Anyone familiar with 2001 Fleer Showcase Sweet Sigs?

[Topnotchsy]

2001 Fleer Showcase Sweet Sigs came in three versions: Leather, Wall and Wood. None were game-used.

I recently bought two cards from the set (shown below.) The first one came in and I noticed it was a little small. I was concerned it might be trimmed, but figured I'd wait until the other came in to compare. Got that one today and it is even smaller than the first.

I was wondering whether anyone was familiar with the set and knew if the cards ran small?

I'd also love suggestions on what you might do in the situation. I actually have a sealed box from 2001 Showcase and was toying with the idea of opening it to be able to compare.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[GUCD231]

I had a Mays ball auto from the set and it seemed short on one side of the top.I never really noticed until I put it in a magnetic case.My OCD got the best of me and I sold it for that very reason.I do believe this is common with the set.

I would just leave it alone,trimming would only make the entire card smaller.Awesome cards btw.

P.S. I would rather purchase an Xavier Nady from the set on Ebay before busting the box for that reason.

 

[Tom Oates]

I think I have one of these cards at home. Giambi / Wall if memory serves. I'll compare it to normal card size if I can find it.

 

[SINFULONE]

Open the box!

 

[rebelpawn]

Just chekced my two Nomars...





They look pretty standard to me. IF there's any difference it's maybe a millimeter....

 

[SINFULONE]

Where was the wall taken from on the Garciaparra?

 

[mchenrycards]

Where was the wall taken from on the Garciaparra?

If I remember correctly all the "wall" cards from this set were from a section of the wall Fleer bought when Milwaukee's County Stadium was taken down. ALl the wall cards were blue and County Stadium had a blue outfield wall.

 

[Topnotchsy]

I had a Mays ball auto from the set and it seemed short on one side of the top.I never really noticed until I put it in a magnetic case.My OCD got the best of me and I sold it for that very reason.I do believe this is common with the set.

I would just leave it alone,trimming would only make the entire card smaller.Awesome cards btw.

P.S. I would rather purchase an Xavier Nady from the set on Ebay before busting the box for that reason.

I appreciate the info on the Mays, and that's a really good point on the Nady. Much cheaper that way lol.

What did you mean by the bolded line? Thanks

I think I have one of these cards at home. Giambi / Wall if memory serves. I'll compare it to normal card size if I can find it.

I appreciate it!

Open the box!

we'll see...

Just chekced my two Nomars...

They look pretty standard to me. IF there's any difference it's maybe a millimeter....

Good to know, thanks for checking!

Where was the wall taken from on the Garciaparra?

According to the cards they are not game-used. I am not sure whether they manufactured the wall pieces of if they got them from somewhere (as another poster mentioned). Baseballcardpedia indicates that they are not, although the wall may be something they got when a stadium was taken down. Most are blue which is a ridiculous choice with a black signature but some (like the Pujols above) are orange..

 

[SINFULONE]

If I remember correctly all the "wall" cards from this set were from a section of the wall Fleer bought when Milwaukee's County Stadium was taken down. ALl the wall cards were blue and County Stadium had a blue outfield wall.

Heh, that's funny Pujols has a wall card when he never even played at County Stadium, unless I am mistaken.No one can say Fleer wasn't creative there.

 

[Topnotchsy]

Heh, that's funny Pujols has a wall card when he never even played at County Stadium, unless I am mistaken.No one can say Fleer wasn't creative there.

I don't believe the company ever tried marketing them as game-used or the like so I don't really think it's a big deal. Also the wall piece on mine (above) is orange, not sure how that plays into it...

 

[SINFULONE]

I don't believe the company ever tried marketing them as game-used or the like so I don't really think it's a big deal. Also the wall piece on mine (above) is orange, not sure how that plays into it...

As odd as those cards are, at least the signature stands out of the orange piece, whereas I can't even read the Garciaparra on the black piece.I have to hand it to Fleer, those wall cards are far more unique than plain white jersey, and was likely way cheaper than buying game used jerseys.Unfortunately, I didn't buy cards then, would have loved ripping those boxes.

 

[Topnotchsy]

As odd as those cards are, at least the signature stands out of the orange piece, whereas I can't even read the Garciaparra on the black piece.I have to hand it to Fleer, those wall cards are far more unique than plain white jersey, and was likely way cheaper than buying game used jerseys.Unfortunately, I didn't buy cards then, would have loved ripping those boxes.

I agree. I like them a lot because the signatures are really large. They are also pretty rare (the "leather" one is /75 and the wall /80 I believe) though I've had enough issues with trimmed items recently (have another thread about that lol) that I want to make sure I'm not getting in to trouble with these...

 

[SINFULONE]

I agree. I like them a lot because the signatures are really large. They are also pretty rare (the "leather" one is /75 and the wall /80 I believe) though I've had enough issues with trimmed items recently (have another thread about that lol) that I want to make sure I'm not getting in to trouble with these...

You bought 2 Pujols autograph rookies that were trimmed?Do you remember County Stadium having an orange wall then?

 

[Topnotchsy]

You bought 2 Pujols autograph rookies that were trimmed?Do you remember County Stadium having an orange wall then?

I don't know anything about the County Stadium walls. I had never heard that the cards might be from an actual stadium so I'm not one to speak on that.

 

[mchenrycards]

I don't know anything about the County Stadium walls. I had never heard that the cards might be from an actual stadium so I'm not one to speak on that.

A simple Google search on "County Stadium wall Fleer" will provide a number of references to the piece of wall Fleer bought from the dismantled County Stadium for a number of it's card issues. Honestly, when I saw your photos of the Pujols autos I was concerned as I do not remember seeing any wall signatures with an orange background. I am not saying it didn't happen because, if I remember right, Fleer issued rookie autographs later in the year as a result of redemptions but the orange wall gave me some concern for authenticity.

 

[GUCD231]

You asked in your post if anyone had any suggestions on what to do.The Mays I had was miscut one side not evenly short,so trimming would have evened it out making the card smaller.My point was don't try what I was thinking if your card had the same issue.

 

[Topnotchsy]

A simple Google search on "County Stadium wall Fleer" will provide a number of references to the piece of wall Fleer bought from the dismantled County Stadium for a number of it's card issues. Honestly, when I saw your photos of the Pujols autos I was concerned as I do not remember seeing any wall signatures with an orange background. I am not saying it didn't happen because, if I remember right, Fleer issued rookie autographs later in the year as a result of redemptions but the orange wall gave me some concern for authenticity.

I had not seen that before although I'm still not 100% sure that that wall was used for the set since all indications I've seen is that this was not intended to be game-used so who knows...

I've seen numerous orange copies over the years. There was another recently:

 

[Topnotchsy]

Update: I decided to return the "Leather" version (white background). It is really a lot smaller than standard. Still deciding on the wall version. It's very slightly smaller so I have to give it more thought...

 

[SINFULONE]

Update: I decided to return the "Leather" version (white background). It is really a lot smaller than standard. Still deciding on the wall version. It's very slightly smaller so I have to give it more thought...

I'm glad you brought this up as these are cards I will probably steer clear of in the future when looking for Pujols rookies as the size would probably bug me too.For that very reason I can't stand mini cards.So the leather was from some random baseball?

So you are moving the box now?

 

[Topnotchsy]

I'm glad you brought this up as these are cards I will probably steer clear of in the future when looking for Pujols rookies as the size would probably bug me too.For that very reason I can't stand mini cards.So the leather was from some random baseball?

So you are moving the box now?

I'm not positive if this issue was standard in the set or if there were trimming or other issues. In general for 2001 Pujols cards I stick to graded cards. I'm hoping to learn a little more over time on these as I think they are pretty cool.

As far as the leather I don't even think it was from a baseball. I think it was just a piece of leather. They were cool looking cards and quite rare but not a look they felt worth making again and again.

On the box, I'd like to move it if I can strike a deal...