Action Figure News

McFarlane Toys has redefined its Sports Picks programs. Moving forward, Sports Picks lines involving current athletes will be identified as year-long programs.

The first lines showcasing the new perspective will be the NFL lines this fall. These football lines were originally called NFL 17, 18 and 19. These three series will still ship separately, but will be promoted as one large lineup called Sports Picks: NFL 2008.

By eliminating the series number from the figures, McFarlane believes they are removing a perceived barrier from the potential collector (who might have reservations about starting to collect something that's already in its 17th series), and showcasing the entire season's roster of figures.

The universal packaging for the three "waves" will give all the figures a consistent feel (starting with the first arrivals in early September right through the last shipments in early January), and will keep an early release (for example, Tony Romo from the first wave) from looking different on a peg next to one of the final releases (like Donald Driver from the final wave).

Currently scheduled Sports Picks 2008 figures are as follows:

WAVE 1

Willie Parker
Brett Favre (5)
Reggie Bush (2)
Randy Moss (5)
Tony Romo (2)
Joseph Addai
JaMarcus Russell

WAVE 2

Tom Brady (3)
DeMarcus Ware
Brandon Jacobs
Adrian Peterson
Devin Hester
LaDainian Tomlinson (6)
Ben Roethlisberger (2)

WAVE 3

Clinton Portis (2)
Jay Cutler
Donald Driver
Marion Barber