Pulling a Serially Numbered Card Out of a 1998 Baseball Card Product

Remember when serially numbered cards were rare?  In 1998, it was a rare thing for me to ever pull such a card - so the part of me that remembers buying 1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated cards was extremely giddy with one of the cards in the first of the next two packs out of the box.

Pack 11:
45.  Tom Glavine
63.  John Jaha
89.  Raul Mondesi
149.  Robert Machado
171.  Extra Edition:  Kevin Polcovich #240/250

Oh sure, the front is the same as a regular base card (other than the small stamp) but the numbering is on the back of the card...

...and what a beautiful sight that is!  I guess it would have been cooler if I pulled a Barry Larkin parallel, but I'm not complaining.  Hitting a "tough pull" is fun - even if it is of a lesser known guy.

Mini poster:
3.  Maddux & Smoltz

I think this image is a little bit strange - what exactly are those two doing?  I have no idea.

Pack 12:
12.  Craig Biggio
98.  Dean Palmer
100.  Andy Pettitte
192.  Larry Walker

195. Nomar Garciaparra

Mini poster:
4.  Cal Ripken Jr.

I don't have much to say about his poster - even the Ripken poster is a bit strange (I don't like his glasses).  

Taken together, the two packs gave me three more duplicates for the box already (Biggio, Palmer, and Machado).  Those, along with the Clemens double from earlier, mean I now have found 4 duplicates in only 12 packs.  Not great...  However, pulling the serially numbered card was enough excitement for the pair of packs - and it makes up for the duplicates I suppose!