1998 Fleer Showcase Wave of the Future

Set Size: 12 cards

Design Notes: The cards are printed on plastic. There are two plastic outer layers, plus an inner gel layer (actually, vegetable oil) with sparkle pieces. The card can be squeezed to make the sparkle pieces move around like waves - though the oil doesn't flow quickly like water. The front has a color photo, and the back has a shadow of the photo containing a player biography.

Parallels and Similars: None known.

Distribution: Cards were inserted into packs of Showcase at a rate of 1:20.

Thoughts: This is a really great concept. The waves aren't perfect, but this card is very unique as I believe it is the only card to contain liquid. It isn't perfect, but I enjoy the attempt at taking an insert theme to the next level!

1998 E-X 2001 Cheap Seat Treats

Set Size:20 cards

Design Notes: Let's go 3D! Each card looks like a cheap folding wood-slat bleacher seat. The seat folds down to reveal a picture of the player.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were inserted one in 24 packs (one per box, on average).

Thoughts: Fleer produced some of the most interesting inserts in history, and this ranks right up there with some of the best. The set is pretty fragile and it's difficult to display well, but I applaud the effort made to make something unique.

2004 Mets Post Fleer (200th Post!)

Set Size: 9 cards on an unperforated uncut sheet, plus one bonus card

Design Notes: The player photos appear over a background with the Mets logo and their jersey number. Backs contain statistics, a short write-up, and a blue-tinted head shot.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Uncut sheets were inserted into the New York Post. Cards are standard size if cut properly from the sheet. A bonus card of Kazuo Matsui was available from the Mets Clubhouse stores when customers showed the sheet and bought a pack of Fleer cards at the store.

Thoughts: This is a nice oddball to add to my collection. It has a nice design and features several stars. The header makes the sheet taller than a standard binder can hold but I'm sure it will display well in other ways. I found this sheet here in Japan, at a store on the west side of the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was a pretty good deal, too! I'm guessing the original collector got the sheet to get the Matsui card, and returned to Japan with it. Of course, they would have kept the Matsui or sold it for more money.

This is my 200th post! Thank you to all my readers and followers. As of this writing (on November 2nd, as I'll be in Nagoya doing sightseeing and card hunting when this posts) I have 43 loyal followers. Last month (October) I finally broke 1000 page views in a month (1249 total! with only 16 posts last month) and since starting in June last year (with a mostly-stagnant period the first nine months of this year) I have over 11,000 page views. I just realized while looking at my stats and history, I have made only about 25 posts this year, so most of my writing is really old.

My most-read posts (aside from the two posts that were my "last" for the long periods of empty blogness this year) are 1997-98 Score Board Autographed Collection Autographs, my Japanese Menko post, and 1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes (one of my favorite sets). Looking at the rest of the "top 10" it seems that the more oddballish the set (and the older it is) the more popular it is. Too bad I don't have tons of old oddball cards sitting around!

Right now I'm clearing out a scan folder from right before I left for Japan, which is why there are going to be a bunch of late-2011 issues in the next week or so. But my Japanese card collection is growing fast, and I have plans for presenting those cards sooner than later. Plus there are plenty of older cards and oddballs in my collection just waiting to be posted. And if I can somehow get the motivation, energy, and time together to sort out all my scans (from the US and Japan) I will have even better posts here for you in the future!

Meanwhile, I want to say thank you again to my readers for stopping by and looking at the most insane collection I think anyone could try to put together.

The card that started it all.

1998 Ultra Top 30

Set size: 30 cards

Front Design: "Top 30" in large print surrounded by steel-looking "+" symbols is the background behind a player photo. The player's name and position is in the lower right corner in team colors, and the Ultra logo is in the upper left corner.

Back Design: A second player photo is on the left, on top of the "+" background. The Top 30 "logo" is repeated at the top right, followed by the player's name in a team color, a short biography in black text, the card number in the same team color, and a team logo.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were inserted one per pack of 1998 Ultra Series 2 retail.

Thoughts: It's a simple design that works. I like the shiny fronts with the attractive set logo in the background. The card just stands out among others. The front isn't cluttered with crazy geometric lines, and it's obvious what the insert set means - the best 30 baseball players of 1998 (as far as Fleer was concerned). At one per pack, it's an inexpensive set to collect.

2001 Fleer Premium A Time for Heroes

Set size: 20 cards

Front Design: A clock face contains the team logo, with the set, player, and team names beneath. The player's photo is placed beside the design, with a background pattern that resembles what one might see looking at dirty linoleum tile while intoxicated.

Back Design: The backs repeat the design elements from the front with an explanation of how the player shown is a hero.

Parallels and Similars: None known.

Distribution: Cards were inserted into packs of 2001 Fleer Premium at a rate of 1:20.

Thoughts: I like the use of a clock, since it's not seen on baseball cards as a design element too frequently. I'm not sure what the idea was behind the background, which really does look like a blurry picture of someone's kitchen floor or dated wallpaper.

2001 Fleer Premium Star Ruby

Set size: 230 cards

Front Design: A parallel of the 2001 Fleer Premium set, the player's photo stands out over a foil background, while a white border around three sides of the photo have the player's name (top), team name and position (side), and set name (bottom), all in a ruby red foil. The cards have an additional black border.

Back Design: The backs contain player's vital information, recent and total statistics, and a second color photo. The cards contain a serial number in the lower right, and the card number in the top right has an "SR" prefix.

Parallels and Similars: This set is a partial parallel of the 2001 Fleer Premium set, with the SR prefix, serial numbering, and foil color being the easy distinguishing characteristics. There are no other parallels in the set. Cards 231-235 are the only ones to not appear in this parallel, having been available through redemption.

Distribution: Cards were printed to 125 serial-numbered copies and randomly inserted into packs of 2001 Fleer Premium.

Thoughts: The Fleer Premium set isn't one of my favorites, mainly because of the foil background and excessive use of border space. The backs are laid out well, though, with an attractive but readable font. Some collectors would prefer full career statistics, but five years works well enough for this issue - I believe Fleer issued at least one other set that year that contained full statistics. I appreciate the fact that there is only one parallel in this issue, and it's limited to a challenging quantity. 125 cards isn't that much, making it a tough but not impossible acquisition for player collectors. For set builders looking for a real challenge, an edition of only 125 makes for a real difficulty.

1998 Fleer Tradition Diamond Standouts

Set size: 20 cards

Front Design: A foil background of a baseball diamond is behind the color player photo; the player's name and the set's name is printed in foil on the bottom.

Back Design: The baseball diamond is repeated in the background over a cut diamond design background. A second photo and a writeup about how the player stands out is placed over the baseball diamond. The team logo is in the upper left, and the card number is in the upper-right.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were inserted 1:12 packs of Fleer Tradition, which replaced the Fleer flagship brand that year.

Thoughts: The scan doesn't do the background any justice, especially with all the cardboard dust on the card. That said, I'm not too big of a fan of foil backgrounds.

1998 Metal Universe Universal Language

 Set size: 20 cards

Front Design: A color photo is placed over a global map with a baseball seam shadow. The player's name and set name appears in foil along the side and the cards are die cut at the top and bottom.

Back Design: A portrait appears at the top, with the player's name and team beneath. A biography about the player fills the middle of the card and is printed in the player's native language. The card carries the global map design from the front by presenting longitudinal and latitudinal lines.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were inserted 1:6 packs of 1998 Metal Universe.

Thoughts: This is a great looking set. The coloring gives it an antique map look, and the card has a matte finish that meets that illusion. The foil is minimal, readable, and appropriate. The use of different language on the back based on the player's country of origin is a nice touch (but the effect is lost when the home language is English, like with Jeff Bagwell). Among a sea of foil and shine, this set does insert design right. Fleer consistently provided great insert concepts and designs.

2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Battery Mates

Set size: 10 cards

Front Design: A pitcher and catcher who were battery mates (hence the set name) are shown in photos on the left and right side of the horizontal card. The player's name and position appear beneath each photo with the team logo between the two. There is a large amount of empty space above and between the photos, which is partially filled by a Fleer Greats logo and "Battery Mates" centered on the card.

Back Design: The player's names are repeated in a banner at the top of the card, and the years they were battery mates are beneath the players' names. A highlight fills most of the card; the cards are serial numbered to a year during their combined career at the bottom.

Parallels and Similars: Seven of the cards have a single-signed parallel numbered under 80, and six cards have a dual-signed parallel numbered to 10.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of Fleer Greats. Cards are serial numbered between 1934 and 1979 depending on the years the two players were teammates.  

Thoughts: I don't care much for cards with multiple players, most of the time. That is partly due to many of the pairings being based solely on the players both playing the same position, having similar statistics or comparisons, or being on the same team (see also: 2011 Topps Diamond Duos). Some multi-player cards get the pairings right, and this set is one of them (see also: ~1993 Upper Deck Teammates subsets solely for the logos, pairings, and generally interesting photos). On the other hand, the design is so basic and there is no real effort to pair the two images together with some pitcher-catcher theming. Something could have been done with all that empty space at the top. So while I applaud the concept, I disapprove of its execution.

1995 Emotion N-Tense

Set size: 12 cards

Front Design: A player photo sits over an etched-foil background, while a giant silver holographic foil N hovers behind him. An "N-tense" logo, the player's name and his team appear in gold foil at the bottom of the card.

Back Design: Another photo and a paragraph describing the player's intensity fill most of the card space over a color swirling lightning background design similar to the front design.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were inserted 1 in 37 packs of Emotion, a Fleer/SkyBox set.

Thoughts: For a foil-heavy 1990s insert card design, this is an attractive card. As you can see from the write-up on the back of Gant's card, the cards are inspirational. The giant N haunts Gant like a Sesame Street letter that was killed by Bert...

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1994-95 Excel All-Stars

Set size: 10 cards

Front Design: A full-bleed color photo received a "crayon" highlighting treatment around the player. His name appears in a large, broken, off-kilter wild font, and gold foil at the bottom left gives the name of the set; the Excel logo is in the upper right corner.

Back Design: A cropped version of the same photo is the background to a highlight biography. The player's name is repeated in the same crazy font beneath the biography, followed by his team name and position, the card number and copyright information.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of the minor league issue 1994-95 Excel.

Thoughts: Sure, it's a wild, loud design, but it's different from most of the uninspired inserts we see these days. The set featured what Excel considered 10 of the best minor leaguers of the 1994 season. Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon are the two real success stories from the set, though many of them made the majors. A design like this would be good in a kid/family/value-oriented product, such as Opening Day.

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1998 Fleer Tradition Diamond Ink

Set size: 10 cards

Front Design: These cards were designed as redemptions, and contain no pictures. The fronts have the Fleer logo, a Fleer logo-style Diamond Ink logo, the player's name, year of issue, and a value of 1, 5, or 10 points. The cards are embossed.

Back Design: The backs explain the terms and conditions of the program.

Parallels and Similars: None known.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted in Ultra Series 1 and Fleer Tradition Series 1 packs. Collectors could save 500 points for one player and redeem those points for an autographed baseball. Some players are apparently short-printed relative to the overall run, namely superstars like Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez. Greg Maddux was inserted only in Fleer packs.

Thoughts: You won't be seeing me put together this set any time soon. I'm sure it was quite difficult to gather 500 points for any given player - it would take anywhere from 50 to 500 cards to gather up enough points, and they must be of the same player. I'd be interested in knowing how many balls were actually redeemed.

Additional Images: card back

1985 Fleer Update

 Set size: 132 standard-sized cards

Front Design: A color player photo sits inside a cup-shaped dual-border design, with the player's name, position, and team logo appearing at the top. The cards have a gray border.

Back Design: The backs are printed in black ink with red highlights, and contain the player's name, team name and position, as well as a small black-and-white photo along the top. The player's statistics fill the middle of the card, and the bottom of the card contains biographical trivia and vital statistics.

Parallels and Similars: The cards are identical to the 1985 regular Fleer issue, except for a U- prefix on card numbers.

Distribution: Cards were sold through hobby stores in a box containing team logo stickers.

Thoughts: When I first started collecting in '89 and the early '90s, Donruss and Fleer sets before 1988 seemed so exotic. They had white card stock and a completely different design feel than Topps. This issue isn't exactly amazing, but even the simple designs can be attractive at times. It's not cluttered but it isn't plain, either. It's not my favorite '80s Fleer design, but it's better than 1985 Topps and at least as good as 1985 Donruss.

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1991 Fleer Pro-Visions

Set size: 12+4 standard-sized cards

Front Design: These black-bordered cards feature artwork by Terry Smith. The player's strengths are accented in the artwork - McGwire above was known as a member of the Bash Brothers and this card shows him with larger-than-life arms. Jose Canseco's bat is being struck by lightning, while Dwight Gooden's glove is on fire. The art is surrounded by a black border; the player's name appears in yellow in the bottom border.

Back Design: The team-color coordinated, vertical backs contain the player's name and vital statistics, along with a lengthy biography relating to the art on the front. The card number and copyright information appears on the bottom.

Parallels and Similars: The Pro-Visions line continued for several years following this set, and look similar. The art was used in other baseball items, such as postcards issued by Barry Colla. An additional four-card set with F prefixed card numbers and white borders was released in factory sets.

Distribution: Black-bordered cards were randomly inserted in packs, with the white-bordered cards included with factory sets.

Thoughts: The Pro-Visions line is one of my favorite insert series, and I have complete sets from every baseball issue in my TCIC collection. Being issued in the height of overproduction, the cards are easy to pick up cheap, and the artwork is attractive and creative. There have been many full-issue sets that came after Pro-Visions that tried to copy its appeal and failed.

Additional Images: Card back: