1995 Select Certified

Description

1995 Select Certified was a 135-card, "super-premium" set released exclusively to Hobby outlets in November, 1995. Designed to compete with Topps' Finest brand, the cards were made with 24-point metallic stock and double laminated. This was the inaugural year of Pinnacle Brands' super-premium brand and the precursor to one of the most influential sets in baseball Hobby history - 1996 Select Certified.

Pinnacle Brands announced that production of Select Certified was 34% less than that of the regular Select set.

Rookie Cards in this set included Bobby Higginson and Hideo Nomo. The base set is skip-numbered. Card #18 was never pulled and replaced by a special Cal Ripken, Jr. card sequentially-numbered as #2131. It is not short-printed, nor is it an insert.

Based on announced production figures, 63,210 20-pack wax boxes were produced resulting in each base card having 56,186 copies.

Distribution

20 packs per box, six cards per pack plus one of seven checklist cards (MSRP: $3.99).

In a further effort to establish a look and feel of a super-premium brand, the packaging was complex relative to other baseball cards sets. The seven cards were wrapped in cellophane wrapper inside a piece of folded cardboard inside a mini cardboard box which itself was wrapped in plastic. Each pack also had the anti-drug message "Be Strong. Don't Use Drugs." written on the side.

Reviews

Collation data from one box. Base Set Completion: 82% (111 of 135); Duplicates: 9; Gold Team Insert Completion: 8% (1 of 12); Mirror Gold parallel 02% (3 of 135); Certified Future Insert Completion 10% (1 of 10); Potential Unlimited 5% (1 of 20)

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	135	56,186 +	?
Checklists	7	-	1:1
Mirror Gold	135	1873 +	1:5
Certified Future	10	6654 +	1:19
Potential Unlimited	20	1975	1:32
Gold Team	12	2570 +	1:41

+ Calculated production figures.

Checklist

Promos

This eight-card set was issued to preview the entire '95 Select Certified set. Each card has the word "SAMPLE" printed diagonally on both sides. The Cal Ripken, Jr. Promo was a sample of the Gold Team insert.

• 2 Reggie Sanders
• 3GT Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 10 Mo Vaughn
• 39 Mike Piazza
• 50 Mark McGwire
• 75 Roberto Alomar
• 89 Larry Walker
• 110 Ray Durham

Base Set

• 1 Barry Bonds
• 2 Reggie Sanders
• 3 Terry Steinbach
• 4 Eduardo Perez
• 5 Frank Thomas
• 6 Wil Cordero
• 7 John Olerud
• 8 Deion Sanders
• 9 Mike Mussina
• 10 Mo Vaughn
• 11 Will Clark
• 12 Chili Davis
• 13 Jimmy Key
• 14 Eddie Murray
• 15 Bernard Gilkey
• 16 David Cone
• 17 Tim Salmon
• 19 Steve Ontiveros
• 20 Andres Galarraga
• 21 Don Mattingly
• 22 Kevin Appier
• 23 Paul Molitor
• 24 Edgar Martinez
• 25 Andy Benes
• 26 Rafael Palmeiro
• 27 Barry Larkin
• 28 Gary Sheffield
• 29 Wally Joyner
• 30 Wade Boggs
• 31 Rico Brogna
• 32 Eddie Murray 3000th Hit
• 33 Kirby Puckett
• 34 Bobby Bonilla
• 35 Hal Morris
• 36 Moises Alou
• 37 Javy Lopez
• 38 Chuck Knoblauch
• 39 Mike Piazza
• 40 Travis Fryman
• 41 Rickey Henderson
• 42 Jim Thome
• 43 Carlos Baerga
• 44 Dean Palmer
• 45 Kirk Gibson
• 46 Bret Saberhagen
• 47 Cecil Fielder
• 48 Manny Ramirez
• 49 Derek Bell
• 50 Mark McGwire
• 51 Jim Edmonds
• 52 Robin Ventura
• 53 Ryan Klesko
• 54 Jeff Bagwell
• 55 Ozzie Smith
• 56 Albert Belle
• 57 Darren Daulton
• 58 Jeff Conine
• 59 Greg Maddux
• 60 Lenny Dykstra
• 61 Randy Johnson
• 62 Fred McGriff
• 63 Ray Lankford
• 64 Dave Justice
• 65 Paul O'Neill
• 66 Tony Gwynn
• 67 Matt Williams
• 68 Dante Bichette
• 69 Craig Biggio
• 70 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 71 J.T. Snow
• 72 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 73 Jay Bell
• 74 Joe Carter
• 75 Roberto Alomar
• 76 Benji Gil
• 77 Ivan Rodriguez
• 78 Raul Mondesi
• 79 Cliff Floyd
• 80 Eric Karros / Mike Piazza / Raul Mondesi
• 81 Royce Clayton
• 82 Billy Ashley
• 83 Joey Hamilton
• 84 Sammy Sosa
• 85 Jason Bere
• 86 Dennis Martinez
• 87 Greg Vaughn
• 88 Roger Clemens
• 89 Larry Walker
• 90 Mark Grace
• 91 Kenny Lofton
• 92 Carlos Perez RC
• 93 Roger Cedeno
• 94 Scott Ruffcorn
• 95 Jim Pittsley
• 96 Andy Pettitte
• 97 James Baldwin
• 98 Hideo Nomo RC
• 99 Ismael Valdes
• 100 Armando Benitez
• 101 Jose Malave
• 102 Bobby Higginson RC
• 103 LaTroy Hawkins
• 104 Russ Davis
• 105 Shawn Green
• 106 Joe Vitiello
• 107 Chipper Jones
• 108 Shane Andrews
• 109 Jose Oliva
• 110 Ray Durham
• 111 Jon Nunnally
• 112 Alex Gonzalez
• 113 Vaughn Eshelman
• 114 Marty Cordova
• 115 Mark Grudzielanek RC
• 116 Brian L. Hunter
• 117 Charles Johnson
• 118 Alex Rodriguez
• 119 David Bell
• 120 Todd Hollandsworth
• 121 Joe Randa
• 122 Derek Jeter
• 123 Frank Rodriguez
• 124 Curtis Goodwin
• 125 Bill Pulsipher
• 126 John Mabry
• 127 Julian Tavarez
• 128 Edgardo Alfonzo
• 129 Orlando Miller
• 130 Juan Acevedo RC
• 131 Jeff Cirillo
• 132 Roberto Petagine
• 133 Antonio Osuna
• 134 Michael Tucker
• 135 Garret Anderson
• 2131 Cal Ripken, Jr. TRIB

Parallels

All 135 cards in the set (including the Ripken tribute card) are available in a Mirror Gold parallel. Mirror Golds had a gold-colored holographic foil layer on the card fronts which, combined with the metallic cardstock, mimicked the appearance of a Refractor from the Finest brand, but with a gold tint that distinguished it from a standard Finest Refractor. The "Mirror Gold" title was was printed on the card backs utilizing a mirror/reflection design that played off the parallel name.

Inserts

Checklists

Each pack contained one of seven checklists which were printed on a noticeably thinner cardstock.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 4 Jeff Bagwell
• 5 Mike Piazza
• 6 Barry Bonds
• 7 Manny Ramirez / Raul Mondesi

Certified Future

This 10-card set featured some of the top rookie players from 1995 on a gold and silver gradient-foil finish.

• 1 Chipper Jones
• 2 Curtis Goodwin
• 3 Hideo Nomo
• 4 Shawn Green
• 5 Ray Durham
• 6 Todd Hollandsworth
• 7 Brian L. Hunter
• 8 Carlos Delgado
• 9 Michael Tucker
• 10 Alex Rodriguez

Potential Unlimited

This 20-card set featured some of the brightest and talented players in the game at the time on a baseball diamond-shaped setting on a Dufex finish. Each player was limited (but not serial-numbered) to 1975 copies as each card had the statement, "1 of 1,975" on the back.

A special parallel version was also produced as box toppers. These "Case Chase" cards had a different Dufex pattern and were seeded at the rate of 1:3.5/boxes. Each Case Chase box topper card was limited (but not serial-numbered) to 903 copies.

• 1 Cliff Floyd
• 2 Manny Ramirez
• 3 Raul Mondesi
• 4 Scott Ruffcorn
• 5 Billy Ashley
• 6 Alex Gonzalez
• 7 Midre Cummings
• 8 Charles Johnson
• 9 Garret Anderson
• 10 Hideo Nomo
• 11 Chipper Jones
• 12 Curtis Goodwin
• 13 Frank Rodriguez
• 14 Shawn Green
• 15 Ray Durham
• 16 Todd Hollandsworth
• 17 Brian L. Hunter
• 18 Carlos Delgado
• 19 Michael Tucker
• 20 Alex Rodriguez

Gold Team

This 12-card set featured some of the leading players in baseball on a double-sided, all-gold, Dufex-foil finish.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 4 Jeff Bagwell
• 5 Mike Piazza
• 6 Barry Bonds
• 7 Matt Williams
• 8 Don Mattingly
• 9 Will Clark
• 10 Tony Gwynn
• 11 Kirby Puckett
• 12 Jose Canseco

Select
Pinnacle Brands Era: 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998
Panini America Era: 2013 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023
Rookie/Traded: 1993
Other Select Brands 1995 Select Certified - 1996 Select Certified - 2002 Select Rookies & Prospects