Buzz Break: 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated MLB cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated baseball cards (retail)
Where to buy: Will take some hunting ...click here for newer MLB

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Packs per box: 12 (plus one loose topper card)
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 73
Base set completion: 
67 of 180 (37 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Ken Griffey Jr., Craig Biggio, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, David Wells, Sammy Sosa, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Rickey Henderson, David Justice, A.J. Pierzynski, Paul LoDuca, J.D. Drew, Larry Walker, Jeff Bagwell, Trevor Hoffman, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Todd Helton, Mike Mussina, Mike Piazza, Scott Rolen, Manny Ramirez, Cal Ripken Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Nomar Garciaparra, Andruw Jones, Wade Boggs

Insert/short-print cards: 6 (all in gallery below with some base)
Headliners (3) – Roger Clemens, Chipper Jones, Mike Piazza
Ones To Watch (1) – Jeremy Giambi
Fabulous 40s (1) – Jose Canseco (box-topper card)
Diamond Dominators (1) – Sammy Sosa

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: While I'd like you to think I'm revisiting this one with Topps' revival of Sports Illustrated on cardboard, but the reality here is that I found this one for $10 and bit, thinking it might make for a decent and fast throwback Buzz Break that shows us all a simpler time. This brand isn't a high-end one -- it was $1.99 per hobby pack -- and this retail (blaster) box included basically the same stuff. There are only J.D. Drew autos to be found in hobby boxes so that doesn't make those dramatically better than what was here. (It appears some rare parallels are the only other hobby-only finds.) In this one I pulled a notable name for 1999 from the rarest insert possible -- that Sosa card is one in 180 packs (one in 15 of these boxes). It's an embossed acetate card, which adds a little variety here but isn't really all that flashy by today's expectations. ... These base cards are thick sturdy stock but are heavily glossed. I had minor issues here pulling cards apart but they were not bricked. The Rookie Card crop here is pretty much meaningless now and many of the rookies labeled on the three-player cards are actually not RCs here as they had Bowman cards. This is a nice set, though, from the final SI releases of the Fleer years -- one I'd love to rip is the 1999 Fleer Greats Of The Game set with magazine cover autos in every pack ... but that's about a $3,000 box right now on eBay. This is not that ... but it is a nice set for a low-end brand. This one's only homage to the magazine that I got in this box was card No. 1's noting the Yankees' World Series win using a past cover. These boxes have a single Fabulous 40s card packed loose with the packs and in this one I landed a Jose Canseco card, which would have been a big deal for Buzz back then. This one has a very Stadium Club feel with its full-bleed photo-based approach and that's a good thing ... it just needed to be a larger set with a few more features if you ask me.

Product Grade: B (fundamentals are strong but feels boring in some aspects)
Box Grade: A+ (Sosa is from rarest insert set ... and a huge name to find in 1999)
Fun Grade: B

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