1963 Fleer Baseball ... What was in series 2? Series3?

TheDudeAbides

Just wondered if anyone has any info on the following series in the 63 Fleer set. Were any contracts signed with players for series 2 and beyond. Just curious if any experts out there had any knowledge to share.

bishop

I have never seen any proof checklist or other list for a second series. Many players in the first series also appeared in the 1963 Topps set. The Topps player contract were not exclusive. They only precluded the images of players under contract to them from being marketed with gum or confections, hence the Fleer cookie in 1963 (and the Leaf marbles in 1961). Nor have I located any Topps litigation seeking to halt the 1963 Fleer production. Topps and Fleer sales figures that appear in the several Fleer FTC complaints filed against Topps in the early 60s ( Fleer put out baseball related sets almost every year in the 60s but most were marketed with gum and did not involve players under contract to Topps) seem to indicate poor sales for the 1963 Fleer set.

I think Fleer did likely plan a second series but never put it into production due to very poor sales of the first series. In 1963 Topps had a good set, and a virtual monopoly on distributing it with gum. It appears decent cards marketed with stale tasteless cookies could not compete with a large nice looking set marketed with the bubble gum kids were used to and expected .

I also would welcome any additional information on the shortened Fleer 1963 set