A Look at SCD Coverage of Fleer's 1977 - 1979 Grand Slam Hi-Gloss Stickers From The Troy Files

Fleer Sticker Project contributor Troy sent me copies of reviews that were done in Sports Collectors Digest (SCD) back in the late 1970s for each of the 3 Fleer Hi-Gloss Grand Slam Sticker sets that were released in 1977, 1978, and 1979:


Lets take a look at each year's SCD review (click on the article to see a larger view):

1977

1977 was the first year Fleer issued glossy baseball stickers after their 8 year run of cloth patches. As the article explains, there were border color variations for each team's logo sticker, with some teams having 3 border color variations of white, blue and yellow:

and other teams having a variation of white and pink:


Each team also had a cap monogram / team name sticker (except for the expansion Blue Jays and Mariners):


The article indicates there are 95 different stickers counting the border variations, which is the same conclusion I came to when I previously reviewed this set a few years ago, so I'm glad to see that we both agree on that figure.

The one bit of new information contained in this article is that packs contained 5 glossy stickers AND "1 of the cloth-type baseball patches originally issued with the 1975 Fleer Pioneers of Baseball set". I've never opened a pack of 1977 stickers, so I was not aware that cloth patches were apparently being included with the glossy stickers as well. There is no mention of cloth patches on the wrapper or the box, so this is the first I've heard of this.

1978

The 1978 review indicates that the cap monogram / team name stickers had been added for the Mariners and Blue Jays


which therefore increased the total set size including all border variations to 97, which again matches what I had calculated when I previously reviewed the 1978 set.

The article also mentions the fact that there is a World Series puzzle on the back of the stickers this year which has been indicated on the fronts of many of the stickers as well (the 1978 sticker with the mention of the puzzle is on the top compared to the 1977 sticker below it):


Here is look at the completed puzzle:


As the article points out, its not easy putting together the puzzle as it requires 66 different backs.

The article lists all the changes that were made to the stickers from 1977 to 1978, and also mentions that there were 2 wrapper variations - one with AL teams and another with NL teams:



The thing I find interesting about the article is the last sentence on the first page where the writer is willing to offer up a set of nearly all the variations for 2 1977 Burger King Lou Piniella cards:

This was a very hot card back in the late 70's as it was originally not included in the 1977 Burger King Yankees set. Legend has it George Steinbrenner was not happy Lou was left out of the set, so cards were made towards the end of the promotion so he could be included, but they ended up being in much shorter supply than the rest of the team.

For the full story, check out Dave's excellent article about the card at The Topps Archives.

1979

The 1979 stickers are nearly identical to their 1978 counterparts, with a few exceptions:

The writer for the 1979 review really takes puzzle back variations seriously! You have to remember that back in 1979 there was only the regular Topps set to collect, so collectors had lots of time on their hands to ponder things like how many different puzzle back variations there were for each sticker since they weren't trying to keep up with new releases every week or two.

As the writer points out, with the 1978 puzzle being 66 cards, the uncut 1978 sheet would consist of 2 puzzles on the back which would take care of the entire 132 card sheet, meaning each sticker could only have 2 back variations.

Since the 1979 puzzle was reduced to 30 cards, a 132 card sheet could hold 4 puzzles plus 12 additional cards. Here is a look at a section of a full sheet where the full puzzle has been cut out as a partial sheet


along with the corresponding stickers on the front:

Since the puzzle was repeated 4 times on the back of the sheet, most puzzle pieces can be found with 4 different stickers on the front, with a few having 6 different stickers (for those 12 additional puzzle pieces).

I really enjoy collecting Fleer variations, but I've had to draw the line at puzzle back variations. I find them interesting in terms of trying to better understand how the uncut sheets were arranged, but I've avoided trying to complete full master sets with all possible puzzle back variations as it was enough of a challenge just to try to get all the colored border variations. As the writer of this article says, he's ready for a padded cell after trying to figure out all the various sticker / puzzle back variations.

To wrap up 1979, here is the pack and the box for the stickers:



Many thanks to Troy for another great set of articles that give a sense of what collectors were thinking about these sets when they were initially released.

Busting 41 Year Old Wax ! - Opening a Pack of 1969 Fleer Pennants & Stamps

I recently picked up an unopened pack of 1969 Fleer Pennants & Stamps:



Based on the article we recently reviewed from The Troy Files from the July 1969 issue of Ballcard Collector :


this pack should contain "a sheet of stickers (3 x 9 1/2") perforated with about 10 diff. team emblems on it...Also in each pack is a card measuring 2 1/4 x 4" with a baseball team quiz and a team emblem (in color)".

Thanks to Fleer collector and expert Barry I was able to acquire a pack which I decided would be much more fun to open than keep unopened (and always wonder what was to found inside).

Here is what I found when I opened the pack:


The gum had not stayed in one piece for all of its 41 years, as a few pieces were stuck to the inside of the wrapper


while most of the rest of the gum was stuck to the stamp sheet:


Since the sheet has a glue backing for the stamps, its not surprising that most of the gum ended up being stuck to the stamp sheet.

Unfolding the sheet, I discovered I had gotten a Pirates pennant, along with a number of other team logos, including the classic Astros logo and an Orioles cap (click on the picture for a larger image):


With a little work, I was able to get the gum off the back of the sheet, and fortunately the sheet didn't suffer too much paper damage:

There was a quiz card in the pack, which confirms that the 1969 quiz cards had 3 questions, and had the smaller logo (relative to the 1971 cards which also have 3 cards, but have a logo that extends all the way out to the edges of the border):

I'm very pleased with this pack as I'd gotten a sheet that I had not seen a picture of before, got a Twins quiz card that was an upgrade from the miscut one that I had in my collection, and also got a nice clean copy of the wrapper:


Thanks for the pack Barry!

1st Issue of Bob Laughlin's Inside Pitch from The Troy Files

Fleer Sticker Project contributor Troy sent one final item related to Bob (R G) Laughlin - Bob's initial issue of his hobby newsletter called "Inside Pitch" from September 1975 (click on the pictures to see a larger version of the newsletter):


I am very glad Troy sent me this copy of the newsletter as it provides confirmation of which year each Fleer baseball card set was released. Since Fleer did not put dates on their cards that came with their annual cloth patch releases, there has been some confusion as to what year certain sets date from.

While Bob's World Series sets from 1970 and 1971 are dated correctly, some of the other sets are not, either in the price guides or consequently by the grading services. Based on Bob's comments in this article however, we can confirm the following dates for each of these sets that Bob produced for Fleer:

1970: Fleer World Series


1971: Fleer World Series


1972: No Fleer set using Bob's work. They issued Quiz cards instead.


As we saw in the previous post, in 1972 Bob produced a set called Great Feats of Baseball that he released on his own

since Fleer decided not to release it based on Topps releasing its Greatest Moments test set in late 1971.

1973: Fleer Famous Feats


This set is often misidentified as being from 1972 in price guides and through grading services as seen with this graded card:


1974: Fleer Wildest Days and Plays

This set is also misidentified in price guides and by grading services as being from 1973:


Just for good measure, here is an ad from Bob in the May 1974 issue of The Trader Speaks advertising his new set for 1974, confirming in fact that the Wildest Days and Plays is from 1974 and that the 1973 set was the Famous Feats set:


1975: Fleer Pioneers of Baseball


1976: Fleer Baseball Firsts

The price guides and the grading services incorrectly identify this set as being from 1974


when in fact we have the confirmation from the artist himself that the set was going to be released in 1976, along with Fleer's directives on how the set should be laid out.

Its interesting that Fleer referred to these cards as "bottom boards" in their letter to Bob. I think that gives some insight as to why the cards were never mentioned on the packs or the boxes of Fleer's annual cloth patch sticker sets from 1969 through 1976 (the 1970/1971 World Series cards were separate sets from the cloth patch releases).

The one exception is the 1976 Baseball Patches box where a picture of one of the cards is shown (see the top left corner):


The cards were included in the packs to give the pack some solid backing since a pack just containing cloth stickers and gum would be somewhat flimsy. So it seems like Fleer thought of these as much as kind of a backing board as they did them being a collectible card set.

The other interesting information from the article is how Bob describes the mood at Fleer at this time in their history. Fleer has just filed its antitrust lawsuit against Topps earlier in the year.

According to this court document:

"Fleer's president, Donald Peck, met with Joel Shorin on April 17, 1975, and threatened suit unless Topps granted Fleer the rights to sell player pictures on stickers, stamps, and decals. Shorin refused and Fleer approached the MLBPA about joining in its suit against Topps. The Association declined and Fleer filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania naming the MLBPA as a co-conspirator with Topps in a suit for violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act."

Bob indicates that Fleer is "super-sensitive and doesn't even want to list, on the copy side of the cards, any active players (who are under card contracts to Topps)." As Bob points out, it would not seem that just mentioning a player's name when listing statistical information on the back of a card would be a reason for litigation, but the Fleer director told him "Topps is just looking for a way to get back at us."

It would take 5 years, but ultimately Fleer would be successful in their case against Topps, which allowed them to finally get back into the baseball card business in 1981. Stay tuned for the next installment of The Troy Files as we take a look at how the hobby publications covered some of Fleer's releases during that time that Fleer was battling Topps in court during the late 1970's.

As always, thanks to Troy for another great item from his files!

How the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments Set Foiled Fleer's Plans from The Troy Files

How did the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments test set cause problems for Fleer back in late 1971 / early 1972?


Thanks to The Troy Files, we've got the scoop from an interview done with Bob (R.G.) Laughlin that appeared in Baseball Card Collector in December 1971 (click on the article to see a larger view) :


According to a letter from Bob Laughlin dated September 8, 1971 to the author of the article, he was working with Fleer on a "set of great baseball feats over the years....unless some other hitch occurs", but in a follow up phone conversation, the author says "Topps has run a test set of 'baseball Greats' using actual photographs this fall. This may mean no Fleer's set for '72 as mentioned in his letter."

The test set being referred to is the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments set which featured 55 cards of current players which featured a small color head shot and a larger B&W action photo on the front (with the same black borders as the regular 1971 set)

and a headline on the back from the team's local newspaper describing the player's achievement:

Here is a look at the entire sheet in uncut proof sheet form:

This is a very attractive set, and one that is a challenge to collect as 1) its a test issue and 2)the cards on the sheet on the right are much harder to find than the cards on the left. The cards on the left sheet are double prints, and are the cards more commonly found.

Going back to the interview, there are some great insights provided by Bob about the situation at Fleer at the time.

- For the Fleer 1970 World Series set, Bob had to make changes to artwork from his original B&W set to remove any active players since Topps had them all under contract. That explains why this card


became this card

- For ex-players depicted in Bob's B&W set, Bob couldn't use them either unless he got their agreement, but Fleer would not pay them anything, so as Bob says, "It was rough" trying to get anyone's approval to appear in the set.

- He indicates only 300 B&W World Series sets were produced, as we had seen him mention in his ads a few years later

- Bob says that he had submitted "about a dozen ideas to Fleer, but they only do what they want to."

- One of the ideas Bob suggested was a Hall of Fame set, but since half of the players in the set were still alive, "the thought of paying these guys anything was too much for Fleer."

- According to Bob, "Its like pulling teeth working with Fleer." He also describes Fleer as being "too timid" and that they "operate at a 1908 pace". Bob certainly wasn't pulling any punches which is interesting because he was still under contract with them at the time as the article concludes with the comment that Bob's contract was going to run out with Fleer at the end of 1971 and he wasn't sure if he was going to renew it.

While I don't have any documentation showing whether or not Bob let his contract run out with Fleer at the end of 1971, Fleer did not issue any sets with Bob's work in 1972.

In the meantime, for 1972, Fleer once again issued Quiz Cards with their cloth patch stickers:

The set that Bob had been working on for Fleer did come out in 1972, but Fleer did not release it. Instead, it looks like Bob printed it on his own according to this ad:

In the ad, Bob mentions the issue with Fleer deciding not to proceed with the set because of the Topps Greatest Moments set.

The cards can be found in two different variations:

1) With a red border and the player depicted in black and white:


2) With a blue border and flesh tones:


So thanks to the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments set, Fleer passed on Bob's set which forced Bob to print it himself, and left Fleer recycling the quiz card concept for a fourth straight year (albeit in a different design).

Even though Fleer decided against using Bob's set in 1972, in 1973 Fleer teamed up with Bob on the Famous Feats set that was included with their annual cloth patches set. Note that the same artwork was used for the Hack Wilson card, so I'm assuming that some other of these 1973 cards probably use the same artwork as well:

I'm guessing Fleer probably decided by 1973 that Bob's set really wasn't competing against the Topps set since 1) the Topps set had used current players and Bob was using retired players, and 2) the Topps set had not been distributed nationally, so Fleer decided to go with a very similar set to Bob's 1972 set in 1973.

In the next installment of The Troy Files, we'll get an update from Bob Laughlin to see how the situation between Fleer and Topps was faring a few years later. Thanks as always to Troy for this wonderful material.