Retro Review - 1995 Topps Finest Baseball @topps

[scottkoz20]

This review is for a 1995 Topps Finest Baseball that I acquired as a part of a garage sale lot on June 10, 2019. This article is the first in a Retro Review Mini-series!

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If you were interested in finding a box at this point, expect to pay between $90-$100 on eBay

Configuration of the Box

24 packs / 7 cards per pack

2 Refractors per box (1:12)
1 Power Kings per box (1:24)
1 Flamethrowers every other box (1:48)

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My hits
Refractors (Len Dykstra and Rick Wilkins)
Power Kings (Cecil Fielder)
No Flamethrows

95_finest_0003.jpg95_finest_0004.jpg

Checklist information (via SCF Card Database/Inventory Manager)
Base Set (cards up to 220 in this product) --> https://www.sportscardforum.com/scf/inv/viewset/65941
Flamethrowers --> https://www.sportscardforum.com/scf/inv/viewset/65943
Power Kings --> https://www.sportscardforum.com/scf/inv/viewset/65944


My thoughts of the box
This was a box that I never opened back in the day for a number of reasons. The first was being in college at the time and my money was used on other things (i'll leave this to your imagination) and secondly, I had stopped collecting that this point due in part of the strike in 1994. So from a personal standpoint, I was excited to open this box up. However, there was something that I noticed (and was reminded about) quickly

Quality Control!

2 issues that I found with this product were

1) Centering. While it was common that not all cards were cut the same, I noticed that most of the miscut cards were found as the 2nd card of the pack. This might have been just this box, but it was something that I noticed immediately. The majority of the miscuts in this box typically had the top edge cut near or at the border of the frame.

Here is a sample of the miscuts

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2) Collation. As box that has 24 packs, with 7 cards per pack, this would yield 168 total cards with the potential of 3-4 cards as a refractor/insert. Thus if you wanted to build out a complete base set with one box, this is not possible, you would need at least 2 (and this does not include the high number cards 221 to 330). While I was able to card 118 of the 220 cards (53.6%) - there where a few players that I ended up with 3 or 4 base cards (Brian McRae).


Overall, this was SUCH a fun box to open as it brought me back to a time before I met my wife and at a time when the hobby was starting the change from the presses running non-stop in the late 80s and early 90s. This was a box that probably would not have opened when I was 18-19 years old as my budget would not all me to do so (poor college student). While I did not hit anything major, it was awesome to see some names that I had not seen in packs in the last 15-20 years!


Lastly, all of the cards have (and will continue to have) the protective cover on them.


Thanks for reading - please leave your comments below!
Scott



NOTE --> On June 10, 2019 while out hitting garage sales locally, I found a seller that was moving a bunch of boxes from the 80's and 90's. While some of them were not good, some were boxes that I have not seen in years! This series of articles are reviews of some of the better / odd ball boxes that I acquired in that purchase. Cards in these articles are my personal items, but may be available for trade or purchase but their will not be available in the SCF Reward Store like other Sponsored Breaks.

[michigandan]

Blast from the past! You can send that Fielder my way!

[haynmay]

nice, i look forawrd to seeing more

[Deckard7]

Nice review. Thanks for the detail on the collation and quality control, as well as your personal recollections from that time.

I quit collecting around 1992 as pack prices climbed over $1.00 each and there was so much product on the market. I just lost interest. Started collecting again in 2011, a great year to come back as it turned out with all those great rookies. I've enjoyed the hobby off and on since then.