Description

1997 Flair Showcase set (produced by Fleer) is a 540-card set released in the summer of '97. One of the more innovative, and confusing, card set ever produced, the set consists of 180 players on three different, repeating, levels, each with it's own front design: Style (Row 2), Grace (Row 1), and Showcase (Row 0). The Row 2 cards are the easiest to find, while the Row 0s the toughest.

Each "Row" is then sub-divided into three, 60-card, sub-sections, each with it's own reverse icon: Showtime, Showstopper, and Showpiece. Each of the 180 players in the set has one card in each of the three rows, and one card in each of the backs.

1997 Flair Showcase is notable for the inclusion of the "Masterpieces," the first "true" one-of-one parallel.

Distribution

24 packs per box, five cards per pack (MSRP: $4.99). Hobby only. 67,500 boxes produced.

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

(Section 2)	Showtime	Showpiece	Showstopper
Style (Row 2)	1-60 (1.5:1)	61-120 (1:1.5)	121-180 (1:1)
Grace (Row 1)	61-120 (1:2)	121-180 (1:3)	1-60 (1:2.5)
Showcase (Row 0)	120-180 (1:5)	1-60 (1:24)	61-120 (1:12)

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)	540	100	1:30
Masterpieces (Section 0)	540	one-of-one	1:3000
Wave of the Future	27	-	1:4
Diamond Cuts	20	-	1:20
Hot Gloves	15	-	1:90
Million Dollar Moments	45	-	one-per-pack
Alex Rodriguez Emerald Exchange	1	25	1:64,800

Checklist

Promos

A three-card "strip" was distributed to dealers and the Hobby media a few months prior to the release of 1997 Flair Showcase. The strip contains reprints of the three Alex Rodriguez cards later issued in packs except for the text "PROMOTIONAL SAMPLE" written diagonally across the front and back.

NNO Alex Rodriguez

Base Set

For brevity's sake, only one "Row" is listed below. The checklist for all three Rows is identical. Also note that only Row 2 cards are considered "true" rookie cards.

1 Andruw Jones
2 Derek Jeter
3 Alex Rodriguez
4 Paul Molitor
5 Jeff Bagwell
6 Scott Rolen
7 Kenny Lofton
8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
9 Brady Anderson
10 Chipper Jones
11 Todd Greene
12 Todd Walker
13 Billy Wagner
14 Craig Biggio
15 Kevin Orie
16 Hideo Nomo
17 Kevin Appier
18 Bubba Trammell
19 Juan Gonzalez
20 Randy Johnson
21 Roger Clemens
22 Johnny Damon
23 Ryne Sandberg
24 Ken Griffey, Jr.
25 Barry Bonds
26 Nomar Garciaparra
27 Vladimir Guerrero
28 Ron Gant
29 Joe Carter
30 Tim Salmon
31 Mike Piazza
32 Barry Larkin
33 Manny Ramirez
34 Sammy Sosa
35 Frank Thomas
36 Melvin Nieves
37 Tony Gwynn
38 Gary Sheffield
39 Darin Erstad
40 Ken Caminiti
41 Jermaine Dye
42 Mo Vaughn
43 Raul Mondesi
44 Greg Maddux
45 Chuck Knoblauch
46 Andy Pettitte
47 Deion Sanders
48 Albert Belle
49 Jamey Wright
50 Rey Ordonez
51 Bernie Williams
52 Mark McGwire
53 Mike Mussina
54 Bob Abreu
55 Reggie Sanders
56 Brian Jordan
57 Ivan Rodriguez
58 Roberto Alomar
59 Tim Naehring
60 Edgar Renteria
61 Dean Palmer
62 Benito Santiago
63 David Cone
64 Carlos Delgado
65 Brian Giles
66 Alex Ochoa
67 Rondell White
68 Robin Ventura
69 Eric Karros
70 Jose Valentin
71 Rafael Palmeiro
72 Chris Snopek
73 Dave Justice
74 Tom Glavine
75 Rudy Pemberton
76 Larry Walker
77 Jim Thome
78 Charles Johnson
79 Dante Powell
80 Derrek Lee
81 Jason Kendall
82 Todd Hollandsworth
83 Bernard Gilkey
84 Mel Rojas
85 Dmitri Young
86 Bret Boone
87 Pat Hentgen
88 Bobby Bonilla
89 John Wetteland
90 Todd Hundley
91 Wilton Guerrero
92 Geronimo Berroa
93 Al Martin
94 Danny Tartabull
95 Brian McRae
96 Steve Finley
97 Todd Stottlemyre
98 John Smoltz
99 Matt Williams
100 Eddie Murray
101 Henry Rodriguez
102 Marty Cordova
103 Juan Guzman
104 Chili Davis
105 Eric Young
106 Jeff Abbott
107 Shannon Stewart
108 Rocky Coppinger
109 Jose Canseco
110 Dante Bichette
111 Dwight Gooden
112 Scott Brosius
113 Steve Avery
114 Andres Galarraga
115 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
116 Ray Lankford
117 Jorge Posada
118 Ryan Klesko
119 Jay Buhner
120 Jose Guillen
121 Paul O'Neill
122 Jimmy Key
123 Hal Morris
124 Travis Fryman
125 Jim Edmonds
126 Jeff Cirillo
127 Fred McGriff
128 Alan Benes
129 Derek Bell
130 Tony Graffanino
131 Shawn Green
132 Denny Neagle
133 Alex Fernandez
134 Mickey Morandini
135 Royce Clayton
136 Jose Mesa
137 Edgar Martinez
138 Curt Schilling
139 Lance Johnson
140 Andy Benes
141 Charles Nagy
142 Mariano Rivera
143 Mark Wohlers
144 Ken Hill
145 Jay Bell
146 Bob Higginson
147 Mark Grudzielanek
148 Ray Durham
149 John Olerud
150 Joey Hamilton
151 Trevor Hoffman
152 Dan Wilson
153 J.T. Snow
154 Marquis Grissom
155 Yamil Benitez
156 Rusty Greer
157 Darryl Kile
158 Ismael Valdes
159 Jeff Conine
160 Darren Daulton
161 Chan Ho Park
162 Troy Percival
163 Wade Boggs
164 Dave Nilsson
165 Vinny Castilla
166 Kevin Brown
167 Dennis Eckersley
168 Wendell Magee, Jr.
169 John Jaha
170 Garret Anderson
171 Jason Giambi
172 Mark Grace
173 Tony Clark
174 Moises Alou
175 Brett Butler
176 Cecil Fielder
177 Chris Widger
178 Doug Drabek
179 Ellis Burks
180 Shigetoshi Hasegawa

Parallels

All 540 base cards (180 players from all three "Rows") are available in the following parallels.

Legacy Collection (serial-numbered to 100 copies)

Masterpiece (one-of-one)

Masterpieces is a notable set in Hobby history in that it was the first to reduce a print run to only a single set. The Masterpieces brought almost as much criticism as it did praise from collectors as it effectively eliminated player collector's chances to procure one copy of every card of their favorite star. Nonetheless, an onslaught of one-of-one sets were created for the Hobby in the following years.

Inserts

Wave of the Future

Please note that cards WF1 and WF2 were added late in the production run. Each of the other cards are sequentially-numbered "X of 25".

1 Todd Greene
2 Andruw Jones
3 Randall Simon
4 Wady Almonte
5 Pat Cline
6 Jeff Abbott
7 Justin Towle
8 Richie Sexson
9 Bubba Trammell
10 Bob Abreu
11 David Ortiz (billed as "David Arias-Ortiz" on front)
12 Todd Walker
13 Orlando Cabrera
14 Vladimir Guerrero
15 Ricky Ledee
16 Jorge Posada
17 Ruben Rivera
18 Scott Spiezio
19 Scott Rolen
20 Emil Brown
21 Jose Guillen
22 T.J. Staton
23 Eli Marrero
24 Fernando Tatis
25 Ryan Jones
WF1 Hideki Irabu
WF2 Jose Cruz, Jr.

Diamond Cuts

1 Jeff Bagwell
2 Albert Belle
3 Ken Caminiti
4 Juan Gonzalez
5 Ken Griffey, Jr.
6 Tony Gwynn
7 Todd Hundley
8 Andruw Jones
9 Chipper Jones
10 Greg Maddux
11 Mark McGwire
12 Mike Piazza
13 Derek Jeter
14 Manny Ramirez
15 Cal Ripken, Jr.
16 Alex Rodriguez
17 Frank Thomas
18 Mo Vaughn
19 Bernie Williams
20 Matt Williams

Hot Gloves

1 Roberto Alomar
2 Barry Bonds
3 Juan Gonzalez
4 Ken Griffey, Jr.
5 Marquis Grissom
6 Derek Jeter
7 Chipper Jones
8 Barry Larkin
9 Kenny Lofton
10 Greg Maddux
11 Mike Piazza
12 Cal Ripken, Jr.
13 Alex Rodriguez
14 Ivan Rodriguez
15 Frank Thomas

Million Dollar Moments

See 1997 Fleer Million Dollar Moments.

Autographs & Game-Used

Alex Rodriguez Emerald Exchange

Twenty-five Alex Rodriguez Emerald Exchange cards (good for a autograph Rodriguez fielding glove) were randomly seeded into packs. The card fronts were very similar in design to the regular Row 2 A-Rod, except for green foil accents. The card back, however, consisted entirely of text explaining prize guidelines. The deadline to exchange the card was 8/1/98