1998 E-X 2001

Description

1998 E-X 2001 was produced by Fleer/SkyBox and was a 100-card set distributed exclusively to Hobby outlets. Continuing with this brand's theme of depth established from previous years, each base card was again multi-layered; however, in contrast to last year, the 1998 set utilized more acetate and the different layers were more visible. The result: The top layer featured the player photo over a silver, holographic "shading"-foil design that resembled the 1998 Flair Showcase Row 1 design and covered roughly 1/3 of the card. The middle layer was all acetate and featured a colored, curved opaque portion in the middle of the card that accented a player's team colors and a completely transparent, uncolored portion where the "E-X 2001" logo, nameplate, team, and jersey number were housed in gold foil. The bottom layer was exclusive to the card backs and did not feature any foil variations.

An unnumbered Kerry Wood exchange card was distributed into packs at the rate as any other base card. However, unlike the acetate base cards, the Wood exchange card was printed on paper stock and could be redeemed until March 31st, 1999 for an acetate, regular base card of Kerry Wood (number 101). A set is considered complete without this card.

The numbering of the base set was subjectively arranged to have top current stars in the game featured first in the set, semi-stars next, minor-stars after, and the young stars featured last - this arrangement was key to the serial-numbering rationale for the Essential Credentials parallel sets. There are no key Rookie Cards in this set.

Distribution

24 packs per box, two cards per pack (MSRP: $3.99). Hobby only.

6 boxes per case.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds
Base	100	-	?
Kerry Wood Card #101 Exchange	1	-	?
Essential Credentials Now	100	varies	?
Essential Credentials Future	100	varies	?
Star Date 2001	15	-	1:12
Cheap Seat Treats	20	-	1:24
Destination Cooperstown	15	-	1:720
Signature 2001	17	-	1:60

Checklist

Promos

Two different Alex Rodriguez promo cards were produced. The more common of the two was distributed to dealers and the Hobby media. It is identical to his base card except for the text "PROMOTIONAL SAMPLE" printed diagonally across the card back.

The other A-Rod promo card was distributed to industry leaders at the 13th Annual Hawaii Trade Show in late February, 1998. Like the other promo, it has the words "PROMOTIONAL SAMPLE" on the back. However, a small gold foil "Hawaii XIII" stamp with a palm tree on the left-hand side of the card front distinguishes this promo from the more common one. Fleer/SkyBox produced approximately 200 non-serial numbered copies of this card.

Base Set

• 1 Alex Rodriguez
• 2 Barry Bonds
• 3 Greg Maddux
• 4 Roger Clemens
• 5 Juan Gonzalez
• 6 Chipper Jones
• 7 Derek Jeter
• 8 Frank Thomas
• 9 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 10 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 11 Mark McGwire
• 12 Hideo Nomo
• 13 Tony Gwynn
• 14 Ivan Rodriguez
• 15 Mike Piazza
• 16 Roberto Alomar
• 17 Jeff Bagwell
• 18 Andruw Jones
• 19 Albert Belle
• 20 Mo Vaughn
• 21 Kenny Lofton
• 22 Gary Sheffield
• 23 Tony Clark
• 24 Mike Mussina
• 25 Barry Larkin
• 26 Moises Alou
• 27 Brady Anderson
• 28 Andy Pettitte
• 29 Sammy Sosa
• 30 Raul Mondesi
• 31 Andres Galarraga
• 32 Chuck Knoblauch
• 33 Jim Thome
• 34 Craig Biggio
• 35 Jay Buhner
• 36 Rafael Palmeiro
• 37 Curt Schilling
• 38 Tino Martinez
• 39 Pedro Martinez
• 40 Jose Canseco
• 41 Jeff Cirillo
• 42 Dean Palmer
• 43 Tim Salmon
• 44 Jason Giambi
• 45 Bob Higginson
• 46 Jim Edmonds
• 47 Dave Justice
• 48 John Olerud
• 49 Ray Lankford
• 50 Al Martin
• 51 Mike Lieberthal
• 52 Henry Rodriguez
• 53 Edgar Renteria
• 54 Eric Karros
• 55 Marquis Grissom
• 56 Wilson Alvarez
• 57 Darryl Kile
• 58 Jeff King
• 59 Shawn Estes
• 60 Tony Womack
• 61 Willie Greene
• 62 Ken Caminiti
• 63 Vinny Castilla
• 64 Mark Grace
• 65 Ryan Klesko
• 66 Robin Ventura
• 67 Todd Hundley
• 68 Travis Fryman
• 69 Edgar Martinez
• 70 Matt Williams
• 71 Paul Molitor
• 72 Kevin Brown
• 73 Randy Johnson
• 74 Bernie Williams
• 75 Manny Ramirez
• 76 Fred McGriff
• 77 Tom Glavine
• 78 Carlos Delgado
• 79 Larry Walker
• 80 Hideki Irabu
• 81 Ryan McGuire
• 82 Justin Thompson
• 83 Kevin Orie
• 84 Jon Nunnally
• 85 Mark Kotsay
• 86 Todd Walker
• 87 Jason Dickson
• 88 Fernando Tatis
• 89 Karim Garcia
• 90 Ricky Ledee
• 91 Paul Konerko
• 92 Jaret Wright
• 93 Darin Erstad
• 94 Livan Hernandez
• 95 Nomar Garciaparra
• 96 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 97 Scott Rolen
• 98 Ben Grieve
• 99 Vladimir Guerrero
• 100 Travis Lee
• NNO Kerry Wood

• 101 Kerry Wood EXCH

Parallels

Essential Credentials

There were two types of Essential Credentials parallels: Now and Future. In total, each player had 101 serial-numbered Essential Credentials cards produced; however, the specific number of Now and Future versions produced for each player varied.

For example, Curt Schilling is card #37 in the set. Just like any player in the set, Schilling has 101 total Essential Credentials cards that are serial-numbered. Specifically, Schilling had 37 Essential Credential Nows (matching his card number in the set) and 64 Essential Credentials Futures (101 - 37 = 64) produced.

Essential Credentials Now:

The serial-numbering for the Essential Credentials Now parallel set mirrored numbering of the base set such that card #1 in the set was serial-numbered to 1, #2 was serial numbered to 2, etc. The arrangement of players in the base set placed the top current stars in the game first, semi-stars next, minor-stars after, and the young stars last - thus, the established players who were starring "Now" in the game featured the lowest serial-numbering in the Essential Credentials Now set.

Essential Credentials Now featured a neon yellow-green theme finish to the card. For each player in this parallel, the silver, holographic "shading" foil from the base design was holographic neon-yellow, the opaque acetate portion was yellow-green, and the transparent acetate portion was neon yellow. "Essential Credentials Now" was also printed in black text on the transparent acetate portion of the card front and the serial number was on the back.

Essential Credentials Future:

The serial-numbering for the Essential Credentials Future parallel was determined by subtracting the player's card number in the base set from 101. Again, due to the arrangement of players in the base set, the top current stars were featured first while the young stars were featured last - thus, the potential "Future" stars of the game featured the lowest serial-numbering in the Essential Credentials Future set.

Essential Credentials Future featured a neon magenta-purple theme finish to the card. For each player in this parallel, the silver, holographic "shading" foil from the base design was holographic neon purple, the opaque acetate portion was neon red, and the transparent acetate portion was magenta. "Essential Credentials Future" was also printed in black text on the transparent acetate portion of the card front and the serial number was on the back.

For the sake of brevity, the individual serial-number production figures for each card are not listed here.

Inserts

Star Date 2001

This 15-card set highlighted the top young players in the game at the time that could be stars by 2001. Each card was printed on layered acetate featuring one of seven possible space-themed backgrounds.

• 1 Travis Lee
• 2 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 3 Paul Konerko
• 4 Bobby Estalella
• 5 Magglio Ordonez
• 6 Juan Encarnacion
• 7 Richard Hidalgo
• 8 Abraham Nunez
• 9 Sean Casey
• 10 Todd Helton
• 11 Brad Fullmer
• 12 Ben Grieve
• 13 Livan Hernandez
• 14 Jaret Wright
• 15 Todd Dunwoody

Cheap Seat Treats

This 20-card set featured some of the top power hitters that could launch baseballs into the "cheap seats" of a stadium. Each card was uniquely die-cut to resemble a baseball stadium chair that could fold down like an actual seat.

• 1 Frank Thomas
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 3 Mark McGwire
• 4 Tino Martinez
• 5 Larry Walker
• 6 Juan Gonzalez
• 7 Mike Piazza
• 8 Jeff Bagwell
• 9 Tony Clark
• 10 Albert Belle
• 11 Andres Galarraga
• 12 Jim Thome
• 13 Mo Vaughn
• 14 Barry Bonds
• 15 Vladimir Guerrero
• 16 Scott Rolen
• 17 Travis Lee
• 18 Dave Justice
• 19 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 20 Andruw Jones

Destination Cooperstown

This fifteen-card set featured players destined for the Hall of Fame. Each card was die-cut resemble a slightly holographic luggage tag with an actual string. These cards were inserted at a rate of one in every five cases.

• 1 Alex Rodriguez
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 4 Roger Clemens
• 5 Greg Maddux
• 6 Chipper Jones
• 7 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 8 Mark McGwire
• 9 Tony Gwynn
• 10 Mike Piazza
• 11 Jeff Bagwell
• 12 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 13 Derek Jeter
• 14 Hideo Nomo
• 15 Ivan Rodriguez

Autographs & Game-Used

Signature 2001

This 17-card, unnumbered set featured autographs of various players that Fleer/Skybox secured for signings. The Alex Rodriguez autographed card was short printed.

• Ricky Ledee
• Derrick Gibson
• Mark Kotsay
• Kevin Millwood
• Brad Fullmer
• Todd Walker
• Ben Grieve
• Tony Clark
• Jaret Wright
• Randall Simon
• Paul Konerko
• Todd Helton
• David Ortiz
• Alex Gonzalez
• Bobby Estalella
• Alex Rodriguez SP
• Mike Lowell