1987 Fleer Baseball Stickers Mystery - Yankees in the National League?

I received an email from Jeff asking about a sticker he came across while looking through some 1987 Fleer cards he has from when he was a kid, and this sticker caught his attention:

He wrote asking me if I had any information on this variation since he couldn't find anything about it.  I've never seen it before, and have never heard of it.

The back has the Cardinals logo:

While it would be helpful to have a high-resolution scan, from what I can see of the die-cut, it doesn't look like anything has been tampered with like sticking a Yankee logo baseball on a National League base.  It certainly appears to be one sticker.

If this variation was released, I'm surprised no one has ever come across it until now. Has anyone ever come across one of these?

1980 Carnation NFL Stickers

I wanted to share a set that I was not aware of until recently.  In 1980, collectors could get NFL helmet stickers when buying a box of Carnation Hot Cocoa Mix:

Most of the stickers are blank backed, but a few do have a coupon for a free box of hot cocoa mix.  The coupon has a 1980 copyright.

1977 Sunbeam NFL Stickers

One set that I was not aware of when I did my original review of Sunbeam's NFL items from the 1970's was the set of helmet stickers from 1977:

 

The stickers do not mention Sunbeam on the back, but  are produced by A. Harris Assoc Inc in Cherry Hill, NJ

which is the same company that produced the 1976 Sunbeam issues, so these small helmet stickers are commonly referred to as 1977 Sunbeam stickers given the copyright on the back.

Here are the backs of the 1976 Sunbeam issues:

1976 Sunbeam NFL Stand-Up Football

1976 Sunbeam NFL Football Pennant Stickers

I really miss the days when you could have some collecting fun when picking up a loaf of bread!

The Joys of Marking Off a Checklist in the Digital Age

As I've mentioned a few times on the blog, Wacky Packages were the first things I collected, and the checklists were what got me hooked on wanting to complee sets, which continues to be my collecting focus 40+ years later.

By putting checklists on the back of each puzzle piece, Topps was able to tempt me into buying more packs because I wanted to see what the other titles looked like and add them to my collection. Filling out the checklist, and getting those last few stickers to complete the set became an obsession. Each pack that yielded a sticker or two to fill in one of those checklist boxes was a thrill to open.

As it turns out, there was one Wacky series from the original run in the mid-70's that I never saw - the elusive 16th Series, which is the series listed on the above checklist.  The Series has a 1976 copyright, but apparently wasn't released until 1977, by which time the Wacky fad had run its course and died down.

 

New York Magazine on Wacky Packs Fad (October 1973)

Many collectors originally thought that Wackys ended with the 15th Series as the 16th Series was not widely distributed, which makes the 16th Series quite a challenge to collect today.

It wasn't until many of the titles from the 16th Series appeared in the 4 series of reissue sets from 1979 - 1980 that reprinted a number of the original Wackys that many collectors found out that the 15th Series had not been the last one once they started seeing a number of what appeared to be new stickers, but actually turned out to be reprints from a series most weren't familiar with..

After finally filling in the gaps I was missing in my collection of the 1st through 15th Series, I decided to start tackling the 16th Series, which is the Wacky equivalent to something like the 1967 Topps Baseball High Numbers.  This has been a quest that has been going on for a number of years.  Its not that the stickers are impossible to find, its just hard trying to find them at a price I am willing to pay.

Since part of my childhood memories are the fun of marking off the Wacky checklist when acquiring new stickers (not simply deleting something off a wantlist like I do now), I decided it would be fun to mark off the checklist to keep visual track of my progress, just like back in the day.

The issue is that these checklists aren't cheap. To give an idea of what checklists go for, this set of 9 checklists for a complete puzzle is currently listed on ebay for $499, or a little over $50 per card:

 

Since there was no way I was going to ruin one of my checklists, I came up with a solution using Microsoft Paint.

I took a scan of one of my unmarked checklists, and when I am able to add a new sticker to the collection, I simply pull up the scan, and fill in the box.  Its also very handy to have the picture of the checklist to keep track of the titles I am still looking for.

As I just picked up one of the stickers I've been looking for, its time to mark off another sticker!

Now that I've got Sign-X, I can mark another box off on the digital checklist while still keeping my actual checklist unmarked.

Its not quite the same as it would have been in 1977 marking off the physical checklist, but doing so digitally gets pretty close.  Its fun seeing the empty boxes slowly disappear.  Only 7 more to go!

Fleer Stickers That Never Were - USFL Edition

I came across a great item on Pinterest where someone designed USFL helmets in the style of the 1977 - 1980 Fleer Team Action stickers:

I also like that the creator (Gumball) uses the Fleer logo for their name.  Very nice touch.

I never saw a USFL game in person, but do remember watching some of them on TV.  Since I was not born when the AFL formed, and too young to remember the WFL, it was exciting to see the start of a new league.   Its a shame the league wasn't able to survive.

If you haven't seen the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL", I'd highly recommend you check it out.  Its a great look back at the league.

Celebrating 10 Years and 1,000,000 Page Views!

I'd been meaning to post this last month, but ended up being very busy during the holidays.  I wanted to announce that December marked the 10 year anniversary of The Fleer Sticker Project!

Another exciting milestone for the blog occurred in December as well when the blog passed the 1 million page view mark.

I would have never imagined that when I made my first post back on December 12, 2007 that 10 years later the blog would still be going, and that it would have been viewed as much as it has.

My posting frequency has decreased significantly since the first few years where I was focused on trying to cover all of the different Fleer releases and the many variations from the early 1960s to the early 1990s

  

 

 

 

as well as the many different oddball sets from the late 1960's through the 1980's:

 

 

 

  

Although I've covered just about every Fleer set that I had planned on reviewing, I still post occasionally when I come across something I find interesting that I would like to share.

Its been very rewarding to hear from people who have questions about things I've covered, and from people who have contacted me with additional information to share.  Putting together a resource of information on these Fleer items that for the most part fall outside of the standard baseball card catalogs was my goal in starting the blog, so it is very satisfying when I hear from others who say that the blog has helped them with their collection.

I'd like to say Thank You to everyone who has checked out the blog, and especially to those folks who have left comments and who have shared scans and information for me to post.   Thanks for helping me keep this going for 10 years!  Its great to know there are other collectors who also enjoy collecting Fleer decals/patches/stickers/cards/stamps, etc, as well as other items featuring team logos.

2016 Topps Baseball Wacky Packages Promo Stickers

I was just looking at ebay to see the 2016 Topps Baseball cards that have just been released, and discovered that Topps is including promo stickers for an upcoming Wacky Packages set devoted completely to baseball.

Here is a look at the 6 promo stickers available in 2016 Topps Baseball packs:

According to the back, the Baseball Wacky Packages series will be going on sale in March:

Here is a look at the Cubs sticker which is not one of the promos

And here is a link to the flyer.


What a great idea combining two of my favorite collectibles - Wackys and Baseball.  I can't wait for these to come out next month!

1968 Topps Test Cloth Football Patches Wax Box

Recently an item came up for auction that I thought I'd never see - a 1968 Topps Test Real Cloth Football  Patches wax box:

Up until now, the only picture of the box I had seen was the proof sheet that had been offered for sale by the Topps Vault, which I included in my review of the set back in 2010.

Given how scarce this test issue was, I didn't think I would ever see a wax box, so I was very pleased to see the seller posted a number of pictures of the box:

This is one of my favorite Topps test sets, with the colorful team patches and the oversized team cards,

but unfortunately it was done on such a limited basis that the cards and patches are very hard to find, and therefore very expensive.

To give collectors a chance to put together a modern version of this set, I think it would be a great idea for Topps to incorporate this set into next years Archives Football release.  Just as they did this year honoring the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments (my other favorite test set) in this year's Baseball Archives set,

they could make the team cards box toppers (as they are the same size as the Greatest Moments), and include the cloth team patches a an insert set.  Are you listenting Topps?

1988 Fleer NFL Team Action Football Sticker Red Strip Variations

Since my original post on the 1988 Fleer NFL Team Action Football Stickers a few years ago, a few more sticker variations from the set have been discovered. 

The 1988 stickers have the team name on the top which has a completely white background.  However, a few teams can be found where there is a red strip across the top.  While at first it may appear that this is just the result of a miscut sticker, if you take a closer look, you can see that the more common solid white top has a larger white space compared to the sticker with the red strip:

With the help of fellow Fleer collector Albert who has passed along information on some of the variations he has come across, it now appears that there are 12 stickers which can be found with the red strip at the top.

Both Colts variations (with the team name in small letters / large letters) have the red strip

and there are 2 different versions of the Seahawks sticker - one with the Peel arrows in black as normal, and another where the Peel arrows are almost while (as it appears the black did not print).   Here is a closer look at the Seahawks variations:

While this might just be a printing flaw, I am listing is as a variation as I've come across multiple versions of both stickers, which leads me to believe the Seahawks sticker with the red strip was likely double printed on the sheet, and one of the stickers had the normal Peel arrow, and the other sticker had the white variation.   I guess we'll have to wait until an uncut sheet surfaces to confirm.

If anyone is aware of any other stickers from this set having the red strip at the top, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

1981 Fleer Baseball Stickers 4 Pack

I recently received a picture of an item I'd never seen before - a 4 pack of 1981 Fleer Baseball Stickers:

I don't think I've ever seen a rak pack from Fleer or any other card manufacturer that offered 4 packs together.  Based on the generic header card, it looks like Fleer may have used this configuration for other items as well.

Thanks to Joe for passing along this interesting packaging variation!