I really liked the 1995 and 1996 Leaf sets. Really nice base cards, and super interesting inserts. The Statistical Standouts inserts from 1995 series 1 hobby are still pretty heavily collected. A raw Griffey from that insert set is a $50-75 card.
You won’t pull anything huge unless you hit a Griffey insert that grades a 10, but it’s not expensive either.
I can’t speak to bricking though. I ripped boxes back in the 90’s.
http://www.baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/1995_Leaf
http://baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/1996_Leaf
Dave and Adam’s currently has the 1995 boxes at $59 and $49 for series 1 and 2 respectively. The 1996 boxes are a bit tougher to find but there’s at least one retailer with hobby boxes for $85.