My autographed 1963 Fleer Football set - lots of scans

AFLfan

With some time off for the holidays, I did some uploading and such. This is my near-complete autographed 1963 Fleer football set. I am missing only eight signed cards. Seven of the players are deceased - Charles Long, Dick Christy, Hubert Bobo, Charlie Tolar, Doug Cline, Bob Coolbaugh and Chuck McMurtry. The eighth, Donnie Stone, is alive and well, and apparently hates signing, because I have tried him several times, offering cards, photos, etc. and he still won't sign my card. Sorry for the numerous scans, but I thought this was the best way to present it.

AFLfan

AFLfan

AFLfan

AFLfan

Bosox1976

Very Cool!

Comicgeek68

Very Nice

MeteoriteGuy

Very nice. The Fleer cards present the autos very well. Good luck in getting the last cards.

Dboneesq

That is an AWESOME set. Did you get these yourself? If so, did you obtain them a long time ago? Did you buy them already autographed? The reason I am asking is because I don't think they were signed recently, as ALL OF THE CARDS are signed in pen.

AFLfan

Thanks for the nice words. About three years ago I bought my set. It was part of a large collection that I bought from a guy who used to go to the games in the 1960s and get stuff signed. The set came with 46 vintage signed cards. I got the remaining cards signed myself, mostly TTM. I sent each player a blue ballpoint pen and asked him to use it, as that is what the original 46 cards had been signed with. This set got me rolling on collecting autographed AFL sets. which is a project that I greatly enjoy!

drewsef

wow, congratulations on a great set. The checklist card looks to be at least NM, that is a really tough and pricey card.

AFLfan

Ye, the Checklist was a PSA 8oc that I bought from $150 and cracked. There was one that came with the set, but it was checked and the worst-conditioned card of the set, so I decided to replace it.

tennesseebanker

Todd, is that you from SCN ??

bking

Re: Donnie Stone

I noticed you said you have offered several items, but have you simply told him that he is the last living guy not to sign, and how much it would mean to you? Maybe even send him a printed copy/CD of all the other images? He might be very touched by the gesture, and by that trip down memory lane. I'm not much of an auto fan, but I don't blame any of these guys for automatically assuming you're trying to make something off them. Giving something special back might just convince him otherwise.

AFLfan

Tennesseebanker - Yes, it is me! Is that you, Barry?

Re; Donnie Stone
This is a long one. When I sent my first request to Stone, I wrote a nice letter and included a printout of a checklist that I made of the set, detailing all of the cards, whether they were signed, the dated that the deceased passed away, etc. I sent it to all of my auto requests for this set, and many wrote back nice notes thanking me for the info, and saying that had not realized that one person or another had passed away. I got no response from Stone.

I am friends with one of Stone's college teammates, and told him that I needed Stone. He told me to call Stone, as he was a great guy. Tell him that the teammate told me to call, etc. So I called and spoke with Stone. He seemed like a very nice guy, and we spoke for about 30 minutes. He said that he doesn't like to sign, but to go ahead and re-send the card and he would be sure to sign it for me. So I did, along with a nice note, etc. Two years passed and I never received a response.

Finally, about six months ago, I came across two vintage 1960s prints of Stone playing against the Chargers. So I sent the two photos as a gift to him, along with another 1963 Fleer card, and a letter politely reminding him of our phone conversation, and that I had not received the card back. Assuming that it had misplaced or "lost' in the mail, I was sending another for my set, of which ihe is the last living member that I need. Still, no response.

Not sure what else I can do, as I am not the type of auto collector that likes to hound these guys until they sign. I have been looking for a vintage signed card of his for about three years now, and haven't found one, but I will keep looking. Meanwhile, I have seen a report of someone receiving Stone TTM on another site. I asked the member about it, and it seems that it was just a random request, as he really didn't have any particular knowledge of Stone and just dropped it into the mail.

AFLfan

It was pointed out to me that the Jack Kemp shown previously was not signed. I had mistakenly uploaded the wrong scan. Here is the signed one:

metrotheme

I would call Stone, what do you have to lose? The worst he can say is no, and the best he can say is yes. It's worth a chance.

gregm13

Thanks for posting scans. I love collecting the olders sets and can't fathom being as far along on a set as you are. Congrats! I don't have a list of the short prints but I believe that several of the auto'd cards that you need are short prints...which may contribute to the difficulty of finding those cards.

You really don't see many 1963 Fleer for sale..let alone signed. I'm collecting every regular issued signed set from 1948 through 1989 and you really don't see many 1940's through 1960's cards signed - especially of players that are deceased.

Rgs,

Greg M.

gregm13

Did the collection that you bought include any signed 1957 Topps fb cards?

Rgs,

Greg M.

AFLfan

Everything from 48-89?!?! Wow, that is a HUGE undertaking. I don't think that I would even know where to begin with something that big. All of the stuff from that collection a few years ago was AFL-related. There were unsigned NFL cards, but everything signed was AFL - photos, game programs, cards and some other stuff. This person would go down to Balboa Stadium and catch the Chargers and their opponents with whatever he could find to get signed. I got some really cool stuff out of that bunch.

Greg, we should compare notes at least on the AFL guys. Maybe we can help each other out with a few.

Thanks everyone for the nice responses. I will be sure to post more photos/scans, and am looking forward to learning a lot from you guys.

gregm13

<< <i>Everything from 48-89?!?! Wow, that is a HUGE undertaking. I don't think that I would even know where to begin with something that big. All of the stuff from that collection a few years ago was AFL-related. There were unsigned NFL cards, but everything signed was AFL - photos, game programs, cards and some other stuff. This person would go down to Balboa Stadium and catch the Chargers and their opponents with whatever he could find to get signed. I got some really cool stuff out of that bunch.

Greg, we should compare notes at least on the AFL guys. Maybe we can help each other out with a few.

Thanks everyone for the nice responses. I will be sure to post more photos/scans, and am looking forward to learning a lot from you guys. >>



Sounds great - please feel free to e-mail me at montooth13 at yahoo.com.

Rgs,

Greg M.

nearmint

Amazing collection, Todd. Thanks for posting all the pics!

AFLfan

Email sent...

goraiders

That is great! I really like the Clem Daniels,Wayne Hawkins,Otto!
It must be very exciting to be almost 100%,very fine work!


J.R.

You like your chances this year to get to the S.B.??
As much as it hurts my insides to say it,I see the upsetting the colts
in playoffs.

AFLfan

Thanks/ I will say that I am cautiously optimistic about the Chargers. They look great right now, but as a longtime Chargers fan, I have been conditioned to great regular season teams that blow up in the playoffs. But if they don't do it this year, I think it will be much more difficult in upcoming years as many of thier players age getting up in age.

TNP777

Great set, thanks for sharing it with us!

I used to work for Scarpitto

HoofHearted

Wow! What an awesome collection! I bought '63 Fleer baseball by the pack but didn't even know that Fleer made a football set that year, too!

First time I've seen these. Thanks for taking the time to scan and share!

wolfbear

Great stuff!

One of my favorite sets along with 1962 Fleer football and 1964 Topps football.
Being a lifelong Charger fan is probably one of the main reasons why I enjoy them so much.

Already have my ticket for the playoff game. Can't wait ...

CommandChief

I'm looking for a signed 63 tobin rote card.

VitoCo1972

Who outbid me for the VG 63 Alworth last night? I thought my $93 snipe was safe. This set is SO tough!

pclpads

Probably my all time fav FB set, as a Chargers fan from their AFL days in Balboa Stadium. Congrats on your efforts. That is way beyond cool, as some of these guys, like Karas, Rote, Sestak and McNeil have been gone for years. I've got the set graded and am slowly upgrading to 7+. Thanks for sharing!