1996 Bowman Phillies

In my opinion, 1996 Bowman was the last really good Bowman design. I did a full review of the design here, so I'll just concentrate on the players. Since Bowman has billed itself as the "Home of the Rookie Card" for many years, it's not a surprise that the 15 Phillies from the set are mostly rookies and minor league players (13 of the 15).

Remember that the Phillies had gone to the World Series in 1993. Their record for the next 4 years was:

1994: 54-61
1995: 69-75
1996: 67-95
1997: 68-98

They were not a good team. And based on what was coming from their minor league system (as evidenced by these Bowman cards), help was a few years in coming.

Jefferies was in the 2nd year of an $18 million contract with the Phillies. That was pretty big money for that time. Phillies fans never thought he was worth that kind of money and he was never real popular. He was traded in September 1998 to the Angels for Doug Nickle. Maybe the Angels thought Jefferies would be a help in their stretch drive. He hit .347 with 10 ribs in 19 games for the Angels so maybe he was. But they still finished 3 games out.
Lenny Dykstra was at the end of his career in 1996. He had season (and it turned out career) ending back surgery early in the season.
At one time this was a key card in the set but it hasn't held value. Rolen was the Phillies 2nd round draft pick in 1993 and made his debut in 1995. He was Rookie of the Year in 1996. He was a pretty good player with the Phillies and then for 2 years with the Cardinals, but his production has fallen off recently. It's hard to believe he's been around for 14 years. He and Marlon Anderson the only Phillies in the set who is still playing.
And speaking of Marlon Anderson. He was the Phillies #2 pick in 1995 and made his debut with the Phillies in 1998. He's a career .265 hitter and although he played 2nd base with the Phillies he's played just about every other position since he left the Phillies in 2003. He's been with the Mets for the past 3 years.
Wayne Gomes was the Phillies 1st round pick in 2003 and made his debut in 1997. Although he mostly started in the minor leagues he was strictly a reliever in the majors. His best year was 1999 when he had 19 saves. He ended his career in Boston in 2002.
Wendell Magee was the Phillies 12 round draft pick in 1994 and made his debut in 1996. In 4 years with the Phillies and another 3 years with the Tigers he was never more than a utility outfielder.
Ryan Nye, the Phillies 2nd round pick in 1994, made two starts for the Phillies in 1997 and one relief appearance in 1998 and that was it. He did hang around the Phillies minor league system until 2000.
Bobby Estalella was the Phillies 23rd round pick in 1992. He was never a full time player with the Phillies from 1996-1999. He did play 106 games with the Giants in 2000. On the back of this card it says "Nutrrition nut who carries a wok on road trips...Has gone from soft and overweight to lowest body fat in Phillies' organization". In the 2007 Mitchell report he was called "the poster boy for chemicals". It didn't seem to help his career any.
A 33rd round draft pick in 1993, Kevin Sefcik was a utility infielder for the Phillies from 1995-2000 and then for a year with the Rockies in 2000. He had two good years with the Phillies in 1998-1999, playing regularly and hitting .314 in 104 games in 1998.
My recollection is that Reggie Taylor was supposed to be the late 1990's version of Ryan Howard. He was a first round pick by the Phillies in 1995. He only played 14 games for the Phillies in 2000-2001 where he did nothing. The Phillies traded him in 2002 to the Reds for Hector Mercado. He was a starter for the Reds for 2 years but still didn't hit much. He's bounced around in a number of minor league systems since then and is now playing in Mexico.
Rich Hunter was 3-7 for the 1996 Phillies and went back to the minors until 2000.
Another disappointing 1st round draft pick, Dave Coggin was 10-12 in 3 seasons for the Phillies (2000-2002). He remained in the minors until 2007.
David Doster appeared in 39 games for the Phillies in 1996 and in 99 games in 1999. He hit .233 with 4 home runs.
Mike Grace was 16-16 in 40 starts for the Phillies in 1995-1999.
Matt Beech was 8-22 in 53 starts for the Phillies in 1996-1998.

1996 Part 12 - SP to SPx

When I started this series back in January, I had said that there were 306 different cards (base sets and insert sets) issued in 1996 and that I owned 167 of them. My goal was to get to 200 by the end of the year. As of this post I am about 3/4 through the 1996 cards I own. As I've been going along I've been buying the cards I'm missing on eBay. I've had a lot of success and am happy to report that I'm only one card short of my goal.


1996 SPUpper Deck introduced SP in 1993 and produced the set through 1997. In 1998, SP was replaced with SP Authentic. The '96 and '94 sets featured Dufex printing while the odd years featured holographic foil. I am not a big fan of Dufex and don't like these cards very much. I only own a handful which suggests I bought a couple of loose packs. 8-card packs were about $4. The set had 188 cards.

1996 SP Checklist
This is the only subset card I own. I do like checklists which are part of the set and it they feature a player, so much the better. I actually like the design of the checklist card more than the base card with the wood grain border going all the way around the card.

1996 SP Marquee Matchups
This was a 20-card insert set. The cards were inserted at a ratio of 1:5, so they were not hard to get. It features gold foil lettering and a silver foil background. You would think that a card called "Matchups" might feature 2 players. I only own three of these and hadn't noticed before that some of the cards say "Marquee" across the top (like the card below) and some say "Matchups" across the top. Maybe you were supposed to pair cards together. In 2008, Upper Deck brought back this insert set in SP Authentic but the cards features 2 players.

1996 SP Marquee Matchups Die Cuts
Although I only bought a few packs of this product I did manage to pull this Derek Jeter die cut parallel. The die cuts were inserted 1:61.

There were two other insert sets, SP Special FX (48 cards, inserted 1:5) and a SP Special FX die cut parallel inserted 1:75. Looking at a few of these on eBay they feature a large player hologram on the front.

1996 Sportflix
This brand first appeared in 1988 under the name of Sportflics. The spelling was changed to Sportflix in 1995. The brand had been acquired by Score sometime in the early 1990s and by 1996 was part of the Pinnacle Brands. This would be the last year for this brand as Pinnacle was failing big time. These cards have a plastic coating on them which through a process called rectilinear printing cause the picture to appear in motion. I explain how this works here. The base cards simply switch from a head shot of the player to an action shot. There were 144 cards in the set and a 5-card pack cost $1.99. I'm not a big fan of these type of cards and only bought a few packs.

1996 Sportflix UC3
UC3 was a subset. The front of the card featured a full motion action shot of the player. I never did figure out whan UC3 was supposed to mean.

1996 Sportflix Rookie
The rookie subset featured an entirely different design with a full motion picture on the front. There may have been other subsets but these are all I have.

1996 Sportflix Hit Parade
This was a 16-card insert (1:35). I think I got this in a repack. The front features a static head shot with a full motion image in the background.

The other inserts are: Sportflix Artist's Proofs (1:48), Sportflix Double Take (1:22), Sportflix Power Surge (1:35) and Sportflix ProMotion (1:17).

1996 SPx
This was the first year for Upper Deck's SPx. While the 2009 version of this set seems to be a disappointment, it was a pretty exciting card in 1996. The front of the card features a full motion hologram of the player in an action shot, a static photo and a holographic head shot which turns to face you as you move the card (this is actually a bit creepy). The cards were also die-cut and featured silver foil on the back. These cards were pretty expensive, a 1-card pack cost $3.49. I only own this one and I don't know how I got it. I believe this is the largest full motion hologram to be featured on a regular issue baseball card.

1996 SPx Gold
The gold version was seeded 1 in 7 packs. They have the same basic design as the base cards but with gold foil on the back. I bought 5 of these on eBay in September 2004 for $5.00.

1996 SPx Bound For Glory
The only real insert set, Bound For Glory was seeded 1 in 25 packs. The design is pretty much the same as the base set. I paid $5.01 for this in Spetember 2004.

1996 Part 11 - Select and Select Certified

1996 SelectThe Select brand was introduced by Score in 1993. The first year featured non-glossy cards with green borders. In 1995 it became more of a premium brand featuring a glossy finish, gold foil, and full bleed printing. They have always been horizontally oriented cards. This was the last year for Select. The set featured a glossy finish with gold foil. they were available in 10-card packs for $1.99.
This subset featured 1996 Rookies. It has the same design as the base cards, minus the second photo.
Another subset featuring an entirely different design. I think I only have one of these so I'm not sure what the theme is.
Checklist cards were vertically oriented, and numbered as part of the main set.

1996 Select Artist's Proof
As with many of Pinnacle's sets in 1996, there was an Artist's Proof parallel. The cards were inserted at 1:35 packs. The gold foil is refractive, otherwise they are identical to the base cards. I only have this one, paying $3.49 for in in July 2004. Beckett gives a high premium for these cards listing them a 30x the base cards. There are not a lot of these available right now on eBay. Someone is offering the Ripken card at $60 (which is 40x the base card).

1996 Select Claim To Fame
This was a limited edition (2,100 sets but not numbered), inserted at 1:72. The cards are die cut. Beckett lists this card a $30. I paid $7 for in in September 2004. It's being offered on eBay for a Buy It Now price of $35.

1996 Select En Fuego
Another insert set (1:48). The card features colored foil printing on the front. En Fuego means "on fire". I paid $5.50 for this in September 2004. Beckett lists it a $25. It's being offered on eBay for $29.25. I'm glad I got these two Bonds cards back in 2004.

1996 Select Team Nucleus
Inserted at 1:18, this card is printed on semi-transparent acetate. There was a card for each team. I must have pulled this from a new pack back in '96. Beckett lists the card at $12. It's currently offered on eBay at $11.64.

That's it for Select. I have all of the inserts.

1996 Select Certified
A super premium set featuring a mirror silver foil background with gold foil lettering. The cards came with a protective plastic film. 6-card packs were available for $4.99. I bought the entire 144-card set on eBay in September 2004 for $7.00 (including shipping). A pretty good deal. There are very few of these on eBay these days.
There was a '96 Rookies subset. Here's the Derek Jeter card. I'm happy to have this.
Another subset was called Pastime Power. This is the Griffey card.

Select Certified featured a number of parallels: Artist's Proof (1:18), Blue (1:50), Red (1:5), Mirror Blue (1:200, 45 sets), Mirror Red (1:100, 90 sets) and Mirror Gold (1:300, 30 sets). I don't have any of these although I've got bids on some Blues and Reds. The Mirror Golds are pretty pricey (Ivan Rodriguez for $500). I may settle for a mirror gold hockey card (going for $0.99).

There is also an Interleague Preview (1:42, none on eBay) and Select Few (1:60). I've got a bid out on a Select Few.

1996 Part 10 - Score

Score
For 1996, Score issued a 517-card set in two series. The cards were printed on white card stock and are pretty thin. Score first appeared in 1988 and I've never really cared for them. This set is no exception. I think it's pretty boring and very derivative of other sets from the period, such as Collector's Choice. The cards are glossy and feature a large picture on the back. The base cards mostly featured vertically oriented cards with horizontally oriented backs. The base card I chosed to represent the set also has a horizontal front. I have a number of Ripken cards celebrating his milestone consecutive games played streak. Score also included an insert card of the milestone inserted at 1:300 packs.

I never bought much of this when it was new. I guess that about half of the 1996 Score cards I have now I got in repacks. I suspect there is a lot of unopened packs of this around.

Cal Ripken Jr. #60
Mark Wohlers # 202. One of several subsets, this one featured pitchers.
F. P. Santangelo #256. The rookie cards featured a different design from the base card for the front and back.
Jim Edmonds #359. Another subset, the Star Struck cards featured players who had a good year in 1995.
Greg Maddux #275. A Chase Program Checklist card. This was a listing of the insert cards available. I think this is Greg Maddux.
Dante Bichette #271 National League Checklist Card. I always prefer checklist cards which are part of the set and feature a player photograph.
Score Dugout Collection

This is a parallel set with a gold foil border and the Dugout Collection logo on the back. These were inserted 1:3 packs. The parallel set only had 110 cards in it.

Barry Bonds $65. I'm pretty sure I pulled this from a pack in 1996. According to Beckett the Dugout Collection cards are worth up to 4x the regular cards.


Johnny Damon #103. Remember when Damon played with the Royals?
Jason Isringhausen #105. Jason was 9-2 in his 1995 rookie year as a starter but only 6-14 in 1996. In 1999 he will be converted into a full-time reliever and save a lot of games for Oakland and St. Louis.

Score Dugout Collection Artist's Proof
Another parallel set. The Artist's Proof was a common theme in Pinnacle cards in 1996. These look pretty much the same as the regular Dugout Collection with the addition of the Artist's Proof label on the front. These were inserted 1:33 packs and I don't have too many of them.

Jim Thome #6. I actually have all three versions of this card.
Score Big Bats
This insert set was randomly inserted at 1:31 packs. It features a dufex foil background on the front and glossy back. There are 20 cards in the set. I'm pretty sure I pulled this from a pack back in 1996.

Score Diamond Aces
A 30-card insert set (1:8) found in Series 1 jumbo packs. I'm not sure where or when I got this. No, Bonds wasn't a Pirate in 1996, this card celebrates his 1986 season.

Score Dream Team
A 9-card insert (1:72). This would have been a hard pull. I bought this for $4.00 on eBay in September 2004. Beckett lists this card at $15.00 and therefore one of the top cards in the Score issue. It features a refractive foil background and is an attractive card.

Score Future Franchise
A 16-card insert set (1:72). Another tough pull which I paid $4.00 for in September 2004. Chipper was coming off is 1995 rookie season when he finished 2nd in the ROY voting. In 1996 he hit .309 and had 33 home runs. I think the future had arrived.

Score Gold Stars
A 30-card set inserted at 1:15 in Series 2 packs. I probably got this from a pack. It features a large gold foil bar and star on the bottom front. 1995 was Sanders best year. '96 ' and '97 saw limited playing time and he never really returned to the stats he had in 1995.

Score Numbers Game
Another 30-card set inserted at 1:15 packs. The back features a collection of impressive numbers from the player's career.

Score Reflexions
A 20-card set inserted at 1:15 in Series 1 packs. I paid $3.99 for this in September 2004. The background is dufex. I only have the one card but I think they were trying to stress the similarity of these two pitchers, Mike Mussina and Greg Maddox. Both had won 19 games in 1995.

There are 3 other insert sets which I don't have: Score All-Stars, Score Power Pace and Score Titanic Taters. eBay here I come. 5 minutes later: I've got one of each coming in the mail.