1981--"Accidently" buying Fleer cards
Hank36
Posts: 175 ✭✭
Something I vivdly recall: In 1981, when I was 13, I had bought my first few packs of the spring at the local drug store--Topps, of course. When I went back for my next batch. I grabbed a bunch of wax packs, not realizing that Topps was no longer the only company making card, took them home (I was riding my bike) and opened them up. I was horrified and disgusted to find out I was stuck with a bunch of weird, fugly cards that turned out to be something called Fleer.
Although I later grew to acquire quite a few Fleer and Donruss cards, I'll never forget how pissed off I was that I had inadvertantly blown my hard-earned lawn-mowing money on a bunch of drab, blurry cards, although I must have hung on to them--later in the summer, my mother showed me a blurb in the Wall Street Journal where it mentioned that Fleer's "Craig" Nettles card was selling for $10. Which, of course, I didn't have.
But for the most part, I avoided the Fleer cards like the plague (for some reason, I never became aware of Donruss for another couple of years) and when 1982 rolled around, I remember seeing the new boxes of cards at the drugstore; Fleer was now touting itself as having been voted #1, but their cards were now even blurrier and cheaper looking than they were the year before.
Am I alone on this? I know we all probably tend to revere those first few sets of our childhood the most--throughout the eighties, it seemed like every card dealer indifferent to every Topps set post-1969 or so because they hated the radical redesigns of 1971 and 1972, and it would be a few years before the 1970's Topps baseball sets got their due among adult collectors. But man--I'll never forget the horror of realizing that I'd spent my only three bucks on what I quickly judged to be radically inferior baseball cards that I was now, apparently, stuck with.
Although I later grew to acquire quite a few Fleer and Donruss cards, I'll never forget how pissed off I was that I had inadvertantly blown my hard-earned lawn-mowing money on a bunch of drab, blurry cards, although I must have hung on to them--later in the summer, my mother showed me a blurb in the Wall Street Journal where it mentioned that Fleer's "Craig" Nettles card was selling for $10. Which, of course, I didn't have.
But for the most part, I avoided the Fleer cards like the plague (for some reason, I never became aware of Donruss for another couple of years) and when 1982 rolled around, I remember seeing the new boxes of cards at the drugstore; Fleer was now touting itself as having been voted #1, but their cards were now even blurrier and cheaper looking than they were the year before.
Am I alone on this? I know we all probably tend to revere those first few sets of our childhood the most--throughout the eighties, it seemed like every card dealer indifferent to every Topps set post-1969 or so because they hated the radical redesigns of 1971 and 1972, and it would be a few years before the 1970's Topps baseball sets got their due among adult collectors. But man--I'll never forget the horror of realizing that I'd spent my only three bucks on what I quickly judged to be radically inferior baseball cards that I was now, apparently, stuck with.
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Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I thought the 81 Donruss looked like crap though...sorry Matt.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
<< <i>Fleer had a baseball card set before Topps...1923 >>
As did OPC...1937.
<< <i>Actually never saw 81 Fleer at any of the stores growing up. Just Topps and Donruss. I never heard of Donruss and bought a couple of packs. Never bought any more, as I got like 10 Greg Mintons in each of the packs I bought. Wow was the collation bad back then. >>
I knew a dealer back in 1986 who bought an entire case of Donruss and was unable to put together a single set. IIRC, he couldn't find Bill Campbell and two other cards.