Barry Larkin
Year: 1998
Brand: Leaf
Parallel: Fractal Matrix
Card number: 168
There were a lot of confusing baseball sets released in the late 90s. For me, one of the most confusing sets of the era has to be the 1998 Leaf set. I didn't collect Leaf as a kid, so everything I know about this set I had to learn 20+ years after the set's release (which is never ideal)! As a perfect example of the confusion, take today's entry in my ongoing Barry Larkin Collection.
The card might look perfectly normal, but a more careful look will yield the stamp that says "fractal matrix" above the gaudy Leaf logo. The Fractal Matrix cards are parallels, but they aren't to be confused with Fractal Diamond Axis, Fractal Foundation, Fractal Materials, Fractal Materials Die-Cut, or Fractal Matrix Die-Cut (all of which are parallels of Larkin's regular Gold Leaf Star subset card)!
From what I could find online, the non-die-cut Fractal Matrix Larkin card had a print run of 1600 (while the die-cut version had a print run of only 200 copies). Amazingly, I've owned the die-cut version for a long time, but I only acquired the "regular" version this week via a TCDB trade!
With the above card now safely tucked away in my binder, I'm only missing four more cards from the 1998 Leaf set*:
Fractal Diamond Axis (#/50 copies)
Fractal Materials (not numbered, stated print run of 3,250)
Fractal Materials Die-Cut (not numbered, stated print run of 100)
Heading for the Hall Sample*
*This card was found with dealer wholesale order forms, not in the set itself.
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