Corinthian ProStars
Club gold
In February 2001 Corinthian launched the 2001 version of the Corinthian Collectors Club, with the membership packages containing exclusive product which was not available in any retail store, and it was not possible to purchase the World Greats from Corinthian direct either, they were only available as part of the membership package.
As was the case with the 2000 package, there were 3 different levels of membership which were Silver, Gold and Platinum, with different figures available in each level of membership.
Set D
There are 4 Club Gold World Greats figures which were included in the Silver membership and made up Set D, which included the worlds most famous referee.
Pierlugi Collina has to be considered the most famous football referee in history, with his Corinthian figure being the most talked about prior to it's release. Corinthian knew it would prove popular so included it in the lowest tier of membership, appreciating not every collector would be able to afford to purchase the higher levels of membership. The Collina is an excellent sculpt, coming complete with his Red card.
Juan Sebastian Veron is released in Argentina home kit, with the sculpt being the same as was released initially in ProStars Series 5. Zinedine Zidane had featured in both the Headliners range for France and Juventus and in ProStars series 1, however this was an entirely new sculpt of the Frenchman and for me was the best sculpt released up to that point, however they would all be eclipsed by the Elite figure.
Making up the set is Luis Figo in Portugal home kit, with the sculpt being the same as previously released in the Headliners range and also in ProStars series 5 for Barcelona, as well as being in Portugal away kit as the 2000 Christmas special.
Set E
There are 4 Club Gold World Greats figures which were included in the Gold membership and made up Set E, including one player which was only released by Corinthian once.
Despite his playing career and popularity, Ally McCoist was only released by Corinthian once, and it was as part of the Club Gold World Greats Set E, with him painted in Scotland home kit. He was sculpted to be released back in 1996 for Rangers as part of the SFL Collection, however that figure was cancelled.
Upon release of the set, many collectors will have been forgiven for thinking this was the first release of Abedi Pele, however he was first released in the Headliners Star Kickers range for German Bundesliga side 1860 Munich. The 1860 Munich figure has always been a very rare and hard to obtain figure, so this World Greats figure in Ghana kit gave all collectors a much easier way to add him to their collection.
The other 2 in Set E had both been released before, with Ian Rush having been released for Liverpool and Leeds United in the FAPL Collection, and Liberian international featuring for AC Milan in the Headliners Superstars range and also in ProStars series 2.
All 4 were released in a Club Gold World Greats window box, on a Gold base and coming with collector card
Set F
There are 4 Club Gold World Greats figures which were included in the Gold membership and made up Set F, which saw the first ever release of a German legend.
Jurgen Klinsmann was at last released by Corinthian, he had been sculpted to be released in the Headliners range for both Tottenham Hotspur and Germany, however both were cancelled. The quality of the sculpt made it very much worth the wait and is one of my personal favourites from the entire Club Gold World Greats range.
Defensive master Franco Baresi is released here in Italy home kit, first appearing in the home kit of AC Milan in the Superstars range of Headliners, with Michael Laudrup getting his second Denmark release, however he is on a standard round base here, the first release was in the McDonalds set of Danish figures which had him on an oval base.
Completing the set is Ruud Gullit in Holland home kit, the sculpt is the same as the World Club Legends series figure which had him in the home kit of AC Milan.Klinsmann and Gullit rival each other in terms of rarity and price from Set F, with Baresi and Laudrup being much more easily found and costing less.
All 4 were released in a Club Gold World Greats window box, on a Gold base and coming with collector card.
They are unopened in excellent structural condition, but they have signs of discolouration as can be seen in photos
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