McFarlane Makes The Connection

Over the years we have seen a slew of sports related movies as well as professional athletes making their appearances too. Some of these movies have become cult classics or favorites of collectors who just want more. There have been various card releases, usually pretty basic and often amateurish in design, and it leaves collectors with a bad taste in their mouth.

 

Step in Todd McFarlane, the comic book artist who began with Spiderman in the 1980s and eventually stepped out on his own with Spawn. McFarlane is a true sports fan, bordering on the line of obsessive in some cases. In 1999 he released a trio of figures based on the Hanson Brothers in the movie Slap Shot; this was the first time that collectors could grab up a sports movie related item to proudly add to their collection.

 

Fast forward 12 years and next month McFarlane Toys will be releasing a special Dark Knight Rises piece, Hines Ward in his Gotham Rogue uniform. I know that this was a limited piece that is connected to a blockbuster movie but just think about it, an amazing artist bringing to life our favorite sports movie moments.

 

Who wouldn’t love to see a Longest Yard collection (the 1974 version please)? The Richard Kiel piece would definitely need a voice chip base with his “Hey, I think I broke his fucking neck!” quote. Even build a line dedicated to athletes who played a non-athlete part like Alex Karras as Mongo in Blazing Saddles or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Roger Murdoch in Airplane, this one would also require a voice chip base with "Listen Kid, I've been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I'm out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.".

 

I guess I am just hoping...