Johnny Hero is considered to have been THE first of many baseball figures that have come since and although technically not a baseball figure ( he came with a track and field uniform) Rosko Industries who manufactured him also produced separate baseball team uniforms.

Released in 1966, just a year after Hasbro's groundbreaking G.I. Joe figure, Johnny Hero is considered by many to be the granddaddy of sports figures who is often forgotten, neglected and over looked by fans and collectors despite his place in history.

Uniforms were available for 17 of the 20 Baseball League teams with only Houston Astros, Kansas City Athletics, and Milwaukee Braves not being issued due to the uncertainty surrounding them in the league at the time.

Unfortunately Johnny was a bit ahead of his time and proved to be unpopular with the kids, so after only being featured in the Sears catalog for two seasons he was dropped.

A few sporadic lines of baseball figures appeared on the market over the coming years but it wasn't until 1986 that we were to see any major lines of baseball action figures released.

The Kenner Baseball Starting Lineup Figures

In 1986 Pat McInally had two hours of discussions with Kenner on his proposal to produce action figures based on sports personalities. The reaction from Kenner was overwhelming, but how were they to get the licensing rights?

Luckily, as an ex-professional football player Pat proved to be the key mover here as well and within a week he had commitments in hand for all the 3 major U.S sporting Leagues and so the Starting Lineup brand was born.

The figures were sold in cases of 16 figures which were approx 4-inches in height. Each of the figures also came with one or more trading cards, and occasionally another keepsake such as a mini-poster or medallion.

There were a limited number of poses a figure could have, which was initially 10, for each sport but in 1993 and 1995 Kenner introduced a number of new poses. They also limited articulation with joints at the shoulders, neck and waist and a base that resembled a part of the football field.

The Baseball figures came in blue blister packs as each sport was "color coded". Initially they were primarily sold to large retail stores and the sets were produced regionally which created large sets, however Kenner noticed that they were actually selling more to hobby dealers than toy stores.

This caused them to change their marketing strategy, and greatly reduce the number of figures per set. They also began to introduce variations of some of the figures with low production runs, thereby creating the "chase" figure into the hobby.

The first set was released in 1988 and consisted of 124 figures, a 5 player stand and a mail in baseball.

Kenner/Hasbro continued to produce the Sarting Lineup baseball figures until 2000.

What Were The Pro-Zone Baseball Figures?

In 1997 and '98 Playmates released a series of 13-inch Pro Zone figures. Designed to interact with the bases that were sold separately they featured Intelli-Tronic resistor technology which when activated played recordings of Sports Commentator Stuart Scott as he announced player the players stats and achievements.

Several figures could interact with each stand, e.g. the Randy Johnson figure was packaged with the stand but other figures that worked with the pitching mound included Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez. Figures of Roger Clemens, Nomar Garciaparra, Ichiro and Jason Giambi were planned but apparently never released.

Do You Have Any Action Flats?

In 1989 and '99 Topps release two series of Action Flat figures which were 3-inch figures that came with a foiled Topps card of the featured player. However these figures never caught on and were discontinued after the second series.

McFarlane Awarded The MLN Baseball Figure License

Then, much to the pleasure and delight of fans and collectors, McFarlane Toys were granted the exclusive license. McFarlane substantially raised the bar on the quality, detail and authenticity of their baseball figures which were picture perfect.

McFarlane Toys had already won many awards for the quality and sculpting of their figures and full body scans were used to get accurate 3-D models of the athletes.

McFarlanes Series 1 MLB Baseball figures were released in 2002 and consisted of 8 player with a further 10 chase figures!

• Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals
• Ichiro Suzuki - Seattle Mariners
• Ivan Rodriguez - Texas Rangers
• Mike Piazza - New York Mets
• Pedro Martinez - Boston Red Sox
• Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks
• Sammy Sosa - Chicago Cubs
• Shawn Green - Los Angeles Dodgers

• Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals Chase
• Ichiro Suzuki - Seattle Mariners Chase
• Ichiro Suzuki - Seattle Mariners Variant
• Ivan Rodriguez - Texas Rangers Chase
• Mike Piazza - New York Mets Chase
• Pedro Martinez - Boston Red Sox Variant
• Pedro Martinez - Boston Red Sox Chase
• Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks Chase
• Sammy Sosa - Chicago Cubs Chase
• Shawn Green - Los Angeles Dodgers Variant
• Shawn Green - Los Angeles Dodgers Chase

Many people have felt that McFarlane has been taking advantage of collectors for a long time with his policy on chase figures and as a result it has recently been changed so that each series now consists of 6/7 base figures with one or two "chase" figures in order to keep each series "do-able".

Gracelyn Re-plays Baseball Figures

Gracelyn have been producing excellent, high quality NFL Football figures since 2006 and have so far released four series of figures so it was great to hear that in 2008 they would be releasing their first series of MLB Baseball figures.

Although a relatively unheard of company Gracelyn's figures are of a superb quality and excellent standard. I would even go as far as saying the are one of the best Sports figures on the market and unlike most other Baseball figures these are truly "action figures" that are fully poseable with articulation on the head, arms, upper swivel arms, elbows, wrists, waist, legs, knees, and ankles.

Each of these 6-inch figures is solidly made from very high quality materials, is well-assembled with carefully applied and professional paintwork. They also come with a base but this isn’t required as they stand perfectly well on their own.

You should be able to get these baseball figures from most major retailers, i.e. Toys R Us, Wal-mart etc, and I would certainly recommend you check them out.

I think Gracelyn deserve a lot more credit and exposure for these sports figures and I would hate to see them discontinued due to a lack of support or sales.

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2010

IN STORES MARCH 2010

COOPERSTOWN SERIES 7

• Tony Gwynn -- San Diego Padres
• Carl Yastrzemski -- Boston Red Sox
• Joe Morgan -- Cincinnati Reds
• Babe Ruth -- New York Yankees
• Thurman Munson -- New York Yankees

IN STORES MAY 2010

MLB SERIES 26

• CC Sabathia -- New York Yankees
• Tim Lincecum -- San Francisco Giants
• Kevin Youkilis -- Boston Red Sox
• Evan Longoria -- Tampa Bay Rays
• Victor Martinez -- Boston Red Sox
• Prince Fielder -- Milwaukee Brewers
• Albert Pujols -- St. Louis Cardinals

2009

MLB SERIES 25

• JOBA CHAMBERLAIN
• MARK TEIXEIRA
• JOSH HAMILTON
• RUSSELL MARTIN
• JACOBY ELLSBURY
• JOSE REYES
• MANNY RAMIREZ

Release Date

June 2009

MLB SERIES 24 (2009 WAVE 1)

• DEREK JETER 4
• JIMMY ROLLINS
• JOHAN SANTANA
• JOSH BECKETT 2
• KOSUKE FUKUDOME
• ALEX RODRIGUEZ 5
• MIKE LOWELL
• TORII HUNTER 2

Release Date

May 2009

MLB 2009 TRU EXCLUSIVE ASSORTMENT (SERIES 23)

• CARLOS ZAMBRANO
• CHIPPER JONES 2
• DUSTIN PEDROIA
• JUSTIN UPTON
• JORGE POSADA 3
• MIGUEL CABRERA

Release Date

April 2009

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL SERIES 7

DAVID ORTIZ ALBERT PUJOLS RYAN HOWARD MANNY RAMIREZ DERREK LEE DEREK JETER

Release Date

March 2009

MLB COOPERSTOWN 2009 (SERIES 6)

• BABE RUTH 3
• THURMAN MUNSON
• CARL YASTRZEMSKI
• TONY GWYNN
• JOE MORGAN

Release Date

March 2010

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

DEREK JETER COLLECTOR'S EDITION

NEW YORK YANKEES 2-PACK: DEREK JETER & ALEX RODRIGUEZ

JACKIE ROBINSON DAY 3-PACK

2008

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 22

• DEREK JETER 4
• CARLOS LEE
• CURT SCHILLING 3
• JOSE REYES
• ICHIRO 3
• ANDRUW JONES 2

Release Date

June 2008

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 21

• NOMAR GARCIAPARRA 4
• DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
• JORGE POSADA 2
• MICHAEL YOUNG
• JOE MAUER
• ALFONSO SORIANO 3

Release Date

April 2008

COOPERSTOWN SERIES 5

• DENNIS ECKERSLEY
• HANK AARON
• MICKEY MANTLE 2
• MIKE SCHMIDT
• RYNE SANDBERG
• TY COBB

Release Date

February 2008

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 20

• CHASE UTLEY
• BARRY ZITO
• CHIEN-MING WANG
• KEVIN YOUKILIS
• GARY SHEFFIELD
• PAUL KONERKO

Release Date

February 2008

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL SERIES 6

• MARIANO RIVERA 2
• JONATHAN PAPELBON
• DAVID WRIGHT
• BARRY ZITO
• ALBERT PUJOLS 3
• RYAN HOWARD

Release Date

February 2008

BC SPORTS MLB EXCLUSIVE: RYAN HOWARD

BC SPORTS MLB EXCLUSIVE: CHASE UTLEY

BC SPORTS MLB EXCLUSIVE: COLE HAMELS

MARIANO RIVERA COLLECTOR'S EDITION

MLB 2-PACK: MICKEY MANTLE & ROGER MARIS

FANFEST 2008: DON MATTINGLY

FANFEST 2008: DEREK JETER

BOSTON RED SOX 3-PACK 2

NEW YORK METS 3-PACK

2007

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 19

• ANDY PETTITTE
• ALBERT PUJOLS 3
• JOHNNY DAMON 2
• JONATHAN PAPELBON
• PRINCE FIELDER
• PEDRO MARTINEZ 2
• SCOTT KAZMIR

Release Date

July 2007

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 18

• BRANDON WEBB
• DAVID ORTIZ 2
• DAVID WRIGHT
• JUSTIN VERLANDER
• MARIANO RIVERA 2
• RYAN HOWARD

Release Date

June 2007

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 17

• JOSH BECKETT 2
• JIM THOME (White Sox)
• ROBINSON CANO
• ERIC CHAVEZ
• BILLY WAGNER (Mets)
• TROY GLAUS (Blue Jays)

Release Date

February 2007

COOPERSTOWN SERIES 4

• JOE DIMAGGIO
• JOHNNY BENCH
• TED WILLIAMS
• ROGER MARIS
• STEVE CARLTON
• OZZIE SMITH

Release Date

February 2007

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL SERIES 5

• ANDRUW JONES 2
• DEREK JETER 2
• DERREK LEE
• IVAN RODRIGUEZ
• JOSH BECKETT
• JIM EDMONDS
• JASON GIAMBI 2
• MIKE PIAZZA
• MANNY RAMIREZ 2
• ORLANDO HUDSON
• PAT BURRELL
• PEDRO MARTINEZ

Release Date

February 2007

DAVID ORTIZ COLLECTOR'S EDITION

3-INCH CONOR JACKSON

3-INCH STEPHEN DREW

FANFEST 07: BARRY BONDS

FANFEST 07: REGGIE JACKSON

3-INCH BRANDON WEBB

3-INCH JOSE REYES

BARRY BONDS (756TH HOME RUN COMMEMORATIVE FIGURE)

CHICAGO CUBS 3-PACK

NEW YORK YANKEES 3-PACK 2

2006

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 16

• CRAIG BIGGIO
• MANNY RAMIREZ 2
• SCOTT PODSEDNIK
• GARY SHEFFIELD
• VICTOR MARTINEZ
• JAKE PEAVY

Release Date

July 2006

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 15

• DERREK LEE
• ANDRUW JONES 2
• RICHIE SEXSON (MARINERS)
• JOHAN SANTANA
• MIGUEL CABRERA
• CHAD CORDERO
• CARLOS DELGADO

Release Date

May 2006

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL SERIES 4

• ALEX RODRIGUEZ 2
• CARLOS BELTRAN
• GARRET ANDERSON
• DONTRELLE WILLIS
• DAVID ORTIZ
• KERRY WOOD
• MARIANO RIVERA
• ALBERT PUJOLS 2
• KEN GRIFFEY JR.
• JASON VARITEK
• JOHN SMOLTZ
• ALFONSO SORIANO
• JIM THOME
• BILLY WAGNER
• HIDEKI MATSUI
• CURT SCHILLING 2

Release Date

February 2006

COOPERSTOWN SERIES 3

Figures

• MICKEY MANTLE
• CARLTON FISK
• JACKIE ROBINSON
• DON MATTINGLY
• ROBERTO CLEMENTE
• NOLAN RYAN 2

Release Date

February 2006

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 14

• MARK MULDER (Cardinals)
• BOBBY ABREU
• ARAMIS RAMIREZ
• JEFF KENT
• JASON VARITEK 2
• ALEX RODRIGUEZ 4

Release Date

February 2006

COLLECTOR'S EDITION ROGER CLEMENS (ASTROS)

COLLECTOR'S EDITION ROGER CLEMENS (YANKEES)

MLB COMMEMORATIVE 2-PACK: BARRY BONDS & BABE RUTH

FANFEST 2006: ROBERTO CLEMENTE

FANFEST 2006: WILLIE STARGELL

3-INCH DAVID WRIGHT

COOPERSTOWN COLLECTOR'S EDITION MICKEY MANTLE

COOPERSTOWN COLLECTOR'S EDITION BABE RUTH

NEW YORK YANKEES 3-PACK

BOSTON RED SOX 3-PACK

2005

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 13: EXTENDED EDITION

• RANDY JOHNSON 3
• PEDRO MARTINEZ 2
• MOISES ALOU
• LARRY WALKER 2

Release Date

August 2005

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL SERIES 3

• ALEX RODRIGUEZ 2
• ROGER CLEMENS
• SAMMY SOSA
• FRANK THOMAS
• JIM EDMONDS
• ERIC GAGNE
• CURT SCHILLING
• ICHIRO 2
• DEREK JETER
• RANDY JOHNSON 2
• PEDRO MARTINEZ
• NOMAR GARCIAPARRA 3

Release Date

July 2005

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 12

• TOM GLAVINE
• DAVID ORTIZ
• ADRIAN BELTRE
• CARLOS BELTRAN
• NOMAR GARCIAPARRA 2
• MIKE MUSSINA
• SCOTT ROLEN 2
• ERIC GAGNE 2

Release Date

June 2005

COOPERSTOWN 12-INCH

• 12-Inch CAL RIPKEN JR.
• 12-Inch BABE RUTH 2

Release Date

May 2005

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 11

• ALEX RODRIGUEZ 3
• KEN GRIFFEY JR. 2
• MARK PRIOR 2
• ROY HALLADAY
• BILLY WAGNER
• JOHNNY DAMON
• VLADIMIR GUERRERO 2
• MIKE PIAZZA 2

Release Date

April 2005

COOPERSTOWN SERIES 2

• CAL RIPKEN JR.
• MIKE SCHMIDT
• CATFISH HUNTER
• BABE RUTH
• WILLIE MAYS
• WILLIE STARGELL

Release Date

February 2005

MLB HOMEPLATE DIORAMA: JASON VARITEK AND UMPIRE

3-INCH JOSH BECKETT & MIGUEL CABRERA

3-INCH YOGI BERRA & JORGE POSADA

3-INCH FRANK CATALANOTTO & ORLANDO HUDSON

NATIONAL 2005: NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

3-INCH BILLY WAGNER & PAT BURRELL

FANFEST 2005: IVAN RODRIGUEZ

FANFEST 2005: TROY PERCIVAL

12-INCH DEREK JETER 2

3-INCH DONTRELLE WILLIS & PAUL LO DUCA

MLB 2-PACK: CURT SCHILLING & ALBERT PUJOLS

3-INCH DON MATTINGLY

12-INCH BARRY BONDS 2 (WHITE UNIFORM)

12-INCH BARRY BONDS 2 (GRAY UNIFORM)

BARRY BONDS (700TH HOME RUN COMMEMORATIVE FIGURE)

MLB 2-PACK: BARRY BONDS & WILLIE MAYS

12-INCH NOLAN RYAN (ASTROS)

2004

MLB 12-INCH BASEBALL SERIES 1

• 12-Inch NOLAN RYAN
• 12-Inch SAMMY SOSA

Release Date

November 2004

COOPERSTOWN COLLECTION

• BOB GIBSON
• BROOKS ROBINSON
• NOLAN RYAN
• REGGIE JACKSON
• TOM SEAVER
• YOGI BERRA

Release Date

July 2004

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 10

• DEREK JETER 2
• ALBERT PUJOLS 2
• ANDY PETTITTE
• MARK MULDER
• CARLOS DELGADO
• CURT SCHILLING 2
• GARRET ANDERSON
• ROGER CLEMENS
• RAFAEL PALMEIRO

Release Date

June 2004

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL SERIES 2

• NOMAR GARCIAPARRA/TORII HUNTER
• PEDRO MARTINEZ/KEN GRIFFEY JR.
• JORGE POSADA/SCOTT ROLEN
• CURT SCHILLING/HIDEKI MATSUI
• MIKE PIAZZA/KERRY WOOD
• JASON GIAMBI/ALBERT PUJOLS

Release Date

May 2004

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 9

• ANDRUW JONES
• DONTRELLE WILLIS
• MAGGLIO ORDONEZ
• MARIANO RIVERA
• NOMAR GARCIAPARRA 2
• TODD HELTON

Release Date

April 2004

3-INCH MLB BASEBALL

• DEREK JETER/BARRY ZITO
• SAMMY SOSA/CHIPPER JONES
• ALEX RODRIGUEZ/ERIC GAGNE
• ICHIRO/JIM THOME
• RANDY JOHNSON 2/ALFONSO SORIANO
• MARK PRIOR/IVAN RODRIGUEZ

Release Date

March 2004

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 8

• ALEX RODRIGUEZ 2
• ALFONSO SORIANO 2
• HIDEKI MATSUI
• JEFF BAGWELL
• JOHN SMOLTZ
• KEVIN BROWN
• RICHIE SEXSON

Release Date

February 2004

FANFEST 2004: JEFF BAGWELL

FANFEST 2004: ROGER CLEMENS

MLB 2-PACK: TODD HELTON & SAMMY SOSA

MLB 2-PACK: DEREK JETER & NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

2003

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 7

• BERNIE WILLIAMS
• BARRY ZITO
• MARK PRIOR
• RANDY JOHNSON 2
• SCOTT ROLEN
• TROY GLAUS

Release Date

September 2003

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 6

• JIM EDMONDS
• JORGE POSADA
• JIM THOME
• KAZUHISU ISHII
• LUIS GONZALEZ
• MIKE SWEENEY
• SAMMY SOSA 2

Release Date

July 2003

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 5

• ALFONSO SORIANO
• BARRY BONDS 2
• DEREK LOWE
• ERIC GAGNE
• JASON KENDALL
• MIGUEL TEJADA
• PAT BURRELL
• TORII HUNTER

Release Date

June 2003

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 4

• ERIC HINSKE
• ICHIRO 2
• LANCE BERKMAN
• LARRY WALKER
• MATT MORRIS
• TREVOR HOFFMAN

Release Date

March 2003

WORLD SERIES 2002: BARRY BONDS

FANFEST 2003: FRANK THOMAS

FANFEST 2003: SAMMY SOSA

2002

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 3

• ADAM DUNN
• CHIPPER JONES
• CURT SCHILLING
• JASON GIAMBI
• JUAN GONZALEZ
• ROBERTO ALOMAR
• ROY OSWALT
• VLADIMIR GUERRERO

Release Date

August 2002

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 2

• ALEX RODRIGUEZ
• BARRY BONDS
• DEREK JETER
• GREG MADDUX
• KEN GRIFFEY JR.
• KERRY WOOD
• MANNY RAMIREZ
• NOMAR GARCIAPARRA
• ROGER CLEMENS

Release Date

June 2002

MLB BASEBALL SERIES 1

• ALBERT PUJOLS
• ICHIRO
• IVAN RODRIGUEZ
• MIKE PIAZZA
• PEDRO MARTINEZ
• RANDY JOHNSON
• SHAWN GREEN
• SAMMY SOSA

Release Date

March 2002

BIG LEAGUE CHALLENGE: JASON GIAMBI

BIG LEAGUE CHALLENGE: NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

Player Profiles

John Riggins

Mariano Rivera