If you were a kid growing up in the 1990s, you probably remember the Starting Lineup action figures from Kenner Toys that were released between 1988 and 2001. The original figures were about the size of your average GI Joe or Star Wars toy, and they would come with a card or possibly a helmet (depending on the sport).

Pat McInally, a former player with the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League, came up with the idea for the new toy after noticing there were no "sports action figures" on the shelves next to the GI Joe options.

From the very beginning, the toys were a hit with kids and adults. The baseball collecting craze was reaching fever pitch in the late eighties, while the trend of old toys becoming valuable was just starting to ramp up too.

It was the perfect storm to launch something like Starting Lineup in.

Kids would trade the figures at school, just like their favorite Topps or Donruss cards, during lunch and recess. Meanwhile, adults were buying them up, sticking them in boxes, and waiting for the money to roll in. (Most are still waiting. There are some valuable SLUs out there, but they are few and far between ... just like baseball cards.)

The market would eventually get over-saturated with knock-offs, and even too many variants from Kenner / Hasbro itself, leading to the toy line being discontinued. Picture that point in the 1990s where baseball card companies started releasing around 16 variants of the same player cards, but with "gold leaf" or "real jersey pieces" added. So, you eventually went, "Forget this," and just quit collecting them. It just happened more rapidly with the action figures. However, the more time that passes, the more fans miss them.

Since 2001, Starting Lineup collectible figures have appeared sporadically, mostly as promotional materials at professional sporting events, but nothing on a major release scale.

That's not good enough for us. So, we've updated Starting Lineup for 2022 (and 2023 in one case) to take a look at what the popular line of action figures would look like for some of the most popular teams in the American Athletic Conference. (Click any image to enlarge in a new window)

The War on I-4 is a pretty heated rivalry. Who are you picking, UCF or USF?

A regular contender for the conference crown, Memphis brings two new looks.

The ECU is returning to form, while Cincinnati gets ready to depart. Who you got?

Bonus: Incoming AAC member, UAB, and non-football member, Wichita State

Stay tuned. If you let us know what your favorite team is in the comments, maybe BCSNN will feature that program next.