Thursday, September 9, 2010

Card Show Find #5: Roberto Alomar 1995 Flair Hot Gloves

1995 Flair was Fleer's attempt to compete with Upper Deck SP and Topps Finest. While Flair was a fairly worthy adversary, it could never quite hit the same level as SP because it didn't have autographs to drive the product, and it could never quite hit the same level as Finest because it didn't have refractors to drive the product. Both would be significantly more popular over time, and although Fleer eventually adapted to include serially numbered Legacy Collection cards, the blow to the popularity from stinkers like 1995 and 1996 may have been too costly.

This card was seeded 1 in 25 packs and is among the rarest cards from 1995 Flair, whatever that is worth. The set was not die-cut, which limited both its eye appeal and desirability. Alomar is around a middle of the road card from this set, which includes studs like Bonds, Ripken, and Griffey, solid stars like Pudge, Alomar, Mattingly, and Larkin, and questionable inclusions like Darren Lewis and (to a lesser extent) Devon White. White really was a defensive star.

All in all, the only card that people probably ever really wanted desperately out of this set was Hideo Nomo. I can only imagine the despair out of opening this box in 1995 and not getting either a Nomo RC or a Hot Glove. That doesn't stop this from being a nice card for $.10, though.

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