 figures in the series, with Carlos Tevez getting his sole release in a regular series, an excellent sculpt full of detail with 3,629 blisters made which is the highest in this series. Tevez is joined by United team mate Owen Hargreaves, an all new sculpt of the holding midfielder with Corinthian producing 2,819 blisters.

 

 

Florent Malouda gets his first ProStars release, he would also feature as one of the Convention 2008 pick 'n' mix specials, with this blister release having just 1,715 produced, a relatively low number for a first time sculpt.

 

 

For West Ham United we have Fredrik Ljungberg and Craig Bellamy, both sculpts had been used before but this was their first Hammers release, with Corinthian making 1,205 Ljungberg and 1,115 Bellamy blisters, which was the lowest in the series.

 

 

As usual Corinthian chose to appease both halves of Milan and include one figure from each team, with Marek Jankulovski release in home kit for AC Milan, his first release was as part of the AC Milan Champions Of Europe 2007 team pack, this series 38 version had 1,477 blisters made.

 

 

Brazilian full back Maicon makes his Corinthian debut, a wonderful sculpt and a very popular figure, with just 1,237 blisters made he became highly sought after, especially by collectors in his native Brazil, with the away kit redemption sachet also being incredibly hard to find.

 

 

We have the only blister release of Vincenzo Iaquinta, he first appeared in the Italy World Champions 2006 team pack and for Udinese in the Calcio 4 pack, with Corinthian making just 1,147 blisters. Ludovic Giuly also gets his only regular blister release, he had previously only ever been released for Barcelona as part of a team pack or in window box, so this Roma home kit figure is his only blister, with there being 1,208 produced.

 

 

Completing the Series 38 line up is the sole representative for Spain's La Liga is Thierry Henry for Barcelona, with this home kit release having 2,821 blisters made.

 

 

In total Corinthian made 22,689 blisters for ProStars Series 38 , which was the lowest since Corinthian started publicising production volumes. The average blister production dipped below 2,000 for the first time, with it working out at 1,890 each.

 

 

Corinthian produced 2 special redemption figures for ProStars Series 38, which are Maicon for Inter Milan and Bacary Sagna for Arsenal, both in their respective club away kits. Collectors were able to directly purchase the redemption figures, which were priced at £5 and came in clear sachet with a non numbered collector card. Both these redemption figures are rare, especially the Sagna and finding them in sealed sachet is somewhat of a challenge.

 

 

ProStars Series 38 was released in April 2008, with blisters priced at £3 each and Corinthian also made the series available in a case assortment, which contained all 12 blisters and 1 platinum pack, with the case assortment costing £36.

 

 

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. The figures are identical to those in the standard blister but are on a Silver base and assigned a PP (Platinum Pack) collector code, which was the same code as the PRO version, with the figure then placed on a specially designed Platinum Pack blister card, coming with an individually numbered collector card with just 360 of each being produced.