90's Box Breaks

In case you missed it, Matt posted a break of 1999 E-X Century along with his introduction. Check it out, and welcome aboard Matt!

My name is Matt and I want to first thank Tim for giving me the opportunity to write for 90′s box breaks, and for getting me back into collecting what I should have been from the day I got back into the hobby last August.  Back in 1995, my dad got me into collecting Seattle Mariners and naturally I wanted Ken Griffey Jr.  However my favorite player on the Mariners was Joey Cora, the starting 2nd Baseman from 1995-1998.  I had a fantastic collection of 90′s baseball until I got out of the hobby in 1999 and my cards were thrown away.

Here is my all-time favorite Cora card, and my favorite set growing up.  I again, have this card in my collection.  On my 10th birthday, my dad bought me 5 packs of this and I happened to pull a Cora.  I jumped up and ran around.  To this day I’ve never been that excited over a card coming out of a pack.

Joey Cora 1996 Metal Universe

Fast forward to last August, and I got back into collecting cards, but only the newest products, which was the worst idea I’ve had in recent memory.  Not only was I spending $100 a box, but I was just turning around and selling the cards for maybe 1/2 of the price I payed.  After I sold my entire collection I had to take a step back and figure out what I wanted to do, and how I could stay in the hobby.  Not two weeks ago I found this blog and Old School Box Breaks and started thinking how great it would be to collect all the cards from my childhood.  This will consist of any and all Joey Cora’s, as well as Griffey, and Alex Rodriguez inserts from the 90′s.

It’s going to be fun to post some of my pickups as well as breaking some boxes from the 90′s on here.  I look forward to posting more in the near future.  Here is one of my first ebay purchases.

Alex Rodriguez 2001 Cramer's Choice Canvas

Price: $36
Packs: 18
Cards for Base Veterans Set: 43 of 90 48%
Cards for Prospects Set: 9 of 30 30%
Duplicates: 2
Rating: 4/5

Back in 1996, Fleer released a set call Emotion which was the start of a very unique card design that would change every year, but also include some of the most unique looking cards Fleer ever released in the 90′s.  When I was collecting in the 90′s this was by far the set that stood out to me aside from Fleer’s Metal Universe in 1996.  Now that I’m back to collecting 90′s baseball I knew I had to try very hard to find a box of this.  Luckily I have another on the way and have the Baseball Card Exchange holding 2 more in hopes that I can build the veteran and prospects set.

The Base set features only 90 of the more well known players while the 30 card Prospects set features some of the up and coming players including J.D. Drew, who at this time, was the most expensive rookie to collect, as was Pat Burrell.  Every card is a clear plastic see-through style, and the colored part is reflective.  The text on the cards stands out even more as it’s on top of the clear plastic.  Overall I just can’t get enough of this card design.  The only drawback is the way the player’s picture is cut on top of the card.  They can be prone to easy damage but I only had one base card that was chipped, which was Jeff Bagwell.

1999 E-X Century Base Design

When I saw prospect, I figured these would mean Rookie Cards, however, many of the players in the prospects set are not true rookie cards.  Nearly every player I pulled is no longer playing, however the one that I did pull below, is still having a great career.

1999 E-X Century Prospect SP:

1999 E-X Century Prospect SP

There are only 2 insert sets that have odds attached to them.  The first being E-X-quisite, which is a  15 card set of up and coming players.  Inserts at 1:18 packs, I managed to pull one (Pat Burrell), which at the time of this sets release, would have been the best out of the 15 you can get.

1999 E-X Century E-X-quisite

The other insert that came with the odds of 1:36 packs, or 1 per 2 boxes, is the Favorites for Fenway ’99, highlighting the top players in Major League Baseball.  This is a great looking insert with the blue foil on the front and gold foil on the back, as well as the see through plastic throughout the card.  The scan really doesn’t do this card justice!  I pulled Ivan Rodriguez, and I have to say, the design in so attractive, I may try to complete this set.

1999 E-X Century Favorites for Fenway '9

There are 4 other cards you have the chance of getting which include, Authenkicks, Milestones of the Century, Credentials Future, and Credentials Now.  There are no odds attached to these inserts and parallels, but I was fortunate enough to get one in my 18 pack box, a Shannon Stewart Credentials Now serial #d 53/99.  This parallel set is different from the base set as there is no see through plastic, but a sparkling gray background with the picture of the player being the same as the base card.  Getting a card this low #d in the 90′s is very rare and I’m very excited to see my first since I started collecting.

1999 E-X Century Credentials Now

1999 E-X Century Credentials Now Back

Depending on if you collected in the 90′s, you might remember that these boxes carried a price tag of $100 give or take.  Overall I was very pleased with what came out of my box.  Usually when you get a box with 18 packs and only get 3 inserts, you might feel that something is missing, but the base are so unique that I found myself going through each pack slow, and enjoying each card.  It’s bittersweet being able to finally open a box of E-X anything 10+ years after I originally wanted to open one, but I am already looking forward to the box that’s coming in this week and trying to complete the base/prospect set.  If you are interested in the Burrell or Stewart let me know.

I gave this break a 4/5 due to the unique set design and the fact that I only got 2 duplicates, one being of Ken Griffey Jr, who I collect so that is always a nice bonus.  The only unfortunate part about this set is the base set is prone to easy damage and the low number of inserts.  I would have liked to see 1 or 2 more inserts inserted at odds.  Stay tuned for part 2 later this week.

-Matt

Ok, so maybe this set wasn’t a huge impact as one might seem, mainly because it wasn’t until 1994 that it had a big-name RC. However, it was the debut for the set and it was unique for it’s time.

1. The packaging. Each pack had the cards inside protected in a cellophane wrapper while the main pack itself was made of cardboard. Hard to explain in words, so I’ll link to my box break I did previously.

2. The cards were really thick compared to other sets released. Some claim they were twice as thick as a standard card, but it might haven been a little thicker than that. Either way, they felt different when you held them, and that’s not a bad thing.

3. Printing process. Using  6 color printing technology, the pictures seemed to be a lot more crisp than that of Stadium Club, which as we know was a great product for it’s pictures.

4. Following the footsteps of Ultra, the debut of Flair was printed at 15% of what Ultra was produced. In an era of over production, that meant Flair was very limited when released.

5. Super glossy. If you thought that Stadium Club cards were glossy, Flair would have been it’s cousin on steroids. Just try to get an autograph on these cards without having to resort to some technique on rubbing them down.

There are probably more reasons, but these are the ones that stand out the most. Go ahead and read my review if you haven’t before and see what I mean.

A few weeks ago I started a poll to see what other collectors thought was a better insert technology: refractors or dufex.

No surprise that dufex won, but it was a very close poll with 12 votes for dufex and 9 for refractors. That’s 57% for dufex and 43% for refractors.

Now, my take. Refractors were nice, don’t get me wrong, I just prefer the look of dufex. It’s eye-catching and very appealing, and even stands out from the base card. Refractors, in the early years of their release, weren’t too different. I can remember when 1994 Finest arrived and it was hard to tell if you had a refractor or not due to the design of the set.

With that said though, both have their fan base and I still feel those were the two best insert technologies of the 90′s, hands down.