Series 14 should hit stores within the coming days.
Series 15 photos are now available for viewing. The set includes Flames defenseman Dion Pahneuf, Maple Leafs Darcy Tucker, Hurricanes Eric Staal and Canucks goaltender Roberto
Luongo. Set release date is scheduled for June 2007.
March 3, 2007 - Phoenix Coyotes announces second NHL SportsPicks arena giveaway figure
The second giveaway figure in the series is goalie Curtis Joseph. It will be given away to all fans on March 15 at Jobing.com Arena, versus the San Jose Sharks. Cujo will be sculpted in the coyotes away white uniform with the commemorative Decade in the Desert patch.
Early this season,
McFarlane Toys announced that it has partnered with the Phoenix Coyotes for a series of NHL action figure in-arena giveaways for the 2006-07 season.
For your chance to win a Cujo figure from the spawn.com website, click here, contest ends March 22, 2007.
January 20, 2007 - Sportspicks first-ever NHL event exclusive figure
McFarlane Toys annouced eary December, 2006 that it will be selling an exclusive Mike Modano figure during the 2007 NHL allstar game week. The Mike Modano figure is the first-ever McFarlane Toys NHL Event Exclusive. The Modano figure will sell for $15 with a limited production run of 3,000 figures and have him posing hoisting the Stanley Cup.
McFarlane Toys is co-sponsoring the 2007 NHL All-Star Trading Card and Memorabilia Show at the NorthPark Mall in Dallas, Texas on January 20 and 21, 2007.
January 10, 2007 - Canadian exclusive NHL SportsPicks boxed sets
Wal-Mart Canada exclusive NHL 3-packs of the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators are still on pace for April, 2007.
NHL Series 15 may not be carried at standard U.S. retail. U.S. specialty and online retailers will be allowed to order this product. NHL 15 is due in stores in late June.
NHL Series 16, a hybrid line-up, featuring two current stars and two players from the Legends series is due in stores late August.
NHL 17 is expected to be ready for late October.
A Four-figure line-up of NHL Legends 5 will hit stores in mid December.
November 11, 2006 -
2007 NHL SportsPicks
schedule
Original plans for 2007 was series 14, 15 and Legends 5. McFarlane Toys however, wanted to have thier product on store shelves year round particularly in Canada, where the Canadian only series 5, 8 and 11 sold well.
NHL Series 14, originally a six figure set, is now a four figure set, due in stores in mid-March. Simon Gagne and Eric Staal has been removed. Both figures however, are in the plans to be released in a later upcoming series.
Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa Canadian Walmart NHL Exclusive 3-packs are due in stores early April.
NHL Series 15, 16, 17 and Legends 5 will also be four figure series, with seires 16 featuring two current stars and two players from the Legends series. NHL Series 15 is due in stores in late June,
NHL Series 16 is due in stores in late August,
NHL Series 17 in late October and NHL Legends 5 in mid-December.
November 10, SportsPicks Hockey Rink
Its finally here..! A SportsPicks Hockey Rink to display your figures. Measuring
45 inches wide by 33 inches deep with 12 interlocking pieces of connecting ice base, it will have close to 200 peg holes for displaying and positioning SportsPicks figures. The rink weighing approximately 10 pounds is sold only through the Spawn Store starting mid December, 2006.
November 8, 2006 - Phoenix Coyotes announces NHL SportsPicks arena giveaway figure
McFarlane Toys has announced its first NHL SportsPicks arena giveaway figure. A 3-inch figure of Jeremy Roenick will be given away to all fans on Dec. 21 at Jobing.com Arena. Roenick is featured wearing the Coyotes burgundy home uniform with the commemorative Decade in the Desert patch.
November 1, 2006 - NHL Legends Series 4 update
McFarlane Toys unveiled photos for the upcoming NHL Legends Series 4. Scheduled for release in mid December 2006, the set features six Hockey Hall of Famers.
The set include figures of
Darryl Sittler,
Bobby Clarke,
Gilbert Perrault,
Bobby Hull, a cup hoisting Wayne Gretzky and an
overtime goal scoring diving Bobby Orr.
The Gilbert Perreault figure will be the Buffalo Sabres first SportsPicks figure. This leaves only the Florida Panthers as the only NHL team without a SportsPicks figure.
Scheduled to hit Canadian Walmart toy shelves this October 2006 and March 2007are NHL SportsPicks three-packs. These will ba a Canadian walmart retail exclusive and may also be offered from the spawn.com website for American and International customers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs boxed set includes figures of
Captain Mats Sundin, Tie Domi and Tomas Kaberle. The Edmonton Oilers boxed set includes figures of Captain
Jason Smith, Ales Hemsky and Chris Pronger. The Montreal Canadiens boxed set includes figures of Captain
Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder and goaltender David Aebischer.
The 2007 Spring March team threepacks are of the remaining three Canadian NHL teams.
The Vancouver Canucks boxed set includes figures of Captain Markus Naslund, Trevor Linden and goaltender Roberto Luongo. The Calgary Flames boxed set includes figures of Captain Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. The Ottawa Senators boxed set includes figures of Captain Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley & Jason Spezza.
August 1, 2006 - Series 14
The final lineup for for NHL Series 14 has been released. The set includes Eric Staal, Henrik Zetterberg, Sidney Crosby, Simon Gagne, Markus Naslund and two figures of Curtis Joseph. The initial lineup included Montreal Canadiens winger Alexei Kovalev but was replaced possibly for the Eric Staal figure.
The first of two Curtis Joseph figures will feature him in his current Phoenix Coyotes uniform. The second figure will feature Joseph as an Edmonton Oilers.
NHL Series 14 is scheduled to hit stores in May 2007.
May 1, 2006 - Series 13
NHL Series 13 has been set. The set includes figures of Dany Heatley,
Bryan McCabe,
Alex Tanguay,
Joe Thoronton, rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
NHL Series 13 is scheduled to hit stores in October 2006.
January 16, 2006 - Team Canada Special and 3-Inch NHL Hockey Series 3 in stores now
The Team Canada exclusive series and the 3-Inch NHL Hockey Series 3 has hit stores shelves! ...and yes! There are insert chase figures for both series...!
Early confirmed Team Canada exclusive series insert chase figures include a red Gretzky, red Iginla and a red Brodeur.
Confirmed 3-Inch NHL Hockey Series 3 Insert chase figures include a Maple Leafs Belfour, Flames Iginla, Kings Roenick, Maple Leafs Sundin and a Canadiens Theodore. Regular figures in the set includes an Oilers Pronger, Stars Turco, Red Wings Lidstrom, Devils Mogilny, Rangers Jagr, Red Wings Yzerman, Wild Gaborik,Flyewrs Forsberg, Blackhawks Khabibulin and a Canucks Linden. Missing from the original announced lineup include figures of Hossa and Roberts.
Whats also been discovered is that 3-Inch NHL Hockey Series 3 figures are packaged using two different hook hole styles. With one style being the common "J" hook style and the othe being a diamond shape style hole. So far, Canadian retailer Zellers, seems to be carrying the diamond shape style hole packaged figures.
January 14, 2006 - Series 12 update
NHL Series 12 Images are up. Drawing the most attention obviously will be the highly anticipated Sidney Crosby figure. Paul Kariya will be sculpted in a new pose and all figures are all in uniform with their new teams.
NHL Series 12 is scheduled for a April 2006 release.
January 7, 2006 - New Series 2 variant figure discovered
Never seen or thought to exist before, this figure may be a pre-production sample that somehow leaked out into the public.
All series 1 goalie figures had team logo printed bottle variant figures, so maybe during the pre-production stage of series 2, (series two goalie figures) were supposed to be packaged with logo bottles. Up until that time, (SportsPicks) TMP International, Inc. has also started switching all goalie bottles to Powerade blue bottles. This may also be a recent reproduced figure - rumor has it that TMP International, Inc. occasionally reproduces past popular figures, no truth to this rumor has ever been confirmed.
No one knows for sure at this moment about this figure. Real or fake... SportsPicks, TMP International, Inc. has yet to confirm anything about this figure and it may turn out to be a one of a kind.
December 12, 2005 - Series 10 in stores now with a surprise!
NHL Series 10 landed on store shelves over the weekend and once again McFarlane Toys has presented us with another surprise bonus figure. This time a retro Minnesota North Stars Mike Modano figure! Modano is geared up in his early 1990's away green uniform. No Jarome Iginla chase is yet to surface and may not exist. 12-Inch NHL Hockey Series 2 which crashed store shelves earlier this month are also currently in stores.
December 1, 2005 - Series 12
Last October, Spawn.com released the initial line-up for NHL Series 12. The line-up so far includes; Sidney Crosby, Peter Forsberg, Paul Kariya, Nikolai Khabibulun, Chris Pronger and Jeremy Roenick all in uniform with their new teams. One can assume the line-up is not official as it is not yet posted on the spawn.com hockey figures product page.
12-Inch NHL Hockey Series 2 which features
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman and Devils goaltender Martin
Brodeur in their Stanley Cup
hoisting poses, are currently in stores.
November 9, 2005 - 2005 fall release schedule
After a year delay, NHL Series 10 will hit stores late mid-December. 12-Inch NHL Hockey Series 2 should be in store shelves these coming weeks, as it is scheduled for a November release.
CBC's Hockey Night In Canada co-host Don Cherry has been
added to the NHL
Legends Series 3 lineup. Scheduled to be released
this upcoming fall, the series also includes Bobby Orr, Marcel
Dionne, Pete Mahovlich, Wayne Gretzky and goaltender Tony
Esposito. The original lineup featured Sabres superstar Gilbert
Perreault and two figures of Wayne Gretzky but since has been
altered to fit in Orr and Cherry. Photos
are not available at this moment but prototypes are under
production.
June
15, 2005 - Series 11 and In The Crease in stores now across
Canada
In
the Crease, the Wal-Mart Canada exclusive
limited boxed set containing three of the league's top goalies
hit the shelves last weekend. The set includes figures of
Ed Belfour of the Toronto Maple Leafs, new Ottawa Senators
goaltender Dominik Hasek and Roberto Luongo wearing his team
Canada gear. With the NHL and NHLPA labour battles in the
way, many Canadian Wal-Marts ordered less then 3 cases.
Also released is the Canadian-direct NHL
Hockey Series 11 which feature players
from Canadian NHL teams including the old Winnipeg Jets. The
line-up includes Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, Edmonton
Oilers Ales Hemsky, Montreal Canadiens Michael Ryder, Toronto
Maple Leafs Joe Nieuwendyk, Vancouver Canucks Ed Jovanovski
and Nikolai Khabibulin in his old Winnipeg Jets gear.
April
21, 2005 - Legends Series 2 in stores now
NHL
Hockey Legends Series 2 are
currently in stores. The surprise figure in this set is the
Phil Esposito chase figure as a New York Rangers in the briefly
worn 70's logo jersey.
Many collectors who open their figures
seem to have a hard time putting together the Grant Fuhr net,
citing that the netting is too tight and makes assembling
the goal posts an uneasy challenge. McFarlane Toys has responded
on the Spawn board to forward your problems to their customer
service and a possible replacement is possible. http://board.spawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154509.
March
05, 2005 - Bobby Orr added to Hockey Legends Series 3 lineup
Bobby
Orr has been added to the NHL
Legends Series 3 lineup which is scheduled to be
released this upcoming fall. Other Hall of Famers in the set
alongside Bobby Orr includes Marcel Dionne, Pete Mahovlich,
goaltender Tony Esposito and two figures of Wayne Gretzky.
Sabres superstar Gilbert Perreault originally included in
the lineup will be featured in a future Legends SportsPicks
set. Photos are still not available at this moment.
In
the Crease, the limited-edition three goalie
figure boxed set announced in January, exclusive to WalMart
Canada stores and spawn.com,
now has photos
available for viewing.
McFarlane Toys has announced a release of
a Team
Canada Special. Aside from a September
2005 scheduled release date, no further details or images
are available at this point. The set includes figures of Wayne
Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, Martin Brodeur,
Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla. Few of the
best to ever play the game but are you beginning to get sick
of all the Sakic's, Gretzky's and Lemieux's?
NHL
Hockey Legends Series 3 lineup has been announced.
The set includes Tony Esposito, Gilbert Perrault, Marcel Dionne,
Peter Mahovlich and two figures of Wayne Gretzky. The set
is scheduled for a November 2005 release. No photos available
at this moment.
The release date for McFarlane NHL SportsPicks
Series
10 has been confirmed on hold and will not
be released until NHL players are back on NHL ice. As posted
on January 14, 2005 on the spawn.com
website, McFarlane Toys has shifted some of their NHL SportsPicks
release dates accordingly. As stated earlier in the September
News, this may have to do with the money generated by NHL
merchandising. NHL
Series 11 will be released as planned
in the summer. It would be odd if Series
11 comes out before Series
10. NHL
Hockey Legends Series 2 remains on schedule for
April.
In other News, Wal-Mart Canada has announced that they will
be offering a boxed set containing three of the league's top
goalies in May, 2005. The three figure set includes Ed Belfour
of the Toronto Maple Leafs, new Ottawa Senators goaltender
Dominik Hasek and Roberto Luongo wearing his team Canada gear.
McFarlane Toys is still working on a way to offer this package
direct to American hockey fans. Photos for this product are
not yet available.
November
30, 2004 - Series 9 in stores now
McFarlane NHL SportsPicks Series
9
are currently in stores. So far the surprise is a Brett Hull
figure in his St. Louis Blues uniform. Other unique chase
variants include Brian Leetch in his New York Rangers Uniform
and Joe Sakic in the third avalache jersey.
With the release of the Wayne
Gretzky 12" blue paint variation figure
exclusive only to WalMart Canada, the 6" white chase
variant figure trading value has dropped over the past few
weeks, selling around the $50 to $75 CND range. The Gretzky
12" blue paint variation figure sells well around the
$75 to $120 CND range.
Photos for the NHL
Hockey Legends Series 2 which will feature Wayne
Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, Phil Esposito, Mike Bossy and Jean Beliveau
are now available for viewing.
The 3-Inch
NHL Hockey Series 2 and the Heritage
Classic 2-pack featuring Edmonton Oilers captain
Jason Smith and Montreal Canadians goalie Jose Theodore should
hit retail shelves in the coming weeks.
November
09, 2004 - Legends are here
SportsPicks NHL
Hockey Legends Series 1 are finally in stores.
Many collectors (and scalpers) are rapidly scooping up all
the Oilers Wayne Gretzky, Gerry Cheevers and Oilers 12"
Wayne Gretzky figures. Grab one while you can. The Wayne Gretzky
Oilers chase figure is certainly going to thin up most collectors
wallets as it currently sells at a steady $100 CND.
Now, get ready for this... McFarlane Toys recently
announced that there is a special Wayne Gretzky 12" paint
variation specifically for the Canadian market! Exclusive
only from WalMart Canada, it will feature an Oilers
Wayne Gretzky in his blue uniform. WalMart
Canada will also have the regular white Oilers and black Kings
Gretzky 12" figures. They are expected to hit Canadian
WalMart shelves late November.
McFarlane Toys has also released the next line-up
of its NHL Hockey SportsPicks 12" figures.
12" Series 2 will include
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman and Devils goaltender Martin
Brodeur. Both figures will be featured in their Stanley Cup
hoisting poses. Both figures are scheduled for a March 2005
release.
November
07, 2004 - Customizer Jomo featured in Beckett magazine
The current issue of Beckett
Hockey Collector features an article of SportsPicks customizer
Joe Ingraffia, more commonly known in the Sportspicks world
as Jomo. In the article titled Plastic
Surgery, Jomo explains how he got started
and acknowledges his enjoyment in creating Sportspicks customs.
He also offers special tips and helpful suggestions in the
article for anyone who is curious and wanting to start their
own Sportspicks customizing. Jomo is often seen posting on
the Spawn Boards helping other fellow board members.
September
27, 2004 - Canadian-direct Series 11 line-up announced
McFarlane Toys has announced
its third Canadian-direct NHL SportsPicks line-up. NHL
Hockey Series 11 will feature players
from Canadian teams including the now defunct Winnipeg Jets.
The line-up includes Miikka Kiprusoff, Ales Hemsky, Michael
Ryder, Joe Nieuwendyk, Ed Jovanovski and Nikolai Khabibulin
as a Winnipeg Jets. NHL
Series 11 is scheduled for release
in April 2005.
Rumour has it, that no new NHL SportsPicks figures
will be released until the NHL and NHLPA CBA labour dispute
is solved according to a card and comic store owner in The
Toronto area. This may have to do with the money generated
by NHL merchandising.
September
6, 2004 - 3-Inch Hockey Six-Pack Exclusive
Confirmed last month, McFarlane Toys
are releasing two six-pack
assortments of the 3-Inch NHL SportsPicks figures. All
figures are from the previously released 3-Inch
NHL Hockey Series 1 line-up. The first six-pack assortment
includes Hull, Sundin, Brodeur, Roenick, Forsberg and Thornton.
The second assortment includes Sakic, Lemieux, Iginla, Modano, Giguere
and Koivu. Both six-pack assortments will be sold as exclusives
only from the Westfair Grocers chain in Canada. The sets will be
available in October 2004.
Wondering what happened to the
Markus
Naslund figure in the previously announced McFarlane
NHL SportsPicks Series
10 line-up and where did the Jarome
Iginla figure come from? The Calgary Flames
sudden surprise charge towards the Stanley Cup finals last spring
and McFarlane Toys plans to create a new pose for the Naslund figure
resulted in the swap. The Naslund figure will be available in a
future NHL SportsPicks Series. The original line-up also included
Zigmund Palffy and Henrik Zetterberg figures which are now replaced
with the current Martin St. Louis and Robert Lang figures.
The release date of McFarlane NHL SportsPicks Series
9 has been re-scheduled to November 2004 and Series
10 probably won't be ready until late December 2004.
Series
9 features Brian Leetch, Sergei Fedorov, Andrew Raycroft,
Daniel Alfredsson, Pavel Datsyuk and re-sculpts of Martin Brodeur,
Mats Sundin and Joe Sakic. The original line-up included goaltender
Brian Boucher which is now replaced with Andrew Raycroft. Series
10 features Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, Robert Lang,
David Aebischer and re-sculpts of Jarome Iginla, Jaromir Jagr, Joe
Thornton and Jose Theodore.
McFarlane Toys has announced a Heritage
Classic 2-pack featuring Edmonton Oilers captain Jason
Smith and Montreal Canadians goalie Jose Theodore will hit stores
by December 2004.
In the works is the highly anticipated hockey
fight scene boxed set. Details are not yet announced
to the public.
April
25, 2004 - Dionne, Mahovlich, Cournoyer and Cheevers added to Hockey
Legends lineup
McFarlane Toys announced that hockey
legends Marcel
Dionne, Frank
Mahovlich, Yvan
Cournoyer and Gerry
Cheevers has agreed to appear in the upcoming McFarlane's
SportsPicks NHL
Hockey Legends lineup that already includes Wayne
Gretzky. The licensing agreement allows McFarlane Toys
to produce figures from 3 to 18 inches with worldwide distribution.
In other news, McFarlane Toys will be exhibiting at the Sportcard
and Memorabilia Spring Expo, where you will be able to
see a SportsPicks hockey legends Frank Mahovlich prototype on display.
The Sportcard and Memorabilia Spring Expo runs from Friday, April
30 through May 2, 2004, at the Toronto International Centre, 6900
Airport Road, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
April
6, 2004 - Gretzky is officially part of the McFarlane's SportsPicks
Hockey Legends lineup
It's true... the dream of almost all
McFarlane SportsPicks hockey collectors is now a reality. Wayne
Gretzky will be part of initial McFarlane's SportsPicks
NHL
Hockey Legends line for series one. The Great One
will be featured in several poses in his Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles
Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers uniforms. The McFarlane's
SportsPicks Wayne Gretzky figures will debut as part of a larger
hockey legends line scheduled for release in September 2004. McFarlane
Toys also got licensing rights to produce future Wayne Gretzky figures
for the 3, 12 & 18 inches sized series. The rest of the lineup
for the McFarlane's SportsPicks NHL
Hockey Legends series is still yet to announced to the
public.
February
17, 2004 - Canadian Hockey Trader forum
Canadian
Hockey Trader is a ProBoard
site made mainly for Canadian traders and collectors. With over
50 registered members and growing, this site offers free usage of
message boards where you can sell, trade or discuss McFarlane SportsPicks
related topics. All trading transactions are between the sender
and receiver. From the looks of it, American traders and collectors
are also welcomed as it offers Americans a chance of trading for
the upcoming Canadian only Series
8.
In other news, Mcfarlane SportsPicks has announced a NHL
Hockey Legends series is under development. Figure lineup
will be announced at a later date and is scheduled for a September
2004 release. McFarlane NHL SportsPicks Series
8 will hitting retailers around mid-April. McFarlane
NHL SportsPicks Series
9 is scheduled for October 2004 and Series
10 for December 2004. Lastly, McFarlane SportsPicks 3-Inch
NHL Hockey Series 1 will be available early March and
the 3-Inch
NHL Hockey Series 2 is scheduled for November 2004.
January
20, 2004 - Series 7 in stores now
McFarlane NHL SportsPicks Series
7 are currently in stores. It seems like alot of collectors
are scooping up the Giguere, Forsberg and Bertuzzi figures. Figures
are selling well, and range from the $10 CND to $16 CND. Many retailers
are also reporting a doubled chase figure insert rate in series 7,
with many cases having 2 chase figures. It seems like the hot figure
in this set is the Nordiques chase Forsberg, selling well in the Toronto
area for a decent $50 CND.
