4 Versions of Gary Speed!

First post of the new year! Hope you're all keeping well, and are ready for 4 very different iterations of Gary Speed!

First up, Funko Gary Speed. I'm not sure if I've written about it at any length before (and I don't really intend to now!) but Funko figures are much easier to use as 'lookalikes' than corinthians! Essentially, if the hair is the right style, its good to go. 

Added bonus is the eyebrows are right!! They can change the character of a figure considerably!

Anyway, the 1991-92 kit was chosen for Speed on a Twitter poll... also because I wanted to do it, and thought it would be easier to sell on afterwards!!

A somewhat unusual one next, but one that I like a lot. In case you can't tell, this is the training top in which Leeds were presented the League trophy in 1991-92. I've only done it a couple of times before, and this was the first time on a microstar.

Love this kit. I still own it, with 11 and Speed on the back, no less. This was the first time I've done it on a Speed figure, having done it on Yeboah a few times before.

 Last but not least, a Vivid Imaginations figure. Not the best 'lookalike' for my  money, but it's what the buyer wanted. I was happy with how the kit ended up looking anyway! I've done Vivid Imaginations repaints of Speed before, but from his floppy, boyband hair era, using a figure of another Welshman...

McAllister x3, Leeds

Gary McAllister is still one of the best players I've seen at Leeds. Was just class in everything he did, and controlled games from the middle of the park. 

Here are 3 iterations of him from different stages of his Leeds journey.

This is probably the away kit I would think of McAllister in first... probably because I had a poster of him in it on my wall!

I think at the time, a lot of people thought the this version and the green and blue kit were pretty much the same, but you'll notice a couple of main differences- the stripes are much thicker on the yellow and blue, and on the back there was a blue square for the name and number.

It's strange but I hardly associate the kit with Gary Mac at all. I picture it on Gary Speed... and they were both playing in it at the same time! Maybe Speed has more memorable moments in it, as a guess. Although, funnily enough, I'm pretty sure they both scored against Blackburn in it, in successive seasons!

And here he is as a manager... I really wanted him to be the one to get us promoted from League 1, but it just never worked out. We weren't as completely hopeless as a lot of people make out under his management. He got us to the playoff final after taking over midseason from Wise.

He also brought in some great players that summer, and had some patches of good form... he just couldn't sort the defence out, unfortunately. At the time I said I felt we were a good leader at the back from being a promotion team. Grayson arrived, signed Naylor, and we barely lost a game again til the end of the season...

Hernandez, Leeds: GoalaGoalaGoal

Pablo Henrnadez was adored by the Leeds fans long before those behind closed doors games after lockdown... but that was when he cemented his place as a club legend.

In that final run of games, Bielsa had to nurse him through, managing an injury niggle in those 35 year old legs, and still, Hernandez pulled out moment of class after moment of class, none more so than the moment that means he'll be forever remembered in this grey and pink kit.

 I've done a few Hernandez figures, but these are the first 2 in this kit. A kit that, in truth, a lot of people's first reaction to was: urgh! But also one that had so many great moments on the pitch, that, again, it will be written into folklore!

Sorry about the wordy(?) sentimental(?) post, but the culmination of 16 years of striving to get back to the top table was achieved by this man, in this kit. Gracias Pablo.

GoalaGoalaGoal.

Mixed Leeds post!

Looking at which teams I have the biggest picture back log of, it would make sense to do a Leeds post like the recent Liverpool one. So, with no thoughts on theme, and just going on alphabetical order, here are a few!

I've done these first 2 quite a few times each now, as you'd expect for title winners! Some people ask for Cantona in 7, but he wore quite the variety of shirt numbers in that season, including 2 and 3, if I remember rightly!

In a small act of pettiness that I'm sure Leeds fans can get behind, I prefer to put him in 14; a subs number, to show he wasn't that important to the side...

I love this Charles repaint. I have 2 in my own collection- the 'old gold' and one in the all white of the 60s... but I think I might like this better than either of them!! Probably down to the socks, in truth!

It might surprise a few to find out that I've also done this one at least 3 times. Collectors are a funny sort!!

Finally: Deano. I've done this kit a few times, but more commonly on Yeboah and Gary Speed. A first outing for Brian Deane in this kit. Well, in terms of my repaints, anyway!

Kalvin Phillips, Leeds Funko (Not really about the Euros part 8)

Today is a momentous day, but not just cos England are playing Germany in Euro 2020. 

More importantly, in one of those BBC 'Pick your XI' things, the general public have picked Kalvin Phillips. Finally, it seems, all those hE OnLy PaSsEs SiDeWaYs geniuses have started to realise how important KP is to the team. And I'm all for it!

So here he is, in Leeds kit, naturally, immortalised in Funko form!

 And that's it. That's the post.

Tenuous Euro 2020 post 6

 Well everyone, my supply of figures that just barely relate to Euro 2020 is running low. But yesterday's highlights show gave me another one!

Dion Dublin! He may've been on all through the Euros; I don't know!! Last night was the first time I caught a bit of one of the highlights shows... even though I had already watched both of the games!

And here's Cantona again, making his second appearance on one of these posts, just because he's on a Sports Direct advert!

For those of you unfamiliar, this is a Vivid Imaginations Figure. There were a few Premier League players made, at a similar time that corinthians first came out. These are much bigger. I don't have any in my own collection, but I can see why people like them.

And that's your lot for today. I've decided (without doing any actual planning) that to stand any chance of getting to the end of the Euros with these, I'm gonna have to cut down to 2 pics per post!

Tenuous Euros post, part 3

Yes, it's the post that none of you were waiting for! Let's crack straight on with some figures vaguely related to Euro 2020!

Lloris, who gave a penalty away yesterday by punching someone in the face! 

I can't tell you the full story of this figure. Clearly it's not an original corinthian of Lloris, cos he wasn't on the scene when they stopped making them. My best guess is that it's a remodel using a Soccerwe head... or a remodel using a lookalike from another corinthian that I'm unaware of. Anyway... I didn't remodel it!

Here's an away kit repaint of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in his Leeds days. Hassebaink has done a bit of punditry in the Euros... on Netherlands games, I would guess.

He's done a bit of punditry on Leeds games over the last couple of years too... here's hoping that he does a few less when we can get back to grounds and the amount of games to be covered goes back to normal.

Speaking of pundits people want to hear less from...

Also, why does this Danny Murphy microstar look like it might steal my lunch money?!

And last but not least:

What would these posts be without a Kyle Walker Soccerstarz?! This one was requested in Spurs training kit... for some reason.

I didn't realise this post was so Spurs heavy until I did all the tags. Don't worry; I've got some more figures that are sort of related to the Euros to show you soon!

Woodgate x2, Leeds

I haven't posted in a few days (apols- been under the weather!) so here is a post that very much reflects my: if in doubt, chip away at the Leeds or Spurs backlog of pics in my repaints album!

 Woodgate played for both, of course, but I've gone with 2 Leeds ones here (tho I'm sure I have painted him in spurs kit too)

The yellow kit is one of my faves in real life, and tho I can tell it's an old-ish repaint, I think I've done a decent job!

Leeds strikers in away kits!

One of those "does what it says on the tin" titles!

 

Lovely!

Pablo x2

In a vain attempt to raise my spirits during lockdown, here's Pablo Hernandez, who gave Leeds fans one of the best moments during lockdown with his goal against Swansea.

3 iterations of Alioski!

A defeat last night for Bielsa's boys, but what an exciting game! I'm not doing that as a meme- genuinely a brilliant game of football. 

I almost started a rant about 'changing style' and 'being pragmatic then, but I can't be bothered! It's not what you're here for, and if you still agree with pundits calling out Bielsa for having what is by and large a squad of Championship players competing for the top half, then the opinion of someone who paints little plastic footballers probably isn't going to change that!

Here is one of those championship players!

Alioski has gone through quite the array of hairstyles at Leeds... this prostar was based on his appearance in his first season at Leeds. A pretty good lookalike, I'd say. You can't see the kappa logos down the side on this photo, but I'm pretty sure I put them on.

What was that I was saying about hairstyles?! These 2 funkos are based on pictures of him from the same season! I was quite happy with both, though the top one does look like he's spent a bit more time on the tanning beds!!

Mixed Leeds figures:

 First of all, I thought I'd let you know that this blog has gone past 100 000 views! Which obviously is not crazy numbers, but is certainly more than I would have anticipated when I first started painting for my own amusement all those years ago!

Thanks for the views, comments, 'likes', support, and of course, purchases! 

And I suppose it's fitting that, before I even realised I had reached this milestone, I'd planned to post Leeds United figures here today; the first team I ever painted.

I thought I'd go with another variety bag of a post today! Starting with Leeds' current top scorer, Patrick Bamford in funko form!!

This is in the Championship promotion kit, as part of a whole team set that I did for someone. Funny to think that Bamford came in for quite a lot of stick that year, and is now sat on 10 Premier League goals in half a season.

Next up, Nick Barmby. I used the later sculpt of Barmby for my own collection, as it seemed a better likeness of when he played for us. But the guy who asked for this one showed me a pic of Barmby in the 03-04 season, where he had gone back to having slightly longer hair. And took the number 7 shirt too.

Hard to know if it was just speculation, but there was a lot of talk that James Beattie had a big role in getting the 30 goal a season form out of Chris Wood, in his spell as a coach at Leeds.

I was very happy with this remodel. I also did a microstar one, which you can check out by clicking here.

Last but not least, a standard microstar repaint, from way back when. When I did a Prostar Christie for my own collection, I put it in number 27... it's still on my shelf as a lesson to make sure I research properly!

Leeds away 1999-2000

Well, Leeds were pretty dismal yesterday, and I'm finding that harder to cope with during lockdown- when watching the football is pretty much what my weekend is directed towards. Very different watching on TV how the experience would normally go.

Anyway, I thought I'd cheer myself up with pics of a few Leeds repaints in one of my favourite kits!

 These are all relatively recent ones. 

I don't really have much else to add!

Leeds management duos

Scrolling through my repaints folder, deciding on who to pick, and I eventually settled on a pair of management teams from days gone by- all remodels, with a bit of repainting thrown in!

The duo that took us down to the third tier for the first time in our history...

It's hard to completely know wat to make of them- they got relegated with a squad that, while flawed surely had enough ability to survive in the Championship (Healy, Blake, Cresswell, Derry and Eddie Lewis among them) then made a fantastic start in League one with a thrown together squad... then both jumped ship at pretty much the first opportunity; Poyet to be a glorified translator at Spurs, and Wise to sit in some offices at Sports Direct. You can understand why a lot of Leeds fans don't look back on them too fondly...

Anyway, the figures both involved 'head swaps'. I had remodeled tracksuits onto them both in the past (you'll find those figures somewhere on the 'coaches and managers' tag) but these are much better. Wise took to wearing a jacket in his second season, though I couldn't help but feel the figure was too tall!! Poyet holding the clipboard and whistle is pretty fitting given that he was generally considered to be the brains behind the operation!

And now for the 2 that replaced them: 

A funny old pairing these 2. I think McAllister is one of those that fits the cliche of great player who couldn't understand that the players couldn't do what he could do- even when he arrived in his... 50s(!)

His team looked great going forward at times, but were undoubtedly soft at the back, and he just couldn't solve that problem, as illustrated by his last throw of the dice: Mansour Assoumani! 

I remember at the time saying I felt we were one good leader at the back away from a promotion team... Grayson came in and signed Naylor and we won 10 home games in a row, before missing out on the playoffs. With regards to Staunton... I'm not really sure what he did!

Anyway, as with the other 2, these were head swaps, then name changes on the base. For Macca, I did the shirt and tie similar to what he often wore in his time as boss. As for Staunton, that was just the tracksuit most google image searches returned with him in!! I still associate that top with Grayson more.

Anyway, to conclude… I'd probably keep Bielsa over both of these pairings!

Leeds United Funkos

 I'm going to take this post as the chance to have a proud fan moment: what a performance against City yesterday!

More possession, more passes, better chances (sorry to be that guy, but just check the xG!) After a tough first 20 mins, we could have conceivably won that.

7 points from the first 12 available including playing last year's top 2. Cannot complain.

Anyway... here are some funko pops!

Ilan, you wonderful spiderboy!

Oh captain, my captain

Tyler you handsome bastard, who shows flashes of brilliance but just needs a bit more consistency...

Mateusz, you delightful shithouse who also just happens to be really good at football.

 Premiers League Leeds United. I've been waiting for pretty much half my life to get back there!

More Funkos in the new kits are pretty much inevitable!

If you've made it to the end of this post, well done!

Haaland, Leeds home and away

After a a first top flight win in... quite a while, I thought I'd make today's post a Leeds United one.

The guy this was for told me that it took him ages to track down an Alfie! As such, he took his time choosing the kit, and decided on this beaut in the end.

My favourite parts are definitely the detailing around the collar, cuffs and bottom of the shorts

I did this one a much longer time ago. Another kit that I loved in my childhood, but I think I lost it during one of my many house moves in uni days. I mean, it was pretty much ruined anyway, cos it had Kewell on the back...

This figure may also be the one that I painted for someone, who needed to raise a bit of cash further down the line, so sold it on ebay... to a Man City fan that wanted a repaint. I'm sure you can guess the rest...

 

Leeds forgotten Left Backs, Home and Away!

Left back- something of a problem area for Leeds since Dorigo, in truth.

Doesn't stop left backs from being some nice repaints though! 

These pairs of figures have something in common- I did the home kits ages ago, and the yellow ones more recently, and as such, there are more things I'd change about the home ones if I did them again now!

The collars on these figures show a dilemma (maybe a bit to strong a word!) that I often face when repainting.

On the home kit, I've made it like the paint job on the original figures, whereas on the away, I've done it like it actually was on the shirt!

IMO, the more recent one looks far better!

 Bit of a quandary here; they've got different sponsors on! I thought Domi only played one season for us?!

The first one must have been requested like that though! At the very least, whoever I sent it to saw a picture first and didn't say it was wrong! Maybe he wore it preseason?! On the off chance that you're reading this and it's yours, feel free to send it back and I'll change the sponsor!!

Anyway, onto happier things to comment on: I was very proud of the away version. I still have this shirt, and the front fades from darker yellow at the top and bottom into a lighter yellow in the middle. Zoom in now and have a look!! 

More difficult and time consuming, and well worth the effort!

And as always, I can't help but notice; not only am I a better painter now, but I'm also better at taking the photos!!