1985 Fleer Rack Box Break

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 3:57PM

All,

I've been a long-time reader of this forum. Tonight's the night I step through the door and start posting around here.

I received this box of 1985 Fleer Racks yesterday, BBCE wrapped and FASC, but I have no idea whether the racks are the player-showing-on-top and wrapped in individual cellos, or the individually wrapped wax packs. I contacted the seller and asked him if he could tell. Answer: No. So I searched the Internet high and low to find some shred of evidence that would tell me which rack type I have. What did I find? Nothing. So I contacted Steve at BBCE. He, too, didn't know how to tell because he had seen so few of these boxes come his way.

So I purchased the box anyway, desiring to look at it up close to see if I could tell which rack type was inside. At this point, I'm 99% sure that the type of rack inside is the individually wrapped cellos. So I'm busting the BBCE wrap and the other factory plastic wrap tonight. And you guys can come along for the ride.

Here's the box.

Andy

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 4:19PM

Point of no return, at least from an authenticated, BBCE-wrapped point of view, that is.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 4:24PM

The box's exterior looks beautiful, by the way, and has the freshness of a box that came from the factory yesterday.

I've searched for a long time for a 1985 Fleer Rack Box. It's one of those boxes that I never thought I'd find, and then if I found one, I thought I'd never be able to afford it. This one was a no-brainer since it coincided with last week's eBay offering of 20% off everything.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 4:27PM

The factory wrap is off.
I'm going to pause a minute before lifting the cardboard top.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 4:44PM

Sneak peak.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 4:50PM

These racks are so crispy new. I'm getting a contact high from being so close to the newly unearthed plastic that has been imprisoned for the last 33 years. The colors, too, are almost blinding.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:01PM

Left side first. A few racks at a time, in the order that they're pulled.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:09PM

craig44 · March 17, 2018 5:16PM

Welcome aboard! Great pics and a very nice box. You don't see those every day

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:22PM

Thanks for the welcome, Craig!
A few more...

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:25PM

Very little star power so far. But Rack #11 did yield a nice rookie. I loved Hershiser as a kid, especially loved him in the '88 World Series.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:37PM

Half way done.

grote15 · March 17, 2018 5:38PM

Very cool! Those racks certainly fit the "case fresh" designation!

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:50PM

Indeed, grote, these are "fresh," as fresh as I've ever seen.

One thing I noticed is that the cellophane is thicker than the cellophane of the '84 Fleer Racks. Both racks -- '84 and '85 -- contain the same number of cards and stickers per rack, but the '85 box is about 3/4" higher than the '84 box. The difference in height is probably due to the thickness in cellophane. The '85 Racks feel more durable than the '84s in hand.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:51PM

Ok, right side. 12 racks remain.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 5:57PM

Yikes, the star power is altogether absent from this box. A Brett, Fisk, Morris, Hershiser. And up to this point on side two, nada.

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 6:03PM

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 6:06PM

ahopkins · March 17, 2018 6:11PM

And that's it, folks. No major rookies. Oh well. I loved the idea of the hunt. I'm an unopened collector, but not someone who opens a lot of his collection. This box will look awesome next to my '84 Fleer Rack Box.

Andy

jordangretzkyfan · March 17, 2018 6:46PM

This is awesome! I love the 1985 Fleer set and agree that these minty racks are super rare. Congrats on this great purchase. I was looking at that box too. Hope there is a perfect Eric Davis in there...loved that card as a kid.

JWBlue · March 17, 2018 8:20PM

1985 Fleer is a slightly underrated set.

What hurts it is the same as what hurts one of my favorite designs 1986 Donruss. The vast majority of photographs are head shots or poses off the diamond. Not a lot of action.

As for the 1985 Fleer stacks being taller than 1984 there is another reason besides thicker cellophane. The card stock for 1985 is a lot thicker.

BLUEJAYWAY · March 18, 2018 3:51AM

Always liked that years design. I wonder how many people won the offered $100 savings bond prize. No one I knew did.

ahopkins · March 18, 2018 6:18AM

@BLUEJAYWAY said:
Always liked that years design. I wonder how many people won the offered $100 savings bond prize. No one I knew did.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing as I stared at the first racks on top. What a strange offer.

ahopkins · March 18, 2018 6:26AM

@JWBlue said:
The vast majority of photographs are head shots or poses off the diamond. Not a lot of action.

As for the 1985 Fleer stacks being taller than 1984 there is another reason besides thicker cellophane. The card stock for 1985 is a lot thicker.

I hear ya about the head shots, but that Clemens head shot is way cool. The determined look in his eye, steely, controlled, poised. Magnificent shot.

And very interesting about the card stock. I hadn't noticed it. I'll have to look at the '84 and '85 side by side. Thanks for the info.

Andy

BLUEJAYWAY · March 18, 2018 12:31PM

These Fleer remind me of the nicknames from that era. Mickey"Mick the Quick" Rivers,Dennis"Oil Can" Boyd,Sid"El Sid" Fernandez,John"The Candy Man" Candelaria. Also Kent Tekulve with the sidewinder/submarine delivery. Joe Carters card was "Hot" back then as well.

Halonut · March 18, 2018 1:32PM

Welcome to the boards, if you want to move the sealed rack with Mark Langston showing let me know. Thanks!

1985 Fleer Rack Box Break

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