1961 Fleer Baseball Greats

The 1961 Fleer Baseball Greats is an unappreciated set of cards. I love them for their simple design and their underdog status. I would like to think that I will be at a stage in my collecting habits, when I have completed some of my other baseball pursuits, attempt to collect a unique set such as '61 Fleer. Considering the set includes such names as Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Cy Young and Honus Wagner, presumably because Topps had the current players under contract, it is possible.
The complete set is 154 cards and are numbered in 'alphabetical ' order. The set was issued in 2 series; cards #1 to #88 in the first series and #89 to #154 in the second. The first series packs contained team and pennant stickers showing past World Series winners. The Fleer Sticker Project shows both these superb stickers in their glory.
I already have 9 of the '61 Fleer set and this card #52 John Kling is a great addition.

Fleer Skybox EX 'Plastic' cards

I make no apology for this, but I am a complete sucker when it comes to this type of card. The clear plastic cards that Fleer, in the guise of Skybox EX, foist upon collectors firstly in 1999, and then again and again for the next few years, are the sort of cards I like to have in my collection. Long lasting, strong and transparent.

Although I can see why collectors may baulk.

In Australia they have plastic money, yes plastic notes of various denominations,made I am to led to believe of recycled supermarket carrier bags. When you see and feel this money it just isn't right. Real money should be metal or paper, credit cards are plastic. So it may be roughly the same thing with baseball cards. They should be made of cardboard. Vary the thickness, add a piece of bat or clothing, draw on it if you like (but don't put stickers) but never, NEVER make them from plastic.

Whatever your take is on this type of card, they have to be admired for innovation and trying 'something different'. Is there any harm in that? Some collectors spend a fortune making their cards plastic anyway through the grading process. As I have heard it put recently, the card collecting hobby is for enjoyment. Although I must mention the 2003 version of EX tried a little too hard to be different. The background is very sparkly, too sparkly like lip gloss. If you have young daughters you will know what I am talking about. If not, try to get a hold of some of these cards to get feel for them yourself. I like shiny cards but even this is too much for me.

2003 Fleer Hardball

This pack took me a little by surprise. When the auction mentioned round cards I knew it was for me. And yes unsurprisingly the cards are round.
There are 240 cards in the base set which includes 25 All-around Stars and 15 Rookies on deck.
There are two parallel sets: Gold and Platinum (#to 50).
There are inserts: 20 Round trippers, 15 On the Ball, 20 Discs and 14 Round Numbers (#to 1,000).
There are also Game Use and Autographed cards.
There are 7 cards per pack.

The pack:

#35 Kevin Mench Rangers

#45 Junior Spivey D-backs

#76 Mark Teixeira Rangers

#94 Ben Grieve Bay Rays

#137 Roberto Alomar Mets

#165 Bubba Trammell Padres

Well there was no Red Sox, but I was not disappointed by this set. This was a one-off set by the looks of things, so it appears not too popular with collectors.

It's not a new concept either. Take a look at the 1977 Pepsi Cola cards.

2006 Fleer Tradition Baseball

I picked up some Fleer Tradition in trades and thought that this would be a decent set to collect. Recently I was able to get a blaster box from e-bayUS containing 11 packs.

There are 200 cards in the base set.
There are inserts: 100 Goudey Greats, 25 Blue Chip Prospects, 25 Diamond Tributes, 25 Grass Roots, 15 Triple Crown Contenders, a number of autographs and threads.
There are parallels: A Black+White set and a Sepia set.
There are 10 cards per pack

Pack 1:

#37 B.J. Ryan Blue Jays

#38 Bengie Molina Blue Jays

#79 Travis Hafner Indians

#80 Victor Martinez Indians

#114 Miguel Tejada Orioles

#119 Jay Gibbons Orioles

#156 Felipe Lopez Reds

#161 Garrett Atkins Rockies

#162 Matt Holliday Rockies

#173 Justin Verlander Tigers

Pack 2:

#16 Chone Foggins Angels

#24 Brad Lidge Astros

#58 Greg Maddux Cubs

#94 Dontrelle Willis Marlins

#105 Carlos Delgardo Mets

#128 Bobby Abreu Phillies

#136 Matt Capps Pirates

#146 Ian Kinsler Rangers

#176 Jeremy Bonderman Tigers

#GR1 Ken Griffey Jr. Reds Grass Roots

Pack 3:

#14 Vladimir Guerrero Angels

#49 Jim Edmonds Cardinals

#62 Jorge Cantu Bay Rays

#91 Jeff Harris Mariners

#129 Chase Utley Phillies

#140 Mark Teixeira Rangers

#152 Coco Crisp Red Sox

#191 A.J.Pierzynski White Sox

#194 Hideki Matsui Yankees

#DT-6 David Ortiz Red Sox Diamond Tribute

Pack 4:

#18 Francisco Rodriguez Angels

#88 Adrian Beltre Mariners

#96 Mike Jacobs Marlins

#112 Brandon Watson Nationals

#124 Trevor Hoffman Padres

#135 Oliver Perez Pirates

#166 Josh Wilson Rockies

#177 Magglio Ordonez Tigers

#183 Joe Mauer Twins

#TC-4 David Ortiz Red Sox Triple Crown

Pack 5:

#30 Huston Street A's

#40 Prince Fielder Brewers

#65 Julio Lugo Bay Rays Sepia

#66 Jeff Kent Dodgers

#100 Dan Uggla Marlins

#111 Matt Kemp Dodgers

#153 Jonathan Papelbon Red Sox

#170 Mark Grudzielanek Royals

#178 Carlos Guillen Tigers

#189 Scott Podsednik White Sox

Pack 6:

#10 Brandon Webb D-Backs

#50 Scott Rolen Cardinals

#52 David Eckstein Cardinals

#92 Taylor Buchholz Astros

#117 Melvin Mora Orioles

#134 Jason Bay Pirates

#147 David Ortiz Red Sox

#159 Chris Denorfia Reds

#165 Ryan Shealy Rockies

#188 Paul Konerko White Sox

Pack 7:

#13 Shawn Green D-Backs

#26 Roy Owalt Astros

#67 Nomar Garciaparra Dodgers

#68 Rafael Furcal Dodgers

#113 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals

#116 Brian Roberts Orioles

#155 Adam Dunn Reds

#158 Ryan Freel Reds

#164 Kendry Morales Angels

#197 Gary Sheffield Yankees

Pack 8:

#7 Chipper Jones Braves

#19 Casey Kotchman Angels

#25 Jered Weaver Angels

#44 Carlos Lee Brewers

#61 Scott Kazmir Bay Rays

#86 Ichiro Mariners

#122 Brian Giles Padres

#125 Josh Barfield Padres

#167 Reggie Sanders Royals

#198 Randy Johnson Yankees

Pack 9:

#1 Andruw Jones Braves

#8 Conor Jackson D-Backs

#43 Ben Sheets Brewers

#56 Aramis Ramirez Cubs

#85 Jeremy Sowers Indians

#98 Hanley Ramirez Marlins

#104 Carlos Beltran Mets

#123 Khalil Greene Padres

#171 Jeremy Affeldt Royals

#182 Joe Nathan Twins

Pack 10:

#7 Alay Soler Mets

#20 Lance Berkman Astros

#32 Nick Swisher A's

#55 Mark Prior Cubs

#74 Randy Winn Giants

#97 Josh Johnson Marlins

#107 Lastings Milledge Mets

#110 Livan Hernadez Nationals

#149 Jason Varitek Red Sox

#200 Derek Jeter Yankees

Pack 11:

#4 Tim Hudson Braves

#12 Orlando Hudson D-Backs

#46 Albert Pujols Cardinals

#54 Jon Lester Red Sox

#72 J.D.Drew Dodgers

#82 C.C.Sabathia Indians

#130 Pat Burrell Phillies

#141 Michael Young Rangers

#172 Steve Stemle Royals

#195 Wil Nieves Yankees

Wow this has to be the best for Red Sox pulls I have had so far. 7 Red Sox including the 2 Ortiz inserts. However there is something a little disappointing. On the bottom of the wrapper it says:

"..themed card, a Sepia Tone or Black and White in every
pack!"

I count only 4 packs out of 11 that contained an insert of any kind. I'm not complaining as it means more base cards, but doesn't this seem like a mistake? Or bad quality control ? These are retail packs so there must be a different ratio, but why put it on the packs -every pack!

2004 Flair retail

If you are at all like me, I like opening packs. Don't get me wrong cards are great but opening your own packs makes you child like. So I succumb and bought some packs from the US. I tried to look for packs I had never opened before and I understand that most of these packs have probably been searched and the 'hits' gone.
First up is 4 packs of 2004 Fleer Flair with a big RETAIL written across the top.

The set consists of 60 base cards and 22 Class of '04 (# to 799).
There are parallel cards: Fleer Collection Row,
There are inserts: 35 Hot Numbers, Hot numbers GOLD.
There are various game used memorabilia/autograph inserts.

Pack 1

#3 Jeff Bagwell Astros

#6 Tom Glavine Mets

#30 Andruw Jones Braves

#50 Hideki Matsui Yankees

checklist

Pack 2

#8 Barry Zito A's

#23 Shannon Stewart Twins

#27 Angel Berroa Royals

#51 Jim Thome Phillies

Pack 3

#1 Brandon Webb Diamondbacks

# 4 Shawn Green Dodgers

#32 Sammy Sosa Cubs

#48 Adam Dunn Reds

Pack 4

#14 Alfonso Soriano Rangers

#33 Dontrelle Willis Marlins

#38 Scott Rolen Cardinals

#41 Jason Schmidt Giants

#HN-MT Jim Thome Hot Numbers Jersey

Well no Red Sox, but surprise, surprise a Game Used Jersey. Very nice indeed.

1991 Fleer Baseball

The second Junk Wax pack from Big B. Interestingly there is a advertisement on the wrapper for the 'Fleer Pro-Vision Sports Art Cards'. There are 12 to collect, they are limited edition and packed randomly in wax packs. Every star player portrait features bright, distinctive artwork that will make the set collectable (sic) for years to come. Anyone collect these or still trying?Apparently they are collectible for years.

There are 720 cards in the base set.
There are inserts: 10 Fleer All-stars, 12 Fleer Pro-vision.
There are two 'special' inserts only available in certain packs: 9 Wax Box cards and 8 World Series cards.
There are 14 cards and 1 sticker per pack.

The Pack:

Sticker

#30 Stan Belinda Pirates

#88 Tom Brunansky Red Sox

#137 Bobby Thigpen White Sox

#165 Frank Viola Mets

#186 Todd Stottlemyre Blue Jays

#194 Tim Belcher Dodgers

#381 Mike Walker Indians

#437 Jerome Walton Cubs

#461 Mike Schooler Mariners

#440 Steve Wilson Cubs

#534 Craig Lefferts Padres

#573 Gary Thurman Royals

#644 Bryn Smith Cardinals

#649 Milt Thompson Cardinals

There is just too much yellow on this set.

One Red Sox though.

1990 Fleer Baseball

Big B over a Waxaholic sent me three packs of 'Junk Wax', although I personally wouldn't call any packs junk, particularly since packs are a rarity(here inthe UK).

There are 660 cards in the base set consisting of 620 players, 7 checklists, 14 major league prospects, 10 player of the decade and 10 league leaders. The packs had 15 cards and 1 sticker.


Dayf sent a Red Sox free packet of these in January. Here's hoping I do better this time around.

The Pack:

The sticker

#122 Frank White Royals

#194 Mark Williamson Orioles

#197 Blaine Beatty Mets

#205 Keith Hernandez Mets
#244 Alex Cole Cardinals

#314 Ruben Sierra Rangers

#339 Greg Vaughn Brewers

#417 Eric Davies Reds

#440 Greg Cadaret Yankees

#487 Jerry Browne Indians

#501 Joel Skinner Indians

#552 Don Carman Phillies

#593 Lonnie Smith Braves

#594 Pete Smith Braves

#638 AL All Stars Mattingly McGwire

Another pack of 1990 Fleer without a Red Sox card, but that is two in row that has the Mattingly/McGwire card.

1990 Fleer baseball

The 2nd helping from Dayf is this 19year old pack.
There are 660cards in the base set consisting of 620 players, 7 checklists, 14 major league prospects, 10 player of the decade and 10 league leaders.
The packs had 15 cards and 1 sticker, although this pack has 16 cards and 1 sticker!

The pack:

Sticker

#20 Terry Steinbach Athletics

#40 Ryne Sandberg Cubs

#53 Brett Butler Giants

#98 Mookie Wilson Blue Jays
#129 Chili Davis Angels

#205 Keith Hernandez Mets

#298 Cecilio Guante Rangers

#301 Pete Incaviglia Rangers

#324 Jim Gantner Brewers

#310 Kevin Reimer Rangers

#346 Damaso Garcia Expos

#399 Oriel Hershiser Dodgers

#487 Jerry Browne Indians

#552 Don Carman Phillies

#581 Darrell Evans Braves

#638 Mattingly & McGwire Super Stars

Another Red Sox free pack.