1963 Fleer Set

[1963Topps Set]

I know this is a short set at 66 cards plus checklist. Does anyone else love this set? Has anyone else completed it? I just wish Topps had left Fleer alone, I would of loved to have seen this set run it's full course.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

I know this is a short set at 66 cards plus checklist. Does anyone else love this set? Has anyone else completed it? I just wish Topps had left Fleer alone, I would of loved to have seen this set run it's full course.

I completed it maybe ten years ago and then eventually sold it off when my focus changed. Not one of my favorites but not one of my east favorites either. Centering is a major problem IIRC.

[Mark70Z]

I like the front card design and also most of the photo's chosen for the set. The backs are a bit plane jane, but not bad. I don't really collect sets, but the Brooks Robinson Fleer card is one of my favorites.

I'm with you; I would have liked to have seen what would come next for Fleer.

[Paul S]

I always liked them -- nice clean look and design. I'm not a set collector but I did pick up about 10 of them "along the way".

[Griffins]

I always loved this set.Completed it years ago in PSA 8/9 but sold it in a purge.
Held onto a pack, box and panel

[ALR-bishop]

Topps did not halt this set. It was stopped short by poor sales. Gum trumped cookies . It is a great set. I have the set and an unopened cookie. :-)

[grainsley]

The cookies tasted awful. But I remember the anticipation of "the next series" and how much I wanted Frank Robinson on a card with that design. For some reason I never got the Clemente back then, so just completed the set some five years ago. In a rare fit of intelligence, I didn't mark up the Checklist like I did with many other sets.

What's the story on the panel? Sales sample or something?

[ALR-bishop]

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[Griffins]

Originally Posted by grainsley

What's the story on the panel? Sales sample or something?

Nope, just a 3 card strip, normally printed back. The only salesman samples for Fleer that I've been able to track down is for the '59 set. There are tons of '60 strips out there and lots of '61 panels but I've never seen any salesman samples, and I've gone thru 30 years of auction catalogs.

[JollyElm]

1963Fleer2.jpg

I made a sweet deal on this checklist in nice shape last year and have an extra Adcock SP to trade. (On a side note, in the 'old' days of posting on-line, listing this card was always blocked because of the semi-bawdiness of his last name. Flags would always go up!!)

Still need the Clemente, Wills and Gibson, unfortunately.

[1963Topps Set]

I completed the set on November 16, 2013 when I added Bob Gibson to the collection. I was very reluctant to go for this set because of it's small size, and the cards can be pricy. But it is my birth year, and I do like the cards design so I finally took the plunge.

[the 'stache]

I really like the cards from the set that I have seen, and will probably build the set eventually. Like the 1953 Bowman set, it's smaller in size, and it's different.

I love the Clemente and Brooks Robinson cards.

[GasHouseGang]

I'm bringing back an old thread because this was always a favorite set of mine, and I had some information and a question. Around 30 years ago, I traded for some of the stars in the set. Nothing unusual about that, except the fellow I traded with had an envelope with several different cards (stars only), that he said were given out to little league teams in town back when these cards came out. I have no reason to doubt the story, and he did have a large group of star cards that look like vending cards in a large envelope. Anyone else heard such a story related to the 1963 Fleers?

[JollyElm]

Was the envelope an 'official' envelope of some sort from Fleer or was it just an envelope that anyone could buy in a store? That seems like the heart of the matter here. If it's the latter, a coach could've simply bought a ton of cards and divvied them up to give out to his players. My little league coach gave us Mets players (Topps cards) back in the day. That's what this reminds me of.

[ALR-bishop]

Data I saw from an FTC complaint proceeding against Topps indicated Fleer's sales of the 63 set were so poor they likely scuttled a plan for a second series. It could be they were giving out samples to generate interest.

Topps used to give out some cards trough boy scout troops in the early 60s along with elect your favorite rookie forms. And I have a few envelopes from Topps that we're used to send out send away promotions. They are pretty plain with had written designations of contents

But I have no personal knowledge if Fleer did anything similar

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Was the envelope an 'official' envelope of some sort from Fleer or was it just an envelope that anyone could buy in a store? That seems like the heart of the matter here. If it's the latter, a coach could've simply bought a ton of cards and divvied them up to give out to his players. My little league coach gave us Mets players (Topps cards) back in the day. That's what this reminds me of.

As I recall, it was an envelope with the little league's return address on it. Of course it was a long time ago, so I can't say for sure. I still really feel they were samples from Fleer. He only had star cards. If the cards were from opened packs there would have been a mix of players (I would have liked to have seen a checklist!). There were like 10 cards each of Gibson, Yaz, Clemente, Koufax, etc. I was hoping someone might know if Fleer had a program to promote the set by giving out samples this way.