1996 Leaf Preferred

1996 Leaf Preferred #117

The 1996 Preferred set is probably most remembered by it's insert set of cards made out of steel. It's a side set that I'm still actively working on completing, however this card of Rey is from the base set. It's got a decent design. Like how they have an image of him fielding the ball on the front and him batting on the back. Rey never was known for his offensive skills so I'd much rather have a defensive image on the card's front.

Press Proofs #117

One parallel set existed, Press Proofs. The silver foil is replaced with gold foil. The Press Proof parallel name would pop up in later Leaf and Donruss sets.

1996 Leaf Limited

1996 Leaf Limited Limited Rookies Silver #9

While Rey didn't make it into the base set of 1996 Leaf Limited, he was included in their Limited Rookies insert set. The card came in two versions, silver and gold. This was another parallel that originally escaped my knowledge of it's existence.

Both of these cards feature a full foil front and looks much better in hand than the scan shows.

1996 Fleer Ultra

1996 Fleer Ultra #514

Ultra started out as a set boasting multiple pictures of the player, then went on to introduce UV coating and gold foil stamping. Finally in 1996 it lost some of the gaudy "look at me" design in favor for a borderless look with full bleed photos and toned back the goil foil. I personally like the design, though Fleer also used this design for their minor league set, Excel.

Gold Medallion #514

The Gold Medallion parallels just didn't do much for me in 1996 or even today. There is just a thing as too much foil and this is a prime example. Like others, these cards are notorious for showing finger prints so beware when handling. I should also mention that the player image is embossed similar to the Circa Boss inserts from the same year.

1996 Fleer Flair

1996 Fleer Flair Gold #325

Back when the Flair brand was new, I was absolutely in love. From the fancy cardboard packs to the thick card stock, I loved everything about Flair. While the brand would evolve over the years, it always was a fun pack to open.

1996 Fleer Flair Silver #325

What I originally didn't know is that these cards came in two varieties...with gold foil and silver foil.

Wave of the Future #18

While I love lenticular cards, they just don't scan well. This insert set would continue to improve it's look over the years to come, but this is where the set got it's start.

1996 Fleer Circa

1996 Fleer Circa #161

Fleer introduced Circa as a new set in 1996 and it was seemingly welcomed by collectors as it went on to last a few years before it was retired. Although I find the card fronts to be a little busy, I seem to remember buying a lot of this product. It seemed as if this was the first year that Rey was being compared against other notable short stops. This card's back mentions him as the successor to Ozzie Smith, the "Wizard" himself!

Access #24

The Access insert was one of the first folding baseball cards that I can remember. I'd previously seen this done with basketball cards (Collect-A-Books), but not in baseball. The card opens up like a trifold wallet, with the middle picture above being the first image you see when you open up the card. Interesting concept with some cool trivia info inside.

Boss #42

The Boss inserts feature the player on the fronts embossed. Not a new technology, but something that just makes the cards stand out a little more (no pun intended).

1996 Fleer Update

 1996 Fleer Update #U160

1996 Fleer was a nice change of pace for baseball cards. Gone was the slick UV coating on the cards and in its place was a matte finish. The cards still included gold foil stamping for the logo as well as the player's name, team and position. The matte finish made these cards perfect for autographs and while I never was able to get any autographed, this set still holds up as one of my favorites.

 1996 Fleer Update #U248

The Checklist cards were numbered as part of the set and surprise, surprise, Rey was given the real estate on the front of one of the checklists.

 Tiffany #U160

If memory serves me correctly, the popular Tiffany parallels were found one per box, so if you were trying to put a whole set together of these I would imagine one would have their hands full.

 Tiffany #U248

 New Horizons #19

These New Horizons cards look better in person than the scan makes them look...but just a little. The write up on the back mentions Ozzie Smith, a fellow short stop that Rey was often compared to in the mid to late 90's.

Smooth Leather #8

The Smooth Leather insert features a rather plain look, but Rey makes for a good inclusion in a set based on fielding skill.

1996 Leaf Studio

1996 Leaf Studio #14

When the Studio brand first launched in the early 90's the cards contained black and white portraits of the players. There posed images, almost like a family photo versus the traditional action photos. The brand would eventually change over the next few years as you can see with this 1996 card. For starters I like the full bleed photo and I like how the design retains that portrait like image. The back of the card cleverly uses the O in Studio for the obligatory head shot of the player. While the back lacks stats, at least there is a little bio write up of the player.

Gold Press Proof #14

As with most of the card releases in the 90's, Studio also has it's fair share of parallels. The parallel set was called Press Proofs. This is the gold parallel, limited to just 500 copies. This was before serial numbering caught on so while limited, it's not numbered. 

There is also a Bronze and Silver Press Proof parallel that I currently lack...or is it sitting in my pile at Check Out My Cards?