super premium?

we are past opening day, but tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of opening day, 2004. it's a date noted on this 2004 fleer authentix eric gagne card

i wasn't there to see the dodgers lose to the padres at chavez ravine - instead, i was at the metrodome in minneapolis watching joe mauer make his big league debut. now that i have verbalized that, i realize that i should track down the twins' cards from this set to add to my "games i have attended" collection. although the cards don't relay any information from the game itself, referencing the date and opponent is good enough for me to add them to the collection.

what i noticed about this card to prompt the post is actually on the back

fleer added an advertisement for their showcase set, which they refer to as "the original super-premium brand". showcase debuted in 2000, beating topps tribute (the first set that came to my mind) by a year. here's gagne's 2000 fleer showcase short print card

that completed my team set. the cards sure are shiny, but the more i thought about it, the more i felt like flair was the first brand that i thought was super-premium. i remember paying $3.99 for a pack at a convenience store in newport beach in 1993 and being struck by how fancy it was. fleer refers to flair on the backs of some of the '04 authentix cards as "mlb's finest with a touch of class". seems a bit like a shot at topps, who were actually issuing cards as "finest" since 1993 as well.

what set do you consider to be the original super-premium release?