Pop! Tarik Skubal: Detroit Just Won an Instant Classic and I Need This Ace on My Shelf
Baseball fans, buckle up, because I stayed up way too late doom scrolling box scores last night and I regret nothing. The Tigers went into Wrigley Field and won an absolute slugfest, 8 to 6 over the Cubs in 10 innings. Riley Greene opened with a three run homer in the first, Dillon Dingler somehow hit two home runs in the same game, and Chicago kept clawing back with bombs of their own before Spencer Torkelson singled home the go ahead run in extras. That is the kind of chaotic, extra innings win that makes you want to run straight to your shelf and grab something to celebrate with, and for me that meant finally pulling the trigger on the newest addition to my baseball corner.
Meet Pop! Tarik Skubal
This is the Funko Pop MLB Tarik Skubal, box number 121 in MLB Series 15, and he is sculpted mid windup in the classic Funko baseball pose, glove up, leg driving forward, cap pulled low. He is done up in Tigers home whites with navy and orange trim, and the paint work on the piping and the Old English D is genuinely crisp for a $14.99 standard release. No chase variant on this one that I have found yet, just a clean, well proportioned standard figure that captures his delivery better than most pitcher Pops manage.
Why Skubal Specifically, Right Now
If you follow the Tigers even casually you know Skubal is not just any pitcher. Back to back AL Cy Young winner in 2024 and 2025, a legitimate ace, the guy who was chasing a third straight Cy Young before a stretch on the injured list this year after a minimally invasive elbow procedure people have started calling the Skubal scope. He was not on the mound for last night's win, Jack Flaherty started that one, but Skubal is still the face of this pitching staff and the name every Tigers fan is watching as the August 3 trade deadline creeps closer. Pending free agent, ace level talent, a front office that has to decide whether to extend him or move him. That is exactly the kind of storyline that makes a collector want to lock in a figure before the narrative around a player shifts.
Series and Shelf Company
MLB Series 15 has been a solid wave for team specific pitcher and slugger figures, and if you collect by division this is an easy one to pair with any other current Tigers releases you already have, or with rival aces from the same series for a little pitching staff lineup across your shelf. I like grouping mine by team first, then by position, so Skubal gets to anchor the Tigers section next to my position players.
Box and Display Notes
The box art keeps the standard MLB Series 15 window design, full color photography on the side panel, and the window itself is generous enough that he displays nicely both in and out of box. I am leaning toward keeping this one sealed for now just given the trade deadline uncertainty, since demand on players tends to spike the moment a jersey change becomes real.
A Little Personal History
My first ever sports Pop was actually a hockey figure my brother gave me as a joke gift, and I told him sports Pops were not really my thing. That lasted about a year before I found myself standing in an aisle debating a baseball figure the same way I debate Marvel exclusives, and now I have a whole shelf dedicated to it. Baseball fans are intense in the best way and honestly it fits right in with the rest of my collecting brain.
I do not have this one yet, and after a win like last night I am not waiting much longer. He is officially on my needs list in the Collectiblz app, right alongside a couple other Series 15 pieces I am hunting, and you can see exactly what I am chasing on my needs list if you want to compare notes or, honestly, if you happen to have one sitting in a box somewhere.
If you are a Tigers fan riding the high of that extra innings win, this is a fun one to hunt down while the deadline chatter builds. Go Tigers.
