1988 SLU Baseball

This 124-piece set was issued by Cincinnati-based Kenner Toy Company. The statues feature top Major League Baseball stars in action poses and are accompanied by a standard-size card of each player. The card front has either a posed or action color shot. The back has biographical and statistical information along with a facsimile signature. This was the first set produced under the Starting Lineup brand. The four modes of distribution for the '88 Baseb… [Read More]

This 124-piece set was issued by Cincinnati-based Kenner Toy Company. The statues feature top Major League Baseball stars in action poses and are accompanied by a standard-size card of each player. The card front has either a posed or action color shot. The back has biographical and statistical information along with a facsimile signature. This was the first set produced under the Starting Lineup brand. The four modes of distribution for the '88 Baseball set were regionally issued team cases (24 pieces), nationally distributed All-Star cases (24 pieces), via a 1-800 number that offered team sets and complete sets, and through the J.C. Penney and Sears catalogs. The retail catalogs offered 72 of the figures in 36 different 2-player combinations. Each player was teamed with another player from their respective team. The Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays were the only teams not to offer 2 player hook-ups due to Tim Raines and George Bell being each of the Canadian teams sole representative in the set. There were two Nationally distributed All-Star cases, an American League and a National League. The American League case consisted of the following 11 players: George Bell, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Roger Clemens, Rickey Henderson, Wally Joyner, Don Mattingly, Eddie Murray, Kirby Puckett, Alan Trammell and Dave Winfield. The 13 players featured in the National League case were Gary Carter, Eric Davis, Andre Dawson, Dwight Gooden, Pedro Guerrero, Tony Gwynn, Dale Murphy, Tim Raines, Mike Schmidt, Mike Scott, Ozzie Smith, Darryl Strawberry and Fernando Valenzuela. Each package that the figure came in also was issued in two variations, one with and one without the All-Star baseball offer. This offer was part of the front of the packaging. This ad wasn’t a sticker; it was a part of the cardboard. The offer that appeared in a yellow starburst type ad right where the cardboard turns into the blue area was for a facsimile autographed baseball of all 24 of the nationally issued All-Star players. The baseball has a current retail value of $15-$35 but was available in 1988 for only five proofs of purchase and $3.99. Some of the key figures in the set include Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken and Nolan Ryan. The values listed below refer to unopened packages. The figures are unnumbered and checklisted below in alphabetical order. [Collapse]