90's Cards Over Coffee:1996 Fleer Ultra Sensations Football 2-Pack Break

*nothing wrong with a cup of hot joe on a rainy day. takes a sip, sits down and gets ready for a new Cards Over Coffee post*

This post has been a long time coming.

Back in December, blog reader Oren sent me two packs of 1996 Fleer Ultra Sensations to open knowing my passion for cards from 1995-1999.

This is a product I opened back in the day, but only a few packs I bought from our local Mobile gas station. Which by the way, I think my Cards Over Coffee passion began because of that gas station. Every time we went there to pick up some packs, the scent of coffee would greet you when you opened the door to go in. It still brings those memories today when I go in there with the scent of coffee, except there are no longer cards.

*takes a sip and a sniff of the coffee before moving on with today's post*

Let's take a look at 1996 Fleer Ultra Sensations details before we open up these packs. It was a simple product with a foil bordered player focused base set totaling 100 cards. Each card was produced in five different foil border colors with each inserted at various ratios. The Rainbow foil was the most difficult of the group to pull with only 1% of the print run. I am still in desperate need of the Rodney Hampton version to finish my rainbow.

There were also a few inserts to chase as well that didn't feature all of the foil glimmer and glam.

The 10-card packs carried a suggested retail price of $2.49 at the time. Now I have seen some on eBay for around $5.

I originally was going to open one pack and keep one sealed like I have been doing with all of my 90's wax, but ended up opening both anyways since the temptation got to me.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

PACK 1:

Base (nice Dave Brown find!)

Pewter (not the singer but I dig the old Ravens logo)

Marble Gold (Hall Of Famer find)

Blue finishes up the last three card in the pack.

Next up, Pack 2.

*first takes a sip, then begins to rip*

PACK 2

Base Cards (Andre Rison in a Jags uni is weird)

Marble Gold

Blue

Pewter (start of a Miller rainbow chase?)

And the final card...

Wait....what's this final card.....

1:12 Creative Chaos insert of Terrell Davis!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! New card for that side PC. It's just too bad it stuck a little and left some snow look on the card but it's not too bad.

Pack 2 was even better than Pack 1! Nice score on the insert which is also impressive for a two-pack break.

Thanks again to Oren for the pack to open.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

This was a really fun time. I like opening packs that bring me back to the good ole days of the hobby. I spotted that Davis insert in the middle of the second pack but switched out some cards to make it the last card in the pack. That's what I used to do in those days so why not bring back that approach to make this even more enjoyable.

Thoughts on the product, my rip welcomed in comments.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

90's Cards Over Coffee:1997 Scoreboard NFL Experience Pack Rip

 *sits down with morning cup of coffee, turns on some tunes (currently playing Eddie Money I Wanna Go Back) and gets ready for today's latest post. Also realizes we are going back today with this pack rip. Good timing on music*

I would go back to the 90's in a heartbeat and live that all over again. If only one of us with all of today's technology could create a time machine or DeLorean that gives us that experience. It's not something I ever expect, so the only time machine that I have is my mind, music and cardboard.

My buddy Oren, sent me along a 90's pack the last time we traded and I finally had time to sit down to post about it. Unlike my quicker Coffee Break posts, I like to take my time with my 90's cards and savor the nostalgia a bit longer.

The pack he grabbed me was a 1997 Scoreboard NFL Experience. Back in the 90's it appears these packs cost $1.99 with 6 cards per pack. I don't remembering opening up more than a couple of packs back then, but didn't really recollect the product well.

With any 90's product in the 1995-1999 era, my favorite time in the hobby, my hope is always to see those players I enjoyed watching and of course hitting an insert.

There is only one way to do that, time to open up this pack.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

A little background on this set before I start showing off the cards. There are 100 cards in the base set without a rookie card in those 100 cards. It's all vets in here.

My first card is of Hall Of Fame sack master Derrick Thomas who holds the NFL record for most sacks in a game with 7 and played all 11 years of his career with the Chiefs. Thomas passed in 2000 from a blood clot after a bad car accident. A life taken too quickly.

Second card, another Hall Of Famer, was linebacker Kevin Greene who is another life taken too quickly. Greene was a multi-time Pro Bowler, 100 Sack club member and a Super Bowl champion.

Up next, Earnest Byner. Byner was a 2x Super Bowl champion, played for four teams with the Ravens being his last stop, 2x Pro Bowler and has been a long time coach on multiple teams.

I would also like to point out the old Ravens logo, something I dearly enjoy still. I actually like it more than their current one (would like to hear your thoughts on this in comments).

 

Antonio Freeman was my next card and is remembered most for his time with the Packers. He was a Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowler. He also has one of the greatest catches in Monday Night Football history back in 2000 when he dove for a ball that bounced on every body part possible while he was on the ground and managed to make the catch, jump to his feet and score the winning touchdown.

Jim Harbaugh is a better coach then he was player. He won NFL Coach of the Year in 2011.  He went to multiple NFC Championships as coach of the SF 49ers and led them to a Super Bowl against his brother which he ended up losing in.

My final card...well..an insert!!!!

 

Falling 1:12 odds, Foundations was a pleasant surprise of Raven's great Ray Lewis. Lewis is a Hall Of Fame linebacker who played all 17 years of his career with the Ravens. He was a 2x Super Bowl Champ, Super Bowl MVP, 13x Pro Bowler, and owns multiple NFL Records.

Not a bad pull, though I preferred landing the Amani Toomer version which I will have to add to my needs list. You can locate my needs list HERE.

Thanks again to Oren for this thrilling pack.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

Simple pack openings like this one just brings me back to a great time in my life. Memories I won't ever let go of and music also keeps me there.

Thanks for checking out today's Cards Over Coffee post. I hope you had a great cup of coffee and maybe even turned some tunes on to read it with.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

I wanna go back
And do it all over
But I can't go back I know
I wanna go back (go back)
'Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know

90's Cards Over Coffee:1996 Summit Football Box Break

*going to be fun today, it's been awhile since I have done with one of these posts. So let's get on with a trip back to the 90's with a box break. But first, let me get some coffee*

Long before the rise of box prices in the hobby, I was able to make a trade with my buddy @ShaneSalmonson and land a few boxes to open of 90's stuff I enjoy. These box breaks happened such a long time ago, not just because they are in the 90's, that I no longer have the odds information to offer you. I apologize in advance for that.

Knowing this break already has been ripped instead of being ripped "live" on here, there won't be any sippin' before I do some rippin'.

*takes a sip, begins to show off the break. This doesn't sound as much fun*

In each box of 1996 Summit football, there were 18 packs of 7 cards each. The box back then was around $30. Now I don't even want to look and see what they are going for.

When you open up the box, the stack of packs stare at you in a nicely centered Styrofoam. Back in the 90's, Summit was considered to be a "higher end" product so it was packed like so.

*takes a sip before breaking down the product more and showing off the results*

The 1996 Summit base set consists of 200 total base cards.

This breaks down to 146 veterans, 35 rookies, four checklists, and a 15-card subset all about quarterbacks in Quarter Horses.

 

The 35 rookies are from a strong class that include such stars as Keyshawn Johnson, Marvin Harrison, Kevin Hardy, Simeon Rice, and Eddie George.

*takes another sip, looks around for a breakfast item since posts like this usually take awhile before I will hit publish. Finds a Jalapeño cheddar bagel, toasts it, butters it, comes back to the laptop. Notices beverage is getting low, gets back up, brews a cup, comes back to sit to move onto the inserts*

One great thing about breaking 90's cards, you aren't concerned about hits. It's all about the beautiful inserts and parallels.

The parallels in 1996 Summit are the same as the 1995 edition in Ground Zero. Difference being, the 1995 is more of a speckled design and the 1996 is more of a zebra color. Both though, look striking.

Jim Harbaugh Quarter Horses

John Elway. Nice find!

Danny Kanell. This is a nice PC piece.

*takes a sip before moving onto the insert finds*

Inspirations is a rookie laden insert set with all cards being numbered to 8000. I pulled one of the guys who has a fun last name to pronounce and a guy I pulled a lot of in the 90's.

3rd And Long. These look really great and are numbered to 2000

And Turf Team. This card I missed when opening up packs but after sorting found it stuck to the back of another card. These are numbered to 4000.

*takes another sip before finishing up today's post. Also finishes last few bites of bagel*

This was a fantastic break. Emmitt, Elway and Aikman inserts and parallels. I got a good chunk of the base set and was already chasing the Ground Zeros and all three pulled were new. Very happy with the results from this break.

Let me know your thoughts in comments.

*takes one final sip, heads back for cup #2. Coffee Card Blogger Out*