Fleer 1970 World Series set

[Mesquite]

I collected these world series cards as a kid, and have most of the 66 card set except for 5 of them. At the time, there weren't many ways for a kid around 10 years old to learn about the past world series' so the paragraphs on the back of each one were educational.

Some photos below. They are in mediocre condition since they were frequently handled, so they aren't worth much. The misalignment on some of them is pretty bad too (not just left to right, top to bottom, but even tilted in some cases).

Anyway, I just thought I'd share them in case you've not seen them before. I don't suppose it's something serious collectors collect, since they are more of a light-hearted "schoolhouse rock" type of theme.

But I also wanted to ask about these clear sheets they are stored in. They're beginning to yellow (I put them in these clear sheets in 1991), but it doesn't seem to be affecting the cards. Is it a bad idea to use these clear sheets for long term storage?

Thanks for looking.

[swarmee]

Actually, I think your cards are in really nice condition for their age. You can probably complete your set pretty easily on eBay or COMC if you want. Or you can post a WTB (want to buy) ad in the Buy/Sell/Trade section of the board.

The initial 9-card pages were probably not acid free, so I would move your cards to acid free pages or Card Saver 2 sleeves.

[JollyElm]

You nailed it about reading the paragraphs on the back. Taught us all about the old days of baseball. Love those cards!!!

[chris6net]

Nice cards brings back memories for me as a kid collecting them

[mrmopar]

The Fleer/Laughlin cards are actually quite popular and many collect them. i enjoy them and gathered up a nice variety before they started getting harder to get. I see set breaks on ebay a lot, but finding complete sets can be challenging and/or expensive.

One set I really liked/wanted and eluded me in my younger collecting days that fits that category is the Diamond Jubilee sets. I see singles often, and higher per card prices than most similar sets, but the sets are either tucked away or dried up. If a set were for sale, it would almost certainly be more than I'd want to pay.

I collected the 80s version of the WS cards that were on the back of Fleer stickers. Similar designs, but not as cool, but then again I wasn't able to be buying 1970 Fleer at age 1!!

[ALR-bishop]

I have this set and the related set from 1971 that was updated through 1978. The 70 set with blue ink backs was 66 cards. The 71 set has backs with black ink and initially had 68 cards, but was updated through 1977, maybe through pack inserts in subsequent issues, or maybe with leftover inventory of other WS cards. The 71 set ended up with 75 cards and the subsequent 71 through 75 series cards can be pricey

Most people are familiar with the Fleer baseball sets from 1959 through 1963, but Fleer put out many baseball issues from 1964 through 1980. Since they involve mostly stickers, emblems and pennants, and cards involving prior era players ( there is though a Don Drysdale puzzle card set), they have had less hobby appeal and notice

If you type in a internet search for "the fleer sticker blog project" you will find a great site which covers all the many Fleer baseball and football issues from the 60s, 70s and early 80s. While a few of the sets appear in the SCD Standard Catalog, most do not. The World Series sets are included in the site and there are illustrations and scans of all the sets listed and discussed, including a discussion of the packaging and distribution of these issues in packs. Link below

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEV...NLGyIkXexfTpk-

[laughlinfan]

The 1970 set was Bob's second of 6 world series sets that he was involved in issuing. 1967 B&W set, 1970 Fleer, 1971 Fleer, 1974 B&W second printing, 1978 Fleer/Good Humor, and finally the 1980 Fleer Sticker Back set. All of Bob's sets have really generated more interest in the past 10 years or so. The 1967 B&W sets are pretty tough to come by nowadays, and as Al mentions, the 1971-1977 WS cards included in the 1978 set have gotten very pricey as folks have realized how scarce they are, and the Clemente card generates lots of interest due to both the scarcity and the number of Clemente fans/collectors.

I have done lots of research on Bob's issues, but I am still looking for anyone who can point me to a 1978 Fleer/Good Humor pack. From everything I have been able to determine, they were only sold for a short period of time through Good Humor trucks in the tri-state area (NY/NJ/PA) in the summer of 1978.

Always happy to discuss any of Bob's issues or help answer any questions!

Happy collecting!

[packs]

Here's mine. It's signed by Larry Doyle and Smokey Joe Wood:

[Mesquite]

Thanks for the info and links. Most of you guys have probably seen these articles before, but just in case, here are a couple articles on the Fleer WS cards:

http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.co...d_series_cards

http://www.vintagecardtraders.org/vi...r/78fleer.html

laughlinfan: the author of the second article mentions that in 1978 he bought the Fleer WS cards from the local Good Humor man. Maybe you've already contacted him, but I thought I'd post the link in case you haven't.

The first article mentions the Kellog's 3D cards that were available inside Kellog's cereals. That brought back some memories, and I have several of those from (I think) 1970,71, and 72, including a few football. I don't know how a kid could have possibly assembled the whole set of 75 (a kid can only eat so many bowls of corn flakes per month!), but the author mentions that you could buy the full sets from Kellogs by mail. I sure don't remember that.

While looking up the 70 Fleer WS cards on e-bay I noticed that if you instead search for 1968 Fleer World Series you get more hits. I guess the sellers mistake the copyright info for the card date. Some sellers bundle the cards in groups of 5 or so, and seem to mix and match the 70 and 71 cards as if they were from the same year.

If anyone is interested, an ebay seller called aalop1 has 108 of the 1967 Laughlin black & white world series prototype cards as buy-it-now.

[rats60]

I collected the 1970 and 1971 sets when they came out. I never knew about the update cards. Those would be nice to add to the 71 set. It's a shame that they didn't make more of those. The sticker set seems to be readily available, but to me the write ups on the back about each series is what drew me to them.

[ALR-bishop]

One more link

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEV...NwgG07xbvU5RU-

[laughlinfan]

Here is another link from the Fleer Sticker Project - this one specifically about the 1978 set. I believe the Troy that is mentioned in the article posts on Net54 from time to time - the ad that Troy shared confirmed what I had heard anecdotally from others regarding the Good Humor man distribution.

http://fleersticker.blogspot.com/201...s-mystery.html

I enjoyed these cards when they were originally issued when I was a kid, and I was flipping through a stack of them about 20 years ago at a card show looking to upgrade a few commons, I think, when all of a sudden the Clemente showed up in the stack. I was really stunned - I knew the set was issued in 1971. How could this card be? Then I saw a few cards in the stack for the years after that. Trying to piece together the history (pre-internet for a while!) has made the Clemente card one of my personal favorites. I am always on the lookout for cards from the 1978 set, and I would estimate that they show up about once or twice a year, out of the hundreds of eBay listings for Fleer WS cards. They are tough!

Just fyi on the B&W prototypes that are up on the Bay right now - I think prototype is a misnomer, as Bob made these to sell as sets in both 1967 and in 1974. The "only 300 sets produced" is not really correct, either. He did only make about 300 of the 1967 set, but the second printing, in 1974 was probably done in the 1000-2000 set range. I am guessing the singles that are for sale are from the 1974 issue, but couldn't verify that unless he showed pictures of the backs.

I did try to contact Mike Austin, from the article that was posted, but I don't believe I ever got a response. The quest for a 1978 pack or wrapper (or a picture of either) continues!

[laughlinfan]

By the way, packs, love that signed 1912 WS card. I used to send some of these out for autos in the late 70s - I will have to dig out the ones I have to share.

[ALR-bishop]

[laughlinfan]

Nice packs, Al! The 1970 and 1971 packs used to show up more regularly, but have seemed to dry up in the last 5 or 6 years. Am guessing the cloth patches wrapper and pack would also be from about 1970 and 1971, based on the teams shown and the price.

I have wondered whether perhaps the 1978 packs were sold with a 1970 or 1971 wrapper, but I would think that the 10 cent price tag wouldn't have been viable in 1978. I do see wax wrapper residue on some of my 1978 cards, so clearly they were sold in wax packs. There is lots of unopened material from the late 70s, so seems like someone would have hung onto a box or a pack, but then again, the Good Humor man was probably an unusual vehicle for sales, and it must have been a very short run.

[yankeeno7]

I have to get working on my sets again.

My personal favorite Laughlin set is the 1980 Famous Feats because it was a Christmas gift as a child. At one time, I had the #1 set on the PSA registry. I eventually broke it up and pieced it out. Im really happy with my mint raw set and my original set from when I was a kid.

[ALR-bishop]

Barry -- I have that one too. I have to admit that I grew up a Topps collector in the 50s and 60s and pretty much shunned the Fleer stuff from the 60s and 70s. But I eventually did the 63 set, then the 59 set, then the 60-61 set, and from there have tried to assemble all their sets of any kind from 59 to 2007. My only pre war set build has been the 1923 Fleer set

[laughlinfan]

Found some of my autographed World Series cards - still remember the joy as a kid seeing one of my SASEs sitting in my mailbox and wondering who was kind enough to sign my card and send it back!

[ALR-bishop]

Marty-- I have spent some time this week trying to reorganize my Fleer sets by year with associated packs and wrappers. It is complicated because Fleer issued and reissued some sets over multiple years and often packaged several issues together. The Fleer sticker blog is a big help but conflicts some with info I have from Mike Mossier and Barry (isakur), both who are great resources as well.

SCD's checklists are really lacking, but in the 2011 Catalog, which is for the most part limited to post 1980 issues, they checklist a 1983 Fleer Laughlin set that I am unaware of. I am aware of the 1986 set, but SCD's lists both an 83 and 86 set with different checklists. Do you have an 86 set ?

[laughlinfan]

Hi Al! Are both sets yellow and black sticker backed versions of the Great Feats set? I think they may have issued them in packs and also in factory or traded sets - I thought this was only done for one year (1986 seems about right), but maybe that was in multiple years? Are the subjects listed in the sets completely different? Not sure why Fleer thought a drab yellow subset version of a nice colorful set they had previously issued was a good idea - to be honest, I've always resented this set a little bit!

[ALR-bishop]

I have a 72 Fleer Laughlin color Famous Feats set of 40. Then I have two 1980 Famous Feats sets, one a B&Y Fleer /Laughlin product of 22 with logo backs and one a color Laughlin only set of 40 that is blank backed. I also have a 1986 Fleer Laughlin set of 22 with logo backs

But SCD ( 2011 CATALOG) lists a 1983 Fleer Laughlin set of 40 ( 2 1/2" x 4"), the checklist for which is the same as the 72 set. I am guessing maybe the 72 set is just incorrectly labeled as a 1983 set

[laughlinfan]

Hi Al! A little confusing to say the least! I will share what I think is the history of all of the Great Feats sets, and a scan of each.

In 1971, Bob started working on a Great Feats set to be used by Fleer as the “bottom boards” (as Fleer called them) for the 1972 sticker set. At some point, Fleer got spooked off by the 1971 Topps Great Moments set, and canceled the planned 1972 set. Bob created a very small print run of the smaller sized Great Feats cards, and issued the set himself. This set consisted of 40 players and 1 header card. He redesigned the cards, added 10 more, and issued the larger red set later in 1972 (50 plus a header). Apparently, they were able to work out the legal concerns and Fleer issued their 40 card Famous Feats set in 1973 (even though it has a 1972 copyright date on the back) and used many of the same subjects that Bob had used in his independently sold set – I am guessing a few players did not come to terms, so a few new players had to be added to the Fleer set. Bob did a third issue of his Great Feats set in 1975 – the blue and flesh tones version – again containing 50 subjects and a header card. In the 1980/1981 time frame, Bob issued the “second series” of Famous Feats totaling 40 cards. These were sold in sets, or could later be purchased in 4 series of 10 cards at toy stores (like Toys-R-Us). Then, in the early to mid-eighties, the 22 card sticker back version was issued by Fleer as an insert (as opposed to gum) in some packs and with update/factory sets, I believe. Al, you mention that you can see a difference between some of these cards that would push them into two separate years – I am guessing that there is something on the sticker side that would indicate that the years are different? Again, I haven’t looked too closely at the yellow version – I have a set and a bunch of singles (somewhere in the great abyss), but have not looked at the stickers to see if I can distinguish a year. Hope this helps!

[toppcat]

Oh those Laughlin/Fleer sets are an unruly bunch to untangle!

[laughlinfan]

Got that right, Dave! The fun of trying to track down history on a one man operation! Other than his short lived newsletter and the occasional article, there is not a ton of first hand info out there. Looking forward to the scans you have sent to the Fleer Sticker blog to see if I can glean any additional nuggets of info!

[laughlinfan]

Found a couple of other interesting Laughlin items related to the 1970 set. One is the large promo "card" that Bob produced for his WS set in the early 70s - an 8 1/2 x 11 version of the 1905 card. The other is a copy of the line art of the 1953 WS card given to Carl Erskine.

[Exhibitman]

Perhaps I am brain-deader than normal today but I am confused: which set is this from?



Also, I love seeing threads devoted to the oddball and offbeat Laughlin and Fleer issues. I used to pick them up as a kid and have gotten into them again over the last few years.

[ALR-bishop]

Adam--I think that is from the 1972/73 Fleer issued set

[Troy Kirk]

Here is a little Laughlin booklet that he sent out in 1975 advertising his sets.

[ALR-bishop]

Neat item Troy

[laughlinfan]

A fellow collector shared scans of his 1975 catalog with me a few years back, and it was from late in 1975. On his version, Bob had crossed out the T-shirts, and had stated that the MVP set was not available/delayed. I am guessing the T-Shirts either didn't sell well, or he ran into licensing issues. The MVP set was probably designed before Topps issued their 1975 MVP subset in the 1975 card set. I've never seen a card or original art from that set, but I would really like to!