I had my doubts....but like Stalin said...R.I.P. Fleer

Lothar52

Hasta La Vista baby!


wonder what will happen to the 2005 fleer ultra football...i was always a fan of that set and the great photography....

loth

SoFLPhillyFan

All pending releases have been cancelled.

There is some talk about product that was printed but held by Fleers vendors pending payment. Whether this will be released at some point, who knows.

Keith

Axtell

Has anyone heard if anyone is going to pick up their pieces?

I know they don't hold any significant contracts, but for a few pennies on the dollar there has to be at least one buyer.

jsnpritchett

<< <i>Has anyone heard if anyone is going to pick up their pieces?

I know they don't hold any significant contracts, but for a few pennies on the dollar there has to be at least one buyer. >>



The article in the link says that it's unlikely anyone will buy them until after the bankruptcy is filed, due to the massive amount of debt the company carries.

Jason

Axtell

<< <i>
The article in the link says that it's unlikely anyone will buy them until after the bankruptcy is filed, due to the massive amount of debt the company carries.

Jason >>



Yeah, that makes the most sense. Let the bankruptcy take care of most of that, then when a buyer moves in, the creditors will be happy to take any money they can get for the debt.

ndleo

I hope no one buys Fleer and that they go away. We don't need any more brands. The modern market has to get smaller first before it can recover. The 2005 FB product will be sold since the creditors want the money. I just hope they didn't use redemptions for the key autos.

I really don't see any value in buying Fleer. The only brand worth anything was Ultra and even that was getting stale. They didn't have a top brand in any sport.

Also I hope that this sends a wake-up call to the leagues. The card license fees keep going up, forcing card manufacturers to make more crap.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>I just hope they didn't use redemptions for the key autos. >>



Of course they did.Look at a product like 2004 Genuine fb.All of the big hits were redemptions and that was when everyone thought they were doing ok.I see no reason why the 05 product would have been any different.If it does come out I would stay away until there would be some sort of announcement about a buyout and that the new company would try to fill those redemptions.Otherwise it's a waste of your $$$.

NBAFan

I said this was going to happen after they screwed all the collectors over and over, especially me after wasting my money on 4 boxes of Sweet Sigs football and pulling 4 auto redemptions instead of the auto'd card.

Fleer screwed themselves over by screwing all of the collectors over with all their misleading and false advertising. How many times did they "guarentee" an auto in the box and not come through and gave us a redemption? Legacy Football was a joke making the people wait around a year to get their jerseys.

Stone193

I will have to say - over the years, I have enjoyed some of their products and used to be an Ultra set collector of BB and FB - some of their photography was top notch IMO.

mike

TNP777

I will miss Ultra as well. Every year I chose down a Dodgers and Rams set, including the base, gold medallions and platinum medallions. Still a few short here & there, but slowly making my way. I bid on on a '97 Nomo P.M. I needed a couple months ago, but Japanese bidders took the thing over $150. That may be a card I will never have, unless it gets mislisted somehow.

Geordie

MajorDanby

<< <i>I will have to say - over the years, I have enjoyed some of their products and used to be an Ultra set collector of BB and FB - some of their photography was top notch IMO. >>



Ditto. Ultra had some fantastic photo quality....only stadium club sets were close to ultra photos in the 90's. I will actually be sad to see them go....ifi had to choose, i would keep the market to just topps, upperdeck, donruss and fleer and get rid of everything else.

OSClabs

Does anyone know how many employees they (Fleer) employed? Assets? Any links, please post.

As a small business owner, I've always wondered about the costs and operations of a sports card comapny such as Fleer and Topps. I remember when Signature Rookies went under several years ago. I thought they had a great idea with their product.

With all the new autographed and memorabilia cards, it's like playing the lottery instead of a hobby these days. Since joining this board last Feb, I have lost interest in recent modern products and have focused on the 70s-80s.

I've enjoyed Fleer products over the years. Their '86 basketball may be 'hottest' modern product of all time. I'd like to see them come back in the near future.

Good thread-
Danny

helionaut

Some people have a real axe to grind with Fleer, but it mainly comes down to 2 things: not pulling cards of any value out of the boxes they open and countless redemptions for autos and such, many of which went unfulfilled. Somehow in the last few years they just lost their touch. They had a lot of nice sets over the years, both in terms of design, which is subjective, but also in terms of putting out important cards. Granted, their last "important" card might have been the Piazza RC, but last year they had Hot Prospects which is a dark horse favorite among the year-end rookie sets. They also, for better or for worse, invented the 1 of 1, and they never abused the concept. But too much dross, too many sets that look just like last years. Is there anyone outside their brand manager who can tell one year's Authentix from another? And too little good press; they never seemed to have a tight relationship with Beckett to pump up their card prices, and their last must-have sellout product was probably 2000 GOTG. I don't think losing Fleer will make much of an impact on the product glut. Other companies will be competing for whatever market share Fleer had, especially next year when there's been enough lead time to gear up. And given what led to the current state, that couldn't have been very much. I do hope someone steps up and produces an Ultra-like set where photography is still important, and I do think the name has value. It'll probably be purchased by someone eventually.

On the bright side, there will probably be a massive liquidation at some point of inventory, so who knows what might hit the market, either legitimately or through a back door.

joestalin

Its funny that everyone agrees for the most part that fleers true legacy will be their photography. Whats ironic is that fleer actually did
the least of that over the past 3 years. Many of their products have just a shot of the guys face and a solid color background. They
single handedly took the true photography out of products. Today the card companies go to the rookie photo shoot and take a
bunch of pictures of guys running by themselves and catching a ball with no one around them. Those are the pictures they use the
ENTIRE year. 12-14 products worth each!

I must give fleer some credit, they operated a second hand company for about 2 years and no one noticed! They went the whole
02-03 season without putting any autographs in products, yet no one really noticed...they kept buying fleer, pulling their GU and
numbered parallels and were happy...and them one day they woke up!

Pawlak (the nameless imformant in the article), mentioned that fleer was almost back. The truth is they were in deep crap for a long
time! They owed many players money and that is the reason they didn't have autos and had to put out redemptions....they would
sell the product and put a bunch of IOU's in the prodcuts and try to pay for the cards that way.....that way once a card
expired they didn't have buy that many autos!

Like Pinnacle in 1998, there will be some mysteries to keep your eye out for. What will happen to cases and cases of 2005 Ultra and what
will happen to over 500 Pujols signed stickers that fleer aquired right at the end?

Only time will tell.

JS

bladefox

Well, here's my thoughts I had relayed to one dealer at the Hollywood Park Show:

Fleer had not one big high end product to compete. Upper Deck had SP Authentic, SPx, Topps has auto's RC for Finest, Chrome, Playoff/Donruss- Playoff Contenders in football, etc. With the exception of Hot Prospects for FB and BK, (which was really their last hurrah), the only notable release I would buy from Fleer year end is Ultra in FB and BK. As for unclaimed redemptions, I think another company should step up and some sort of exchange program for an autographed stuff within the company's inventory. This same thing happened when Scoreboard when out of business in 1997 or 98 and instead of fulfilling the remaining redemption cards, the items were actually all liquated. There were two companies that actually did this, and ironically, one of them stepped up was ..Fleer, which they did to prevent from collectors to leave the hobby and have a bad taste in their mouth. Now, I think it would be poetic justice if one of remaining companies would do that to honor them for doing that, but I doubt any of the remaining four would.
I also heard rumors that Upper Deck and Press Pass was bidding on the late Fleer's basketball license. I really hope UD doesn't get it because they bought the rights for Be A Player last year, and even if they make Fleer cards with the label, It's not same since it'll have a UD hologram and logo on the back of the card! If anything the only two things I'd like them to make would be Fleer Tradition and Ultra to survive.

Gemmy10

Let's get a bunch of guys together from this board and buy the bankrupt company.

rmoss

Although I haven't bought a BB card since 1990, I always liked Fleer cards. My two favorite sets were the '87 and '82. The 82' set I bought from a dealer at the local flea market in '88 or there abouts for $50.00. The '87 I thought was just a good looking card.

Lothar52

the 87's WERE a GREAT looking card....prolly should be considered classic I think. I enjoyed 1999 Fleer Ultra Football the most..the rookie design and action photos of the players from college was top notch I thought. I also the late 80's basketball. 1999 Fleer mystique footall was also a favorite of mine...and i had great luck pulling great rookies from my overexpensive 3 boxes. I will miss them but feel its good for the hobby

loth

NBAFan

Best product that I ever opened from Fleer was Back in 2001 with Legacy Baseball and Platinum Rack Packs. Those were fun products to open, no matter what you pulled.

Basketball and Football legacy were horrible and the Basketball Rack Packs were messed up and half of them didn't contain autos.

Maybe they should have produced some contraversial cards like the Billy Ripken to try to salvage the company and sell their product.

AkbarClone

For anyone who wants celebrate the downfall of Fleer and unload any of their Fleer insert cards from 1999-2001, I was working on these insert sets but never finished them:

1999 Fleer Stan Musial Monumental Moments
2000 Fleer Club 3000
2000 Fleer GOTG Retrospection
2001 Fleer Platinum 20th Anniversary Reprints
2001 Fleer Diamond Tributes
2001 Fleer Stiches In Time
2001 Fleer Focus Diamond Vision
2001 Fleer Premium Decades of Excellence

Send me a PM if you have any to trade/sell and I'll forward exact wantlists.

I also could use some of the Fleer/Sports Illustrated cards from the following insert sets:

1997 SI Cooperstown Collection
1998 SI Covers
1998 SI Then & Now Covers
1998 SI Then & Now Road to Cooperstown

Time to liquidate those cards!!

Thanks for any help,

James

ctsoxfan

<< <i>The '87 I thought was just a good looking card. >>



I agree. In the vast wasteland of 1980's baseball sets, I always liked the 1987 Fleer set. One of my favorites of the decade in baseball. Too bad they followed it up with the 1988 design, which was bland as could be.

Axtell

<< <i>

<< <i>The '87 I thought was just a good looking card. >>



I agree. In the vast wasteland of 1980's baseball sets, I always liked the 1987 Fleer set. One of my favorites of the decade in baseball. Too bad they followed it up with the 1988 design, which was bland as could be. >>



And then followed it up with boring set after boring set...it went on for years.

The 87 fleer glossy set was exceptional.

ndleo

It's official. Goodbye Fleer and Hello Tons of Fleer stuff to hit the market. Great this is all we need. I wonder how much the Wade signed stickers will go for.

---------------------------
Fleer to Liquidate Remaining Assets
6/21/2005 4:21:53 PM

June 20, 2005, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey: Fleer/Skybox International, L.P. and Fleer Collectibles, LLC, purveyors of sports and entertainment trading cards and collectibles, respectively, have announced that they have each executed Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors under New Jersey Law, conveying all of their respective assets to Warren J. Martin Jr., an attorney with Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., Morristown, New Jersey. Martin specializes in bankruptcy and insolvency matters.

Pursuant to his obligations under state insolvency law, Martin, as Assignee, will oversee the assets of the two companies and will be required to preserve and protect assets, maximize asset values through public or private sales approved by the court, and distribute the proceeds of asset sales to creditors fairly, in accordance with legal priorities. Creditors will be provided with an opportunity to file claims.

Martin has stated that he looks forward to speaking to creditors and interested parties about the issues in the proceeding: “My job is to be the representative of the creditors, to make sure that assets are fairly liquidated to pay creditor claims.”

Martin also announced that he expects to shortly file three motions with the court. The first, in the Fleer/Skybox proceeding, will be to sell the Fleer/Skybox tradename, the second, in the Fleer Collectibles proceeding, will be to sell the entirety of the die cast (miniature vehicles) business, and the third, will be to sell numerous game-used and autographed items, including a large inventory of autographed sports cards. All of these proposed sales will be subject to higher and better offers.

Separately, Martin is analyzing redemption card issues and requests that individual customers not return their redemption cards to Fleer at this time. Those holding redemption cards should check Fleer’s website, www.fleer.com for further information.

julen23

Damn.

In the long run, could this possibly HELP the value of Fleer cards, since they wont be made anymore?

I still LOVE the 1981 Fleer cards, for real, they are pretty colorful.

Julen
_________
Collecting:
1980 Topps: Over 4,000 cards from vending and wax boxes awaiting a giant bonfire
1969 Topps Master: # 1 1
1987 Kraft Home Plate Heroes

gregm13

Not that I hold any Fleer redemption cards, but how can the bankruptcy court allow the sale of autographed cards that in essence belong to collecetors who hold the redemption cards? Complete b.s. if you ask me.

It's funny because I just received a redemption card from Fleer (David Carr) in early May - right before the news broke.

Regards,

Greg M.

NBAFan

I don't think it's going to help the value any and it won't hurt it any either, it's just going to go along as usual. What is out there is out there, it's no different than any other brand that still produces.

NickM

This will hurt the value of Fleer products that are currently listed in Beckett monthly. Guess what will be the first to be removed from the magazine to make way for the next batch of new products - the company that no longer pays Beckett for advertising. When the cards drop out of Beckett monthly, many collectors stop looking for them, and demand decreases, thereby bringing the prices down.

Nick

NBAFan

Ah, but keep in mind that when people don't see a value of a card, they may pay more then when they see the value.

For instance on average you see a card that books for $25 in beckett, you usually don't want to pay more than $15 or so for it. If there is no price then it's a "guess" on the value. Even though Beckett is only used as a "guide" and some cards sell for more then the value listed. Usually the value listed hurts what most cards get.

I do think Fleer prices will slowly disappear from the monthly guide, and only be in the quarterly, but still I would see the removal more of helping the value than hurting it.

Lothar52

just because they wont be making any new cards does it really mean that there past cards will lose value??? People keep saying that Fleer had no great sets...I think Fleer Showcase was a nice Football set...for a while there 1999 Fleer Showcase had some expensive cards.....then the roof caved in ....

loth