1998 Flair Showcase

File:1998flairbox.jpg

1998 Flair Showcase box

Description

1998 Flair Showcase is a 480-card fractured set released by Fleer in July of that year that was similar in structure to [1997 Flair Showcase|the previous year's release]. Each of the 120 players in the set were again featured on different levels/"Rows", which each Row featuring a unique front design:

• Row 3: "Flair" design
• Row 2: "Style" design
• Row 1: "Grace" design
• Row 0: "Showcase" design

The Row 3 cards were easiest to find, while the Row 0 cards were the toughest.

Each "Row" was then sub-divided into four, 30-card sub-sections featuring a different cardback design and banner:

• Showtime: Team-colored headshot design, light-blue banner text
• Showstopper: Torso picture design, golden-yellow banner text
• Showdown: Torso picture and nameplate design, red banner text
• Showpiece: Glowing, full-body picture design, white banner text

Each of the 120 players in the set had one card in each of the four rows, with a specifically assigned cardback design per Row, meaning each player had 4 base cards total. The "Seat" number on back represented the card number in the set.

Distribution

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

Reviews

Old School Breaks: 1998 Flair Showcase Baseball

Insertion Ratios

Cards	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	480	100	?
Masterpiece	480	one-of-one	?
Wave of the Future	12	-	1:20
Perfect 10	10	10	?
Diamond Ink	10	-	one-per-pack

Checklist

Promos

File:1998flairpromo.jpgFile:1998flairpromob.jpg

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 contained the four Cal Ripken, Jr base cards later issued in packs and featured "PROMOTIONAL SAMPLE" text diagonally across the front and back.

P8 Cal Ripken, Jr.

Base Set

• Row 3:

• Row 2:

• Row 1:

• Row 0:

For brevity's sake, only one "Row" is listed below. The checklist for all four Rows is identical. Also note that only Row 3 cards are considered "true" rookie cards for those players. All base cards are labeled "Section 2" on the back, distinguishing them from the parallel sets, which were labeled either "Section 0" or "Section 1" on the back.

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 featured thick plastic cards filled with vegetable oil and sparkles in an attempt to mimic ocean waters. 1998 was the last year that this staple, future stars-themed insert was featured in the 90's decade.

• 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

File:1998P10.jpgFile:1998P10b.jpg

This 10-card insert featured color player photography using silk-screen technology. Only 10 hand-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