Overrated / Underrated / Favorite / Least Favorite (OUFLF)

[Exhibitman]

Yeah, the wood grain sets don't do it for me at all. 1955 B, 1962 T, even 1987 T, none of them. If they never do that style again I won't miss it.

[ALR-bishop]

The appeal of the 62s extends far into the future

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0ge...j3NMDzGroMPdY-

[AustinMike]

Overrated: 1952/1953 Topps.
I don't care for the art look. Give me photos.

Underrated: 1963 Fleer.
Nice design. I wish they would have had the opportunity to issue a complete set before the bully jumped in.

Favorite: 1961, 1962, & 1963 Post.
These are the cards I collected as a kid. Went to the commissary with my mom to pick out cereal boxes based on the cards I needed. Of the three years, the '63 have my favorite design.

Least Favorite: See Overrated.

[ALR-bishop]

Topps did not enjoin the Fleer 63 effort. There are several FTC proceedings in that period that discuss Fleer's complaint's about Topps' anti competitive behavior. Topps mostly prevailed. There are also sales figures in them indicating the Fleer 63 set did not sell well. A second series was originally planned and dropped.

The Topps contracts with players were exclusive only as to marketing the player's image with gum and confections, hence the Leaf 1960 marbles and Fleer 1963 cookies. It appears when it came to horrible gum or tasteless cookies, the market picked gum

I agree with you Mike that the 63 Fleer set is a very nice set, but like the great Bowman 1953 Color set which was also truncated, it was not a market success at the time

[AustinMike]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Topps did not enjoin the Fleer 63 effort. There are several FTC proceedings in that period that discuss Fleer's complaint's about Topps' anti competitive behavior. Topps mostly prevailed. There are also sales figures in them indicating the Fleer 63 set did not sell well. A second series was originally planned and dropped.

The Topps contracts with players were exclusive only as to marketing the player's image with gum and confections, hence the Leaf 1960 marbles and Fleer 1963 cookies. It appears when it came to horrible gum or tasteless cookies, the market picked gum

I agree with you Mike that the 63 Fleer set is a very nice set, but like the great Bowman 1953 Color set which was also truncated, it was not a market success at the time

Everything I've seen written about the Fleer/Topps issue says Topps forced Fleer to stop. Here's an example:

https://waxpackgods.com/1963-fleer-baseball-cards/

Not having seen the actual legal papers (and not being a lawyer I probably wouldn't be able to translate it to human , sorry lawyers, I couldn't resist), I've always gone by second hand accounts. I did a quick search for something on it (hence the link above) and came up with squat regarding the 1963 case. I did find a legal document regarding the later suit that Fleer won and which paved the way to the '81 Fleer and Donruss sets.

Oh well, another myth shattered?

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Yeah, the wood grain sets don't do it for me at all. 1955 B, 1962 T, even 1987 T, none of them. If they never do that style again I won't miss it.

Interestingly, I do like the '55 Bowmans though! I like the style of the pics and can deal with the wood grain in the style of a TV. I also like the backs of those cards. I like the ones with the stories a lot.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by jgannon

Interestingly, I do like the '55 Bowmans though! I like the style of the pics and can deal with the wood grain in the style of a TV. I also like the backs of those cards. I like the ones with the stories a lot.

If you take away the wood grain on the 62's and just look at the photography there are some really great images in that set.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

If you take away the wood grain on the 62's and just look at the photography there are some really great images in that set.

Good point.