Early 80s Topps vs Donruss vs Fleer

Stingray

Does anyone have an idea of which of the amount of cards produced by each company durin the early 80s, say 81, 82 and 83??

DanBessette

I have my guesses, but I won't, because I don't have hard data, which would be more useful to you.

Stingray

I just seems that in my area during this time Donruss was less plentiful. Or at least perceived that way.

curch

I don't even remember seeing fleer or dunruss in my area until 87. I was amazed as a kid going to a show and seeing early fleer and Donruss.

hyperchipper09

Order of availability(that I remember) in my area(N.C/S.C) through 1986:

1981 Topps, Donruss, Fleer. Barely saw Fleer at all, could have built a small home out of Topps product available.
1982 Topps, Donruss, Fleer
1983 Topps, Fleer, Donruss. New Eckerd drug in my town really increased Fleer Cello availability by a lot.
1984 Topps by a country mile, Fleer then Donruss was a distant 3rd. Donruss was almost non existent in my town.
1985 Topps, Fleer, Donruss
1986 Topps again. Fleer and Donruss were virtually equal.
1987 was the first year in which I started to see Fleer and Donruss almost match Topps. But there was/is far more Topps product(81-86) out there and it's not close IMO. I have no exact numbers either.

jmmiller777

Ya, South Texas is about the same as NC/SC. Topps was everywhere and the Fleer/Donruss was always tuff to find. But whenever there was a card show, the Fleer/Donruss would come out of the woodwork, and always more expensive than Topps. Eckard also made a showing in Texas and Fleer became available. I bought a case of Fleer racks in 86, only because I knew someone who called me once it was put out on the floor for sell (got the sealed case tho). The 89 UD were real tuff but became available in 1990.

seebelow

hmmm 1982 in ohio...at lawsons convenience store (ever heard of those?)...all 3 and even as a kid i recognized the lack of quality of the new guys

PM770

Remember Lawsons well. The one by me only carried Topps in 1981. I was about 10-12 packs into 1981 when the family went to Zayre (remember those!) and I bought a couple more packs. Opened them up and - what the hell are these!!! They were Fleer. After that I was sure to make sure I was buying the right cards (Topps)

JWBlue

Originally posted by: hyperchipper09
Order of availability(that I remember) in my area(N.C/S.C) through 1986:

1981 Topps, Donruss, Fleer. Barely saw Fleer at all, could have built a small home out of Topps product available.
1982 Topps, Donruss, Fleer
1983 Topps, Fleer, Donruss. New Eckerd drug in my town really increased Fleer Cello availability by a lot.
1984 Topps by a country mile, Fleer then Donruss was a distant 3rd. Donruss was almost non existent in my town.
1985 Topps, Fleer, Donruss
1986 Topps again. Fleer and Donruss were virtually equal.
1987 was the first year in which I started to see Fleer and Donruss almost match Topps. But there was/is far more Topps product(81-86) out there and it's not close IMO. I have no exact numbers either.

Exactly how I remember it in my area of Washington DC.

49ersGuy

in my area (San Francisco(

1981 equal
1982 equal
1983 equal
1984 Topps (common), Fleer (less common), Donruss not too common at all
1985 same as 1984
1986-1990 mass produced all products

this all based off the memory of a grade school version of me.

Mefer

Interesting thread. From my area at the time (Northern California near Santa Rosa, California), I recall this:

1981-- Topps was a bit more plentiful but Fleer and Donruss could be found. However, I noted certain stores would just carry Fleer and not Donruss and vice versa. I do not recall seeing any store selling all three.
1982-- Same
1983-- Same
1984-- Topps was the king. Fleer was somewhat difficult to locate and Donruss was almost impossible to find. I do however remember on the latter buying a ton of rack packs from a local grocery store. It was the only place I remember seeing them.
1985-- Topps by a large margin. Fleer seemed more difficult to locate. Donruss was pretty much non-existent and I do not recall seeing Donruss in any local store (other than at a jacked up price at the local card shop)
1986-89-- Cards were everywhere and to be honest, brands and locations seem to blend together now. I do not recall any brand being noticeably scarce.

In any event, fun thread and I will say 81-85 was my "golden era" as I collected a lot of cards back then with my grandparents. Great memories.

Matt