McFarlane Hockey Figures - NHL Series 8 (Series 10)

Hockey Figures - NHL Series 8 (Series 10)

Series 8 of the NHL McFarlane Sportspicks figures (the eleventh hockey series if you include the two NHLPA and the Team Canada sets) is the second set to be made available to Canadian retailers only. The reasons for this on the spawn.com website is that the interest in the game and the figures in Canada warrants an off-season release!

So, it is understandable that the majority of the teams represented here - five out of six - are Canadian teams. I personally would question why no Oilers representation here but there are two Leafs figures and why has an LA Kings figure been included? But, those questions aside, this looks like yet another quality addition to the overall set of these figures.

The only gripe I do have with this set, and indeed some of the figures in the last few series, is that they are simply repaints of earlier figures with maybe a remolded face to look like the new player. For example, the Ed Belfour here is the Martin Brodeur figure repainted and the Patrick Lalime is the Jocelyn Thibault figure repainted. If you compare the others I think you will find that all are very similar to previous figures - this is understandable for the Chelios figure as it is a repaint of the Red Wings version released as part of Series 7.

Having said that, it is only a minor point and one that I can certainly live with if it means the series continues as a whole - it certainly won’t stop me buying them if I can get hold of them on release. The only fallout is it just means I have to think that bit harder when displaying the figures to ensure two different players in the same pose don’t end up next to each other!

With news of 3-inch versions of some of the past figures from this range, two more ‘general release’ series and the intriguing NHL Legends line all coming to stores in 2004, the NHL figures section of the McFarlane Sportspicks range just seem to be going from strength to strength and as long as they are releasing them I will continue to cover - and no doubt, buy - them.

PD - 22/02/04

all pictures from www.spawn.com