1995-96 Flair was the second season of the Flair brand. The set was easier to collect because there were only 250 cards (150 in the first series and 100 in the second) instead of the previous year’s 326. Flair reduced this number on purpose advertising that the set was limited to “recognized starters and top men off the bench.” ’94-95 Flair was a solid set, so changes were very subtle for ’95-96. The structure was the same 30-point card stock (about twice as thick as a basic card) with polyester laminate. The design was also very similar, with two photos of the player on the front of the card. The cards still came in “hardpacks,” a protective box introduced the previous year, but now instead of ten cards for $4, you were getting nine cards for $4.99, so right away you’re going from an initial 40 cents a card to over 50 cents each.
So what were the differences in this second appearance of Flair? The primary difference is that the front of 1995-96 Flair is foil-etched. It’s the textured, metallic finish that you see in the background. The design of the name is slightly different. The full name appears in gold foil and the initials are in script in the center in silver foil. The ’95-96 reverse is horizontal with a very simple design. Statistics on the right, action photo on the left and a bit of gold foil for the card number, team logo and player’s name. For ’95-96, the statistics were printed on a black background so you can actually read them. The statistics are partial, but with the Michael Jordan card, we have the novelty of seeing “RETIRED” in the statistics followed by the first season of his return…a great historical feature!
And it was good to see Jordan back with the Chicago Bulls! Not just in real life, but in the Flair set as well. Both ’94-95 and ’95-96 Flair were organized alphabetically by team, but because Jordan returned late in ’94-95, his card in that set is not with his fellow Chicago Bulls. It was introduced late in the printing process and added as the final card of the set. It’s not even on the checklists in 1994-95. We have an article about that here. But now, in 1995-96 Flair, the Jordan card is back in the Chicago Bulls section of the set right where it belongs.
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