Complete Fleer Baseball Sets from 1959-61 and 1963

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/5/2013

When Fleer decided to move into the baseball card business in 1959, it began a fascinating run of four unique baseball issues in five years that didn’t exactly upend the Topps monopoly but did serve to create what would be highly popular hobby collectibles. Offered here are those four sets, presented in high-grade condition, presenting a rare opportunity to pick up all four in a highly uniform and consistent condition. Fleer stuck its big toe into the business by signing up the game’s elder statesman, Ted Williams, to a five-year exclusive contract that kept the Splendid Splinter from appearing in the regular-issue Topps sets during the final two years of his career. In 1959, Fleer honored Williams with the 80-card “Life of Ted Williams” issue, produced in the conventional 2 1/2-by-3 1/2-inch size, with colorized black-and-white photos seemingly plucked from Williams’ family album. Long an important issue in the hobby, the set is offered here in predominantly Excellent to Ex-Mt condition. The key card in the issue – “Ted Signs for 1959” – is here in a PSA Authentic holder, determined as being trimmed. The breakdown: Nr-Mt (8): 6, 9, 16, 18, 20, 31, 48 and 66; Ex-Mt (29): 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 53, 55 o/c, 56, 57, 62, 65, 71, 76 and 78; Excellent (18): 3, 5, 14, 27, 36, 38, 40 o/c, 41, 43, 51, 54, 59, 60, 63 - PSA 5, 72, 73, 77, and 80 – PSA 5; Very Good (20): 2, 7, 12, 17, 21, 23, 26, 33, 34, 37, 39, 52, 58, 61, 64, 67, 69, 70, 74 and 79: Good (3): 1, 19 and 35; Poor: 75. In 1960, Fleer opted to create a Baseball Greats issue (79) featuring mostly Hall of Famers or great stars from earlier eras, again in the traditional size. The only “modern” player included in the lineup was Williams, who as noted was under an exclusive contract that would take him past his retirement after the 1960 season. This is a blazing array, easily Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt (84 percent), with a nice presentation and spectacular colors. The breakdown: Nr-Mint (26): 4 o/c, 9 o/c, 10, 11 o/c, 12 o/c, 13, 14 o/c, 16 o/c, 19, 23 o/c, 25 o/c, 27, 29, 31, 36, 37, 40, 44 o/c, 47, 48, 52, 55 o/c, 61, 65, 69, 72 Williams – PSA 7; Ex-Mt (40): 1 – PSA 6 Ex-Mt, 2, 3 Ruth – PSA 6, 6 Johnson o/c, 7, 8, 17, 18 o/c, 21, 22 o/c, 24, 26, 30, 32 o/c, 33 o/c, 34, 35, 38, 39 o/c, 41, 42 Cobb – PSA 6, 43, 45, 46, 50, 56, 57 o/c, 58, 60, 62, 63, 64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 76 and 78; Excellent (7): 5, 15, 20, 49, 51, 59 and 79; Very Good (2): 54 and 77; Good: 28 Gehrig; Fair (3) – 53 Foxx, 67 and 75. The next year Fleer continued the same Baseball Greats concept, nearly doubling the size to a two-series, 154-card issue. It is offered here once again in high-grade condition, presenting in an overwhelming Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt condition, though some condition oddities provide a lower technical grade. Eight key cards are in PSA Authentic holders, having been designated thusly for failing to reach minimum size requirement – no determination of having been trimmed. About three dozen cards – technically graded as Fair – actually present in the same Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt fashion as the rest, but earn the lower grade because of minor extraneous ballpoint writing on the backs, often listing a position and team. The breakdown: Near-Mint (75): 4, 5, 6, 13, 15, 18, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28 Foxx, 29, 30, 34, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 49 Johnson, 50, 55, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 66, 68, 70, 73, 76 o/c, 77, 82, 84, 85, 87, 89 m/c, 92 o/c, 94, 96, 101, 103 o/c, 105, 106 o/c, 107 o/c, 109 o/c, 110 o/c, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119 o/c, 120, 121 o/c, 122, 123, 124 o/c, 125 o/c, 126, 129, 133, 134 o/c, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 143, 144, 147, 148 and 149 m/c; Ex-Mt (28): 20, 32, 33, 35, 39, 48, 53, 54, 59 Mathewson, 65, 69, 74, 90, 91 o/c, 93, 97 o/c, 98 o/c, 99 o/c, 100, 102, 111, 114, 118 o/c, 127, 130, 132, 138, 141 and 142; Excellent (4): 104 o/c, 128, 141 and 146; Very Good (2): 145 and 151; Good (2): 95 and 131; Fair (35): 2 Alexander, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25, 26, 37, 44, 45, 46, 47, 51, 52, 58, 63, 64, 67, 71, 72, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 86, 88 and 108; PSA Authentic (8): 1 Checklist, 14 Cobb, 31 Gehrig, 75 Ruth, 150 Wagner, 152 Ted Williams, 153 Cy Young and 154. The last of the four elements in this lot is Fleer’s 1963 issue, which featured current players and was intended to the first of several series before legal action by Topps shut it down that summer. The cards are highly attractive and popular, in same 2 ½-by-3 ½-inch size. The set (67) offered here is stunning in its high-grade uniformity – virtually Nr-Mt in its entirety, with a half-dozen third-party graded and slabbed keys attesting to the strength of the overall presentation. Other than centering concerns (noted below), the set would be deemed unimprovable, a simply remarkably pristine example of perhaps the most important non-Topps issue of the decade. The breakdown: 1 o/c, 2, 3 o/c, 4 o/c, 5 Mays – PSA 8 o/c, 7, 8 Yastrzemski – PSA 8 Nr-Mt to Mt, 9, 10 o/c, 11 o/c, 12 o/c, 13 o/c, 14 o/c, 15, 16 o/c, 17 o/c, 18 o/c, 19, 20, 21, 22 o/c, 23 o/c, 24 o/c, 25 o/c, 26 o/c, 27 o/c, 28 o/c, 29 o/c, 30 o/c, 31 o/c, 32 o/c, 33 o/c, 34 o/c, 35 o/c, 36 o/c, 37 o/c, 38 o/c, 39, 40 o/c, 41 o/c, 42 Koufax – PSA 7 o/c, 43 Wills o/c, 44 o/c, 45 o/c, 47 o/c, 48 o/c, 49 o/c, 50, 51, 52 o/c, 53 o/c, 54 o/c, 55 o/c, 56 Clemente – PSA 7, 57 o/c, 58 o/c, 59 o/c, 60 o/c, 61 Gibson – PSA 7, 62, 63 o/c, 64 o/c, 65 o/c, 66 o/c, and Checklist – PSA 7 o/c; Ex-Mt (2): 6 o/c and 46 o/c.