In an attempt to gimmick away what little relevance their Bowman brand still had with collectors, Topps has included autographed inserts of over 20 Major League scouts in their just-released 2008 Bowman. But some collectors have had questions about this particular scout card.
This is an autograph of the mysterious "Bowman Scout." Who is this guy? Is he even real? Or do we have another Kazuo Uzuki? Or "Rip Master?"
First off, yes, The Bowman Scout is a real person. He is an actual scout for an American League team who has worked as a consultant for Topps since the early 90s. According to a 2006 interview with Beckett, The Scout (who wishes to remain anonymous) says he attends 300-400 baseball games a year, ranging from high school to the Big Leagues.
Among The Scout's greatest "discoveries:" Mike Piazza (1992 Bowman), Jorge Posada ('94), Matt Holliday ('99), Jose Reyes and Justin Morneau (2001).
And despite his work with Topps, he says he doesn't collect baseball cards.
Vintage Video Box Break and Review: 1999 Skybox Metal Universe
One retail box of 1999 Skybox Metal Universe (paid $18.95 + shipping from Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale *) 20 packs per box, six cards per pack (MSRP $2.39)
The Details
Base Set: 300 cards
Parallels: NONE (all are Hobby Only)
Inserts: 15 Neophytes (1:10) 15 Boyz with the Wood (1:30) 15 Planet Metal (1:60) 15 Diamond Soul (1:96) 10 Linchpins (1:576)
Autogamers: NONE (all are Hobby Only)
The Pulls
Part One
Part Two
Base Set: 116 of 300 (38.67%)
Inserts: 2 Neophytes: P. Konerko, M. Tejada 1 Boyz with the Wood: M. Piazza 1 Planet Metal: D. Erstad
1999 Skybox Metal Universe was a set that I never got around to collecting. But when I ripped a pack of this in my recent 20-for-$40 gimmick on APAD, I was hooked. I made it my mission to bust a waxbox. Unfortunately, all I could find on Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale was this 20-pack retail box.
Like in previous years, all the base cards have etched-foil fronts and are embossed -- hence, the name. The 1999 Metals have an industrial look and feel, with what look like riveted iron plating. Unfortunately, they only added the embossing to the top-half of the card, which if stacked, causes a noticeable lean.
To wit: These are all the base cards I ripped from this box. I like to call this "The Leaning Tower of 1999 Metal."
Among the subsets, there are 25 "Building Blocks" (prospects and rookies), 25 "M.L.P.D.s" -- which I still have no idea what it stands for -- and 15 "Caught on the Fly's." What makes the subsets great -- but in an unintentionally funny kind of way -- are their backs. The COTF's are "written" in the style of the Sporting News column of the same name. But it's the Building Blocks and M.L.P.D. backs that are notable. Notable in their hilarity.
In the late-90s, Fleer oriented all their Skybox brands to appeal to an "urban" audience. (They even hired Coolio to star in their print ads.) This marketing/pandering even went as far as the language used on backs of the cards.
Before I go any further I should note that in September 2001 I had a job interview at Fleer's headquarters in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. After spending nearly two hours at the Fleer office, I did not notice anyone outside the "middle-aged-white-guy/white-gal" demographic who was employed there. Please take this into consideration before reading the back of Adrian Beltre's Building Blocks card.
"Yo, Adrian, 20 years old, filling in for Bobby Bo' at third for the L.A. Dodgers ... not bad. We know that you almost nabbed the '97 FSL Triple Crown and were Mr. MVP. We can see your glove is phat already. But at 20? I guess that's why Zeile's in Texas and Konerko's in Cincy ... your move, Kid."
See what I mean?
The numbered-to-50 Precious Metal Gems and one-of-one Gem Master parallels were exclusive to Hobby, but all five non-parallel inserts were available in retail as well, albeit at slightly longer odds. Like the subsets, all the inserts are written in "Mount Laurel Ebonics." The fifteen card, 1:10/pack Neophytes are the designated "Hot Rookie" insert that was standard in most late-90s products. The fifteen card, 1:30 Boyz with the Wood (See, it's spelled with a "Z" at the end! It's gangsta!) are an equally formulaic "Power Hitters" insert. If these cards look a lot like those "Flapper" cards in this years Topps Opening Day, they should. The BwtW and the Opening Day Flappers were made by the company.
Planet Metal (1:60) is the standard issue die-cut insert and Diamond Soul (1:96) are lenticular (i.e. Sportflix) cards. In the era before the gamer, just about every Fleer set had one insert that was a genuinely tough pull. In 1999 Skybox Metal Universe, the 1:576/pack Linchpins -- which have a laser-cut cotter pin design in the background -- fit this bill.
The Bottom Line
For such a small box, (only 120 cards) I had some pretty good pulls. I only wish I had found a Hobby box though. I received almost 40% of the base set, two Neophytes inserts, a Mike Piazza Boyz with the Wood, and a one-per-third box Planet Metal of Darin Erstad.
We now have some sort of an idea. As Scott Kelnhofer reported on this week's Sports Collector's Radio, the Topps will produce a web-based sitcom starring these guys....
The Sklar Brothers from Cheap Seats.
The plot? The Sklar's inherit a trading card company and appoint themselves CEO. Hilarity ensues! (So that's who came up with Kazuo Uzuki!)
Ben Henry's long slog through the early 1990s is almost over, and he's down to the Final FourThree Two. By my count, the only fourthree two card sets he's yet to rank are:
1990 Leaf 1990 Score 1991 Stadium Club 1992 Bowman
So what will it be? What set will Ben Henry choose as the number one card set of the early 1990s? Allow me to introduce my alter ego: Chrissy "The Greek."
1991 Stadium Club (3-1) The second choice on the board, 1991 Stadium Club is a set that would apply to Ben's aesthetic sensibilities.
1990 Leaf (9-1) A true landmark set, but will that be enough to overtake '90 Score or '91 Stadium Club?
1992 Bowman (25-1) Another benchmark product, '92 Bowman is a bit of a long shot. While many may consider this a value bet, "my sources" tell me 1992 Bowman has no chance.
Over the years, I had thought I lost all my pre-blogger box breaks forever. Then I discovered something called the Internet Wayback Machine, which has been archiving other websites. So to whoever started up the Internet Wayback Machine, THANK YOU FOR SAVING EVERYTHING!
If you have any spare time, check it out. See what this site looked like seven years ago (yes, that is supposed to look like 1987 Donruss), or see just how awful my writing skills were before I went back to college.
One box of 1995 Select (Purchased from Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale* for $19.95 + shipping) 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack.
*No endorsement implied.
The Details
Base Set: 250 cards (no short-prints)
Parallels Artist Proof: 250 cards (1:24, limited to 475 copies)
Inserts Can't Miss: 12 cards (1:24, limited to 9900) Big Sticks: 12 cards (1:48, limited to 4950) Sure Shots: 10 cards (1:90, limited to 3168)
Autogamers: NONE
Part One:
Part Two:
The Pulls
Base Set: 237 of 250 (94.80%)
Parallels 1 Artist Proof: Darren Lewis
Inserts 1 Can't Miss!: C. Floyd 1 Big Sticks: C. Ripken, Jr.
The Review
Ah, 1995 Select. The memories....
In the summer of '95 I had just arrived from basic training at my first duty station. I never lived outside the greater Philadelphia area before, so it took some time for me to adjust to my new life. Fortunately for me, there were two Hobby shops within walking distance of the base’s front gate; and about every-other month there was a card show at one of the many casino hotels that lined the Mississippi Gulf Coast. My cardboard addiction would be fully sated.
It was around the time I was first allowed to leave the base when Pinnacle Brands released 1995 Select baseball. The novelty behind Select was that only 4950 24-box cases would be made, and that each individual waxbox would be serial-numbered.
For those of you that have been out of The Hobby for a while, and/or don't remember what The Hobby was like in the mid-90s, the practice of card manufacturers announcing the production figures of specific products was The Hobby’s gimmick of the moment. Topps kicked it all off when it debuted Finest in 1993 with the statement that only 4000 cases would be made. Later that year, Donruss stated that would only make 6250 12-box cases of Leaf Update. Pinnacle got into the act by serial-numbering each one of the 1950 24-box cases of 1993 Select Rookie/Traded. The following year it spread to Donruss (17,500 cases of each series), Leaf Limited and Leaf Limited Rookies (60,000 and 30,000 serial-numbered waxboxes, respectively), and ’94 Select (4950 cases of each series).
So what’s the big deal, you ask? Plenty. Armed with these nuggets of information, as well as other variables like set size and stated insertion ratio, one could figure out exactly how many copies of each individual card (insert, parallel, and base) were in circulation with a simple pocket calculator. So although they were not serial-numbered, it didn't much effort to figure out that only 241 copies of 1993 Finest Refractor were issued. And using the same method, only 475 copies of each one-per-box 1995 Select Artist Proof parallel were printed.
A card limited to 475 copies doesn’t seem to be all that “scarce” – and by the standards of 2008, it’s not. But in the fin-de-siècle Hobby, a card limited to 475 was considered scarce, and the thought being guaranteed of such a card in each box was the main reason why Select flew off the shelves when it was released.
By the summer of ’95 it had been four months since I bought any cards, so I was stoked to rip into a box of Select. The 1994 version was (and still remains) one of my favorite card sets, and the ’95 version – with the exception of the new Artist Proofs, and the elimination of a second series – was virtually unchanged. The problem was for me was that very few of those 4950 cases made their way to Biloxi, Mississippi.
You know those two Hobby stores just outside the base I was talking about? One never bothered to order this product and the other....
I rarely bought any wax from that guy -- just singles. For some reason, regardless of the product, or the cost, most of his waxboxes cost $68 -- and that's what he wanted for a box of '95 Select. And so, I took a pass on 1995 Select.
As I mentioned on APAD, this is a product that I waited 13 years to bust, and I found a box for $19.95 at Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale. Was it worth the wait?
Let me put it this way, if you were to go back in time and speak to A1C Harris, I'm sure he'd be ecstatic with a waxbox that yielded 94.8% of the base set and a $75 Cal Ripken, Jr. insert. (According to the September 1995 issue of Beckett, a Big Sticks insert of a fresh-from-breaking-Lou-Gehrig’s-record Cal Ripken, Jr. booked for $75.) While it only books for $25 now, I’m still satisfied with my purchase.
The base set is 250 cards, and although there are no RCs, (there are two second-year A-Rods) it is a very nice looking, well designed card set. For the second consecutive year, all of the base cards -- with the exception of the "Select Rookie" and "Showtime" subsets -- are oriented horizontally and have two photos. All the usual suspects are here, along with a few players you may have forgotten about. (Where have you gone Jason Jacome?)
Like I mentioned, the hot insert in '95 Select was the one-per-box Artist Proofs. But there are three other inserts to chase after. In addition to the 1:48/pack Big Sticks of Cal Ripken, Jr., I pulled a Cliff Floyd Can’t Miss! Can’t Miss! was the designated one-per-box "super hot prospect" insert that was standard issue in most “premium” level products. While the 12-card checklist had some players who did miss, (i.e. Billy Ashley) what makes Can't Miss! special was the Dufex. I've always been a mark for the Dufex, and if there’s one thing I miss about Pinnacle Brands it’s these cards.
The other insert, which I did not receive a card from, was the 1:90/pack Sure Shots. Sure Shots were another Dufex-based set, this one starring ten of the top picks of the 1994 Draft. Unfortunately, with the exception of Paul Konerko, the draft class of '94 never distinguished itself, and these cards (including the Konerko) can be had cheap.
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
1995 Select is a Hobby time machine. It’s a throwback to a time in The Hobby when a $2/pack product was considered “premium” and when scarcity was measured in the hundreds and thousands. If you’ve got $20 burning a hole in your pocket, and can’t stand the thought of blowing it on two packs of Topps Co-Signers, pick up a box of 1995 Select.
