Friday Five: Top 5 1980s Fleer Sets

We have worn the Durham Bulls and Cardinals out during the past few months, so I am going to go back to the whole baseball card thing for awhile.  You know, I started this blog as a baseball card blog, but wander off to food and Wes Anderson movies.  Back to my roots for the next few months on my weekly Friday Five posts.  This week I am focused on the 1980s Fleer products.  After carefully looking through all the Fleer sets produced in the 1980s, including Update sets, I have picked out the best of the best based on design, cool base set cards, and important rookies cards.

Sets are in numerical order by year.  Cue the music....

1982 Fleer 

This was the second Fleer set issued in the 1980s behind the error filled 1981 set.  The design was really simple with the white border, colored band, and player information in that oval thing at the bottom center of the card.  If you flip through the base set there are lots of good early eighties players in here: Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, Reggie Jackson, etc.  The Brad Mills card is actually my favorite card out of the base set.  The set is really made by the most important rookie card in the product.

Not the best of the Cal Ripken rookie cards, but there are not really any bad ones.  Easily the best card in this set and the only reason that this set makes this list.  Hate to play you that way Brad Mills, but it's true.  If you do not own this set it worth it for the Ripken card alone.   If you own the Ripken card, but not the rest of the rest...Well, there's Brad Mills.  

1983 Fleer 

This was the first year that I collected cards and my first pack of baseball cards.  My first card was a Jim Smith.  The base set is pretty similar to the 1982 set in terms of photography, but the design of the card was changed up a bit.  The grey bordered cards were a little something different at the time and I still cannot recall many sets with just a grey border outside of this and the 1970 Topps.  Seriously, nothing too cool about most of the base set, but there were three pretty important rookie cards in this product......

All Hall of Famers.  My favorite of the group is the Sandberg card.  Love that blue pinstriped Cubs uniform.  This set is really affordable considering that it has three Hall of Fame rookie cards.  The cost of buying the whole set is not going to be too much more than buying three nice copies of the important rookie cards in the set.   

1984 Fleer Update

The only Update set on my list and one of the absolute best sets of the 1980s.  The cards are actually somewhat difficult to find and the set has two monster rookie in it.  My favorite card in the base set is the Pete Rose Expos card.  The all-time hits leader was briefly on the Expos during the 1984 season in between his stint with the Phillies and second go around with the Reds.  The two best cards belong to Roger Clemens and Kirby Puckett.  

Both players are in the Hall of Fame and these are their only 1984 issued cards.  Both have several rookie cards in 1985 products that are also considered rookie issues, but these are the top of the food pyramid as far as 1980s rookie cards in Fleer products.  Yes, I would put these two above the Ripken rookie card.  Finding this set is much more of a challenge than the other sets on my list and will cost considerably more money. 

1987 Fleer

The 1987 Fleer set should only be bought if you want some rookie cards of some pretty good baseball players.  There is Will Clark, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds, and Rafael Palmeiro.  The rest of the 1987 Fleer set is rather boring.  The blue card design is pretty cool, but again it all comes down to the big rookie cards in this set.  

I am not going to get in too deep on the whole steroids thing right now, but there is a lot of Hall of Fame caliber talent in this set given how cheap it is on sites like Ebay.  If you can track down a copy the Tiffany version of this set looks really nice and rarely costs more than $30 and comes in a nice tin.  The high gloss finish is well worth the extra money.  

1989 Fleer

If I had to pick out just one base set from the 1980s Fleer products this would be it.  The design leaves a little bit to be desired, but in my opinion it offers one of the best base cards of the decade and an underrated rookie card too.  The Ripken card is one of the more iconic modern baseball cards for all the wrong reasons.  This is the unedited version of the card, but some of the edits are rare and extremely pricey.  The two rookie cards worth owning.......

The Griffey rookie card is nice and is underrated in someways, but the real prize here is the Randy Johnson rookie card which is underrated in almost everyday imaginable.  Similar to the Ripken card there are different variations of the Johnson card because of a Marlboro cigarette sign over his right shoulder.  Some cards the sign is visible, others it is blocked out by different colored boxes.  Like most things 1980s Fleer the Johnson card is not too expensive and is not too difficult to track down either.  

My Top 50 On Cardboard- #23 Kirby Puckett

My Top 50 On Cardboard
#23
Kirby Puckett

1985 Topps Kirby Puckett RC

Kirby Puckett was one of the great players of my childhood.  He was an enemy of sorts in 1987 for me when the Twins defeated my Cardinals in the World Series, but he never got to the point of being the Mets or Cubs.  I think I really first started to like Puckett during the 1991 World Series.  Unfortunately, Puckett's career only lasted a few years beyond that ending in 1995 after he was diagnosed with Glaucoma.  Puckett still managed to win a pair of World Series rings and be elected to the Hall of Fame despite only playing twelve seasons.  

Hobby Impact-

Puckett had a huge impact in the hobby starting with his rookie card in the 1984 Fleer Update set.  The set is one of the iconic sets of the 80s and features, not only Puckett's rookie card, but also the rookie card of pitcher Roger Clemens.  The Clemens gets most of the attention, but the Puckett card is just as important in my opinion.  

1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett RC

 

Raw copies of the 1984 Fleer Update Puckett rookie card can usually be had for $35 to $40 on Ebay, but the price can be steep for high graded copies.  Puckett's impact in the baseball card hobby extended far beyond his rookie card though.  Kirby was a staple in baseball card throughout his playing career and usually had pretty cool cards.  He's one of my favorite 80s and 90s players to flip through and just look at the pictures on the cards.

Common cards of Puckett are dirt cheap since he was an 80s player.  His relics and autographs are a little bit different.  Since Puckett only played twelve years, and is a Hall of Famer, there is a slight premium with his relics at times.  I have never really found a bargin Puckett relic and have often found the most common of common ones still often push five or six bucks with shipping.  Minimum.  Relics from premium sets are downright pricey.

Of course, like his playing career ended a little too early, Kirby died in 2006 at the age of 45.  He was not a huge signer, so his autograph prices have remained really high over the last two decades since he retired.  Outside of his awesome Fleer rookie card that is one of his greatest current impacts on the hobby.  If you are looking for a challenging autograph to track down for your collection Kirby Puckett might be for you. 

I managed to track down one of the few certified Puckett autographs out there for my collection a few years back.  The vast majority of Puckett autographs are Upper Deck or Donruss autographs.  There are a few sticker autographs floating around, but it's not too difficult to find a few on-card autographs around at a slight premium.  I picked my autograph up from the Upper Deck Retro set.  

While the Retro set is not the best Puckett autograph in the world, I am just happy to say that I have one in my collection.  Again, fun card project for 80s baseball card fans.

On The Field Impact-
Puckett's value on the field is hard to judge because he did not play for very long.  He only had 2,300 hits and 200 home runs when he retired from baseball in 1995, but he called it quits at only the age of 35 because of health concerns.  Clearly if Puckett had played another 4 or 5 years and extended his career closer to the age of 40, he would have reached 3000 hits and approached 300 home runs.  Both extremely good numbers for a center fielder.

Puckett also won a batting title in 1989, but posted a batting average over .300 in every Major League season except for two.  Four times he posted the high hit total in the American League.  Puckett also posted more than 400 career doubles.  So, while Puckett's career picture still looks good, even with the shortened career, it looks even better when he look at some other statistics that are not cumulative. 

While Puckett's career WAR is about 20 points lower than the average Hall of Fame center fielder (50 WAR for Puckett vs 70 WAR average for HOF center fielder), his 7 year peak WAR as measured by the JAWS rating system has Puckett rated at 37 compared to 44 for the average.  The numbers are slightly below average, but I can handle a big Hall of Famer, and Puckett certainly belongs.

Outside of the big numbers, one of the first seasons I really enjoyed watching Puckett play was the 1991 postseason.  Puckett's overall postseason numbers were not great, and he did not take home any hardware, but he had a pretty impact on helping the Twins capture the team's, and Puckett's, second World Series ring.

While many people remember the Puckett home run that ended Game 6 of that World Series I always liked the potentially game saving catch that Puckett made on Ron Gant better:

Great catch!

Favorite Card-
So many good Puckett cards to choose from.  I already picked two of his rookies, so I will go with his 1993 Topps giant bat card.  Posted is the Topps Gold Variation. 

30 Year Top 50: 1984 Fleer Update

#11-After yesterday's Hall of Fame shutout this post might be opening a fresh scab for some, but it's just the day I happened to land on this set.  The 1984 Fleer Update set is considered by many to be one of the two best update sets of all-time along with the 1982 Topps Traded set.  However, I did not collect cards in 1982, so that set is not apart of my countdown.  In fact, this set was Fleer's first attempt to create an update set.  While it is exactly the same as the 1984 Fleer base set in terms of design, the set hit two home runs on its player selection.

1984 Fleer Update Pete Rose 

The 1984 Fleer Update set is the home to the first Kirby Puckett and Roger Clemens rookie cards.  I know we, as a hobby, have confusion over what is a rookie card, an XRC, and what other labels a certain Dallas-based magazine has floated out there throughout the years.  Both cards were the first issue of both player and are treated that way by collectors.  While I do own this set, I actually prefer the Pete Rose Expos card over both the Clemens and Puckett cards.  Nothing against Clemens or Puckett, but I've always thought it was cool to see Charlie Hustle wearing the Expos uniform.  I am sure that the Pete Rose Expos cards should get a cult following like the Piazza Marlins cards.  

1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens

Now, I am not here to debate the steroid issue in baseball.  Just talking about the cards.  The Clemens rookie card is the most important card in this set and is treated like his true rookie card by collectors.  Despite the controversy surrounding the former pitcher, this card still frequently sells for over $100 both raw and graded copies.  Graded copies with high grades can still approach $500.   This card is also one of the most forged cards out on the market, so beware of who and where you pick up a copy of this card.  While the card is still over $100, at the height of its popularity it frequently crossed $200 all the way up to $250.  It just hasn't fallen as far as other controversial players like Mark McGwire in terms of card value.  

1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett 

The Kirby Puckett card is the token Hall of Fame card on this blog post.  Raw copies of the Puckett rookie card can be found for around $75 to $80 with graded copies crossing into the hundreds of dollars.  A high graded copy of this card might fetch more than $250 to $200.  Besides having a nice Kirby Puckett autograph, this is a must have for any Puckett collector.  

30 Year Top 50: 1985 Topps

#23-If I had done a countdown of great sets a decade ago this et would have probably been in the top 5.  At worst the top 10.  No set was helped more by the steroid era in baseball and no set was hurt more by the steroid era than the 1985 Topps set.  Sure, I have always loved the design of the cards and think that, style wise, it's one of the better efforts that Topps made during the eighties.  However, this sets fate has really rested with three key rookie cards.

1985 Topps Mark McGwire 

The most important of the big 3 is the Mark McGwire rookie card, which appeared as part of the 1984 Olympic Baseball Team subset.  The card was always pretty popular and grew after McGwire set the rookie home run record in 1987.  The height of the 1985 McGwire rookie came during the home run chase of 1998.  That summer collectors went crazy for this card.  I rarely take the sales option with card shops, trades are always better, but actually ended up selling two copies to one store outside of St. Louis so they would have inventory.  It was the closet to "book" that I've ever been offered on a card by a dealer.  A week later my sales price was much closer to the 50%-60% that shops and dealers traditionally offer.  

1985 Topps Roger Clemens 

The Clemens card was also a pretty popular card shortly after its release.  Clemens shined early in his career for the Red Sox and helped them to the 1986 World Series.  By the mid 90s, Clemens began to fizzle a bit when his career was magically rejuvenated with the Blue Jays and Yankees.  For awhile, the Clemens card was riding the coat tails of the McGwire rookie card.  After all, there is a better Clemens rookie out there for collectors to chase.  By the end of Clemens Yankees years he had crossed 300 wins and 3000 strikeouts, Hall of Fame benchmarks for a pitcher, and his rookie card was a stand alone in the set.  

1985 Topps Kirby Puckett

This has always been my favorite Kirby Puckett rookie card.  I love the old powder blue Twins uniforms with the red TC hats.  Classic and distinctly 80s.  Puckett would go on to win a pair of World Series titles with the Twins and a batting title or two.  He retired early because of an eye injury and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.  Puckett died at the age of 45 in 2006.  His card is the least valuable of the big three rookies, but it's value has always remained pretty steady and his legacy as a Hall of Fame player has never been in question.  

McGwire and Clemens would get caught up in the cloud of steroids and their standing as Hall of Famers has been called into question.  Both of their cards from this set are both highly sought after and popular cards, but lack the same value the both once possessed.  

Like the 1985 Topps set?  Not in my Top 50 countdown is the 1984 Topps.  I considered putting this set in the Top 50 for style and design, but it lacks a quality star rookie card.  I have always loved the block writing down the side of the card showing the team name, different colors for each team, and the two pictures on the card.  I have always thought of this set as the square eighties version of the 1963 Topps set.  I already gave this set a little love last spring.   

1984 Topps Don Mattingly

The best rookie cards in the set belong to Darryl Strawberry and Don Mattingly.  Mattingly is the most popular card of the two.  It's an easy card to find and inexpensive to purchase.  I was never a huge fan of Mattingly, the player version.  He was often injured and did play well when he was healthy, but I believe that longevity should be a part of voters considerations when electing players into the Hall of Fame.  My 2 cents.  

1984 Topps Andy Van Slyke

Similar to the 1985 Topps set, the 84 version, had plenty of great 80s players wearing great polyester uniforms.  My Cardinals are wearing a lot of powder blue uniforms, like this Andy Slyke.  I normally plug going out and buying the set at the end of my posts.  However, for something different, I am going to recommend you pick up a wax box of the 84 Topps.  They can be found for less than $50 and can be a blast to open.  Think about it this way: Instead of buying that box of high end Topps product, buy or trade for a couple of cool singles, take your savings and sink it into a box of these awesome cards.  Just don't chew the gum.  

30 Year Top 50: 1998 Upper Deck Retro

#29- Today, the countdown continues with a trendsetting set of the late 90s.  Several card companies had dabbled with bringing Hall of Famers from the 50s, 60s, and 70s to modern cardboard, but this set kicked off something special that would allow modern collectors access to cards of the previous generations stars.  Before I start breaking down the set I just wanted to mention the packaging.  The boxes for these cards were old school metal lunch boxes.  In my several moves since 1998, I do not have mine anymore, but I encourage you to look around and find one.  Really cool.

1998 Upper Deck Retro Al Kaline

Upper Deck always had some good photography and decent designs with their cards.  The Upper Deck Retro set isn't the flashiest or shiniest designed card set they've assembled, but I like the basic design given the premise of this set being a "retro" set.  The photographs are not all up to the usual Upper Deck standards.  For example, I have always hated the Lou Brock card in this set.  Upper Deck has made hundreds of Lou Brock cards with a decent photo.  Why is he in a celebrity softball game or something with a goofy white hat?  

1998 Upper Deck Retro Lou Brock

The set also has some cool inserts and great autographs.  The autographs are all on card, but are condition sensitive.  Similar to the Upper Deck Sweet Spot autographs, the Retro autographs have a slight tendency to fade.  I own two autographs from this set and unfortunately both are on there way downhill.  The first, Nolan Ryan, isn't bad since I can find other autographed cards.

1998 Upper Deck Retro Nolan Ryan Autograph

More unfortunate is the condition of my second autograph from the set which belongs to Kirby Puckett.  Puckett was not a huge signer and has few autographs out on the secondary market.  He also passed away in 2006 after being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  

1998 Upper Deck Retro Kirby Puckett Autograph

Most Puckett autographs from this set have some degree of fading which is quite sad.  Beyond the Ryan and Puckett there are actually a lot of great autographs in this card set.  Many of the autographs can be found in other products, but the condition sensitivity makes them a great collecting challenge.  

Like the 1998 Upper Deck Retro Set?  Not in my Top 50 is the 2001 Upper Deck 70s set.  This set is filled with big hair and polyester.  The base cards have a similar simple design like the Upper Deck Retro set, but photography might be a little bit better.  There are also fewer autographs, but these are still great cards worth looking into for your collection.  

2001 Upper Deck 70s Andre Dawson

I was thinking of putting a Bellbottoms insert card in this space, but I am going to go with this Disco Dandies set.  The inserts are one of the coolest parts of the Upper Deck 70s set and can all be found generally for under five dollars.  

2001 Upper Deck 70s Disco Era Dandies Tom Seaver

There are autographs in this set, but the list is short and the relics checklist is much longer.  There are some cool relics out there though.  

2001 Upper Deck 70s Eddie Murray Bat 

30 Year Top 50: 1987 Donruss

#31- I will have the 1987 calendar year of major baseball card releases covered after this post.  The year was great for rookie cards which I always think ultimately drive a set's significance over time.  Other factors such as innovation, style, and design can also factor in, but the 1987 Donruss set lacks all of those factors.  The 1987 Donruss set offers many of the usual suspects of rookie cards from that year including Barry Larkin, Palmeiro, Will Clark, Wally Joyner, and Barry Bonds.

1987 Donruss Barry Bonds

Many of those other same players also appear in the Fleer and Topps releases, but I think that this set has two major advantages over the other releases.  First, this set was the of the last dark bordered sets produced by a major card company before the arrival of Upper Deck in 1989.  Upper Deck forced the other card companies to elevate the quality by changing their card stock and cutting methods.  The cards looked great, but it also eliminated some of the imperfections collectors would run into with older sets.  Especially older sets with darker borders.  The second reason:

1987 Donruss Greg Maddux

The inclusion of a Greg Maddux rookie.  Maddux also appeared in the 1987 Topps Update release, but this card is frequently considered the Gold Standard for his rookie cards.  Maddux is a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer, but he can fly under the radar at times with his baseball cards.  This card isn't a hard find and raw copies of the card will only cost collectors a few dollars, but finding one with a high PSA grade will cost you over $50.  

Like the 1987 Donruss Set?  Not in my Top 50 countdown is the 1985 Donruss set.  Similar to the 1987 set, the 85 release is filled with important rookies and also features a dark border that can be condition sensitive.  Finding raw copies of the set and singles is not difficult and generally is inexpensive.  

1985 Donruss Eric Davis

The Eric Davis cars above is one of his three rookie cards released in 1985, however the stars of the 1985 Donruss set are Roger Clemens and Kirby Puckett.  The Clemens card is the better of the two cards, but has been set back in recent years due to the linkage of his career to the use of steroids.  

1985 Donruss Roger Clemens

The other important rookie card is the Kirby Puckett rookie.  Puckett had his career cut short due to injuries and glaucoma, but was still elected to the Hall of Fame.  This is my least favorite of his rookies, but still proudly own a few copies.  

1985 Donruss Kirby Puckett