ELITE 2017 EDITION

SoccerStarz celebrated their 5th anniversary in style, by releasing a special edition of the foil bag.

 

​This edition of the Foil Bag is branded as 'ELITE' and the name of the product is not the only change. The Elite foil bag is a far more structured series than we have seen in previous years, with the range consisting of 40 figures, with each figure being produced on 4 different base colours, so there is a total of 160 figures to collect inside the Elite foil bag.

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The 4 base colours the figures are released on inside the bag are Orange, Yellow, Silver and Gold, with each base colour having the same rarity, 25% each. This base colour scheme and rarity structure is a departure from all previous bag editions, time would tell if SoccerStarz would adopt this for future foil bag releases.

 

There are 33 figures in home kit, 2 managers in suits and 5 away kit chasers to collect. The 5 away kit chasers are exclusive to the foil bag and were not released as single blister packs, so the only way to get these away kit figures was inside the Elite Foil Bag!

 

The Elite foil bag features a whole host of new sculpts and first time releases, with all figures being in 2016/17 kit or the new 'Classic' kit, with the only exception being Cesar Azpilicuetta for Chelsea, who is in 2015/16 kit, however as the Chelsea kit is not being updated for the 2016/17 Collection, it is classed as this seasons kit.

 

2 Arsenal figures feature as Hector Bellerin make his SoccerStarz debut in this seasons collection, along with a much improved sculpt of Mesut Ozil. Another improved sculpt is that of Romelu Lukaku for Everton, with Jason Puncheon featuring for Crystal Palace. 

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We have a trio of Leicester City figures, those being Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and the excellent sculpt of Japanese international Shinji Okazaki. These figures are in the same kit as used for the League Winners 2015/16 team pack.

 

The Liverpool trio is highlighted by the first release of promising talent Jordon Ibe, joined by Nathaniel Clyne and Roberto Firmino. For Manchester City we have Sergio Aguero and the debut appearance of manager Pep Guardiola.

 

Manchester United had their over version of the Elite foil bag, with 2 foil bags featuring per 18 piece CDU. Due to this ratio of distribution, collectors reported issues upon release of visiting stockists only to find the Man U foil bags had already been sold. Wayne Rooney is joined by Daley Blind, Morgan Schneiderlin, Anthony Martial and the first release of Jesse Lingard.

 

For Stoke City we have 2 more debutants, as the excellent sculpt of Xherdan Shaqiri is joined by Giannelli Imbula. Tottenham Hotspur fans rejoiced as there is a trio of first time sculpts, with the vastly popular Heung Min Son being joined by the English duo of Eric Dier and Dele Alli.

 

Cheikyou Kouyate for West Ham United is actually an Elite Foil Bag exclusive, as he is in West Ham United classic kit with 1999 badge, whereas the blister pack version has him with the new West Ham United badge on. Completing the English Premier League line up is debutant Venezuelan Salomon Rondon for West Bromwich Albion.

 

The lone representative for the Scottish Premier League is Stuart Armstrong for Celtic, while goal keeper Kevin Trapp flies the flag for Ligue 1 and is in Paris Saint-Germain kit, both figures are first time releases.

 

Atletico Madrid have just one figure included which is goal keeper Jan Oblak, another first time release. Barcelona feature the exciting trio of Neymar Jr, Luis Suarez and Arda Turan, who gets his first club release following his initial release for Turkey as part of the EURO 2016 Panini Superstars Of Football Foil Bag.

 

Real Madrid see Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Toni Kroos joined by the first release of manager Zinedine Zidane, a true legend of the game and one of my personal favourite sculpts.

 

The 5 chaser figures in away kit which are exclusive to the Elite Foil Bag are Willian for Chelsea, Harry Kane for Tottenham Hotspurs, Lionel Messi for Barcelona and Real Madrid attacking duo of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Martin Skrtel in Liverpool 2016/17 home kit was officially cancelled as he left the club and moved to Turkish side Besiktas, however production had already begun for his figure, so the initial wave of Elite Foil Bags did actually contain Skrtel on a Green base in Liverpool 2016/17 home kit, I can only assume the factory took the decision to include the figure as opposed to scrapping it.

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Skrtel was also done in blister with around 2 dozen produced, I was able to acquire the entire stock to help collectors add such a rare blister to their collection.

 

​The SoccerStarz 5th Anniversary Elite Foil Bag was released in late August 2016 and sold in stores such as CO_OP, Smyths, Toys 'R' Us and Tesco, with a RRP of £1.99. Each Elite foil bag contained one randomly packed SoccerStarz figurine and also a collectors check list, so you could keep a check on your collections progress, with Manchester United once again having their own version of the 2017 Edition Foil Bag.

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 The Elite Foil Bag was sold in an 18 piece CDU, with each CDU containing 2 Manchester United foil bags and 16 generic bags.