Fleer Redemption Cards sent in 2 months ago

FavreFan1971

Anyone else waiting on cards from these guys? I've emailed and no response. I have phoned and catch this NO answer or Voicemail!!!

Did I miss something? Are they still in business???

Kinda worried 'case two of the auto's are short prints. McNabb (x/25) Favre (x/25) and six other guys worth a little. dante Hall, Ahman Green etc.

baseballfanatic

There was a post on the Sportscards and memorabilia forum not too long ago about Fleer going out of business. Might want to check it out.....

liffeystynx

I'm afraid things don't look good over there ...

Fleer Suspends Trading Card Operations

What does that do to the value of their cards? Or will someone just buy the brand and resume production as seems to have happened before?

helionaut

On the Beckett boards some people reported getting a bunch of stuff as substitutions for redemptions recently, usually better than what they were supposed to get. They probably have a couple people in the warehouse throwing whatever they can find into envelopes and shipping them out.

As to value, I don't think they'll be hurt too much. Most recent cards of any company aren't exactly on fire except for rookies, and rookies will always be rookies. And their best stuff like 84 Update or 1986-87 basketball won't be hurt, either. They had a 25-year run (more, really) and were generally well-liked except for their redemption madness. It's not like Wild Card or something like that where they weren't around long enough for anyone to care.

theplasticman

yep, out of biz. Ive got a Will Clark GOTG auto redemption to mail off. Gonna send this sucker with return receipt etc

boggs

I heard of others getting other replacements in the mail. Fleers way of clearing house and giving the customers something instead of ....nothing. This happened just befor they closed shop.


James

carew4me

Lets pray about 2 more companies fold. May bring value back to Modern cards.

theplasticman

<< <i>Lets pray about 2 more companies fold. May bring value back to Modern cards. >>



I hope note. That will kill the hobby faster than itll bring value back. Its a mixed bag for me. I just wish there were more kids involved and companies really working hard on that. I love the hobby and have alot of fun collecting.

ArnyVee

Wow, I hadn't read about the demise of Fleer. I'm not FOR companies going out of business, especially an established one like Fleer. But, we DEFINITELY have too much modern stuff going on and it's turned me off personally from buying anything nowadays aside from my favorites from the 80s and going back to 70s stuff now.

Good luck to all of you with the redemption stuff.

Lothar52

any press release by fleer?? official??

loth

brianwintersfan

Fleer Suspends Trading Card Operations
5/18/2005 5:04:17 PM

Fleer has suspended its trading card operations indefinitely until the future of the company can be mapped out, a source told Beckett.com Wednesday.

The company laid off the majority of its work force late last week - including several product developers and managers - although a few employees still remain. “The trading card operation is suspended and we’re not releasing anything new going forward until ownership determines the course of action it wants to take,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

The source said Fleer’s decision to suspend operations came “as a surprise” to most of the employees. “Obviously, we were shopped around last year,” the source said, “but we did turn our misfortunes around in the last year.”

While Beckett has received several questions about unfulfilled redemptions, the Fleer official could offer no definitive update. “It’s not that we aren’t going to ship those redemptions, it’s not that we are,” the source said. “All aspects of our trading card business, including redemptions, are suspended right now.”

Rumors of Press Pass buying Fleer to secure the NBA license and the Fleer Collectibles die-cast category have recently surfaced. Efforts to reach Press Pass for comment were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Fleer - which was purchased by Alex Grass and son Roger in 1999 for $26 million from Marvel Enterprises, Inc. - was shopped around twice in the last two years, most recently late last year, said an executive with one of the card manufacturers that met with the embattled company. “The debt we would have had to assume was just too great,” the executive said. “It wasn’t so much debt from the sports card line, but more when they tried to expand the gaming line. There were some pretty serious royalties [that hurt them].”

Fleer produced two benchmark trading cards in the 1980s. In 1984, the company was the only major manufacturer to release a Roger Clemens card, including the then-Boston Red Sox youngster in its 1984 Fleer Update set. That set also included the first licensed card of future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

In 1986, Fleer helped resurrect the basketball card industry by releasing the classic 1986-87 Fleer Basketball set which included Michael Jordan’s Rookie Card - a card valued at $800 in Near Mint condition. Last year, Fleer jumped back into the high-end Rookie Card race, producing one of the hottest cards of the year - Ben Roethlisberger’s Fleer Hot Prospects JSY AU RC. Limited to just 50 copies, it carried an initial value of $200 in the October 2004 issue of Beckett Football. Within three months, its value had rocketed to $750.

Yet despite some successes in the secondary market, Fleer still seemed to struggle with collector acceptance.

“One of the biggest difficulties with Fleer over the years is that, with a few notable exceptions such as Ultra, Tradition, Greats of the Game and Hot Prospects, the company never established true brand identities,” says Beckett Price Guide analyst Rich Klein. “It was also confusing to collectors when names of products were switched on seemingly a random basis from Fleer Showcase to Flair Showcase and then back again to Fleer Showcase. In addition, with a few exceptions, the products Fleer introduced in recent years never resonated with collectors as the brands they created in the early- and mid-1990s.”

Glynparson

I wholeheartedly agree with carewfan, The closing of a few modern companies would be good for the secondary market and anyone who does not think this needs to go back and look at how much stronger the modern card market used to be, with fewer products and companies. The less wax these people have to buy the more they spend on singles and modern rookies etc. Heck i can remeber a time when modern cards actually (in the market place not just in a price guide) went up in value that is a rarity these days.The demise of fleer will have no effect on any of the quality fleer items out there like 1963 fleer or 1959 fleer ted williams story or the 1986 fleer Basketball. Heck with just a couple companies base cards may even have value again.

kingraider75

I always kinda liked Fleer. I use to buy their baseball cards in the 80's, not their basketball cards damn it!! lol Anyways, I continued to buy their stuff throw the mid 90's but then I kinda stopped. The only Fleer product I have purchased in the last year was Fleer Tradition Football. It's too bad they are gone. I wonder how long our hobby will last. There aren't many kids at shops or shows buying sportscards.

Boopotts

Who can blame the kids? If I was 9 I wouldn' t want any part of it either. Even at that age you're aware of the fact that the stuff you can afford is bottom-tier, and nobody wants to develop a passion for something if there going to be stuck with the dregs. When we were kids all the cards cost the same-- there was no buying 25 cent packs while staring longingly at the $5 packs on the shelf behind the counter. If that had been the case when I was a kid I probably wouldn't have gotten into is either. No matter what your age it's a bummer knowing that your collection will never be enviable.