Last year, the Bucs began the trend of stadium giveaways for all new Starting Lineup figures with a Jameis Winston figure giveaway. On, 1/18 the Rockets gave away a Ralph Samson figure to the first 1,000 fans. Several other teams have jumped on the bandwagon. History: In 1987, Pat McInally, a former punter in the NFL had an idea for little figures of his favorite athletes. He had an in at Kenner in Cincinnati and pitched the idea. Thus the Starting Lineup figure was born. Kenner (the maker of Star Wars toys and other action figures) produced the first sets in 1988. The sets were large and often distributed in team cases regionally. Additionally, they produced All Star cases with the most popular players that were distributed nationally. Starting Lineup figures had some mild early success, but by the end of 1989, Kenner was thinking about dumping the line. They produced WAY too many players in the first couple of years. In 1990, they scaled back the number of players and overall production numbers. This hit the sweet spot for collectors. They could collect smaller sets of the more popular players and new rookies. From 1991 to 1997, Startling Lineups caught fire in the collecting market. New rookies for hot players in short supply would often sell for $100 upon release. Dealers and collectors alike scavenged every retail store and toy store looking to open up the factory fresh case and pull that hot rookie. There were even very large Starting Lineup conventions around the country with special edition figures produced for them. In 1998, Starting Lineup fever hit its pinnacle. Riding the baseball Home Run chase boom with special edition Sosa and McGwire figures, Nolan Ryan's retirement, and the emergence of Terrell Davis, starting lineup of figure prices and collectibles hit their peak. In 1999, two things happened. The overall sports and comic collectible markets from the 90s crashed. Overproduction and cannibalization of multiple collectible sources caused these markets to begin collapsing under their own weight. The other thing that happed in 1999 is Meg Whitman took eBay mainstream. All of a sudden, those rare, hard to get figures were available through you computer screen in your living room. Not only that, but there were often multiple available. Rather than having to go to a Tri-star convention and pay a dealer $50 for a hot figure, you could bid on a dozen of them. Prices tanked for a large amount of figures. The "Chase" was no longer needed. Starting Lineup struggled to continue for the next couple of years, but by 2001, unable to compete with McFarlane's larger and more detailed figures (often made in much smaller numbers), an exhausted fan base that didn't want ANOTHER Roger Clemens figure (they already had 10), and the fact that the collapse had happened...Hasbro folded the brand. For the next 17 years, there have been rumors of a comeback production line. Hasbro kept the trademark going, and insiders had heard of pitches over the years for limited release figures. Prices have stabilized to a point. People (via eBay's market) have figured out there there ARE some extremely rare figures, especially in 1988 and 1989 lines (football in particular). Figures like the 1989 Bill Fralic can bring thousands even today (probably less than 50 still in box). A lot of regional figures that sat on the shelf in 1989 and 1990 were sent back and destroyed creating big time rarity. Superstars have maintained a certain value, especially the big guys like Michael Jordan or Emmitt Smith type players with large fan bases. A lot of those "hot" rookies trade for pennies or a couple of bucks, and even star players that were over produced can be purchased Mint in Package for less than$10. In 2016, a Bucs executive noticed his kids playing with some old figures he had found in a box and got the idea to produce a stadium give away. Hasbro had sold the rights to the "Starting Lineup" brand to a legacy brand company (Legacy One). Getting the rights he got a company to produce the first official Starting Lineup figure in 17 years of Jameis Winston which was a stadium give away. Several other teams have jumped on the idea (including the Rockets last night) and there is a pretty decent checklist of figures coming out in 2017 at various teams stadiums and arenas. The other interesting note is that apparently Legacy One has plans to bring the Starting Lineup brand back to retail in the next couple of years. Based on the popularity of the give-aways so far, it might actually happen.
