A couple of days ago, I got a package from Topps. Alright, not exactly from Topps. They stopped giving me stuff months ago. Rather, it was from a fulfillment house in New Castle, Delaware.
I did some research, and I found out that this place is (literally) right next to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Of all the times I've crossed that bridge from South Jersey to The Republic of Fairfax, why didn't I think of doing a B&E?
Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the cards I got as part of last year's Million Card Giveaway. For the record, I declined all cards from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. I only chose to accept cards from 1979 and later. So, if you get a bunch of 1988 Tim Teufel cards in the Diamond Giveaway, you'll know who to blame.
This 1973 card of Dave Nelson may very well have the worst action photo I've ever seen on a baseball card. When two guys on the other team are bigger than the alleged subject, you know it's pretty bad.
Forget Pete Rose, this guy may be the most deserving former Cincinnati Red NOT in the Hall of Fame. I just found out, right now, in doing research for this blogpost that he died in 1995. Shame.
Speaking of Hall of Famers, this guy's not only in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but in the Professional Mustache Rider's Hall of Fame. Now you know why Rollie kept that handle-bar for all those years. Yeah...
This '67 Topps of professional innings-eater Wilbur "376.2 IP" Wood was the worst card I got, condition wise. You may not be able to see it, but there's a big crease running parallel to Wilbur's eyebrows.
ZOMG!!! THEY ACTUALLY SPELLED HIS NAME RIGHT!!!
"The Psychedelic Tombstones" would have been a great name for an early-70s acid-rock band. Speaking of which...
If you haven't seen this cartoon about Doc's legendary no-hitter, DO IT NOW!!!
I was lucky to get two 1950s cards. This is one...
...and this is the other. Yes kids, that's a '53 high-number. And yes kids, that's the same Ed O'Brien from Jim Bouton's Ball Four.
And the Piece de Resistance... The best card I got out of the Million Card Giveaway...
Ruben Amaro played 12 seasons in the Majors for the Cardinals, Phillies, Yankees, and Angels. But that's not his most important contribution to the game of baseball, for Ruben would go on to sire a child. A child who followed in his father's footsteps, playing seven season in the Big Leagues himself. But then, would join the front office, climb the corporate ladder, and go on to build the greatest pitching staff in the history of baseball. Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels. It would have never happened with the man on this card.
One retail box of 1999 Skybox Metal Universe (paid $18.95 + shipping from Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale *) 20 packs per box, six cards per pack (MSRP $2.39)
The Details
Base Set: 300 cards
Parallels: NONE (all are Hobby Only)
Inserts: 15 Neophytes (1:10) 15 Boyz with the Wood (1:30) 15 Planet Metal (1:60) 15 Diamond Soul (1:96) 10 Linchpins (1:576)
Autogamers: NONE (all are Hobby Only)
The Pulls
Part One
Part Two
Base Set: 116 of 300 (38.67%)
Inserts: 2 Neophytes: P. Konerko, M. Tejada 1 Boyz with the Wood: M. Piazza 1 Planet Metal: D. Erstad
1999 Skybox Metal Universe was a set that I never got around to collecting. But when I ripped a pack of this in my recent 20-for-$40 gimmick on APAD, I was hooked. I made it my mission to bust a waxbox. Unfortunately, all I could find on Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale was this 20-pack retail box.
Like in previous years, all the base cards have etched-foil fronts and are embossed -- hence, the name. The 1999 Metals have an industrial look and feel, with what look like riveted iron plating. Unfortunately, they only added the embossing to the top-half of the card, which if stacked, causes a noticeable lean.
To wit: These are all the base cards I ripped from this box. I like to call this "The Leaning Tower of 1999 Metal."
Among the subsets, there are 25 "Building Blocks" (prospects and rookies), 25 "M.L.P.D.s" -- which I still have no idea what it stands for -- and 15 "Caught on the Fly's." What makes the subsets great -- but in an unintentionally funny kind of way -- are their backs. The COTF's are "written" in the style of the Sporting News column of the same name. But it's the Building Blocks and M.L.P.D. backs that are notable. Notable in their hilarity.
In the late-90s, Fleer oriented all their Skybox brands to appeal to an "urban" audience. (They even hired Coolio to star in their print ads.) This marketing/pandering even went as far as the language used on backs of the cards.
Before I go any further I should note that in September 2001 I had a job interview at Fleer's headquarters in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. After spending nearly two hours at the Fleer office, I did not notice anyone outside the "middle-aged-white-guy/white-gal" demographic who was employed there. Please take this into consideration before reading the back of Adrian Beltre's Building Blocks card.
"Yo, Adrian, 20 years old, filling in for Bobby Bo' at third for the L.A. Dodgers ... not bad. We know that you almost nabbed the '97 FSL Triple Crown and were Mr. MVP. We can see your glove is phat already. But at 20? I guess that's why Zeile's in Texas and Konerko's in Cincy ... your move, Kid."
See what I mean?
The numbered-to-50 Precious Metal Gems and one-of-one Gem Master parallels were exclusive to Hobby, but all five non-parallel inserts were available in retail as well, albeit at slightly longer odds. Like the subsets, all the inserts are written in "Mount Laurel Ebonics." The fifteen card, 1:10/pack Neophytes are the designated "Hot Rookie" insert that was standard in most late-90s products. The fifteen card, 1:30 Boyz with the Wood (See, it's spelled with a "Z" at the end! It's gangsta!) are an equally formulaic "Power Hitters" insert. If these cards look a lot like those "Flapper" cards in this years Topps Opening Day, they should. The BwtW and the Opening Day Flappers were made by the company.
Planet Metal (1:60) is the standard issue die-cut insert and Diamond Soul (1:96) are lenticular (i.e. Sportflix) cards. In the era before the gamer, just about every Fleer set had one insert that was a genuinely tough pull. In 1999 Skybox Metal Universe, the 1:576/pack Linchpins -- which have a laser-cut cotter pin design in the background -- fit this bill.
The Bottom Line
For such a small box, (only 120 cards) I had some pretty good pulls. I only wish I had found a Hobby box though. I received almost 40% of the base set, two Neophytes inserts, a Mike Piazza Boyz with the Wood, and a one-per-third box Planet Metal of Darin Erstad.
One box of 1995 Select (Purchased from Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale* for $19.95 + shipping) 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack.
*No endorsement implied.
The Details
Base Set: 250 cards (no short-prints)
Parallels Artist Proof: 250 cards (1:24, limited to 475 copies)
Inserts Can't Miss: 12 cards (1:24, limited to 9900) Big Sticks: 12 cards (1:48, limited to 4950) Sure Shots: 10 cards (1:90, limited to 3168)
Autogamers: NONE
Part One:
Part Two:
The Pulls
Base Set: 237 of 250 (94.80%)
Parallels 1 Artist Proof: Darren Lewis
Inserts 1 Can't Miss!: C. Floyd 1 Big Sticks: C. Ripken, Jr.
The Review
Ah, 1995 Select. The memories....
In the summer of '95 I had just arrived from basic training at my first duty station. I never lived outside the greater Philadelphia area before, so it took some time for me to adjust to my new life. Fortunately for me, there were two Hobby shops within walking distance of the base’s front gate; and about every-other month there was a card show at one of the many casino hotels that lined the Mississippi Gulf Coast. My cardboard addiction would be fully sated.
It was around the time I was first allowed to leave the base when Pinnacle Brands released 1995 Select baseball. The novelty behind Select was that only 4950 24-box cases would be made, and that each individual waxbox would be serial-numbered.
For those of you that have been out of The Hobby for a while, and/or don't remember what The Hobby was like in the mid-90s, the practice of card manufacturers announcing the production figures of specific products was The Hobby’s gimmick of the moment. Topps kicked it all off when it debuted Finest in 1993 with the statement that only 4000 cases would be made. Later that year, Donruss stated that would only make 6250 12-box cases of Leaf Update. Pinnacle got into the act by serial-numbering each one of the 1950 24-box cases of 1993 Select Rookie/Traded. The following year it spread to Donruss (17,500 cases of each series), Leaf Limited and Leaf Limited Rookies (60,000 and 30,000 serial-numbered waxboxes, respectively), and ’94 Select (4950 cases of each series).
So what’s the big deal, you ask? Plenty. Armed with these nuggets of information, as well as other variables like set size and stated insertion ratio, one could figure out exactly how many copies of each individual card (insert, parallel, and base) were in circulation with a simple pocket calculator. So although they were not serial-numbered, it didn't much effort to figure out that only 241 copies of 1993 Finest Refractor were issued. And using the same method, only 475 copies of each one-per-box 1995 Select Artist Proof parallel were printed.
A card limited to 475 copies doesn’t seem to be all that “scarce” – and by the standards of 2008, it’s not. But in the fin-de-siècle Hobby, a card limited to 475 was considered scarce, and the thought being guaranteed of such a card in each box was the main reason why Select flew off the shelves when it was released.
By the summer of ’95 it had been four months since I bought any cards, so I was stoked to rip into a box of Select. The 1994 version was (and still remains) one of my favorite card sets, and the ’95 version – with the exception of the new Artist Proofs, and the elimination of a second series – was virtually unchanged. The problem was for me was that very few of those 4950 cases made their way to Biloxi, Mississippi.
You know those two Hobby stores just outside the base I was talking about? One never bothered to order this product and the other....
I rarely bought any wax from that guy -- just singles. For some reason, regardless of the product, or the cost, most of his waxboxes cost $68 -- and that's what he wanted for a box of '95 Select. And so, I took a pass on 1995 Select.
As I mentioned on APAD, this is a product that I waited 13 years to bust, and I found a box for $19.95 at Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale. Was it worth the wait?
Let me put it this way, if you were to go back in time and speak to A1C Harris, I'm sure he'd be ecstatic with a waxbox that yielded 94.8% of the base set and a $75 Cal Ripken, Jr. insert. (According to the September 1995 issue of Beckett, a Big Sticks insert of a fresh-from-breaking-Lou-Gehrig’s-record Cal Ripken, Jr. booked for $75.) While it only books for $25 now, I’m still satisfied with my purchase.
The base set is 250 cards, and although there are no RCs, (there are two second-year A-Rods) it is a very nice looking, well designed card set. For the second consecutive year, all of the base cards -- with the exception of the "Select Rookie" and "Showtime" subsets -- are oriented horizontally and have two photos. All the usual suspects are here, along with a few players you may have forgotten about. (Where have you gone Jason Jacome?)
Like I mentioned, the hot insert in '95 Select was the one-per-box Artist Proofs. But there are three other inserts to chase after. In addition to the 1:48/pack Big Sticks of Cal Ripken, Jr., I pulled a Cliff Floyd Can’t Miss! Can’t Miss! was the designated one-per-box "super hot prospect" insert that was standard issue in most “premium” level products. While the 12-card checklist had some players who did miss, (i.e. Billy Ashley) what makes Can't Miss! special was the Dufex. I've always been a mark for the Dufex, and if there’s one thing I miss about Pinnacle Brands it’s these cards.
The other insert, which I did not receive a card from, was the 1:90/pack Sure Shots. Sure Shots were another Dufex-based set, this one starring ten of the top picks of the 1994 Draft. Unfortunately, with the exception of Paul Konerko, the draft class of '94 never distinguished itself, and these cards (including the Konerko) can be had cheap.
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
1995 Select is a Hobby time machine. It’s a throwback to a time in The Hobby when a $2/pack product was considered “premium” and when scarcity was measured in the hundreds and thousands. If you’ve got $20 burning a hole in your pocket, and can’t stand the thought of blowing it on two packs of Topps Co-Signers, pick up a box of 1995 Select.
Bloggers Note: This is the first installment of a 27-part year-by-year tribute to Fleer baseball. Today, we start at the beginning with Fleer's pre-1981 baseball efforts.
1959 Fleer Ted Williams Set Size: 80-cards (one series) Notable Cards: "Ted Signs for 1959" (SP) Other Notes:
ACC Designation: R418-1
In an effort to muscle it's way past the Topps monopoly, Philadelphia based chewing gum manufacturer Fleer signed Ted Williams to an exclusive contract.
Entire 80-card "hero worship" set -- released three decades before Upper Deck's Baseball Heroes.
"Ted Signs for 1959" card was withdrawn from production as it featured Sox GM Bucky Harris who still was under contract to Topps. Was one of The Hobby's first counterfeited cards.
Full Set: $1800 (NrMT)
1960 Fleer Baseball Greats
Set Size: 79 cards (one series) Notable Cards: Three different variations of card #80 Other Notes:
ACC designation: R418-2
Four decades before Greats of the Game, Fleer released this set -- consisting of Ted Williams and 78 retired players.
Cheap vintage cards of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ty Cobb.
17 cards were double-printed
Pepper Martin's card (#80) was pulled due to contract issues. However, a number of Martin cards did make their way into packs. According to PSA, three different versions of Martin's card exist:
One with Eddie Collins' (card #20) picture on the front and Martin's stats on the back.
One with Lefty Grove (#60) on the front and Martin's stats on the back.
Martin on the front and Joe Tinker's (#40) stats on the back.
Full Set (w/o #80): $600 (NmMT)
1961 Fleer Baseball Greats
Set Size: 154 cards (two series) Notable Cards: Same as 1960 Other Notes:
ACC designation: F418-3
First multi-series set. (First 88 cards were part of the first series, cards #89-154 in series two)
Last set under the "Baseball Greats" format.
Like the previous year's set, lots of affordable cards of Hall of Famers.
Each series one pack contained a team logo sticker.
Design recycled for a one-per-pack Hobby insert in 1999 Fleer Tradition.
Full Set: $1200 (NmMT)
1963 Fleer
Set Size: 67 cards (one series) Notable Cards: Maury Wills RC, Joe Adcock and checklist SPs Other Notes:
Fleer's first venture into active-player cards.
Featured cards of established stars like Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente and Carl Yastrzemski.
To get around Topps' "bubblegum" clause, each pack contained a cherry-flavored "cookie." According to Pete Williams' 1995 book Card Sharks, the cookie was so devoid of sugar -- to get around the restriction -- that it "tasted like a dog biscuit."
Snubbed by Topps as a minor leaguer, 1962 NL MVP Maury Wills' rookie card appears in the set. It would be another five years before Topps would issue their first Wills card.
Wills and Jimmy Piersall both served as agents on Fleer's behalf.
Plans were afoot to release as many as five series, but was stopped at only one after Topps sued Fleer immediately after the first series' release.
Card #46 (Joe Adcock) was pulled midway through the production run and replaced by a checklist.
Design was recycled for the 1998 and 2003 Fleer Tradition sets.
This 1973 card of Dave Nelson may very well have the worst action photo I've ever seen on a baseball card. When two guys on the other team are bigger than the alleged subject, you know it's pretty bad.
Posts
