1995 Select Certified
Description
1995 Select Certified was a 135-card, "super-premium" set released exclusively to Hobby outlets in November, 1995. Designed to compete with Topps' Finest brand, the cards were made with 24-point metallic stock and double laminated. This was the inaugural year of Pinnacle Brands' super-premium brand and the precursor to one of the most influential sets in baseball Hobby history - 1996 Select Certified.
Pinnacle Brands announced that production of Select Certified was 34% less than that of the regular Select set.
Rookie Cards in this set included Bobby Higginson and Hideo Nomo. The base set is skip-numbered. Card #18 was never pulled and replaced by a special Cal Ripken, Jr. card sequentially-numbered as #2131. It is not short-printed, nor is it an insert.
Based on announced production figures, 63,210 20-pack wax boxes were produced resulting in each base card having 56,186 copies.
Distribution
20 packs per box, six cards per pack plus one of seven checklist cards (MSRP: $3.99).
In a further effort to establish a look and feel of a super-premium brand, the packaging was complex relative to other baseball cards sets. The seven cards were wrapped in cellophane wrapper inside a piece of folded cardboard inside a mini cardboard box which itself was wrapped in plastic. Each pack also had the anti-drug message "Be Strong. Don't Use Drugs." written on the side.
Reviews
Collation data from one box. Base Set Completion: 82% (111 of 135); Duplicates: 9; Gold Team Insert Completion: 8% (1 of 12); Mirror Gold parallel 02% (3 of 135); Certified Future Insert Completion 10% (1 of 10); Potential Unlimited 5% (1 of 20)
Insertion Ratios
| Cards | Total Cards | Numbered To | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 135 | 56,186 + | ? |
| Checklists | 7 | - | 1:1 |
| Mirror Gold | 135 | 1873 + | 1:5 |
| Certified Future | 10 | 6654 + | 1:19 |
| Potential Unlimited | 20 | 1975 | 1:32 |
| Gold Team | 12 | 2570 + | 1:41 |
+ Calculated production figures.
Checklist
Promos
This eight-card set was issued to preview the entire '95 Select Certified set. Each card has the word "SAMPLE" printed diagonally on both sides. The Cal Ripken, Jr. Promo was a sample of the Gold Team insert.
- 2 Reggie Sanders
- 3GT Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 10 Mo Vaughn
- 39 Mike Piazza
- 50 Mark McGwire
- 75 Roberto Alomar
- 89 Larry Walker
- 110 Ray Durham
Base Set
- 1 Barry Bonds
- 2 Reggie Sanders
- 3 Terry Steinbach
- 4 Eduardo Perez
- 5 Frank Thomas
- 6 Wil Cordero
- 7 John Olerud
- 8 Deion Sanders
- 9 Mike Mussina
- 10 Mo Vaughn
- 11 Will Clark
- 12 Chili Davis
- 13 Jimmy Key
- 14 Eddie Murray
- 15 Bernard Gilkey
- 16 David Cone
- 17 Tim Salmon
- 19 Steve Ontiveros
- 20 Andres Galarraga
- 21 Don Mattingly
- 22 Kevin Appier
- 23 Paul Molitor
- 24 Edgar Martinez
- 25 Andy Benes
- 26 Rafael Palmeiro
- 27 Barry Larkin
- 28 Gary Sheffield
- 29 Wally Joyner
- 30 Wade Boggs
- 31 Rico Brogna
- 32 Eddie Murray 3000th Hit
- 33 Kirby Puckett
- 34 Bobby Bonilla
- 35 Hal Morris
- 36 Moises Alou
- 37 Javy Lopez
- 38 Chuck Knoblauch
- 39 Mike Piazza
- 40 Travis Fryman
- 41 Rickey Henderson
- 42 Jim Thome
- 43 Carlos Baerga
- 44 Dean Palmer
- 45 Kirk Gibson
- 46 Bret Saberhagen
- 47 Cecil Fielder
- 48 Manny Ramirez
- 49 Derek Bell
- 50 Mark McGwire
- 51 Jim Edmonds
- 52 Robin Ventura
- 53 Ryan Klesko
- 54 Jeff Bagwell
- 55 Ozzie Smith
- 56 Albert Belle
- 57 Darren Daulton
- 58 Jeff Conine
- 59 Greg Maddux
- 60 Lenny Dykstra
- 61 Randy Johnson
- 62 Fred McGriff
- 63 Ray Lankford
- 64 Dave Justice
- 65 Paul O'Neill
- 66 Tony Gwynn
- 67 Matt Williams
- 68 Dante Bichette
- 69 Craig Biggio
- 70 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 71 J.T. Snow
- 72 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 73 Jay Bell
- 74 Joe Carter
- 75 Roberto Alomar
- 76 Benji Gil
- 77 Ivan Rodriguez
- 78 Raul Mondesi
- 79 Cliff Floyd
- 80 Eric Karros / Mike Piazza / Raul Mondesi
- 81 Royce Clayton
- 82 Billy Ashley
- 83 Joey Hamilton
- 84 Sammy Sosa
- 85 Jason Bere
- 86 Dennis Martinez
- 87 Greg Vaughn
- 88 Roger Clemens
- 89 Larry Walker
- 90 Mark Grace
- 91 Kenny Lofton
- 92 Carlos Perez RC
- 93 Roger Cedeno
- 94 Scott Ruffcorn
- 95 Jim Pittsley
- 96 Andy Pettitte
- 97 James Baldwin
- 98 Hideo Nomo RC
- 99 Ismael Valdes
- 100 Armando Benitez
- 101 Jose Malave
- 102 Bobby Higginson RC
- 103 LaTroy Hawkins
- 104 Russ Davis
- 105 Shawn Green
- 106 Joe Vitiello
- 107 Chipper Jones
- 108 Shane Andrews
- 109 Jose Oliva
- 110 Ray Durham
- 111 Jon Nunnally
- 112 Alex Gonzalez
- 113 Vaughn Eshelman
- 114 Marty Cordova
- 115 Mark Grudzielanek RC
- 116 Brian L. Hunter
- 117 Charles Johnson
- 118 Alex Rodriguez
- 119 David Bell
- 120 Todd Hollandsworth
- 121 Joe Randa
- 122 Derek Jeter
- 123 Frank Rodriguez
- 124 Curtis Goodwin
- 125 Bill Pulsipher
- 126 John Mabry
- 127 Julian Tavarez
- 128 Edgardo Alfonzo
- 129 Orlando Miller
- 130 Juan Acevedo RC
- 131 Jeff Cirillo
- 132 Roberto Petagine
- 133 Antonio Osuna
- 134 Michael Tucker
- 135 Garret Anderson
- 2131 Cal Ripken, Jr. TRIB
Parallels
All 135 cards in the set (including the Ripken tribute card) are available in a Mirror Gold parallel. Mirror Golds had a gold-colored holographic foil layer on the card fronts which, combined with the metallic cardstock, mimicked the appearance of a Refractor from the Finest brand, but with a gold tint that distinguished it from a standard Finest Refractor. The "Mirror Gold" title was was printed on the card backs utilizing a mirror/reflection design that played off the parallel name.
Inserts
Checklists
Each pack contained one of seven checklists which were printed on a noticeably thinner cardstock.
- 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 2 Frank Thomas
- 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 4 Jeff Bagwell
- 5 Mike Piazza
- 6 Barry Bonds
- 7 Manny Ramirez / Raul Mondesi
Certified Future
This 10-card set featured some of the top rookie players from 1995 on a gold and silver gradient-foil finish.
- 1 Chipper Jones
- 2 Curtis Goodwin
- 3 Hideo Nomo
- 4 Shawn Green
- 5 Ray Durham
- 6 Todd Hollandsworth
- 7 Brian L. Hunter
- 8 Carlos Delgado
- 9 Michael Tucker
- 10 Alex Rodriguez
Potential Unlimited
This 20-card set featured some of the brightest and talented players in the game at the time on a baseball diamond-shaped setting on a Dufex finish. Each player was limited (but not serial-numbered) to 1975 copies as each card had the statement, "1 of 1,975" on the back.
A special parallel version was also produced as box toppers. These "Case Chase" cards had a different Dufex pattern and were seeded at the rate of 1:3.5/boxes. Each Case Chase box topper card was limited (but not serial-numbered) to 903 copies.
- 1 Cliff Floyd
- 2 Manny Ramirez
- 3 Raul Mondesi
- 4 Scott Ruffcorn
- 5 Billy Ashley
- 6 Alex Gonzalez
- 7 Midre Cummings
- 8 Charles Johnson
- 9 Garret Anderson
- 10 Hideo Nomo
- 11 Chipper Jones
- 12 Curtis Goodwin
- 13 Frank Rodriguez
- 14 Shawn Green
- 15 Ray Durham
- 16 Todd Hollandsworth
- 17 Brian L. Hunter
- 18 Carlos Delgado
- 19 Michael Tucker
- 20 Alex Rodriguez
Gold Team
This 12-card set featured some of the leading players in baseball on a double-sided, all-gold, Dufex-foil finish.
- 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 2 Frank Thomas
- 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 4 Jeff Bagwell
- 5 Mike Piazza
- 6 Barry Bonds
- 7 Matt Williams
- 8 Don Mattingly
- 9 Will Clark
- 10 Tony Gwynn
- 11 Kirby Puckett
- 12 Jose Canseco
Certified
|
|---|
| Pinnacle Brands Era: |
| Select Certified: 1995 - 1996 |
| Pinnacle Certified: 1997 - 1998 |
| Donruss-Playoff Era: |
| Leaf Certified Materials: 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 |
| 2004 Leaf Certified Cuts |
| Parallel Brands |
| Totally Certified: 1997 - 1998 |
| Select |
|---|
| Pinnacle Brands Era: |
| Panini America Era: |
| Rookie/Traded: |
| Other Select Brands |