25th Anniversary - 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken Error Card!

CW · #1 01-02-2014, 06:33 PM

I was not into collecting cards when this card was released and in its prime, so my first knowledge of the card was when I got back into collecting in '98. I think all the variations (which I learned about on your site years ago, Jon) would be a cool "run" to collect.

I did get a chuckle out of this Billy Ripken costume posted across the street in this thread.

MBMiller25 · #2 01-02-2014, 09:03 PM

A little Ripken FF story......

My wife is from CA an took two of my three kids out to spend a long weekend with her parents last September. I decided that I would buy a bunch of junk wax for my 8 year old son and I to rip one night while his mom, brother and sister were in CA. So I picked up 10 different wax boxes of cards, one of which was a 89 Fleer box. So as we sat around and drank root beer floats together, he got into the 89 Fleer box and started ripping packs. I tell him who to keep an eye out for when he rips, and I told him: Griffey, Randy Johnson and Bill Ripken. So as he keeps ripping, he yells that he thinks he's found the Ripken guy. Low and behold it's the FF card. I had never pulled that card in all the 89 I had ripped over the years and my son Jake does. I sent the card to PSA to grade and it came back a 10! It's certainly a card I will never part with for the memories alone.

Incidentally, another box ripped through the course of that night was a 87 Leaf box for $15. He pulled two Maddux RC's from that box. The first had a crease through it, the second looked decent to me. It came back a 10 as well.

Good memories indeed!

ALR-bishop · #3 01-03-2014, 02:09 PM

This one says "Ass H_le"

Some Topps Cartoon guy stuck this one in...no pun intended

And this is one of my favorites

jp1216 · #4 01-03-2014, 05:35 PM

Thanks for the replies!
Love the stories. Keep them coming!
The Paul Gibson is great. I remember looking through about 10 - 3200ct boxes looking for the corrected version in 1990. Had more of the errors. If anyone has other 'Adult' error cards to add to my website - let me know!

7nohitter · #5 01-03-2014, 06:42 PM

Paul Gibson...hated that guy...I used to watch games and see him come in and think, "Christ, I could crank one off that geek."
Guys like him: Tom Bolton, Joe Hesketh, Tony Fossas....the guys who when you turn a game on you think, "maybe I should have stuck with baseball beyond high school..."

Beatles Guy · #6 01-03-2014, 10:00 PM

I went to a card show shortly after the "error" was discovered and decided to pick up a couple of packs. The first pack I opened, boom, there it was. The dealer offered me $100 on the spot but I declined (hard to do for a 15 year old). I ended up trading it a year later for a friend's entire collection. I picked one up a couple of years ago for $5 at my LCS for old time's sake.

David W · #7 01-04-2014, 03:38 PM

The thing I remember most about the FF card, was all the variations and the debate over which was rarer.

In the pre internet days, it seemed as if no one really knew.

You'd go to a card show and guys would have different versions of it, all priced at crazy prices.

It was definitely hot for a while.

Oil Can Dan · #8 09-01-2014, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp1216

Thanks for the replies!
Love the stories. Keep them coming!
The Paul Gibson is great. I remember looking through about 10 - 3200ct boxes looking for the corrected version in 1990. Had more of the errors. If anyone has other 'Adult' error cards to add to my website - let me know!

I have a FF story. I bought a box of '89 Fleer the day my local card shop (AJ's Sports Stop in Vienna, VA) got them in. Took them home, ripped the box, and returned to the store later that day. The owner, Jim, was talking about how he had heard that the Billy Ripken had FF on the knob. I left the store, went home to see if I had scored it, and BOOM - I had! I took it back to the shop to show Jim, and at that point another customer was in the store and his wife worked for USA Today. He asked me if he could take the card home to see if his wife/USA Today would be interested in a story on it. Jim vouched for the guy and so I let him take it, and it appeared in the paper a day or two later.

jp1216 · #9 09-02-2014, 05:45 AM

jp1216 · #10 12-25-2014, 07:44 PM

Final post for the 25th Anniversary of this card! Billy's 50th birthday too.
Thanks to everyone that has posted, emailed, provided information and shared cards this year. Long live the FF.
<Holiday Tri-Color FF version>
BILLRIPKEN.COM

novakjr · #11 01-05-2014, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

This one says "Ass H_le"

Some Topps Cartoon guy stuck this one in...no pun intended

And this is one of my favorites

One other bat writing homage, is the 1999 Travis Hafner minor league cards. The writing on his bat handle says "Chicks did the long ball"... They used the same photo for two of his cards that year.

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