Old School Hits: 1999 Fleer Mystique Feel the Game

Randomly inserted into packs of 1999 Fleer Mystique was one of the earliest game-used sets to hit the hobby known as Feel the Game. The checklist was small but potent (for the time) and featured a mixture of established stars and the hottest newcomers. These cards were great for a variety of reasons. First, jersey swatches were considerable bigger than the tiny ones we’ve been accustomed to with game-used. Secondly, there a mixture of not only jersey pieces but batting gloves and in this particular case, a shoe! These made for some great looking pieces. See for yourself! Third, a picture of the actual item from which the swatch was taken was placed on the back of each card.

Here is the complete Feel the Game checklist, print runs included:

1. Adrian Beltre – Shoe – /430
2. J.D. Drew – Jersey – /450
3. Juan Gonzalez – Batting Glove – /415
4. Tony Gwynn – Jersey – /435
5. Kevin Millwood – Jersey – /435
6. Alex Rodriguez – Batting Glove – /345
7. Frank Thomas – Jersey – /450

A full review of 1999 Fleer Mystique can be found here.

2002 Donruss Studio Baseball Review

Well, July has arrived so what better way to start the month than with a box of 2002 Studio! In 2002, Donruss put a patriotic twist on its Studio line with Old Glory in the background of every base card/parallel, a revamped Spirit of the Game insert set, and actual game-worn flag patches used in the wake of 9/11. Let’s bust this!

Box Details: 18 packs per box, 5 cards per pack, $35
From: Baseball Card Exchange

Base set: The base set is comprised of 200 short set cards, followed by 50 serially numbered rookies. Each card features a background with an American flag backdrop and some small city skyline photos placed on some film strip. In this box, I pulled 77 of the 200 short set cards (38.5%) without duplicates.

Rookies (/1500): Cards number 201-250 consist solely of rookie cards, all of which are numbered to 1500. There is no difference in appearance between these and the regular base cards with the exception of the word “Rookie” in the bottom right corner of the card. There were two rookies in my box: Kyle Kane (0773/1500) and Jason Lane (0011/1500). It should be noted that this set was extended by 25 cards in Donruss’ special The Rookies product. These 25 cards (cards 251-275) were also “rookies” numbered to 1500 and featured Mark Teixeira, Freddy Sanchez, and Chone Figgins among others.

Studio Proofs (/100): Studio Proofs is the name of the lone parallel found in this product. Mirroring the entire set, these cards feature a small holographic logo stamped on the front of each card and serial numbering out of 100 on the back. I pulled a card of Nick Neugebauer (086/100), who made only 14 Major League starts in his career, all for the Brewers.

Studio Stars (50 cards, 1:5 packs): Everyone remembers the 1995 Studio set, right? You know, the cards that looked like credit cards? Well, they returned in insert form in 2002 and were available in three separate variations. The most common variation was seeded 1 in every 5 packs. As was the case in 1995, a Gold parallel also existed and was serially numbered to 250. The third parallel was brand new for ‘02, a Platinum parallel numbered to just 50. This box yielded regular inserts of Frank Thomas, Tony Gwynn (who seems to follow me everywhere), and Carlos Delgado. I was also lucky enough to pull a Platinum card of Randy Johnson (41/50).

Spirit of the Game (50 cards, 1:9 packs): Spirit of the Game is a patriotic-themed 50-card insert set which depicts players holding their caps over their hearts (scroll down for scan). This set has multiple game-used variations:

Hats Off – Nearly half of the set is covered in this partial parallel which features game-worn hat swatches from players such as Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Beltran, and Andruw Jones. Each card is limited to 100 copies with the exception of Kazuhisa Ishii, whose card is limited to 50.

MLB Logo Variation - 17 cards have MLB Logo swatches embedded in them, each card a 1 of 1.

Flag Patch Variation – Only six cards featured an actual flag patch from a jersey worn by the player post-9/11. I witnessed a local shop owner pulling the Kerry Wood card back in ‘02. If I remember correctly, these were jumbo cards randomly inserted as a box (maybe case?) topper. Seeing how there are only six cards out there, finding a scan of one of these is virtually impossible.

I did not pull any game-used cards in this box but I did pull inserts of Mark Prior and Carlos Lee.

Diamond Collection (25 cards, 1:17 packs): Diamond Collection inserts are found at a rate of one per box and feature an old-time black and white background. My pull was Pedro Martinez. All but one of the cards in this set is accompanied by an Artist’s Proof game-used parallel. Each of those features a swatch of game-used jersey or base and has a print run of 150 or 200 respectively. In true Artifacts/Piece of History fashion, the regular inserts have a team logo where the swatch would be.

Masterstrokes (25 cards, 1:17 packs): The second one per box insert is a Studio classic, Masterstrokes. These are painted inserts that look like they belong in the Topps Gallery line except they’re a little nicer in my opinion. My pull was of Lance Berkman. These inserts also have the Artist’s Proof game-used parallel, most of which feature a combination of a bat and jersey swatch numbered to 200. The cards of Ichiro, Albert Pujols, and Derek Jeter feature base and ball swatches and are limited to just 100.

Studio Classic (25 cards, /1000): Reminiscent of the inaugural 1991 Studio set, the red-bordered Studio Classic cards are some of my favorite inserts of all time. Check out that Lou Gehrig (0691/1000). I dare any baseball fan to tell me that doesn’t kick ass. Anyway, this set is filled with Hall of Famers and also has its share of parallels and autographs. There is a First Ballot parallel which has a print run based on the last two numbers of the player’s HOF induction year. For example, a Gehrig would be numbered to just 39. Autographs make up a partial parallel to this set as well. However, none have a print run higher than 20 and they’re all silver sticker autographs like the next card I’ll talk about.

Private Signings (varied numbering): Like I mentioned in my last post, over 200 players have autographs in this set with no print runs topping 250. With all the huge names in the set, I pulled Victor Martinez (168/250). I was happy with the pull, especially when considering how much filler is in this set (seriously, check eBay for these).

Final Thoughts/Grades:

Collation: A+
I got exactly 90 cards in this box without a single dupe. Perfect!

Condition: A-
The cards came out of this box very clean (especially for having black at the bottom of each card), greatly surprised to see so few dinged corners, etc.

Pulls: A
I was very satisfied with the pulls in this box. According to the wrapper, inserts are found in every third pack on average. This box obviously contained a lot more. A low-numbered Randy Johnson and an autograph of a player who is still an active star brought the grade up a bit.

Value: B
There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of sites holding boxes of 2002 Studio and the few that do carry them are asking $60 and up, which is a bit steep considering that there are only 90 cards in a box. The fact that there are only 18 packs in a box and only 5 cards per pack is probably the worst part of this product. The content inside was great, it’s the box configuration that needed work. Still, 2002 Studio, with its patriotic theme, added a nice twist to a product that generally was the same every year.

Final Grade: A

Old School Hits: 2002 Donruss Studio Private Signings

With the fourth of July less than a week away, I thought I’d showcase a hit from a product described as “a Star-Spangled Tribute to America’s Pastime,” 2002 Donruss Studio. The base cards featured the traditional Studio-style portrait shot of each player with Old Glory and some shots of the player’s home city in the background.

Randomly inserted into packs of 2002 Studio (and 2002 Donruss The Rookies) are Private Signings inserts. Private Signings is a 210-card skip-numbered set featuring autographs of the game’s top veterans and prospects. Each card is serially numbered to 250 or less, with the bigger stars being produced in much smaller quantities (usually 25 or fewer). Some of the big stars found in this set include Roger Clemens, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Frank Thomas, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Manny Ramirez, and even Rickey Henderson.

This Victor Martinez card is numbered out of 250.

A Shark-Infested Mailday

I very rarely participate in group breaks anymore but when I saw a break for some 2007-08 Sweet Shot Hockey for fairly cheap, I decided to give it a shot. The break was held by ‘arplatinum‘ from Youtube and I ended up drawing the San Jose Sharks. Here’s a look at my haul:

The first card was an event-used triple jersey rookie card of center Torrey Mitchell. It’s a common but it is serially numbered to 599 and the swatches are great with a trio of colors (much better than the boring white)!

The second card I got from the break was one of the lowest-numbered of the case, a Signature Shots Stick Signings of Jonathan Cheechoo (08/25). The stick isn’t game-used and Cheechoo has one of the worst autographs in recorded history, but it still looks awesome. This card is currently in a pending transaction.

The final card is my personal favorite. It’s a Signature Shots Ice Signings Autograph of Joe Thornton (037/100). I love the design of these cards and the fact that the “rink” gives the player ample space to sign. Good job UD (yes, I actually said that).

1999 Flair Showcase Baseball Review

As promised, here’s a box break/review of 1999 Flair Showcase! In case you didn’t already know, pre-2000 Flair are some of my favorite sets ever. Just look at the scans below. They are beauties! For past Flair box breaks (’98), click here and here. Anyway, let’s see what my first box of ‘99 brought me…

Box Details: 24 packs per box, 5 cards per pack, $45
From: Baseball Card Exchange

Base set: 1999 marked the last time that the Flair Showcase set was fractured. In this case, 144 players each had three cards each, Rows 1, 2, and 3. The scan above depicts cards from Row 3, the most common of the bunch. In this box, I pulled 71 Row 3 cards without duplicates.

Row 2: The Row 2 cards came at a rate better than one per pack. In 1999, the look for these cards was tweaked a bit from those of previous years as the players no longer had their distant background images but rather a small action shot placed under a giant model of their uniform number. The number concept might seem a bit tacky, but the cards are beautiful regardless. I pulled 40 different Row 2 cards in this box. Some of the notables included Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken, Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Ivan Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Mike Mussina.

Row 1: Much like the Row 0 cards were all serially numbered in 1998, the Row 1 cards are all serially numbered according to where they fell in the set. Here’s the breakdown:

Cards 1-48 (numbered to 1,500)
Cards 49-96 (numbered to 3,000)
Cards 97-144 (numbered to 6,000)

Altogether, I pulled 9 Row 1 cards:

#9 Tony Gwynn (0110/1500)
#16 Darin Erstad (1241/1500)
#69 Gary Sheffield (0914/3000)
#73 Bartolo Colon (0966/3000)
#83 Livan Hernandez 0674/3000)
#108 Mike Mussina (4431/6000)
#134 Reggie Sanders (4316/6000)
#136 Charles Johnson (4194/6000)
#139 Matt Williams (3038/6000)

Legacy Collection (/99): The low-numbered, blue-foiled Flair parallel known as the Legacy Collection returned in 1999 and mirrored all three Rows with a print run of 99 each. I was unable to pull a Legacy card in two boxes of 1998 Flair but I was able to hit one here in Andres Galarraga (63/99).

Wave of the Future (/1000): A staple of the Flair Showcase line, this year’s Wave of the Future inserts returned with a special technology later used in Fleer’s E-Xceptional inserts. I pulled an insert of Troy Glaus (0979/1000). Ben Grieve, Travis Lee, Todd Helton, Eric Chavez, and Ricky Ledee are among the others featured in this set.

Final Thoughts/Grades:

Collation: A
This box didn’t contain a single duplicate and I actually got two more cards than I was supposed to (122).

Condition: C
While the base cards were relatively unharmed, the inserts had some serious issues. Some Row 1 cards suffered from serious peeling around the edges on the back. Also, check out the faded foil on the Legacy logo on the Galarraga card. This was a bit disappointing.

Pulls: B
The pulls earn a solid ‘B’ thanks in part to the Legacy card. From past experiences, I know that these aren’t guaranteed pulls. Overall, the star power in this box was above average.

Value: B
The asking price of these boxes are regularly in the $55-60+ range. At $45 (again for those that will ask, I don’t include the shipping in the prices I list because I often buy boxes in bunches and don’t calculate how much I spent on each), the box is worth it for the slick look of the cards alone. Throw in some awesome inserts and hard to find parallels (including possible 1/1’s) and this box is a winner, assuming several of your inserts don’t get damaged.

Overall Grade: B