1996 Metal Universe

Description

1996 Metal Universe was a 250-card set released by Fleer/Skybox in the summer of 1996. This set marked the inaugural year of the Metal brand in baseball and distinguished itself from all other products in the Hobby by utilizing unique artwork and design for each card. Specifically, all cards were printed on colored, etched foil that combined outer space and fantasy comic book elements to create a background that complimented or even "interacted" with the player photo - thus, no two card backgrounds were the same. This design theme was not surprising since Fleer/Skybox was owned by Marvel Entertainment at the time.

Distribution

Although Hobby boxes were wrapped in plastic marked "Hobby Exclusive", Retail boxes were also distributed.

Hobby: 24 packs per box, 8 cards per pack.

Retail Jumbo: 36 packs per box, 6 cards per pack.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	250	-	?	?
Platinum	250	-	one-per-pack	one-per-pack
Platinum Portraits	10	-	1:4	1:4
Heavy Metal	10	-	1:8	1:8
Mining for Gold	12	-	N/A	1:12
Mother Lode	12	-	1:12	N/A
Titanium	10	-	1:24	1:24

Checklist

Base Set

• 1 Roberto Alomar
• 2 Brady Anderson
• 3 Bobby Bonilla
• 4 Chris Hoiles
• 5 Ben McDonald
• 6 Mike Mussina
• 7 Randy Myers
• 8 Rafael Palmeiro
• 9 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 10 B.J. Surhoff
• 11 Luis Alicea
• 12 Jose Canseco
• 13 Roger Clemens
• 14 Will Cordero
• 15 Tom Gordon
• 16 Mike Greenwell
• 17 Tim Naehring
• 18 Troy O'Leary
• 19 Mike Stanley
• 20 John Valentin
• 21 Mo Vaughn
• 22 Tim Wakefield
• 23 Garret Anderson
• 24 Chili Davis
• 25 Gary DiSarcina
• 26 Jim Edmonds
• 27 Chuck Finley
• 28 Todd Greene
• 29 Mark Langston
• 30 Troy Percival
• 31 Tony Phillips
• 32 Tim Salmon
• 33 Lee Smith
• 34 J.T. Snow
• 35 Ray Durham
• 36 Alex Fernandez
• 37 Ozzie Guillen
• 38 Roberto Hernandez
• 39 Lyle Mouton
• 40 Frank Thomas
• 41 Robin Ventura
• 42 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 43 Carlos Baerga
• 44 Albert Belle
• 45 Orel Hershiser
• 46 Kenny Lofton
• 47 Dennis Martinez
• 48 Jack McDowell
• 49 Jose Mesa
• 50 Eddie Murray
• 51 Charles Nagy
• 52 Manny Ramirez
• 53 Julian Tavarez
• 54 Jim Thome
• 55 Omar Vizquel
• 56 Chad Curtis
• 57 Cecil Fielder
• 58 John Flaherty
• 59 Travis Fryman
• 60 Chris Gomez
• 61 Felipe Lira
• 62 Kevin Appier
• 63 Johnny Damon
• 64 Tom Goodwin
• 65 Mark Gubicza
• 66 Jeff Montgomery
• 67 Jon Nunnally
• 68 Ricky Bones
• 69 Jeff Cirillo
• 70 John Jaha
• 71 Dave Nilsson
• 72 Joe Oliver
• 73 Kevin Seitzer
• 74 Greg Vaughn
• 75 Marty Cordova
• 76 Chuck Knoblauch
• 77 Pat Meares
• 78 Paul Molitor
• 79 Pedro Munoz
• 80 Kirby Puckett
• 81 Brad Radke
• 82 Scott Stahoviak
• 83 Matt Walbeck
• 84 Wade Boggs
• 85 David Cone
• 86 Joe Girardi
• 87 Derek Jeter
• 88 Jim Leyritz
• 89 Tino Martinez
• 90 Don Mattingly
• 91 Paul O'Neill
• 92 Andy Pettitte
• 93 Tim Raines
• 94 Kenny Rogers
• 95 Ruben Sierra
• 96 John Wetteland
• 97 Bernie Williams
• 98 Geronimo Berroa
• 99 Dennis Eckersley
• 100 Brent Gates
• 101 Mark McGwire
• 102 Steve Ontiveros
• 103 Terry Steinbach
• 104 Jay Buhner
• 105 Vince Coleman
• 106 Joey Cora
• 107 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 108 Randy Johnson
• 109 Edgar Martinez
• 110 Alex Rodriguez
• 111 Paul Sorrento
• 112 Will Clark
• 113 Juan Gonzalez
• 114 Rusty Greer
• 115 Dean Palmer
• 116 Ivan Rodriguez
• 117 Mickey Tettleton
• 118 Joe Carter
• 119 Alex Gonzalez
• 120 Shawn Green
• 121 Erik Hanson
• 122 Pat Hentgen
• 123 Sandy Martinez
• 124 Otis Nixon
• 125 John Olerud
• 126 Steve Avery
• 127 Tom Glavine
• 128 Marquis Grissom
• 129 Chipper Jones
• 130 Dave Justice
• 131 Ryan Klesko
• 132 Mark Lemke
• 133 Javy Lopez
• 134 Greg Maddux
• 135 Fred McGriff
• 136 John Smoltz
• 137 Mark Wohlers
• 138 Frank Castillo
• 139 Shawon Dunston
• 140 Luis Gonzalez
• 141 Mark Grace
• 142 Brian McRae
• 143 Jaime Navarro
• 144 Rey Sanchez
• 145 Ryne Sandberg
• 146 Sammy Sosa
• 147 Bret Boone
• 148 Curtis Goodwin
• 149 Barry Larkin
• 150 Hal Morris
• 151 Reggie Sanders
• 152 Pete Schourek
• 153 John Smiley
• 154 Dante Bichette
• 155 Vinny Castilla
• 156 Andres Galarraga
• 157 Bret Saberhagen
• 158 Bill Swift
• 159 Larry Walker
• 160 Walt Weiss
• 161 Kurt Abbott
• 162 John Burkett
• 163 Greg Colbrunn
• 164 Jeff Conine
• 165 Chris Hammond
• 166 Charles Johnson
• 167 Al Leiter
• 168 Pat Rapp
• 169 Gary Sheffield
• 170 Quilvio Veras
• 171 Devon White
• 172 Jeff Bagwell
• 173 Derek Bell
• 174 Sean Berry
• 175 Craig Biggio
• 176 Doug Drabek
• 177 Tony Eusebio
• 178 Brian L. Hunter
• 179 Orlando Miller
• 180 Shane Reynolds
• 181 Mike Blowers
• 182 Roger Cedeno
• 183 Eric Karros
• 184 Ramon Martinez
• 185 Raul Mondesi
• 186 Hideo Nomo
• 187 Mike Piazza
• 188 Moises Alou
• 189 Yamil Benitez
• 190 Darrin Fletcher
• 191 Cliff Floyd
• 192 Pedro Martinez
• 193 Carlos Perez
• 194 David Segui
• 195 Tony Tarasco
• 196 Rondell White
• 197 Edgardo Alfonzo
• 198 Rico Brogna
• 199 Carl Everett
• 200 Todd Hundley
• 201 Jason Isringhausen
• 202 Lance Johnson
• 203 Bobby Jones
• 204 Jeff Kent
• 205 Bill Pulsipher
• 206 Jose Vizcaino
• 207 Ricky Bottalico
• 208 Darren Daulton
• 209 Lenny Dykstra
• 210 Jim Eisenreich
• 211 Gregg Jefferies
• 212 Mickey Morandini
• 213 Heathcliff Slocumb
• 214 Jay Bell
• 215 Carlos Garcia
• 216 Jeff King
• 217 Al Martin
• 218 Orlando Merced
• 219 Dan Miceli
• 220 Denny Neagle
• 221 Andy Benes
• 222 Royce Clayton
• 223 Gary Gaetti
• 224 Ron Gant
• 225 Bernard Gilkey
• 226 Brian Jordan
• 227 Ray Lankford
• 228 John Mabry
• 229 Ozzie Smith
• 230 Todd Stottlemyre
• 231 Andy Ashby
• 232 Brad Ausmus
• 233 Ken Caminiti
• 234 Steve Finley
• 235 Tony Gwynn
• 236 Joey Hamilton
• 237 Rickey Henderson
• 238 Trevor Hoffman
• 239 Wally Joyner
• 240 Rod Beck
• 241 Barry Bonds
• 242 Glenallen Hill
• 243 Stan Javier
• 244 Mark Leiter
• 245 Deion Sanders
• 246 William VanLandingham
• 247 Matt Williams
• 248 Checklist
• 249 Checklist
• 250 Checklist

Parallels

Platinum Edition

The Platinum Edition cards fully paralleled the base set and were inserted at one in every in Hobby or Retail pack. Each player's Platinum Edition featured the same base set background design on silver, reflective etched foil.

Inserts

Platinum Portraits

This 10-card set highlighted top young stars in the game and cards featured a player headshot on a silver foil background.

• 1 Garret Anderson
• 2 Marty Cordova
• 3 Jim Edmonds
• 4 Jason Isringhausen
• 5 Chipper Jones
• 6 Ryan Klesko
• 7 Hideo Nomo
• 8 Carlos Perez
• 9 Manny Ramirez
• 10 Rondell White

Heavy Metal

This 10-card set featured some of the top power hitters in the game on a silver-foil card design resembling a studded sheet of metal.

• 1 Albert Belle
• 2 Barry Bonds
• 3 Juan Gonzalez
• 4 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 5 Mark McGwire
• 6 Mike Piazza
• 7 Sammy Sosa
• 8 Frank Thomas
• 9 Mo Vaughn
• 10 Matt Williams

Mining for Gold

This 12-card set also highlighted top young stars in the game on gold etched foil and a differing background for each player. Mining for Gold cards were exclusive to retail packs.

• 1 Yamil Benitez
• 2 Marty Cordova
• 3 Shawn Green
• 4 Todd Greene
• 5 Brian L. Hunter
• 6 Derek Jeter
• 7 Charles Johnson
• 8 Chipper Jones
• 9 Hideo Nomo
• 10 Alex Ochoa
• 11 Andy Pettitte
• 12 Quilvio Veras

Mother Lode

This 12-card set highlighted some of the top players in the game. Cards were printed on a white background with an intricate, holographic silver etched foil design resembling a regal archway. Mother Lode cards were exclusive to Hobby packs.

• 1 Barry Bonds
• 2 Jim Edmonds
• 3 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 4 Kenny Lofton
• 5 Raul Mondesi
• 6 Rafael Palmeiro
• 7 Manny Ramirez
• 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 9 Tim Salmon
• 10 Ryne Sandberg
• 11 Frank Thomas
• 12 Matt Williams

Titanium

This 10-card set also featured some of the top players in the game on a colored-foil planetary backdrop.

• 1 Albert Belle
• 2 Barry Bonds
• 3 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 4 Tony Gwynn
• 5 Greg Maddux
• 6 Mike Piazza
• 7 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 8 Frank Thomas
• 9 Mo Vaughn
• 10 Matt Williams