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Favorite Fleer base set? 1981-1995

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mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
I reminded myself last night of a set that I rarely think about, but was one that was hard enough to find at the time and one that I think has the best and cleanest design for the company. If I had to pick a favorite set from Fleer, excluding their smaller and/or specialty sets pre 1981, 1984 would be the winner for me.

If you can eliminate the player selection as a reason for favoring a set (it always seems to come down to the best rookie cards, of course), then what Fleer set would be your top pick? My thought process here is that you like the set for the quality, design, photography and even the types of cards (for example, special subset cards), but not using player selection to rule in or out a set because a favorite player or future HOF rookie card was or was not included.

For the purpose of this question, the traded sets do not count either. 84 Fleer traded is arguably one of the best traded sets made in the 80s across all companies, simply due to it's original scarcity and the right couple of rookie cards that make it one of the most valuable still to this day.

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bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
I remember when 95 hit and they did a different design for each division I think it was, it blew my mind that the design wasn't the same for each card. I also pulled my first and only "hot pack" from 95 Fleer. Not sure it's my favorite based solely on design but it probably gives me the best memories
 

gt2590

Super Moderator
Aug 17, 2008
38,658
3,246
Near Philly
Best design was 1987.

But the photos, like a lot of early Fleer sets, was pretty lame. Boring portraits, usually taken at the Vet for NL teams.

Although as a kid, those All-Star cards, with multiple players, usually duos, were great to me...
 

zyceoa

Active member
Sep 2, 2012
270
42
I also pick 1984 from a design standpoint. It's up there with 1984 Donruss, 1989 Upper Deck, and 1991 Topps from that time period.
 
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Austin

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
5,706
41
Dallas, Texas
I loved Fleer, and the ‘82 through ‘90 sets are very nostalgic for me.
My favorite design is the ‘87 set with the beautiful blue borders fading into white and the pictures that rise above the border. I still love looking at that gorgeous set in the binder and have fond memories of building it as a kid.

My favorite ‘87 Fleer cards are Cory Snyder, with the ball above the border while Snyder smiles and waits to catch it, the Andre Dawson, with him swinging his bat right in your face and the AL Pitcher’s Nightmare card showing Jose Canseco, Jim Rice and Kirby Puckett making goofy faces like someone just made a bad joke.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
I have to say it because everyone, I mean EVERONE, seems to hate the set, but I really like the 91 Fleer set. The yellow border is unique to say the least and this set had a lot of good action shots, which is what I like. They look great signed as well. 1991 is my favorite 90s Fleer set.
 

banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,540
883
Lafayette, Colorado
You're just trolling us :)

I have to say it because everyone, I mean EVERONE, seems to hate the set, but I really like the 91 Fleer set. The yellow border is unique to say the least and this set had a lot of good action shots, which is what I like. They look great signed as well. 1991 is my favorite 90s Fleer set.
 

Brewer Andy

Active member
Aug 10, 2008
9,634
21
I have to say it because everyone, I mean EVERONE, seems to hate the set, but I really like the 91 Fleer set. The yellow border is unique to say the least and this set had a lot of good action shots, which is what I like. They look great signed as well. 1991 is my favorite 90s Fleer set.

I won’t push back too much. ‘91 might be my third favorite. Always been a fan of yellow highlighters. No joke. I think it’s a great set too.


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
I don't know why the yellow bothers people so much, as the reds, blues and greens of other 90s sets are no better. It was a clean, uncluttered design, although I would have loved to see Fleer use the Starting Line Up design and it would have been even better.

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banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,540
883
Lafayette, Colorado
OK they're not THAT bad. Not that good, but not that bad. I actually didn't mind them too much when they came out. I thought it was a little weird but that's about it.
 

Austin

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
5,706
41
Dallas, Texas
When 1991 Fleer came out, it was the only modern card with a design and type that I could accurately recreate on my word processor because it has straight lines.

So I made a lot of custom 1991 Fleer cards by making the border lines and names and the cutting pictures out of magazines. I made all different colored borders out of construction paper.

Even back then I thought the bright yellow was ugly and the design bland, but it was the only set I could accurately make. They're back at my parents' house or else I'd show them off.
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
I also like the 1991 Fleer set design, but I like the color yellow in general more than most people. The big detraction from that set, IMHO, is that so many pictures are nearly identical. I remember sorting out a box of it back in the day, and I was struck by how many cards are just shots of batters, head to toe, from the 1st baseline dugout. In my memory that was about 90% of the set. The other 10% is pitchers from the same spot, head-to-toe, throwing a pitch. Probably not really, but that's my lasting impression.

1994 is my favorite. I love the clean design with the logo and circle of foil-stamped name. Honorable mentions to 1984, 1987, 1989, 1992.
 
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