Our Heroes Come to Life!
Who doesn’t remember the classic Mexico jersey from France ‘98?
Every football enthusiast, even non-Mexico fans, remember the vivid detail of the Azteca calendar across the front of the shirt. The creativity of that shirt has not been seen since. How about the legendary goalkeeper Jorge Campos, with his colourful and unique kits? These combined, plus a great World Cup run, makes the Mexican team of 1998 one of the best and most thrilling teams of the 90s.
As I was googling the web a few weeks back I came across a new company in the U.S. that is recreating players from that very team in miniature form. Some of you may know that I LOVE Corinthian figures – everything about them, so I just had to find out more. With a bit more research I found their Twitter account which has multiple photos of their figures and manufacturing process. They have announced striker Luis ‘El Matador’ Hernandez and Jorge ‘El Brody’ Campos as their first two figures and part of their first collectible series, with one more announcement to come.
I reached out to them and was able to connect with their creator, Sergio, to talk more about Soccer Minis and their first series. In his first interview with any outlet, he told me a little about why he created the company:
“I created Soccer Minis as a way to recreate my childhood memories for my son. As a kid I used to collect a smaller version of Soccer Minis, figurines that do not exist anymore, and replay matches on the floor of my grandparents home. I hope that I can help my son recreate his favourite matches, with his soccer heroes, on the floor of our home. I hope I can do that for him and other kids, young and old, around the world.”
Sergio also talked about why he started with the Mexican team of 1998 as his first series:
“Like I said, this is my passion. The 1998 team was my team! So I had to reach out to them and ask them to allow me to recreate them for Soccer Minis. I don’t think anyone wants these figurines in their home or office more than me.”
Finally he told me about his plans for the future:
“We hope to move onto other ‘legend’ series as well as current players. We intend to begin with the U.S. and Mexico teams, eventually moving onto other teams later in 2018. It’s a long process because negotiations with players, agents, and teams take time. There is nothing more important for us than that the figurines be official and collectibles so we ensure player cooperation with each figurine.”
Soccer Minis is launching in December 2017. Fingers crossed that more teams of the 90s are turned into Soccer Minis. If the Hernandez and Campos Soccer Minis are anything to go by, it’s going to be a brilliant new venture for Sergio and Soccer Minis.