#5 TRADE: A bunch of Toronto Blue Jays cards "to be named later," to David of Long Fly Ball to Because.. for a six-pack of Flying Monkey Hoptical Illusion beer.
Yeah, I made a trade at The National for beer. And not just any beer, an imported micro-brew.
Now I promised David that I would put his six-pack to "good use." So I bought a box of 1995 Bazooka baseball for $8 at the show and decided to make a video box break out of it.
Part One:
Part Two:
#10: It's for "Members Only"
#9: The case of the mysterious rookie reprints
#8: 75 for 25
#7: A point is a point
#6: OH NOEZ!!!!!
#5: What do they know about partying? Or anything else?
#4: Epix Mo-Jo!!!
#3: Satisfyin' the ladies, one printin' plate at a time
#2: The Mother of all junk waxboxes
#1: Ironic ain't just the name of an Alanis Morrisette song
Showing posts with label 1995. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1995. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Friday, August 05, 2011
Monday, August 16, 2010
On-Location Box Break: 1995 Leaf Limited Series One
About this time last year, I went to see the one and only Dr. Wax Battle, and ripped a box of 1995 Leaf Limited Series One. I remember Dr. Wax sending me this video clip a few days later and it's been sitting on my hard-drive ever since.
Yes, it's taken me almost a year to post this. Sue me.
Yes, it's taken me almost a year to post this. Sue me.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Video Box Break and Review: 1995 Finest Series One
One box of 1995 Finest Series One (paid $32)
24 packs per box, seven "Hi-Tech" cards per pack
Part One
Part Two
The Pulls
Base Set: 115 of 220 (52.27%)
42 doubles
6 triples
1 quad
Parallels
2 Refractors (1:12) B. Jones, W. Boggs
Inserts
1 Power Kings (18 cards, 1:24) B. Bonds
Autogamers
NONE
The Bottom Line
For the money, you can't go wrong with this 14-year-old waxbox. No, there aren't any rookies (Hideo Nomo was in the Update Series) and you only get two refractors in a box. But it's a fun rip nonetheless.
The collation is typical mid-90s Topps -- that is, awful. But I did get my two designated refractors, and my one-per-box Power King. Not bad for $32?
Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of 5)
24 packs per box, seven "Hi-Tech" cards per pack
Part One
Part Two
The Pulls
Base Set: 115 of 220 (52.27%)
42 doubles
6 triples
1 quad
Parallels
2 Refractors (1:12) B. Jones, W. Boggs
Inserts
1 Power Kings (18 cards, 1:24) B. Bonds
Autogamers
NONE
The Bottom Line
For the money, you can't go wrong with this 14-year-old waxbox. No, there aren't any rookies (Hideo Nomo was in the Update Series) and you only get two refractors in a box. But it's a fun rip nonetheless.
The collation is typical mid-90s Topps -- that is, awful. But I did get my two designated refractors, and my one-per-box Power King. Not bad for $32?
Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of 5)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Video Box Break and Review: 1995 Leaf Limited Series One
One box of 1995 Leaf Limited Series One
20 packs per box, five cards per pack
The Video
(fast forward to 7:50)
The Pulls
Base Set: 79 of 96 (82.29%)
Parallels
20 Gold (24 cards, one-per-pack)
Inserts
1 Lumberjack (eight cards, 1:23, numbered to 5000) A. Belle
Autogamers: NONE
The Review
1995 Leaf Limited. Ahh yes, I remember it well. In the era before autographs, game used cards, and obscenely scarce parallels, Leaf Limited was the ultimate. It was Donruss' answer to the new wave of "super-premium" products like Topps Finest, Flair, and SP, and it more than held its own weight.
14 years later and time has not been kind to '95 Leaf Limited. The first series was one of the first to feature a "true" rookie card of Hideo Nomo. Back then, collectors went bonkers trying to find a Nomo. But Nomo never really developed into the Hall of Fame pitcher everyone in 1995 was convinced he'd be. And while only 45,000 serial-numbered waxboxes of each series were produced, today you can get three boxes Leaf Limited for about the price of what one box went for in '95.
The base set consists of 96 cards, and are all done in what Donruss called "Spectra Tech" foil -- the rest of us just called it holographic foil. Most of the usual suspects are featured, although such players as Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Greg Maddux were saved for the second series. Each pack had one of 24 Gold cards, a pseudo-parallel set that featured a different photo than the player's base card. The Spectra Tech foil makes the Golds a little more difficult to distinguish from the base cards, however the backs have a gold background, compared to a silver background in the base cards.
The big insert was the 16-card (eight in each series) Lumberjacks. Each card was serial-numbered to 5000 copies -- which in '95 was still considered scarce -- and printed on a wood veneer that gave it the look and feel of a baseball bat. In the era before game used cards, such "material" cards were a Donruss staple.
The Bottom Line
This box yielded about five-sixths of a base set, and five-sixths of the Gold insert. I also pulled an Albert Belle Lumberjack insert, which in 1995 would have been a $30-$40 card.
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
If you've got $30 burning a hole in your pocket, and want something to bust, pick up a box of 1995 Leaf Limited.
20 packs per box, five cards per pack
The Video
(fast forward to 7:50)
The Pulls
Base Set: 79 of 96 (82.29%)
Parallels
20 Gold (24 cards, one-per-pack)
Inserts
1 Lumberjack (eight cards, 1:23, numbered to 5000) A. Belle
Autogamers: NONE
The Review
1995 Leaf Limited. Ahh yes, I remember it well. In the era before autographs, game used cards, and obscenely scarce parallels, Leaf Limited was the ultimate. It was Donruss' answer to the new wave of "super-premium" products like Topps Finest, Flair, and SP, and it more than held its own weight.
14 years later and time has not been kind to '95 Leaf Limited. The first series was one of the first to feature a "true" rookie card of Hideo Nomo. Back then, collectors went bonkers trying to find a Nomo. But Nomo never really developed into the Hall of Fame pitcher everyone in 1995 was convinced he'd be. And while only 45,000 serial-numbered waxboxes of each series were produced, today you can get three boxes Leaf Limited for about the price of what one box went for in '95.
The base set consists of 96 cards, and are all done in what Donruss called "Spectra Tech" foil -- the rest of us just called it holographic foil. Most of the usual suspects are featured, although such players as Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Greg Maddux were saved for the second series. Each pack had one of 24 Gold cards, a pseudo-parallel set that featured a different photo than the player's base card. The Spectra Tech foil makes the Golds a little more difficult to distinguish from the base cards, however the backs have a gold background, compared to a silver background in the base cards.
The big insert was the 16-card (eight in each series) Lumberjacks. Each card was serial-numbered to 5000 copies -- which in '95 was still considered scarce -- and printed on a wood veneer that gave it the look and feel of a baseball bat. In the era before game used cards, such "material" cards were a Donruss staple.
The Bottom Line
This box yielded about five-sixths of a base set, and five-sixths of the Gold insert. I also pulled an Albert Belle Lumberjack insert, which in 1995 would have been a $30-$40 card.
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
If you've got $30 burning a hole in your pocket, and want something to bust, pick up a box of 1995 Leaf Limited.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Vintage Video Box Break and Review: 1995 Select
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.
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.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Box Break and Review: 1995 Upper Deck Series One (Hobby)
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a box break from last year that I never got around to posting. Until now, that is.
One box of 1995 Upper Deck Series One Hobby (Paid $35)
36 packs per box, 12 cards per pack
The Details
Base Set: 225 cards (no short-prints)
Parallels: NONE
Inserts:
Special Edition: 135 cards*
Special Edition Gold: 135 cards (1:35*)
Hobby Predictors: 20 cards (1:30)
Steal of a Deal: 15 cards (1:34)
Checklists: five cards (1:17)
*Stated odds of finding either a Special Edition or a Special Edition Gold: one-per-pack.
Autogamers: NONE
The Pulls
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of 5)
No one will ever confuse 1995 Upper Deck with 1989 UD. But with that said, it's nice looking, fun, and affordable.
36 packs per box, 12 cards per pack
The Details
Base Set: 225 cards (no short-prints)
Parallels: NONE
Inserts:
Special Edition: 135 cards*
Special Edition Gold: 135 cards (1:35*)
Hobby Predictors: 20 cards (1:30)
Steal of a Deal: 15 cards (1:34)
Checklists: five cards (1:17)
*Stated odds of finding either a Special Edition or a Special Edition Gold: one-per-pack.
Autogamers: NONE
The Pulls
Base Set: 208 of 225 (92.44%)
166 Doubles
18 Triples
Inserts:
35 Special Editions
1 Special Edition Gold: K. Foster
1 Hobby Predictor: A. Gonzalez
1 Steal of a Deal: D. Eckersley
2 Checklists: K. Rogers, G. Maddux
One word can best describe 1995 Upper Deck baseball: simple. Considering what came before, and what was about to come, the '95 UDs were extremely minimalist. Just a full-bleed photo, the player's name and team (in very small type), a UD logo, and that's it. Not exactly the harbinger on the "foil-stamp the shit out of everything" fronts that was to come in the late-90s.
'95 was the first year that the UD flagship did NOT open up with the Star Rookies. Instead, they were shifted to the back end of the first series, and merged with a second batch of SRs that opened up Series Two. (A third-year Derek Jeter and a second-year A-Rod both make cameos in the SR subset.) In their place, the Top Prospects open up the set. The was the final year for the TPs, and the only one of note is a third-year card of Nomar Garciaparra. There are also second-year cards of such Hobby flameouts Ruben Rivera, Paul Wilson, and true "Rookie Cards" are of Karim Garcia, Raul Casanova, and Nolan Ryan's son Reid Ryan. Another notable base card is of Michael Jordan being interviewed by a already-on-his-seventh-Budweiser-looking Harry Caray.
There are two differences between the hobby and retail version of '95 UD, and one of which is the one-per-pack insert. In retail packs, you get one Electric Diamond card per pack -- which is a traditional one-per-pack parallel. Hobby packs though, came with their own one-per-pack insert: The Special Editions. The SEs were unique, in that they are a pretty comprehensive set onto itself. At 270 cards (135 in each series), it remains one of the largest non-parallel insert sets every produced, and remains a challenging set to try to complete -- even a dozen years later.
The other difference between hobby and retail has to do with the Predictor inserts. The Predictors were interactive game cards that could be redeemed if the player shown won an award of some sort. The idea for on the interactive insert wasn't new -- 1994 Leaf had the popular MVP Contenders inserts -- but with the effects of a devastating strike still lingering, and with the overall "copycat" mentality of mid-90s era The Hobby, card companies were trying anything and everything they could to drum up sales. There are 40 Hobby Predictors in all (20 American Leaguers in the first series, and 20 National Leaguers in the second), and 60 Retail Predictors (30 AL and 30 NL).
Rounding out the set are the 15 Steal of a Deal inserts, and five checklists -- which, as was the custom of the time, were seeded into packs as inserts.
Technically, there are no autogamers; however, there was a wrapper redemption offer good for for one of 8000 serial-numbered autographed Roger Clemens jumbo cards. This offer has long since expired.
The Bottom Line
Collation was typical for a mid-90s Upper Deck product. It yielded 92% of the base set, and a healthy stack of tradeable doubles. The inserts ran as advertised.Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of 5)
No one will ever confuse 1995 Upper Deck with 1989 UD. But with that said, it's nice looking, fun, and affordable.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Always Be Collecting: 1995 Fleer
Base Set: 600 cards (one series)
Inserts:
- All Fleer-9: 9 cards (complete set available via a wrapper redemption offer)
- All Rookies: 9 cards (complete set available via a 1:150/pack redemption card)
- All-Stars: 25 cards (1:3)
- Award Winners: 6 cards (1:24)
- League Leaders: 10 cards (1:12)
- Lumber Company: 10 cards (1:24, retail wax exclusive)
- Major League Prospects: 10 cards (1:6)
- Pro-Visions: 6 cards (1:9)
- Rookie Sensations: 20 cards (1:4, jumbo exclusive)
- Team Leaders: 28 cards (1:24, Hobby wax exclusive)
Notable Cards: The whole base set is notable for its six different base set designs, all equally ugly.
- In an effort to spur strike-induced flagging card sales, the marketing slogan for 1995 Fleer was "Different by Design."
- Base set featured six different (and distinct) designs, one for each of baseball's six divisions.
- Fronts ranged from mildly nauseating (AL West) to LSD flashback (AL Central) to epileptic seizure inducing (NL West).
- Still an insert in every pack, with the debut of "Hot Packs" containing nothing but inserts.
Base Set: 200 cards (one series)
Inserts:
- Diamond Tribute: 10 cards (1:5)
- Headliners: 20 cards (1:3)
- Rookie Update: 10 cards (1:4)
- Smooth Leather: 10 cards (1:5, jumbo exclusive)
- Soaring Stars: 9 cards (1:36)
Notable cards: Hideo Nomo RC
Other Notes:
- First Fleer Update set released in pack form.
- Last Fleer jumbo pack product.
- One of a bazillion late-1995 sets to feature a Hideo Nomo RC.
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