90's Box Breaks

So, I promised regular updates, and until the last 10 days, I think I was doing a pretty good job of that.

Until this past Wednesday, January 27 when I went into the ER for chest pains and currently sit in the SICU unit of the hospital for a collapsed lung.

So, the posts will come to a temporary stop until I can get out of here. I have quite a few cards to review and write about so at least I won’t be without content.

Replacement Dell Ink Cartridges

Normally, I don’t find a rainbow so quick after breaking a box, but that’s just what I did when I broke 1999 Flair Showcase.

There isn’t too much to say really, that I didn’t say in that review. Basically, each player in the set actually had 3 cards, 1 in each Row. Considering I only received 8 Row 1 cards in the box, I wasn’t sure if any player in that break had shown up 3 times. But, one player did, and his rainbow is shown below.

1999 Flair Showcase Row 3, Row 2, and Row 1 Scott Brosius

Unfortunately, with the Row 1 cards being all plastic, it’s very easy to get scratches on them. This one came out of the pack this way, and you can easily see them in the scan.

Price: $29 shipped
Packs: 24, 5 cards per pack
Cards for set: 121/432; 28% complete
Duplicates: 0
Rating: 4/5

I don’t think I ever opened any packs/boxes in 1999. I was a senior in high school and was trying to save my money for other things, like books and a computer. So, I never got to see how well a product like 1999 Flair Showcase was put together.

I ended up winning this box for just under $30 on eBay last week. I thought that was pretty good, considering 1) the price tag on the outer seal was marked at $110 and 2) most boxes on eBay or through www.bbcexchange.com were at least $45, if not more, plus shipping (this is not a knock against BBC Exchange, as I’ve ordered from them in the past with great service). Imagine my surprise when the mailman actually rang the doorbell to let me know I had a package. Took a total of 4 days to get here; pretty quick considering Monday was a holiday.

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Here’s another set that was never released due to the infamous Pinnacle Brands bankruptcy, images courtesy www.frankthomascollection.com.

I haven’t found much info out there regarding this set beyond the sell sheets, but you can tell from reading them that this was going to be one tough set to collect.

Highlights include:

• Base set limted to just under 1,000 sets
• Limited Exposure parallel limited to less than 40 sets
• Double Switch card set, limited to 15 serial #ed sets
• Fabric of the Game, cards printed on actual nylon, leather, and wood

(click the images for a larger scan)

1998 Donruss Limited Sell Sheet #1

1998 Donruss Limited Sell Sheet #2

All the cards from this issue were ordered destroyed by the bankruptcy court. The only surviving example is the oft-seen green Star Factor Frank promo/sample, seen below.

1998 Donruss Limited Star Factor Frank Thomas Promo

The bankruptcy of Pinnacle Brands in 1998 left many wondering “what if”, considering that many products released by them contained amazing inserts already and 1998 seemed to be another great year for them. And this time, I’m not talking about Dufex-related inserts.

Instead, I’m talking about the refractor technology that Donruss/Pinnacle seemed to have introduced in 1997, and continued throughout 1998. Instead of chrome-based cards, the cards appear to be on plastic card stock with a refractor look to them, either on the front of the cards or on both sides, depending on the insert.

Well, another set that never got to see the light of day was 1998 Donruss Limited, which was going to include this technology in their inserts, such as Star Factor (a continuation from 1997). The Frank Thomas Star Collection promo appears to be the only card released with the sell sheets before Pinnacle Brands went under.

1998 Donruss Limited Star Factor Frank Thomas Promo

I wish my scanner could pick up the brilliance of this card, but it’s on par with the Crusade insert set in terms of beauty.