Welcome to the Corinthian Archive 'Unreleased Master Model Gallery.' 

 The purpose of this gallery is to showcase the literally hundreds of figures which have been sculpted but never released. Corinthian always sculpted more figures than were neccesary, some were never released for rather obvious reasons, such as the player leaving the club, or a range being altered or changed, others are not so obvious and in some cases the figure was not released because the player himself did not approve the sculpt.

 Unreleased Master Models are the ultimate item in any collection, as in most cases only 1 model exists so the owner has something in their collection nobody else will have, making thier collection unique. Over the years Corinthian have auctioned off these unreleased master models and the prices some fetched were staggering, in excess of £600 for some!

 Some sculpts never made it to the master model stage and only a Tooling Master exists, a full detail of what a Tooling Master actuallly is can be found further down this page. Some figures were so close to being released that plastic figures were produced and in these cases the figure was pulled at the very last monent, meaning all plastic figures had to be withdrawn and melted down, however some managed to escape from the factory, these are referred to as 'Prototype' or 'Test' figures.

 On occasions Corinthian decided to release an existing figure but in a new kit, however to produce a new Master Model is a costly processs, so to save time and money they would simply use a regular plastic figure and paint the new kit on, these are referred to as 'Paint Masters.'

 There is a vast amount of unreleased master models to archive so please bbe patient with me, i will get there eventually and it will certainly be worth the wait as i can guarentee that some will never have been seen before!

 The gallery is split into 3 seperate sections, one is for Uk club master models, this contains master models from English and Scotish club teams, to view this gallery click on the 'UK Club Sides' button located in the menu to the left. Another section is for master models of clubs from the Italain, German, Dutch, Spanish, Poruguese, French and Brazilian leagues. To view that gallery click on the link button named 'Foreign Club Sides, again locatd in the menu to the left. The third gallery is dedicated to master models of players in their respective national strips, so to view that gallery, click on the link button entitled 'National Teams, found in the menu to the left.

 Please enjoy all the master models in the gallery and if you have any to contribute to it, please feel free to get in touch with me via the 'contact me' page, which can be found by clicking in the 'contact me' button located in the menu opposite.

 Full explanations on the varying types of master models can be found below this text box.

Master Models Explained

Master Models:

 Master Models are the original sculpt of the figure, which is made by hand by a skilled craftsmen. For the Headliner figures (pre 1999) it was believed there were 6 master models of each figure created, as was mentioned by Corinthian in the 1999 Collectors Yearbook. However when Corinthian saw the value in master models, and sought to sell via Ebay they changed tact and listed them as unique 1 off pieces and the only version they had, however i know collectors who have the same master model as another collector, so there evidently was more than just one produced! As for the Prostars range it is widely accepted that just 1 master model was produced.

 Master Models are a resin cast of the original sculpt and it is these models which are sent to the club and player for approval. On occasion either the player or the club did not give permission for the figure to be produced, this is just one reason why the figure ended up being an unreleased master model.

 The majority of these unreleased master models have been auctioned of by Corinthian, either on Ebay, at one of their conventions and some were also sold at the roadshows. Some models have also been purchased direct from Corinthian via established sellers and re-sold to collectors. All master models sold by Corinthian come in a very special presentation box and are accompanied by a unique 'Certificate of Authenticity' which is dated and signed.

 Unreleased master models are the crown jewel in any collection, do you have 1 in your collection?

Paint Masters:

 Master Models are not cheap to produce and are very fragile, so if Corinthian were plannning to release an existing figure but in a new kit, they would often just use a plastic figure and paint the new kit onto that, as opposed to creating a whole new master model, these are reffered to as 'Paint Masters.'

 Paint masters are not as highly coverted by collectors as master models but an unreleased paint master is still a very nice item to own and some are painted in kits never released.

Tooling Masters:

 Perhaps the most asked question concerning Corinthians has to be 'how are they actually made?' the answer is quite complex and it involves Tooling masters.

 The craftsmen starts out with a lump of modelling clay, this clay is then placed onto a little spike where it is moulded and sculpted until it looks like the intended player, this is referred to as the sculpt by Corinthian. Once a likeness has been achieved the sculpted head is then baked with a heat gun and cocooned inside a silicon mould. This mould is then placed onto the chosen body pose, which is a wire frame, this figure is now complete and will be used by the factories to make the tools which produce the plastic figures.

 Tooling masters are not painted and are off White in appearance, this is due to them being coated with a powder during the moulding process and are actually a Yellow colour.

 Another difference between Tooling masters and regular master models is that Tooling masters have the players name on the base whereas regular master models do not and there is of course a reason for this. The Tooling masters are sent to the factories and when they arrive the master gets placed onto the appropriate name base plate, this plate has the players name scribed into it and the tooling master is attached to it. This model is then used to make the tools required to mass produce the figure in plastic.

 Opinion on these Tooling masters is very much divided, they are of course not as asthetically appealing as regualr master models due to them not being painted but on the other hand they are the original sculpt of the figure and without them there would be no master model and no plastic figures.

 I have over 30 Tooling master models in my personal collection, do you have any?

Prototype/Test Figures:

 Corinthian always producd more figures than were actually required, they did this incase a figure had to be pulled from a range at any stage, so they needed figures in reserve so the range could still go ahead on schedule. In certain cases plastic figures were produced but at a very late stage the figure was pulled from the range, these figures were ordered to be melted down to make other figures, however some figures 'escaped' from the factories and are referred to as Prototype or Test figures.

 These figures are made from plastic and are exactly the same as the regular released figures, excpet they have no badge, logo or name and number on the shirts, along with having no team stamp on the base.

 They tend to be found in China, which is where they are manufactured and tend to sell for around £25. Very nice figures to have and unlike master models they are not breakable!

Contact Me

 If you have any master models, tooling masters, paint masters, prototypes or test figures, please fell free to get in touch with me and i would be more than happy to include them in the gallery.

 To get in touch, simply complete the 'contact us' form located below and i will reply to you as soon as i can.