1998 Leaf Fractal Materials

Description

1998 Leaf Fractal Materials was a full 200-card parallel brand of the 1998 Leaf set that differed by design, photo, and scarcity:

• Design: Each base card was titled, "Fractal Foundations" and printed on silver-grey foil with holographic foil accents on the nameplate and Leaf logo.
• Photo: While all 200 players from the 1998 Leaf set were featured again in Fractal Materials (and kept the same card number), each card featured a different player photo on the front only (the back player photo remained the same)
• Scarcity: Each base card in the set was serial-numbered to 3999. Each base card being serial-numbered was similar to the 1997 Totally Certified set.

Distribution

18 packs per box, three cards per pack (MSRP: $6.99). Hobby only.

Each three-card pack contained two foil base cards and one serial-numbered Fractal Materials parallel card.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	200	3999	two-per-pack
Fractal Materials	200	varies	one-per-pack
Fractal Materials Die-cut	200	varies	?
Fractal Materials Z2-Axis	200	20	?

Checklist

Promos

To preview the 1998 Leaf Fractal Materials product, one of fifty different sample cards were included in each dealer wholesale order form. The 50-card "Leather" parallel (within the 200-card Fractal Materials parallel set) was used as the basis for this promotional issue. These sample cards differed from the standard "Leather" Fractal Materials cards in two significant ways: the large "SAMPLE" text running diagonally across the back of the card and the lack of serial numbering on back.

Thus, all 50 "Leather" subset cards in the set also feature a Promo version.

Base Set

NOTE: The base set is known as the "Fractal Foundations" set. Each card is serial-numbered to 3999 copies.

• 1 Rusty Greer NZ
• 2 Tino Martinez WY
• 3 Bobby Bonilla NY
• 4 Jason Giambi NZ
• 5 Matt Morris LY
• 6 Craig Counsell PX
• 7 Reggie Jefferson PX
• 8 Brian Rose PX
• 9 Ruben Rivera LY
• 10 Shawn Estes LY
• 11 Tony Gwynn WX
• 12 Jeff Abbott PY
• 13 Jose Cruz, Jr. WZ
• 14 Francisco Cordova PY
• 15 Ryan Klesko LX
• 16 Tim Salmon WY
• 17 Brett Tomko LY
• 18 Matt Williams NY
• 19 Joe Carter PX
• 20 Harold Baines PX
• 21 Gary Sheffield NZ
• 22 Charles Johnson LY
• 23 Aaron Boone PY
• 24 Eddie Murray NY
• 25 Matt Stairs PX
• 26 David Cone PX
• 27 Jon Nunnally PX
• 28 Chris Stynes PX
• 29 Enrique Wilson PY
• 30 Randy Johnson WY
• 31 Garret Anderson NY
• 32 Manny Ramirez NY
• 33 Jeff Suppan LY
• 34 Rickey Henderson NX
• 35 Scott Spiezio PY
• 36 Rondell White LY
• 37 Todd Greene NZ
• 38 Delino DeShields PY
• 39 Kevin Brown LX
• 40 Chili Davis PX
• 41 Jimmy Key PX
• 43 Mike Mussina NZ
• 44 Joe Randa PX
• 45 Chan Ho Park NY
• 46 Brad Radke PX
• 47 Geronimo Berroa PX
• 48 Wade Boggs NY
• 49 Kevin Appier PX
• 50 Moises Alou NX
• 51 Dave Justice NZ
• 52 Ivan Rodriguez WX
• 53 J.T. Snow LX
• 54 Brian Giles PY
• 55 Will Clark LX
• 56 Justin Thompson NY
• 57 Javy Lopez PY
• 58 Hideki Irabu LX
• 59 Mark Grudzielanek PX
• 60 Abraham Nunez PZ
• 61 Todd Hollandsworth PX
• 62 Jay Bell PX
• 63 Nomar Garciaparra WZ
• 64 Vinny Castilla PY
• 65 Lou Collier PY
• 66 Kevin Orie LX
• 67 John Valentin PX
• 68 Robin Ventura PX
• 69 Denny Neagle PX
• 70 Tony Womack LX
• 71 Dennis Reyes LY
• 72 Wally Joyner PX
• 73 Kevin Brown PX
• 74 Ray Durham PX
• 75 Mike Cameron NY
• 76 Dante Bichette LX
• 77 Jose Guillen NZ
• 78 Carlos Delgado LY
• 79 Paul Molitor WX
• 80 Jason Kendall PX
• 81 Mark Bellhorn LX
• 82 Damian Jackson PY
• 83 Bill Mueller PX
• 84 Kevin Young PX
• 85 Curt Schilling PX
• 86 Jeffrey Hammonds PX
• 87 Sandy Alomar, Jr. LY
• 88 Bartolo Colon PY
• 89 Wilton Guerrero LY
• 90 Bernie Williams NZ
• 91 Deion Sanders NY
• 92 Mike Piazza WZ
• 93 Butch Huskey LX
• 94 Edgardo Alfonzo LY
• 95 Alan Benes LZ
• 96 Craig Biggio NX
• 97 Mark Grace LY
• 98 Shawn Green LY
• 99 Derrek Lee LY
• 100 Ken Griffey, Jr. WZ
• 101 Tim Raines PX
• 102 Pokey Reese PY
• 103 Lee Stevens PX
• 104 Shannon Stewart NX
• 105 John Smoltz LY
• 106 Frank Thomas WZ
• 107 Jeff Fassero PX
• 108 Jay Buhner LY
• 109 Jose Canseco LX
• 110 Omar Vizquel PX
• 111 Travis Fryman PX
• 112 Dave Nilsson PX
• 113 John Olerud PX
• 114 Larry Walker WX
• 115 Jim Edmonds NZ
• 116 Bob Higginson LY
• 117 Todd Hundley LZ
• 118 Paul O'Neill PX
• 119 Bip Roberts PX
• 120 Ismael Valdes PX
• 121 Pedro Martinez NX
• 122 Jeff Cirillo PX
• 123 Andy Benes PX
• 124 Bobby Jones PX
• 125 Brian Hunter PX
• 126 Darryl Kile PX
• 127 Pat Hentgen PX
• 128 Marquis Grissom PX
• 129 Eric Davis PX
• 130 Chipper Jones WZ
• 131 Edgar Martinez NZ
• 132 Andy Pettitte WY
• 133 Cal Ripken, Jr. WZ
• 134 Scott Rolen WX
• 135 Ron Coomer PX
• 136 Luis Castillo LX
• 137 Fred McGriff LX
• 138 Neifi Perez LY
• 139 Eric Karros PX
• 140 Alex Fernandez PX
• 141 Jason Dickson PX
• 142 Lance Johnson PX
• 143 Ray Lankford PY
• 144 Sammy Sosa NY
• 145 Eric Young PY
• 146 Bubba Trammell LZ
• 147 Todd Walker LZ
• 148 Mo Vaughn CC PX
• 149 Jeff Bagwell CC PX
• 150 Kenny Lofton CC PX
• 151 Raul Mondesi CC PX
• 152 Mike Piazza CC PX
• 153 Chipper Jones CC PX
• 154 Larry Walker CC PX
• 155 Greg Maddux CC PX
• 156 Ken Griffey, Jr. CC PX
• 157 Frank Thomas CC PX
• 158 Darin Erstad GLS LZ
• 159 Roberto Alomar GLS PX
• 160 Albert Belle GLS LX
• 161 Jim Thome GLS LX
• 162 Tony Clark GLS LZ
• 163 Chuck Knoblauch GLS LZ
• 164 Derek Jeter GLS PX
• 165 Alex Rodriguez GLS PY
• 166 Tony Gwynn GLS PX
• 167 Roger Clemens GLS LY
• 168 Barry Larkin GLS PY
• 169 Andres Galarraga GLS PY
• 170 Vladimir Guerrero GLS PY
• 171 Mark McGwire GLS LZ
• 172 Barry Bonds GLS LY
• 173 Juan Gonzalez GLS PY
• 174 Andruw Jones GLS PX
• 175 Paul Molitor GLS PX
• 176 Hideo Nomo GLS LZ
• 177 Cal Ripken, Jr. GLS PX
• 178 Brad Fullmer GLR PZ
• 179 Jaret Wright GLR NZ
• 180 Bobby Estalella GLR PY
• 181 Ben Grieve GLR WZ
• 182 Paul Konerko GLR WZ
• 183 David Ortiz GLR NZ
• 184 Todd Helton GLR WZ
• 185 Juan Encarnacion GLR NZ
• 186 Miguel Tejada GLR NZ
• 187 Jacob Cruz GLR PX
• 188 Mark Kotsay GLR NZ
• 189 Fernando Tatis GLR LY
• 190 Ricky Ledee GLR PX
• 191 Richard Hidalgo GLR PZ
• 192 Richie Sexson GLR PZ
• 193 Luis Ordaz GLR PX
• 194 Eli Marrero GLR LZ
• 195 Livan Hernandez GLR LZ
• 196 Homer Bush GLR PX
• 197 Raul Ibanez GLR PX
• 198 Nomar Garciaparra CL PX
• 199 Scott Rolen CL PZ
• 200 Jose Cruz CL PX
• 201 Al Martin LY

Parallels

Fractal Materials

Fractal Materials was a 200-card set that paralleled the base Fractal Foundations set. There were two types of Fractal Materials parallels:

• Regular: Color player photos finished with one of four different baseball materials
• Die-cut: Color player photos finished with one of four different baseball materials and a "X-axis", "Y-axis", or "Z-axis" die-cut pattern

All cards in the Fractal Materials parallel set were printed on "feel of the game" materials:

• Plastic: 100 cards were printed on plastic (P) and were serial-numbered to 3250 copies

• Leather: 50 cards were printed on leather (L) and were serial-numbered to 1000 copies

• Nylon: 30 cards were printed on nylon (N) and were serial-numbered to 500 copies

• Wood: 20 cards were printed on wood (W) and were serial-numbered to 250 copies

Each Fractal Materials parallel is also available as a die-cut (similar to the Fractal Matrix set in the base 1998 Leaf set). For the X-Axis designation, the first 200 serial-numbered copies of each card (regardless of material) were die-cut, the first 100 of each Y-Axis were die-cut, and the first 50 copies of each Z-Axis Fractal Material cards are die-cut. Given the four materials (plastic, leather, nylon, wood) and the three die-cut patterns (X, Y, and Z) there are 12 Fractal Materials distinctions:

• Plastic X-Axis: PX (pictured)
• Plastic Y-Axis: PY
• Plastic Z-Axis: PZ

• Leather X-Axis: LX
• Leather Y-Axis: LY (pictured)
• Leather Z-Axis: LZ

• Nylon X-Axis: NX
• Nylon Y-Axis: NY
• Nylon Z-Axis: NZ (pictured)

• Wood X-Axis: WX
• Wood Y-Axis: WY
• Wood Z-Axis: WZ (pictured)

Examples:

• A "PX" card is serial-numbered to 3250 copies, with the first 200 die-cut and the remaining 3050 are not die-cut
• An "LY" card is serial-numbered to 1000 copies, with the first 100 die-cut and the remaining 900 are not die-cut
• An "NZ" card is serial-numbered to 500 copies, with the first 50 die-cut and the remaining 450 are not die-cut
• A "WZ" card is serial numbered to 250 copies, with the first 50 die-cut and the remaining 200 are not die-cut

For the sake of brevity, each card's Material and Axis designation are listed in the base set.

Z²-Axis

The Z²-Axis set also paralleled the 200-card Fractal Foundations base set. Similar to the Fractal Materials cards, these were given another uniquely different die-cut pattern and were only serially numbered to 20 copies. The same Material and Axis designation for each player applied to the Z²-Axis cards as well.

Leaf
Vintage Era: 1948-49 - 1960
Canadian Era: 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988
Donruss Era: 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996
Pinnacle Brands Era: 1997 - 1998
Donruss-Playoff Era: 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005
Parallel Brands: 1998 Donruss Collections - 1998 Leaf Fractal Foundations
Other Leaf Brands: 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars - 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars - 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars - 2005 Leaf Century