2000 Finest

Description

2000 Finest is a 288 card set released in two series. Series One was released in April 2000 and consists of 148 cards. Series Two was released in July 2000 as a 140-card set.

Finest includes 179 player cards and four short-printed subsets: 40 Rookies (Series One: cards 101-120, serial-numbered to 2000 copies; Series Two: cards 247-266, serial-numbered to 3000 copies); fifteen Features/Futures (121-135); ten Counterparts (267-276); and 20 Gems (numbers 136-145 and 277-286). Card number 146 features the first Topps-issued card of Ken Griffey, Jr. as a Cincinnati Red. There are two versions of this card, each produced the same as any other base card -- a set considered complete with both.

Finally, 20 "Graded Gems" exchange cards were randomly seeded into packs (ten per series). The lucky handful of collectors that found these cards could send them into Topps for a complete Gems subset, each of which was professionally graded "Gem Mint 10" by PSA.

Distribution

Hobby/Retail: 24 packs per box, six cards per pack (MSRP: $4.99)

HTA: 12 packs per box, 13 cards per pack (MSRP: $10)

Insertion Ratios

Series One

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby/Retail Odds	HTA Odds
Base	147	-	?	?
short-set	102	-	?	?
Rookies	20	2000	1:23	1:6
Features	15	-	1:8	1:3
Gems	10	-	1:24	1:9
Short-Set Refractors	102	-	1:24	1:9
Rookie Refractors	20	500	1:93	1:23
Features Refractors	15	-	1:96	1:40
Gems Refractors	10	-	1:288	1:120
Short-Set Gold Refractors	102	-	1:240	1:100
Rookie Gold Refractors	20	100	1:368	1:187
Features Gold Refractors	15	-	1:960	1:400
Gems Gold Refractors	10	-	1:2880	1:1200
Graded Gems Redemption	1	10	N/A	1:9344
Ballpark Bounties	15	-	1:24	1:12
For the Record	30	varies	1:71	1:33
Going the Distance	12	-	1:24	1:12

Series Two

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby/Retail Odds	HTA Odds
Base	140	-	?	?
short-set	100	-	?	?
Rookies	20	3000	1:13	1:5
Counterparts	10	-	1:8	1:3
Gems	10	-	1:24	1:9
Short-Set Refractors	100	-	1:24	1:9
Rookie Refractors	20	1000	1:49	1:11
Counterparts Refractors	10	-	1:96	1:40
Gems Refractors	10	-	1:288	1:120
Short-Set Gold Refractors	100	-	1:240	1:100
Rookie Gold Refractors	20	100	1:448	1:120
Counterparts Gold Refractors	10	-	1:960	1:400
Gems Gold Refractors	10	-	1:2880	1:1200
Graded Gems Redemption	1	10	N/A	1:8157
Ballpark Bounties	15	-	1:24	1:12
Dreamcast	10	-	1:36	1:13
Moments	4	-	1:9	1:4
Moments Refractors	4	-	1:20	1:9
Autographed Moments Refractors	4	-	1:425	1:196

Checklist

Promos

These five Pre-Production cards were distributed to dealers and the Hobby media.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Pre-Production') ORDER BY num ASC; </sql2wiki>

Base Set

Series One

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num < 101) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Rookies

NOTES

• Each Rookie card is serial-numbered to 2000 copies.
• This was one of Topps's first attempts to include Major League "rookie" cards of recent draft picks and prospects in a non-Bowman product. Unfortunately, thirteen of the 20 players in this subset (as designated by the "RC*" tag) retired without ever playing in a Major League game.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 101 AND 120); </sql2wiki>

Features

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 121 AND 135); </sql2wiki>

Gems

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 136 AND 145); </sql2wiki>

Ken Griffey, Jr. Cincinnati Reds

These two Ken Griffey, Jr. cards were a late addition to Finest Series One and were printed to commemorate his trade to the Cincinnati Reds. One was taken during a press conference introducing Griffey to the Cincinnati media and shows him holding a Reds jersey. The other was taken in Spring Training shagging a fly ball. Both of these cards are sequentially-numbered as card #146; however, both were produced in roughly the same quantities as any of the non-short-printed base cards. A set is considered complete with both.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num LIKE '146%'); </sql2wiki>

Series Two

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 147 AND 246); </sql2wiki>

Rookies

NOTES

• All Rookies are serial-numbered to 3000 copies -- in increase from the first series.
• As with Series One, most of these players (RC*) never made it to the Big Leagues -- a notable exception being future Cy Young winner Johan Santana.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 247 AND 266); </sql2wiki>

Counterparts

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 267 AND 276); </sql2wiki>

Gems

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num > 276); </sql2wiki>

Parallels

All 287 base cards are available in the following Refractor parallels.

• Refractors
• Gold Refractors

NOTES

• Refractors and Gold Refractors for the Rookies, Features, Counterparts, and Gems subsets are short-printed; however, only the Rookies are serial-numbered.
• Refractors for the Series One Rookie subset are serial-numbered to 500 copies, and the Series Two Rookies are serial-numbered to 1000 copies.
• Gold Refractors for the Rookie Subset (both series) are serial-numbered to 100 copies.
• All Gold Refractors have "deckled" edges.

Oversize Gems

This oversize set parallels the Gems subset. One oversize card was inserted as a box topper in each Hobby box. The first ten cards are in Series One while the second ten are in Series Two. Refractor parallels were inserted into HTA boxes.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Gems Oversize'); </sql2wiki>

Graded Gems Redemptions

Randomly inserted into HTA Jumbo boxes were ten redemption cards good for a complete professionally graded set of that series' ten-card Gems subset. Each card was graded Gem Mint "10" by PSA. Collectors had until December 31st, 2001 to redeem their Graded Gems cards.

Inserts

Ballpark Bounties

Cards #BB1-BB15 were inserted into Series One packs while #BB16-BB30 were in Series Two.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Ballpark Bounties'); </sql2wiki>

Going the Distance

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Going the Distance'); </sql2wiki>

For the Record

For this Series One insert, each player has three cards that are serial-numbered to the distance to left (version A), center (B), and right field (C) in their home stadium.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest For the Record'); </sql2wiki>

Dream Cast

This ten-card Series Two set features cards made using the Dufex printing technology. These were the first Dufex cards released by Topps and the first released by any company since the 1998 bankruptcy of Pinnacle Brands.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Dream Cast'); </sql2wiki>

Moments

A Refractor and an Autographed Refractor (see below) parallel is also available.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Moments'); </sql2wiki>

Autographs

Autographed Moments Refractors

This set is an autographed parallel of the Moments insert from Series Two.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 2000) AND (setname = 'Finest Moments Refractors Autograph'); </sql2wiki>

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