1995 Topps Finest

I picked up this pack a couple of weeks ago before A&G was out. I wanted a pack of something, but wasn't thrilled by crappy Topps base or $5 packs of Upper Deck. I almost got a pack of A Piece of History, but looked behind the counter and saw 1995 Finest for $3.50. It was a no brainer. I pulled a pack out of the dusty box and got that instead. This is from the glory days of Finest - No prospect autos, no redemption cards, no Rip Masters. Just "Brilliant Uncirculated" "High Tech" cards with peel off card protectors on the front. It's even got a few bells and whistles in it - Refractors (1:12), Power Kings (1:24) and Flame Throwers (1:48).


193 Joe Girardi
17 Jim Edmonds
FT6 Pedro Martinez Flame Throwers
112 Eddie Murray
5 Rondell White
88 Chuck Knoblauch
140 Shawon Dunston

WOOHOO! Case hit! Well, a two box case at least. This is a pretty slick looking Mid '90s insert right here. And it's a decent player too, looking at the checklist in my SCD shows me I could have gotten stuck with John Hudek or Jason Bere. The Power Kings are really cool looking though with big honking lightning bolts in the background. I'll pull a Chris Harris and reproduce the copy on the back for you.

Fastball has natural chasing action to righthanders... Blows hitters off the plate... Needs to use the circle-change and curve more on lefties... Mental toughness belied by wispy body... Terriffic all-around athlete.

SKILLS RATINGS:
Velocity-----------------(4)
Movement------------------(4.5)
Intimidation------(3)
Strikeout Rate--------------(4.5)
Endurance--------(3)
Durability------------(3.5)

Some nifty scouting info there. Insert aside, this is a pretty good pack. Hall of Famer Eddie Murray leads off the lineup, there's an active manager in Joe Girardi, an active player in Jim Edmonds and a handful of solid players. I always liked this design too with the diamond and circles and what appears to be artificial turf with pinstripes. Two of the cards have a textured pattern in the diamond behind the player as you can see with the Edmonds card. Thankfully I got two of them, I thought it was a parallel at first. The card companies have trained me too well to be on the lookout for gimmicks.

The Dirty Dozen: 1997 Finest Series Two

Not only did I choose one, I chose a dozen different junk waxpacks. All of them from 1997-99, and all of them for only $1/each.

But will they make me "better feeling?" That is the question.

First pack is 1997 Finest Series Two. This was the second (and thankfully) last year Finest was configured in it's multi-fractured, multi-subset format. The 175-card base set was divided into 100 "Commons" (or "Bronze" as they more commonly known), 50 "Uncommons" (Silver), and 25 "Rares" (Gold). The Silvers and Golds were short-printed and seeded into packs at the rate of 1:4 and 1:24 respectively, with refractors inserted at the rate of 1:12, 1:48 and 1:288.

The set is divided further into five different subsets, each with their own distinct design: Acquisitions (players who had changed teams), Masters (superstar players), Blue Chips (rookies), Power (power pitchers and power hitters), and Competitors (who compete, or something).

Like I did in the 20-for-$40 pack bust, in lieu of commentary, I'm just going to re-print the copy on the back of each card.

Base:
(All are Bronze)

Dean Palmer
COMPETITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS "At the plate: An already-productive hitter, Palmer outdid himself in1996 with a career-best 38 HR's and 107 RBI. In the field: His reliability and range improve every year at third, where he led the American League with 135 starts in '96."

Jim Leyritz
ACQUIRING TASTES "A valued utility player for the 1996 Yankees -- and a hero of their World Series win -- Leyritz offers the Angels a dangers bat and skills at catcher, first base, thrid base and left field. He hits for power against righties and lefties."

David Justice
ACQUIRING TASTES "After a 40-game 1996 season (thanks to shoulder surgery) in Atlanta, Justice arrives in Cleveland healthy and eager to join its revamped outfield corps. In a lineup looking for a lefty bat, he is penciled in for 20+ homers and 100+ RBI."

Ismael Valdez
POWER POINTS "Whiffed six or more batters 18 times, and seven or more 15 times, in 33 starts of 1996 ... Reached the seventh inning in 82% of his appearances ... Owns career high of 11 SO's (8/16/95) ... Had '96 season high of 10 on 4/24 versus Houston."

Walt Weiss
COMPETITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS "At the plate: Weiss is a bat control artist, selective hitter and tough out. In the field: He has committed more tham 19 errors at SS only once in a decade. On the basepaths: Maximizing average speed, he was 27-for-32 in SB's, 1995-96."

Jeff Cirillo
COMPETITVE CONTRIBUTIONS "At the plate: Cirillo, once lightly regarded, is now an XBH machine and reigns as club's single-season record holder for RBI (83) by a third baseman. In the field: He has outstanding range and one of the better hot corner arms in the game."

Did this pack make me better feeling? Not yet.

I should bust some more, shouldn't I?

The 20 for $40 re-wrap: 1996 Pacific Prisms and 1998 Finest series two

So I've decided what the winner of my contest will get. You will receive every single card I've pulled in both the 20-for-$40 and the 50-cent cheapo wax breaks -- minus whatever cards I actually need on my wantlist. (I might even throw in a few extra game used cards, if that fails to satisfy the winner.)

Onto the packs!



1998 Finest

Base
John "C3P" Olerud
Kerry Wood
Harold Baines
Pat Hentgen
Joe Carter

Parallel
No Protectors (1:2) Brian Hunter


1996 Pacific Prisms

Base
Alex Fernandez

Insert
San Francisco Giants Team Card

Alex Fernandez is card #88, so our winner is "roof_god" who chose "87." To claim your prize, send me an e-mail ASAP.

2008 Topps Finest

Here is a new wax pack I got in a box today from a local card shop. Hobby box details:
Release date - 04/02/2008
$ per hobby box - $135
# of packs per box - 18
# of cards per pack - 5
# of autos per hobby box - 3
# of franchise favorites per hobby box - 3
# of rookie redemption cards - 1
# of refractors per hobby box* - 12
# of finest moments cards - 6
Refractors are either Blue (499), Green (199), Black (99), Gold (50), Red (25) or white (1 of 1)

I like it when the pack wrappers are thin like this and easily ripped.

One of the subsets, Finest Moments, of a great player. Tom Glavine has been playing most of his 21 years for the Braves. I really admire players that have long careers and stick with only one or two teams. He is definitely a future HOF player.

One of the base cards. It's hard to believe this is Brandon Phillips seventh year in the Majors. I think the Reds got the better of the deal with the Indians back in 2006.

Another base card, this time of a Diamondback. He has played on several teams since 2000. He is well known for multiple radio and television shows that he hosts, on and off season.

A 'real' Rookie card of Erick Threets. After messing around in the Minors for years he finally got to the Majors in 2007 with the Giants.

Obviously an autograph of Hanley Ramirez. Originally signing with the Red Sox in 2000, he finally made it to the Majors in 2005. Currently he is one of the best Marlins players.

My review, I like the design of the cards with the crisp lines and the nice clean action photography. It is great getting 3 autographs in a box. They also have a good selection of players. I don't like that the cards are always curved. Also Topps cards has problems with silver on the edges getting chipped easily. My final gripe is the auto of Ramirez is not centered and goes into the black area. My final verdict is, I buy a box of Finest every year and really enjoy opening these packs. They look and feel like a high end card and I feel like I get my value. With the price being over $100 per box though, I won't ever pony up the cash to complete a set.