SERIES 32

ProStars Series 32 was officially released on the 24th April 2006, i remember the series being sold at the 2006 Corinthian Convention at Villa Park and although i was not far off from the front of the queue, when it came my turn to be served the vast majority of these blisters were already sold out!

 

 

Speaking to the Corinthian staff they explained the reason being is a lot of the resellers and stores were in attendance and had already sold their allocations so a lot of stock went to them and they also admitted they just did not bring enough stock with them!

 

 

Some excellent first time sculpts are included in this series however i have to start with the star of the range which is a brand new sculpt of Ronaldinho. For me this is one of the finest and most detailed sculpts Corinthian produced, with Ronny being in Barcelona home kit, the away kit figure would feature in the Barcelona Champions Of Europe 2006 team pack. Corinthian knew demand for this new Ronaldinho would be high, so they made 9,003 blisters which is almost treble that of any other blisters in this series and actually accounts for 25% of the entire production run for the series.

 

 

We get the first ProStars figure of Xabi Alonso, here in Liverpool home kit, a highly anticipated figure, with there being just 2,783 blisters made, this is a blister which would become increasingly difficult to locate years down the line, such was the demand for it.

 

 

For Chelsea we have Asier Del Horno, the Spanish left back came with much promise and despite playing well all season he moved back to Spain for the 2006/07 season. Corinthian made just 2,324 Del Horno blisters.

 

 

Before there was Heung-Min Son, Tottenham Hotspurs had full back Young-Pyo Lee in their ranks and it was surprising to see Corinthian make just 1,694 blisters, which was the 3rd lowest in the series. North London rivals Arsenal had Fredrik Ljungberg released, the first time this sculpt was released as a single blister after first being used in the FA Cup Winners pack, with there being 2,242 blisters made.

 

 

Corinthian released an all new sculpt of Dutch goal keeper Edwin Van Der Sar, a vastly improved sculpt and a very popular release, with him being in Manchester United home kit. Production wise they made 2,835 blisters and it proved to be an insufficient amount as his blister has always proven elusive.

 

 

Jared Borgetti made history when he signed for Bolton Wanderers for just £1,000,000 and became the first Mexican to play in the Premier League. Borgetti could never be accused of setting the league on fire, making 19 league appearances and scoring just twice. Corinthian made 1,393 blisters which was the 2nd lowest in the series.

 

 

For Rangers we have Dado Prso in home kit, the sculpt being the same as first seen in Series 24, this was an easy repaint release for Corinthian and they kept production tight, making just 1,154 blisters, the lowest in Series 32.

 

 

Both halves of Milan are represented here as we have another release of Juan Sebastian Veron, here in Inter Milan home kit with Corinthian making 2,807 blisters. For AC Milan we have an all new sculpt of Gennaro Gattuso and this new figure was the 3rd highest blister run in the series, with 3,227 being made.

 

 

Corinthian history was made once again as we have the first ever figure in a regular Prostars series released for Messina, that player being Atsushi Yanagisawa. His first Corinthian appearance was actually in the Japan Collector Club Members 2006 package, with that figure being in away kit. The home kit figure released here in Series 32 is the second highest blister run in the series with 3,407, as Corinthian knew demand from his native Japan would be high.

 

 

Completing the series is Gianluigi Buffon who appears in a regular ProStars series for the first time since Series 20, with Buffon being in Juventus home kit. Corinthian made just 2,477 blisters and that number has resulted in the blister being difficult to find as there were simply not enough made to go around.

 

 

In total Corinthian made 35,346 blisters for Series 32, which was nearly half that of Series 31 and really set the tone for how the ProStars range would go moving forward, as Corinthian drastically reduced the production numbers. The average blister production for this series was just 2,945

 

 

Corinthian produced 2 special redemption figures for Series 32, which are Xabi Alonso for Liverpool and Gennaro Gattuso for AC Milan, 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, with the Alonso proving incredibly difficult to find

 

 

Series 32 was released on the 24th April 2006, 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.