There are many ways you can describe the 1995 Fleer baseball card set.
Some might call it colorful and fun.
But others might call it busy and tacky.
Maybe even desperate...
No matter which side of the fence you're on, there's no question that '95 Fleer felt like it was almost in panic mode in its attempt to win collector interest.
The base set design is different for each AL and NL division.
Card fronts feature both vertical and horizontal text.
There were seven different insert sets, which wasn't surprising given the insert craze at the time.
But Fleer took things even further by putting "hot packs" that contained nothing but insert cards in select boxes.
Add it all up and you get one of the wilder sets of the 1990s.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 15 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
1995 Fleer #269 Ken Griffey Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $60
The 1995 MLB season was an emotional roller coaster for Seattle Mariners fans.
As relocation talks loomed over the organization, baseball didn't seem like it would stay in Seattle for much longer.
It didn't help that their superstar centerfielder, Ken Griffey Jr., missed half the season with a broken left wrist.
But on August 24th, the 25-year-old "Kid" kicked off a run for the ages that turned the tide.
With the game tied at seven apiece, Griffey blasted a walk-off two-run bomb off Yankees closer John Wetteland in front of 17,000+ at the Kingdome.
Griffey kept slugging from there.
And the Mariners kept winning, taking 36 of its final 56 games to secure the franchise's first division title and playoff berth.
Griffey belted five home runs in the ALDS to help Seattle overcome a 2-0 deficit over the New York Yankees.
However, the incredibly-stacked Cleveland Indians were too much in the ALCS, winning in six.
Despite the disappointing ending, Mariners fans had the privilege of witnessing Griffey hit .364 with six homers and nine RBIs in 11 postseason contests.
More importantly, he helped keep the team in Seattle.
1995 Fleer #76 Don Mattingly
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $45
As great as Don Mattingly was during the 1980s, the New York Yankees weren't.
They missed the playoffs year after year.
In 1994, fate became even crueler.
The first-place Yankees played well all year, only to see the 1994 strike screw them out of a division title.
Yet again, there were no playoffs for Donnie Baseball.
And that's why he played like he had nothing to lose late in the 1995 season.
"I remember him coming to me with about two weeks left and telling me, 'I'm just going let it rip the rest of the way. If I blow out my back, I blow out my back,'" said Yankees manager Buck Showalter. "After that, I honestly thought every hard swing might be his last. But it wasn't. He was great again. He was Donnie."
With Mattingly leading the charge, the team surged through September as winners of 25 of their last 31 games, securing the first-ever AL Wild Card spot by a single game.
Mattingly finally got his chance to play in October.
He torched the Mariners in the ALDS, going 10-for-24 (.417) with six RBIs and three runs scored.
However, the M's were too much, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to take the series in five.
Notice anything strange about this card?
That's right: Mattingly was a lefty.
1995 Fleer #560 Tony Gwynn
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $45
Like Mattingly, Tony Gwynn's legacy fell victim to the strike-shortened 1994 season.
In Mattingly's case, the strike cost him his first potential at a playoff run.
In Gwynn's case, it cost him a chance to finish the season batting above .400.
No one had done it since Ted Williams in 1941.
Rod Carew came close in 1977, hitting a career-high .388 for his sixth batting title.
George Brett came even closer just a few years later in 1980, hitting an eye-popping .390 to win his second batting title.
Though the agony of falling just shy of .400 must have been incredible, at least both guys had the opportunity to finish the season.
Unfortunately, the baseball world will never know if Gwynn could have done it.
And his 1994 batting average remains forever at .394.
Ever the professional he was, Gwynn didn't let it bother him.
When play resumed in late April of 1995, the 35-year-old future Hall-of-Famer got right back to slapping the ball into every open spot of grass he could find.
Gwynn led the Majors in total hits for the second consecutive season (197), batting .368 to capture his sixth NL batting championship.
1995 Fleer #19 Cal Ripken Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
On August 8, 1981, Cal Ripken Jr. saw his first MLB action, entering as a pinch runner in the bottom of the 12th of a 2-2 tie against the Kansas City Royals.
Soon thereafter, John Lowenstein singled to right and Ripken scored.
The crowd at Memorial Stadium went wild.
For one night, Ripken helped save the game for the Baltimore Orioles.
Little did he know he would help save the entire game of baseball nearly 14 years later.
On September 6, 1995, the Baltimore Orioles faced off against the California Angels in an otherwise meaningless game.
Yet, over 46,000 in attendance that night hinted at a bigger story: Cal Ripken Jr. entered the game tied with Lou Gehrig for the most consecutive games played at 2,130.
But soon, he stood alone.
As Baltimore second baseman Manny Alexander caught Damion Easley’s pop-fly to end the first inning, the tracker hanging on the B&O Warehouse updated to show “2,131”.
The crowd at Camden Yards went wild.
Black and orange balloons filled the air.
With Major League Baseball still reeling from the strike in 1994, baseball needed something to hope for.
And Ripken gave them just that.
1995 Fleer #212 Kirby Puckett
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
Kirby Puckett began the 1995 MLB season like any other since becoming a perennial All-Star in 1986.
Puckett hit for power, average, and played top-shelf defense in right field.
By mid-season, he was an All-Star for the tenth time in a row.
And by the end of the year, Puckett's batting average was above .300 (.314) for the eighth time.
His 23 home runs, 39 doubles, 56 walks, 83 runs scored, and 99 RBIs only furthered his case as one of the game's most productive players.
Unfortunately, Puckett's success didn't lead to team success, as the Minnesota Twins finished an abysmal 56-88.
But the losing record wasn't the worst part for Puckett or the Twins.
Instead, a freak accident would prove the eventual end of Kirby Puckett's Hall-of-Fame career.
In his first plate appearance on the last game of the season, Cleveland's Dennis Martinez threw a pitch that struck Puckett directly in the face.
The force was so great that it broke his jaw.
Puckett rehabbed the injury during the offseason, but a sudden onset of blurred vision in his right eye ended his career for good.
1995 Fleer #227 Bo Jackson
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
A freak injury ended Bo Jackson's NFL career in 1991.
A change of heart ended his MLB career in 1994.
As play ended on August 12, 1994, the strike-shortened season left questions of missed opportunities and what-ifs for many players and teams.
For Bo Jackson, it gave him time to ponder what was truly important in his life.
Jackson spent much of his extra time at home with his family.
And he ultimately decided that's where he needed to be full-time.
After eight years in the Majors, Jackson retired.
But his legacy lived on.
During his time as a two-sport superstar in the late 80s and early 90s, Jackson thrilled MLB and NFL audiences alike.
Boasting an unparalleled combination of speed, power and athleticism, Jackson lit up the highlight reels in both sports.
To this day, he remains the only player ever to be an MLB All-Star and NFL Pro Bowler.
And given how both games are played these days, it's highly unlikely that anyone will ever join him.
1995 Fleer #246 Rickey Henderson
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
In the final season of his third of four stints in Oakland, 36-year-old Rickey Henderson was as electric as ever.
He wasn't healthy for the entire season.
But in the 112 games he played, Henderson played the same kind of elite-caliber baseball that A's fans had come to love.
The left fielder hit .300 on the dot with nine home runs, 54 RBIs, and 67 runs scored.
Despite limited action, Henderson tied his second-best mark with 31 doubles.
Rickey also got on base over 40% of the time for the seventh straight year (.407) and topped 30 steals (32) for a record 16th time.
Still, the Oakland A's as a team remained unimpressive.
Oakland turned in its third losing season in a row, finishing fourth in the AL West at 67-77.
The glory days were long gone in Oakland.
And Henderson would soon be gone (again) with them.
In 1996, Henderson headed south to San Diego, signing with the Padres to give him his first taste of National League baseball.
1995 Fleer #128 Frank Thomas
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35
Frank Thomas broke out big-time in 1991.
And he played like an MVP candidate year in and year out for almost the rest of the decade.
In 1993 and 1994, Thomas put together back-to-back MVP campaigns, securing his place as one of the top players in the Bigs.
And he looked primed for another one in 1995.
Statistically, Thomas performed nearly on par with his first MVP campaign in 1993.
Yet he finished eighth in the MVP race.
No, he didn't deserve to win it.
But, he didn't deserve to finish that low.
Most pointed to the lack of team success as the Chicago White Sox finished third in the AL Central at 68-76-1.
Despite the losing year on the Southside, Thomas remained resilient.
The 27-year-old first baseman/DH played all 145 games of the '95 campaign and placed first in the Majors in walks (136), tied for second in home runs (40), third in OPS (1.061), second in adjusted OPS+ (179) and tied for seventh in RBIs (111).
He may not have been MVP.
But at least he made his third of a head-scratchingly low five career All-Star games.
1995 Fleer #446 Deion Sanders
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35
1995 Fleer #574 Barry Bonds
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35
After winning three MVPs to go with another two top-five finishes in the previous five years, Barry Bonds tumbled all the way to a 12th-place finish in the race in 1995.
Yet, had analysts and writers looked at stats in 1995 the way they do today, he could've won his fourth MVP in six years.
Bonds led all NL position players in WAR (7.5) by nearly a full point.
Cincinnati's Reggie Sanders, who finished sixth in the race, was next-closest with a 6.6 WAR.
And only Atlanta's pitching phenom Greg Maddux had a higher WAR with an MLB-best 9.7.
Yet, all three of those guys fell short.
As it turns out, it was another "Barry" who won it: Sanders' Cincinnati teammate Barry Larkin (5.9 WAR).
Still, despite not winning the MVP, Bonds' season speaks for itself.
The 30-year-old played all 144 games for the San Francisco Giants and paced the league in walks (122), on-base percentage (.431), and OPS (1.009).
He also hit 33 home runs and drove in 104, putting together a 30/100 season as he had in his previous three MVP campaigns.
Bonds thought maybe he wasn't competing against the other players for the award as much as he was competing against himself.
"Once you've won it a few times, the standards are very high," Bonds said.
1995 Fleer #311 Greg Maddux
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
1995 Fleer #509 Ozzie Smith
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
1995 was the beginning of the end of the Ozzie Smith era in St. Louis.
The 40-year-old Wizard entered the year as the oldest Opening Day shortstop in the Majors.
It was one heck of an accomplishment for the face of the Cardinals franchise, but it came with a price to the starting lineup.
After a bad year at the plate in 1994, Smith was even worse in 1995.
He tallied just six extra-base hits in 44 games, and his .526 OPS was the second worst of his near two-decade career.
Seeing Smith at short, fielding balls and having fun remained a joy.
However, his body was starting to betray the pleasure on his face.
On May 31st, the Hall-of-Famer was forced to undergo arthroscopic surgery to fix damage to his rotator cuff.
The initial timeline was four to six weeks, but he missed nearly three months.
When he returned, the Cardinals were under a new interim manager (Mike Jorgensen) and were well out of the playoff race.
In short, it was a dismal year all around.
Smith ended the year slashing .199/.282/.244 with no homers and 11 RBIs in 182 plate appearances (156 at-bats).
1995 Fleer #249 Mark McGwire
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
1995 Fleer #281 Jose Canseco
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
1995 Fleer #356 Pedro Martinez
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
On June 3rd, 1995, the legend of the great Pedro Martinez officially began.
The 23-year-old Montreal Expos righty had already established himself as one of the game's most talented young pitchers with fine showings in 1993 and 1994.
Yet, midway through his second season as a starter, we saw the first glimpse of peak Pedro brilliance.
In that early-summer matchup with the San Diego Padres, Martinez was a revelation, mowing down the likes of Steve Finley, Bip Roberts, Brad Ausmus, and Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn.
He was perfect, 27 up and 27 down, through nine innings.
If his teammates had scratched across even one run, he'd have completed the 15th perfect game in big-league history.
Instead, he surrendered a lead-off double in the bottom of the 10th and was forced to settle for becoming just the second pitcher to take a perfect game into extra innings.
"That's big league pitching at its best right there," Gwynn said. "Not much you can say except 'superb' and 'awesome.' Tip your hat."
The Dominican Republic native ended the year at 14-10 with a 3.51 ERA, 1.151 WHIP, and 174 strikeouts in 194.2 innings pitched.
1995 Fleer Baseball Cards In Review
If you take the time to scan through the 600-card base set, you might get a headache taking it all in.
As I mentioned in the opener, the design would change according to a given player's division.
That might not seem like a big deal by itself.
However, the mix of horizontal and vertical text combined with the inexplicable inclusion of biographical info like weight, height, and date of birth created a very busy front.
The design hasn't aged well over time.
But it certainly gives a nostalgic glimpse into the over-the-top design elements that the hobby and most things in pop culture at the time endured.
Of the seven different insert sets in '95 Fleer baseball, the biggest draw is the "Prospects" insert set as it features prospect cards of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
And, despite the controversy surrounding the base set design, many collectors would agree that the inserts are relatively tame by comparison.
The six-card "Pro-Visions" insert set may be the exception.
But, given that "Pro-Visions" in any Fleer baseball set were always known for their over-the-top designs, most collectors expected them to be a bit on the wild side.
The '95 Fleer design will always be controversial.
And, the lack of key rookie cards makes the checklist a bit underwhelming.
But, for any collector looking for a nostalgic trip down memory lane, this set will undoubtedly provide some entertainment.