News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
NFL Experience includes McFarlane action figures
Pete Pallagi, Daily News-Sun
Lines will start forming today outside the NFL Experience in Glendale for the chance to get one of the hottest Super Bowl products: a McFarlane NFL action figure.
SLIDESHOW: View photos of the final touches on the NFL Experience
For the past six years, Ahwatukee Foothills resident Todd McFarlane has created a special figure for the Super Bowl featuring a player from the host city. Those figures have been exclusively available at the NFL Experience, but this year there are two figures and two locations for fans to get them.
“A couple of times previously, they placed us way at the back of the event and then opened the doors, and there was a mad rush toward us,” McFarlane said. “They were zigzagging around other exhibits and stampeding like wildebeests. I guess they are controlling it better this time by handing out numbers.”
The two figures this year represent Arizona Cardinals receivers Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.
McFarlane, creator of the Spawn comic book series, said the success of the action figures prompted him to open a store at Westgate City Center in Glendale.
The store will sell the Boldin action figures, while the NFL Experience booth will sell the Fitzgerald action figures. Both cost $15.
In addition, McFarlane will have an autograph signing Feb. 1 at the McFarlane store at Westgate and at the NFL Experience.
Besides offering action figures, the NFL Experience will give restless fans a chance to test their football skills like the pros.
The 850,000-square-foot theme park includes more than two dozen gridiron activities to challenge children and adults alike.
More than 175,000 people are expected to attend.
Fans can try to thread the needle like their favorite quarterback, cut through a running back obstacle course, boot a game-winning field goal with defenders crashing toward them and test their speed in a simulated race against the pros.
There will also be rides, shows and clinics for children. The park will feature a Ferris wheel, a chance to meet current NFL pros and Hall of Fame players, free autograph sessions and the largest football card show ever.
The event continues through Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 3, when admission will be limited to those with game tickets.
The first NFL Experience was in Minneapolis in 1992. Since then, more than 2 million people have attended the annual event.
—
Tribune writer David Biscobing contributed to this report.
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: