Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1995 Flair Series 1 Baseball
1995 Flair Baseball was split into two series, each with 216 base cards. Those base cards, as advertised on the box, feature “100% Etched Foil.” Each card also has foil player and team names as well as large player initials, not something you see often.
While the cards certainly feel high-end with their thicker card stock and foil card fronts, the packs are different as well. Each clear cellophane pack is inside a two-piece cardboard box, which is also wrapped in plastic. While this might have been pretty cool if you were busting a few packs with your friends back in the day, it does get a bit old when ripping an entire box.
1995 Flair Series 1 Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 9
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $60
Shop for 1995 Flair Series 1 Baseball boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Raul Mondesi, Fred McGriff, Pedro Martinez & Cliff Floyd Today’s Spotlight (1:25 packs)
How did 23-year-old Martinez fare in 1995? Just a 14-10 record with a 3.51 ERA. He was just getting started.
Pack 2:
Wade Boggs, David Cone & Ozzie Guillen
Pack 3:
Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Jeff Kent & Ruben Sierra Outfield Power (1:6 packs)
Pack 4:
Jeff Bagwell & Rod Beck
Beck ranks 34th all-time with 286 saves. He has to rank top 10 in MLB history for best mullet and facial hair combos, though.
Pack 5:
Bobby Bonilla & Bernard Gilkey
Pack 6:
Albert Belle, Joe Carter & Cecil Fielders
Pack 7:
John Valentin, Mike Mussina, Tim Salmon & Greg Vaughn
Pack 8:
Ken Griffey Jr. & Griffey Outfield Power (1:6 packs)
A hot pack of The Kid!
Pack 9:
Mo Vaughn, Lou Whitaker, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez & John Olerud
Pack 10:
Rondell White & Bret Boone
Pack 11:
Gary Sheffield & Jeff Bagwell Hot Numbers (1:9 packs)
Hot Numbers are pretty sharp with their gold coloring.
Pack 12:
Tony Gwynn, Greg Maddux & Andres Galarraga
Pack 13:
Ozzie Smith, Matt Williams & another Sierra Outfield Power (1:6 packs)
Pack 14:
Cliff Floyd, Vinny Castilla & Javier Lopez
Vinny averaged 38 home runs per season from 1995 to 1999.
Pack 15:
Gary Sheffield & Cal Ripken, Jr. Hot Numbers (1:9 packs)
Pack 16:
Moises Alou, Ellis Burks, Shawon Dunston & Ryan Klesko
Pack 17:
Mike “Gator” Greenwell & Juan Gonzalez
Speaking of home runs, Juan-Gone had 339 of them in the ’90s alone!
Pack 18:
Jamie Moyer & Eddie Murray
Pack 19:
Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, Don Mattingly & Matt Williams Hot Numbers (1:9 packs)
Pack 20:
Trevor Hoffman, Raul Mondesi, Fred McGriff & Pedro Martinez
Mondesi won the 1994 NL Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .306 with 16 HR and 56 RBI in just 112 games.
Pack 21:
Albert Belle, Joe Carter & Cecil Fielder
Pack 22:
Brady Anderson, Roberto Alomar, Roger Clemens, Harold Baines & Will Clark
Clemens is the only player out of the five featured here who never donned an Orioles uniform.
Pack 23:
Kirby Puckett, Jeff Bagwell & another Bagwell Hot Numbers (1:9 packs)
Pack 24:
Mike Piazza
Lastly, the Piazza card back. I can get behind these for sure with full-color photo back with season stat lines.
The packaging aside, Flair is definitely a fun rip. The base cards and inserts look great and feel like the premium card set they set out to be. I wouldn’t mind finding a Series 2 box to bust.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
