Background

Upper Deck’s All-Star Vinyl line has quickly become the most popular sports figure collectible line available.  It all began with the LeBrons, and was followed by a trio of NFL quarterbacks.  The latest addition to the All-Star Vinyl family is Pittsburgh Penguins young star – Sidney Crosby.

Sid the Kid is poised to collect several pieces of hardware this offseason, including the Art Ross Trophy…and maybe the Hart Memorial Trophy.  And now, the NHL superstar is immortalized as the first player in the All-Star Vinyl NHL series.  I’m not sure which is more impressive…?

Packaging

Upper Deck has maintained the same formula with the window front box (hidden by a flap with Velcro).  The graphics on the box are the design work of Jeremy Madl (MAD).

The Figure

It was MAD’s design that sculptor Rocco Tartamella brought to 3-D
form.  Crosby is available in two versions – home and away.  For
purposes of this review, we are looking at the home version.  The home
version is limited to 1,500 pieces, while there are 500 away figures.

The vinyl figure stands a little over 11.5” in height.  He has 6 points
of articulation (knees, wrists and shoulders).  Accessories include a
Reebok hockey stick as well as a Penguins hockey helmet.  Crosby can
hold the stick in his right hand and you can display the figure with
or without the helmet (the chinstrap snaps on the side of the helmet).

Our Opinion

There isn’t a bigger star in the game of hockey than Sidney Crosby.
For Upper Deck, it was a no-brainer to begin with the hottest young
star in the league.  Then they went with one of the vinyl toy world’s
most popular designers in MAD to bring the figure to life.  You can
tell that the figure is pretty close to what Crosby actually looks
like.  Of course, since it is a stylized line…it’s not about achieving
an exact likeness.

All of the logos are printed on using decals.  Don’t worry…they won’t
peel off.  I’m just impressed with the tight look they give these
figures.  There wouldn’t be any other way to accomplish this. 

It would be great if they could add helmet visors, since most players
have chosen to wear protective visors.  It might detract from the
figure’s face, so I can see why they passed on it this time.

And if anyone is concerned with a figure on skates, Upper Deck has made
the blades wide enough to support the figure.  Crosby is very stable,
so there should be no balance issues.

You can pick one up at the following:

You'll have to check ebay to find this figure.  The dual pack (home and away) sold out in a record 90 minutes.  That equals the All-Star LeBron that was introduced at the NBA All-Star Game.  The rest sold out in 3 hours.

Sidney Crosby ASV Grades:

Quality: 9/10
Paint: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Hype: 8/10
Fun Factor: 10/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9.4/10