Thursday, December 5, 2013

Completely Red: 1995 Fleer

"Ok guys. Here's what we're gonna do. Guys, listen. Listen. Guys. We're gonna. Guys. Listen. We're gonna put the stats. Guys. We're gonna put the stats. On the front." *huge bong rip.

I imagine this is about how it went down in the Fleer conference room almost 20 years ago. While markedly hideous, this set holds a special place in my heart. As a kid, every time I'd gather together $1.05 in coins ($0.99 plus tax) I'd cross the creek out back, walk to Kroger, and buy a pack of '95 Fleer (one insert per pack!). Baseball packs in the summer, basketball packs in the winter. I loved the inserts. Also, I was too young to appreciate the subtlety of design, so I didn't really have any aesthetic notion of the true ridiculousness of this set. No matter. The set is 30 Reds strong. Pretty solid. Let's check the stats.

STATS:

Cards - 30

RC's - 0 (whoa)

All Stars - 9 (Bret Boone, Jeff Brantley, Tony Fernandez, Erik Hanson, Barry Larkin, Kevin Mitchell, Reggie Sanders, Ron Gant, Benito Santiago)

Hall of Famers - 1 (Barry Larkin)

Reds Hall of Famers - 2 (Barry Larkin, Jose Rijo)

Action vs. Posed Shots - 30 vs. 0 (Yes!)

Spectacles - 4 Pair

Height and Weight Cutting Through the Photo - 100%

Colors of the Rainbow - All


Checklist:

429 Bret Boone
430 Jeff Branson
431 Jeff Brantley
432 Hector Carrasco
433 Brian Dorsett
434 Tony Fernandez
435 Tim Fortugno
436 Erik Hanson
437 Thomas Howard
438 Kevin Jarvis
439 Barry Larkin
440 Chuck McElroy
441 Kevin Mitchell
442 Hal Morris
443 Jose Rijo
444 John Roper
445 Johnny Ruffin
446 Deion Sanders
447 Reggie Sanders
448 Pete Schourek
449 John Smiley
450 Eddie Taubensee
473 Jacob Brumfield
U131 John Courtright
U132 Ron Gant
U133 Xavier Hernandez
U134 Brian R. Hunter
U135 Benito Santiago
U136 Pete Smith
U137 Scott Sullivan

Go Reds.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, man. That first paragraph... LOLZ'd like a schoolgirl. That may also hint at why I like this set some much.

    Also, all those are the same design. Are the different designs sorted by team in '95 Fleer? I always wondered what the logic was for how they divvied up the different card types. Mind blown.

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  2. Junior Junkie: I believe each division in baseball got a different card design. I too like this set despite (because of?) it's goofiness.

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  3. Yeah, each team definitely has a unique design, but they're all so crowded that they ended up looking the same. The Jacob Brunfield, for instance, is technically a Pirates card/design, and it blends in unnoticed with the Reds designs around it.

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  4. Surprised there was no david wells card, in the updated set. Also juan guzman believe both were acquired mid season thru trades. As well as mark lewis.

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