Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1995 Topps Stadium Club High Series Baseball
1995 Topps Stadium Club Baseball was released in three series. High Series featured, by far, the shortest base checklist, with just 135 cards. With that, you can expect to see plenty of duplicates when ripping a box, which has north of 300 cards.
Another thing High Series is short on is inserts. While Series 1 and 2 each had six different inserts to chase, High Series featured just two, both with matching pack odds. Power Zone and Crystal Ball inserts are each found once per box, on average.
If pulling Rookie Cards is your thing, Hideo Nomo is the only one of note in this release.
1995 Topps Stadium Club High Series Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 13
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $12
Shop for 1995 Topps Stadium Club High Series Baseball boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Andre Dawson, Derek Bell, Tim Salmon & David Cone
Bell was traded to the Astros in December 1994, joining Biggio and Bagwell to create Houston’s Killer B’s.
Pack 2:
Jim Abbott, Larry Walker & Moises Alou
Pack 3:
Hideo Nomo, Ken Caminiti, Paul O’Neill & Mo Vaughn
Pack 4:
Cal Ripken, Jr. & Mike Piazza
Love the look of the ball and bat on the Piazza card!
Pack 5:
Dave Winfield, Ken Griffey, Jr. & Jeff Bagwell
Pack 6:
Ken Griffey Jr., Tim Salmon & Matt Williams Power Zone (1:24 packs)
Pack 7:
Andre Dawson, Barry Bonds & Jeff Bagwell
Dawson spent the final two seasons of his career with the Marlins, playing just 121 games and hitting 10 home runs.
Pack 8:
Gary Sheffield & Cecil Fielder
Pack 9:
Hideo Nomo, Paul O’Neill & Mo Vaughn
Pack 10:
Mariano Rivera, Cal Ripken, Jr., Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn & Sammy Sosa
1995 was Rivera’s first season in the majors. He started 10 games, posting a 5.51 ERA. He would never start again.
Pack 11:
Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, Jose Canseco & Chipper Jones Crystal Ball (1:24 packs)
Unfortunately, the Chipper was stuck to another card and sustained some surface damage.
Pack 12:
Dave Winfield, Ken Griffey, Jr. & Sammy Sosa
Pack 13:
My fourth Mo Vaughn, Jose Canseco & Moises Alou
The Sox acquired Canseco from the Rangers in exchange for Otis Nixon & Luis Ortiz in December, 1994.
Pack 14:
Greg Vaughn, Ken Caminiti & Will Clark
Pack 15:
Will Clark, Frank Thomas, Albert Belle & Barry Larkin
Pack 16:
Greg Vaughn, Frank Thomas, Bobby Bonilla & Mariano Rivera
How good was The Big Hurt in the ’90s? His average season (including just 60 games during his rookie year) was 30 home runs and 103 RBI.
Pack 17:
Tony Gwynn & Bobby Bonilla
Pack 18:
Dave Winfield, Andres Galarraga & Jose Canseco
Pack 19:
Yet another Mo, Moises Alou, Andy Pettitte & Tim Salmon
Moises Alou is criminally underrated. His career .885 OPS would have ranked 11th in the majors last season, just ahead of Jose Ramirez.
Pack 20:
Jim Abbott, Moises Alou, Ken Caminiti & Mike Piazza
Pack 21:
Jose Canseco, Barry Larkin, Will Clark & Chipper Jones
Pack 22:
Dave Stewart, Frank Thomas & David Cone
Pack 23:
Dave Stewart, Bobby Bonilla, Ken Griffey, Jr. & Bill Pulsipher Crystal Ball (1:24 packs)
A second Crystal Ball! Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of the few solid names in the checklist (Chipper and Jeter being the top two).
Pack 24:
Andy Pettitte & Tim Salmon
Lastly, the Chipper card back. A bit funky, huh?
This was about what you should expect from a box of High Series — plenty of duplicates with the short checklist. I did pull an extra insert but, unfortunately, the Chipper was damaged.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
