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 (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