Welcome Back To My Yankees Collection, Bernie Williams

Aside from Bobbleheads, I love collecting figurines. I used to pick up every McFarlane Sports Pick Yankees figure that came out. The quality of the figures isn't as good as when they first came out and have a tendency to lean. I have a Jorge Posada that is literately using his bat to stay up. I only buy the ones I really want now.

I do love the Yankees figurines that are given out every year. ever since 2006, when the Yankees gave away a figurine of Derek Jeter in his "Jump Throw" pose, the Yankees have partnered with Sports Authority to give away these beautiful pieces, usually to the first 18,000 fans. I was at the first give away and loved the Jeter I got, which I still have. Unfortunately, the only other one I was able to go to was the Yankee Stadium give away in 2008 when I got to add a statue of the second Yankee Stadium to my collection.

A few years ago, I was able to pick up the second figurine that was given out in 2007, Bernie Williams. I actually had gotten a great deal for it and it was proudly displayed on my shelf, right next to the Jeter. Unfortunately, clumsy is my second middle name (Right after hungry) and while dusting the shelf, I accidentally knocked over Bernie and his leg went crunch.  I knew at that point it would be a while before I could pick up another Bernie statue.

Well, today I was able to re-add Bernie back to the Yankee collection. Say hello to my little friend!

This is not a large figurine by any stretch, but it doesn't have to be. This thing is freaken killer! Love that it's in the classic Yankees home uni and Bernie is batting from the left hand side (He was a switch hitter, for the unknowing) and looks like he's about to mash a home run into the right field upper deck.

This figure was made by Alexander Global and if we know anything about Bobble Dobbles, then we know that they are close enough in the looks department. That is to say they are not 100% accurate, but close enough. This figurine is that exactly.

Base has the standard name of player, uniform number, sponsor and facsimile autograph. If I was into having my figurines autographed, I would definitely try to get Bernie to sign in the middle of the base in Gold Sharpie or Decco.

These are numbered out of 20,000. So I guess they gave away 20,000 of these. Mine is numbered 3005, but you can see that can't you?

The back has that familiar number 51 that will be retired by the Yankees later this season. At first, I wasn't sure if I was ok with 51 being retired, but the more I think about it, the more I am OK with it because, my opinion only, he is the third best Yankee center fielder in their history behind Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. I'm sure that remark will spark some debates.

Here's a comparison with the Don Larsen statue I got at the 2013 All Star FanFest.

And here's the figure comparison with the Jeter figurine I got at the first give away in 2006. Remember what I said about likenesses being close enough with these? That goes double for this Jeter. Also, do not do what I did. Save the boxes, I was stupid and threw out both boxes because I needed room. I now know you should hang on to them.

Now that I have the Bernie back in my collection, I think I will be going for the others in the series. Here's the checklist:

2006-Derek Jeter Jump Throw (check)
2007-Bernie Williams (check)
2008-Yankee Stadium (2nd) (check)
2009-Yankee Stadium (3rd)
2010-Mariano Rivera
2011-Jorge Posada
2012-Mark Teixeira
2013-Andy Pettitte
2014-Derek Jeter Batting
2015-Dellin Betances

Right now, the Teixeira and Pettitte are the more reasonably priced figurines, but with Pettitte's number also being retired this season, as well as Posada's, I can see these figurines going up in price.

I love it when I have a project to try and complete and I know there are other figurines that I will be going after. The Yankees also gave away some statues that resemble the Don Larsen I have. They were of the of players who were enshrined in Monument Park. Then, I want to grab the Heartland, Salvino and Sports Impressions (Not expensive) and Danbury Mint (expensive). Hopefully, I can grab as many of these pieces as I can and not have the dealers back the pieces away when they see me coming.

A Perfect Statue

I don't have a lot of Don Larsen in my Yankees collection. Aside from a few cards (nothing vintage) and an autographed ball, there isn't much in the way of Larsen collectibles out there. I don't think he every had anything specifically made for him, like Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra or Roger Maris had. There isn't a Yankee Larsen bobblehead, which I find amazing.

So, about a year ago, my buddy and I were at the MLB All Star Fan Fest and came across a table that the Yogi Berra Museum had. I looked at their table, hoping for some really cool Yogi Berra merch for my Yankee collection, but really didn't see anything that jumped out at me until I saw they were selling Don Larsen statues. I was interested, but wanted to save my money in case I found the Wow factor (Darrel Sheets representing). My buddy, knowing I collect the Yankees, bought the statue for me.

And it took me a year to post a review. Shame on me.

I had never seen this statue before. I think this was a Brockton Rox SGA. it actually looks like the bronze statues the Yankees gave away a few years back. I don't think the Yankees gave away a Don Larsen statue in that set, so this one is a pretty cool piece to have.

On one side of the box, we get the box score from the Perfect Game from Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

A little write up about said Perfect Game.

And a write up about the Brockton Rox. The Rox are a summer collegiate team who used to be members of the Cam-Am independent league.

And here's the statue. I am pretty impressed with it. I wasn't expecting much when I opened the box up, but it looks like I could display this with the Yankee statues and it would look like it belongs in the set. The statue also looks like the statue that is currently in the Yankees Museum.

A front view of the statue with the date of the Perfect Game on the front of the base.

A shot of the back of the statue. I just love the detail on this statue. Despite the bronze color, you can clearly see the pinstripes and the number 18 on his back clear as day.

Bottom of the back of the statue with the 1956 World Series, Game 5 inscription in gold paint.

Close up of the statue.

The bottom of the statue with the scoreboard of the game painted on in gold.

I think this a well done statue. I love the detail of it as well as the inscriptions on the base. I wonder why the Yankees didn't give these away. The fans would have loved this instead of the seeds and $2.00 Dunkin Donut cards. But I'm glad I have one and I thank my buddy for picking this up for me. It's a perfect (no pun intended...ok, maybe a little) addition to my Yankees collection and I cannot wait to be able to display it among the other statues, McFarlanes and bobbleheads in my collection.

Now I think I have to start picking up those Yankee statues to go with this Larsen.