Starting A 1981 Fleer Star Stickers Set!!! (UPDATE 11-1-17)
Mefer
Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭
Since its not like I have enough sets I am working on, I have decided to put together a 1981 Fleer Star Stickers set. 1981 was a great time for me in the hobby-- I was ten years old, there were three main sets of cards to collect (all with bubble gum!), and most importantly, my grandparents were right there with me buying cards. I still to this day love the photography of the 1981 Fleer set (warts and all) as it brings back great memories.
I did not have many Star Stickers as a kid because, for some reason, boxes were hard to find in my neck of the woods. During that time frame, there was a perception the print run was rather limited. From what I had, I found them very cool with more of the great (campy) Fleer type photos of the era. The polyester unis further add to the charm.
Today, it seems rather easy to find unopened boxes at a reasonable price (perhaps they were perceived as scarce back in the day because someone sat on a hoard for years- who knows). I am waiting on two boxes now that I picked up for around 50 bucks, inclusive of shipping (I already own a sealed box that I plan to keep sealed).
I would like to eventually work on the set in PSA graded form due to its small size (128 cards). However, (cough, cough) PSA really needs to wow me with a great special ($5.00 to $6.00 range) to even prod me to submit some as, lets be real, they are not sought after high priced commodities. In the meantime, I will have fun opening my coming boxes, sorting the cards, and piling up a number of them to submit (and PSA, I really need that bang up special to avoid the dust collector).
This should be a lot of fun!
Matt
Comments
I loved those stickers too...I was 9 that year! Good luck! If you get any extras of Ted Simmons in good condition let me know!
-Michael
Matt,
That sounds like a fun project for sure. Good luck with the boxes when you open them. Hopefully the collation will be good and you will get at least a complete set from the boxes.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Always loved the star stickers sets and have several sets. I need to get them out of boxes and into binders to really enjoy them. Good luck on your quest.
Appreciate today-
Bill
Thanks all. I'll be interested to see the collation. I remember base Fleer being pretty good. I should, I hope, have at least one set between two boxes.
I do believe production was minuscule compared to other baseball products from 1981. I think boxes are reasonably cheap and available due to the fact that it is not a heavily collected set...possibly because it doesn't contain any rookies. I love the look of them though, with the bright blue borders ....and the tons of HOFers.
Great take! I think you nailed it!
Honestly, not familiar.
Best of luck Matt - I always say - NO more new projects - and then next thing I know?
Another project.
I say. What the hell!
I love that set! I've always thought it would be a lot of fun to put together.
Yeah it's a problem! I'm looking forward to it as it should be fun and relatively inexpensive.
Well then join me in the quest!
That's a tuff set to put together, are you also going to consider the color variations? Good Luck, it's a fun set to do.
Wowsers; did not realize they were color variations (but does not shock or surprise with what happened with the 81 Fleer base set). I was also hoping it might be a bit easier than tough; what did I get myself in to? Fortunately the boxes I bought were dirt cheap!
Matt
I have officially started my set here:
https://psacard.com/psasetregistry/baseball/company-sets/1981-fleer-star-stickers/publishedset/245360
My GPA is a stellar 10 with just two cards! While I plan to focus on building the set through my own submissions, I figured it would be a good idea to have in hand a few 10s to know better what to look for. To that end I picked up these two 10s:
Tony Armas-- simply because he is an Oakland Athletic and I loved the early 80s A's team. He was part of a fantastic outfield with Dwayne Murphy and some other guy named Rickey. Great player in my book and he happily signed for me at the ballpark as a kid. Welcome, Tony!
Steve Rogers-- No reason other than it was the cheapest 10 I could find for sale right now. I will still love you Steve but just not like Tony.......
I have two boxes I need to eventually rip at home. This should be fun but my biggest obstacle is having too many open sets running at once......
Matt
Another update! I have opened three boxes of stickers and amassed about 20 or so stickers I believe are potentially worthy of the PSA 10 status. Unfortunately, the process may be more difficult than I thought as each pack has two ruined cards (gum stains on the top card and wax on the bottom card) generally leaving only three cards per pack with a shot. Add in wildly varying color registrations and poor cutting quality control you can, well, get the idea.
Lucky for me, or perhaps not so lucky (my eyes could go cross), I have four boxes waiting at home to be opened and a case I just bought from Baseball Card Exchange on its way (12 boxes). That is a grand total of another 16 boxes with, if my math is right, 1,728 potentially gradeable cards in a set that only numbers 128 total cards.
As the cards are not that valuable and, obviously plentiful (boxes can be typically had for around $15.00 to $20.00 with shipping through the economies of scale), I am keeping my fingers crossed for a "budget minded" PSA grading special. I'm really hoping the "1981 Fleer Star Sticker Grading Special" finally hits.....
I also figure after the above carnage is done I should have enough cards to build 20 to 25 loose sets from those cards I do not deem worthy of grading. As they are stickers, interesting possibilities exist outside of just using for kindling.
One final note-- on the grading side, I really want to find and score a PSA 10 Mike Norris. 1980 was a magical season for him and sadly, his swan song as far as dominance due to his arm falling off (Billy didn't remove pitchers) and drug issues. Not surprisingly, no one has been moronic enough (like me) to submit a three cent card for grading so none are currently encapsulated.
All in all, this remains fun and relatively inexpensive. It is cool that I will be able to rip a whole case of cards at a price cheaper than most new high end products (the dollar to fun value ratio is off the charts).
Matt
All in all, this remains fun and relatively inexpensive. It is cool that I will be able to rip a whole case of cards at a price cheaper than most new high end products (the dollar to fun value ratio is off the charts).>
You just defined "fun" Matt.
Looking forward to the scans buddy.
Thanks Mike! That is the way I look at it. I really, really, really want a blazer Mike Norris. I just love that card. I will put some scans up including some I have already ripped. I already have a Rickey that should have a shot at a 10; Rickey of course remains the primary want in 10 because, well, he is Rickey!
Thanks for the kind words!
Matt