1998 Flair Showcase

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Description

1998 Flair Showcase is a 480-card, multi-fractured, multi-tiered, set released by Fleer in July, 1998. There are 120 players released on four different, repeating, levels, each with it's own front design: Flair (also known as "Row 3"), Style (Row 2), Grace (Row 1), and Showcase (Row 0). The Row 3 cards are the easiest to find, while the Row 0s the toughest.

Each "Row" is then sub-divided into four, 30-card, sub-sections, each with it's own reverse design: Showtime, Showstopper, Showdown, and Showpiece. Each of the 120 players in the set has one card in each of the four rows, and one card in each of the backs.

Distribution

24 packs per box, five cards plus one Diamond Ink point card per pack (MSRP: $4.99)

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

This table shows what cards are in each subset, and the insertion ratio/production figure.

(Section 2) Showtime Showstopper Showdown Showpiece
Flair (Row 3) 1-30 (1:0.9) 31-60 (1:1.1) 61-90 (1:1.5) 91-120 (1:2)
Style (Row 2) 31-60 (1:2.5) 1-30 (1:2) 91-120 (1:3.5) 61-90 (1:4)
Grace (Row 1) 61-90 (1:6) 91-120 (1:10) 1-30 (1:16) 31-60 (1:24)
Showcase (Row 0) 91-120 (serial-numbered to 2000) 61-90 (serial-numbered to 1000) 31-60 (serial-numbered to 500) 1-30 (serial-numbered to 250)

Although the odds are not listed on the box, a typical 24-pack Hobby box should yield two Showcase Showtime cards, one Showcase Showstopper and either a Showcase Showdown or Showcase Showpiece card.

Cards Total Cards Numbered To Odds
Legacy Collection (Section 1) 480 100 ?
Masterpieces (Section 0) 480 one-of-one ?
Wave of the Future 12 - 1:20
Perfect 10 10 10 ?
Diamond Ink 10 - one-per-pack

Checklist

Promos

Fleer distributed a four-card strip to dealers and The Hobby media a few months prior to the release of 1998 Flair Showcase. The strip contains all four of Cal Ripken, Jr's 1998 Flair Showcase base cards with the text "PROMOTIONAL SAMPLE" written diagonally across the front and back of each.

P8 Cal Ripken, Jr.

Base Set

For brevity's sake, only one "Row" is listed below. The checklist for all four Rows is identical. Also note that only Maggilo Ordonez's Row 3 card is considered his "true" rookie card.

  • 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
  • 2 Travis Lee
  • 3 Frank Thomas
  • 4 Ben Grieve
  • 5 Nomar Garciaparra
  • 6 Jose Cruz, Jr.
  • 7 Alex Rodriguez
  • 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
  • 9 Mark McGwire
  • 10 Chipper Jones
  • 11 Paul Konerko
  • 12 Todd Helton
  • 13 Greg Maddux
  • 14 Derek Jeter
  • 15 Jaret Wright
  • 16 Livan Hernandez
  • 17 Mike Piazza
  • 18 Juan Encarnacion
  • 19 Tony Gwynn
  • 20 Scott Rolen
  • 21 Roger Clemens
  • 22 Tony Clark
  • 23 Albert Belle
  • 24 Mo Vaughn
  • 25 Andruw Jones
  • 26 Jason Dickson
  • 27 Fernando Tatis
  • 28 Ivan Rodriguez
  • 29 Ricky Ledee
  • 30 Darin Erstad
  • 31 Brian Rose
  • 32 Magglio Ordonez RC
  • 33 Larry Walker
  • 34 Bob Higginson
  • 35 Chili Davis
  • 36 Barry Bonds
  • 37 Vladimir Guerrero
  • 38 Jeff Bagwell
  • 39 Kenny Lofton
  • 40 Ryan Klesko
  • 41 Mike Cameron
  • 42 Charles Johnson
  • 43 Andy Pettitte
  • 44 Juan Gonzalez
  • 45 Tim Salmon
  • 46 Hideki Irabu
  • 47 Paul Molitor
  • 48 Edgar Renteria
  • 49 Manny Ramirez
  • 50 Jim Edmonds
  • 51 Bernie Williams
  • 52 Roberto Alomar
  • 53 Dave Justice
  • 54 Rey Ordonez
  • 55 Ken Caminiti
  • 56 Jose Guillen
  • 57 Randy Johnson
  • 58 Brady Anderson
  • 59 Hideo Nomo
  • 60 Tino Martinez
  • 61 John Smoltz
  • 62 Joe Carter
  • 63 Matt Williams
  • 64 Robin Ventura
  • 65 Barry Larkin
  • 66 Dante Bichette
  • 67 Travis Fryman
  • 68 Gary Sheffield
  • 69 Eric Karros
  • 70 Matt Stairs
  • 71 Al Martin
  • 72 Jay Buhner
  • 73 Ray Lankford
  • 74 Carlos Delgado
  • 75 Edgardo Alfonzo
  • 76 Rondell White
  • 77 Chuck Knoblauch
  • 78 Raul Mondesi
  • 79 Johnny Damon
  • 80 Matt Morris
  • 81 Tom Glavine
  • 82 Kevin Brown
  • 83 Garret Anderson
  • 84 Mike Mussina
  • 85 Pedro Martinez
  • 86 Craig Biggio
  • 87 Darryl Kile
  • 88 Rafael Palmeiro
  • 89 Jim Thome
  • 90 Andres Galarraga
  • 91 Sammy Sosa
  • 92 Willie Greene
  • 93 Vinny Castilla
  • 94 Justin Thompson
  • 95 Jeff King
  • 96 Jeff Cirillo
  • 97 Mark Grudzielanek
  • 98 Brad Radke
  • 99 John Olerud
  • 100 Curt Schilling
  • 101 Steve Finley
  • 102 J.T. Snow
  • 103 Edgar Martinez
  • 104 Wilson Alvarez
  • 105 Rusty Greer
  • 106 Pat Hentgen
  • 107 David Cone
  • 108 Fred McGriff
  • 109 Jason Giambi
  • 110 Tony Womack
  • 111 Bernard Gilkey
  • 112 Alan Benes
  • 113 Mark Grace
  • 114 Reggie Sanders
  • 115 Moises Alou
  • 116 John Jaha
  • 117 Henry Rodriguez
  • 118 Dean Palmer
  • 119 Mike Lieberthal
  • 120 Shawn Estes

Parallels

All 120 cards in all four Rows are available in the following parallels.

  • Legacy Collection (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
  • Masterpiece (one-of-one)

NOTES:

  • A number of "unfinished" Legacy Collections made their way "out the backdoor." There is no problem with the fronts of the cards, the issue is with the backs. Neither the player's name nor the serial-number are stamped on the back. A number of unscrupulous fraudsters have attempted to serial-number the cards themselves; however, a dead giveaway is that the "O" in "OF in the serial-number (i.e. "014 0F 100") is replaced with a zero. If the O in the OF looks like the zero in the serial-number, it's likely an unfinished card.
  • All Legacy Collection cards are, as part of the "Ticket" numbering scheme of this product, designated as "SEC 1," and Masterpieces "SEC 0" (Base cards are "SEC 2."). However, a number of "SEC 0" Legacy Collections do exist. These cards ARE legitimate and are the result of a printing error by Fleer's subcontractor.

Inserts

Wave of the Future

This 12-card insert features thick plastic cards filled with vegetable oil and sparkles in an attempt to mimic ocean waters.

  • 1 WF Travis Lee
  • 2 WF Todd Helton
  • 3 WF Ben Grieve
  • 4 WF Juan Encarnacion
  • 5 WF Brad Fullmer
  • 6 WF Ruben Rivera
  • 7 WF Paul Konerko
  • 8 WF Derrek Lee
  • 9 WF Mike Lowell
  • 10 WF Magglio Ordonez
  • 11 WF Rich Butler
  • 12 WF Eli Marrero

Perfect 10

This 10-card insert features color player photography using silk-screen technology. Only 10 serial-numbered copies of each card were produced, making it one of the scarcest non-parallel inserts of the era.

  • 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
  • 2 Cal Ripken, Jr.
  • 3 Frank Thomas
  • 4 Mike Piazza
  • 5 Greg Maddux
  • 6 Nomar Garciaparra
  • 7 Mark McGwire
  • 8 Scott Rolen
  • 9 Alex Rodriguez
  • 10 Roger Clemens

Autographs & Game Used

See 1998 Fleer Diamond Ink