Do You Pre-War Guys Like '61 Fleer?

[mintacular]

Thanks for sharing.

[bbcard1]

They are ok...nothing great as far as the pics and a few real woofers and included...Seem a little expensive for what they are. Although they are black and white, I prefer NuCard Baseball scoops of the same year for my retro reto fix.

[HRBAKER]

Whether pre or post-war, not a fan of non-contemporary issued cards. Same reason sets like '41 Playball don't do much for me either.

[mintacular]

Interesting, contemporary is the key i guess. Thought they might be an affordable way to have some pre-war guys in the pc, plus i like white borders and the co. fleer

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Interesting, contemporary is the key i guess. Thought they might be an affordable way to have some pre-war guys in the pc, plus i like white borders and the co. fleer

They are an economical way to have some pre-war HOF cards. A lot of folks lke them. They do seem overpriced in high grades to me for what they really are.

[Leon]

I agree that most of the non-contemporary sets just don't do it for me.

[John V]

I was 10 years old when they were issued (do the math), and remember buying quite a few packs. At that age, it was my introduction to "vintage".
Recently, I bought a number of my Pirates plus a few others.
So for me, it's nostalgia.

[novakjr]

Like many have already mentioned, I also prefer the contemporary issues of the players. I do like the 60 fleer set though. But not from a HOF player collection standpoint(I will not count them towards my HOF collection), I just like the set. I've been slowly working on it, but the '61 has never appealed to me. When I ever end up finishing the '60 fleer set, I've considered moving onto the 50-56 Callahan set. Once again, not for the HOF player collection factor(aside from a few HOF'ers whose 1st cards appear in the set), I just kinda like that set as well.

[DixieBaseball]

61 fleer - Don't care for them.... Out of period players is hard to like....

[fkw]

The 1960 Fleer set has a Ted Williams in it, and he was still playing then...

But other than that I dont like cards made of retired players usually...

I do have a few signed 1960's

[quinnsryche]

I like them because I can get pre-war autographs at reasonable prices on them. Here are some of my faves:

[quinnsryche]

what the hell, here's the rest of 'em!
PS - The 1960 Fleer set is good for sigs too.

[Brian Van Horn]

Not really. If I am done searching a show for old cards, I might flip through a few at a table. I picked up 89 of the 1961 Fleer 14 years ago as part of a deal which was primarily for a near set of 1957 Topps (minus Williams, Aaron and six commons-no checklists). I prefer the 1960 Fleer and that is way down on the list of what I would look for to the point it is an afterthought at best.

[ls7plus]

I like the '60 Fleer Ted Williams because it is his last card as an active player. Was buying them in the early '90's in raw NMt-Mt, before it seems that many others appreciated the card as having that status, for about $40.00 apiece. Had 10-12 of them, and sold them all when the expected increase in value came, except one as my keeper. I look at that card, and keep seeing the films of Teddy Ballgame hitting a homerun at Fenway in his last career at bat.

As to the '61's, am in full agreement that their non-contempory status pretty much eliminates their appeal to a true vintage collector, although I think those with autographs are pretty neat!

Enjoy your collecting, whatever vehicle it might take!

Larry

[benchod]

Ted Williams yes
rest of the set not interested in

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

I like the '60 Fleer Ted Williams because it is his last card as an active player. Was buying them in the early '90's in raw NMt-Mt, before it seems that many others appreciated the card as having that status, for about $40.00 apiece. Had 10-12 of them, and sold them all when the expected increase in value came, except one as my keeper. I look at that card, and keep seeing the films of Teddy Ballgame hitting a homerun at Fenway in his last career at bat.

Larry

Agree!

[ls7plus]

Nice card, Bosox Blair! It looks especially good in that SGC holder.

Larry

[tbob]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Whether pre or post-war, not a fan of non-contemporary issued cards. Same reason sets like '41 Playball don't do much for me either.

+1

[joeadcock]

Like all the Fleers and Laughlin issues(despite post war).

[Brian Van Horn]

Pat,

Here you go for your viewing pleasure (apologies for any little white dust mites):

[Brian Van Horn]

.

[Brian Van Horn]

..

[lutherlafy]

Thank goodness for the 1960 & 1961 Fleer Baseball Greats sets. I started collecting cards in 1960. I started writing to players in 1963 and thank goodness I had these cards to send to players (also the 1961 Golden Press). I had Jack Smalling's (I believe the first....it was mimeographed) address list.
There were a lot of players on the sets that were not on his list yet. The backs of the cards if the player was still alive said "Lives in town, state" so I would write to players and on the envelope just write their name, General Delivery, City, State. The huge cities I did not try this. I got almost 100% back this way.
I think I need about 3 signed cards in each set to have the live players at the time signed.
Here's an example of the signed cards.

[bobbvc]

I like all non-contemporary vintage cards. It helps bring new people into the vintage hobby.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

Nice card, Bosox Blair! It looks especially good in that SGC holder.

Larry

Thanks, Larry!

Cheers,
Blair

[David W]

I put both sets together in the late 70's and early 80's while in High School and college from flea markets and card shops. My mother had helped an older woman clean her attic 5 years or so earlier, and there were about 20 61 Fleer cards in that attic. A friend and me split them up and I took Frank Chance with my first pick, he took the Ted Williams.... oh welll.....

I like the sets and still have it in binders.

[Rich Klein]

I was never a big fan of the design of those cards -- but in my 80's dealing days' the cards of the players that were living were strong sellers as many collectors got them autographed.

In addition, the higher series of 61 Fleers (Believed to actually have been issued in 1962) are difficult enough that they were also good sellers for me.

Plus, for kids at that time, those cards were great introduction to baseball history and did feature more than just superstars. Thus overall, there are a lot of positives to that set and to look fown on that set from a 50 year oerspective many not be fair to that set

Regards
Rich

[mintacular]

Thanks for sharing Brian, I think its's a pretty nice set

[Wihawk]

Not a great set but I really like them anyways.
I remember fondly a friend and I going to our little league games in the late 60's, My friend always with a 60 Ruth in his pocket and me with a 61 Cobb. Those poor cards looked like hell after a couple years but made great props in our many arguments over who was the greatest of all time.
I proudly have some cards from those two Fleer sets in my PC.

[Griffins]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Whether pre or post-war, not a fan of non-contemporary issued cards. Same reason sets like '41 Playball don't do much for me either.

Jeff- not sure I understand this. '41 Playballs do not have any tribute cards in the set like '40 PB does- all players are active. IMO it's the nicest set of the era, along with Diamond Stars.

In regards to '61 Fleer, they look pretty good uncut and framed

[HRBAKER]

Anthony,

Sorry, as you rightly point out I meant '40 Playball not '41. And as a few posters have mentioned I also like the '60 Fleers as a way to secure HOF autos. My main point was as a HOF type and prewar colllector mostly, I strongly prefer only cards issued during a player's playing career.

[brickyardkennedy]

Timely question, for me, as I recently have been considering putting together the set. As with John V, I bought them when they came out, so the element of nostalgia is doubtless my strongest connection to the set. They were also my first real exposure to the past greats of the game. Still have the ones I bought, back when, so I would have a good start on the set.

Gotta love those autos, guys! Thanks for posting those, and the other pics, also.

[WWGjohn]

I like both 60 & 61 sets a lot. I collected them as a kid and never had access to the second series 61's, which I eventually finished about 20 years ago. They are especially tough to find well centered and free of gum residue. I love the vintage sets more, of course, but I enjoy these HOFer sets as well.

[Cerberus]

It's funny that you guys recently began this thread, on a somewhat under-appreciated set (IMHO). I have a complete set (raw) in plastic sheets, which I put together 15-20 years ago. It's 80%+ NM, with the rest being EX-Mt/Ex-Mt+. All of the "key" cards are NM and gorgeous (Gehrig, Ruth, Williams, both checklists).

I've been thinking of selling the set--please pm me if interested, and give me an "informal" ballpark price you may offer (subject to confirming my representations re condition). If I get enough preliminary interest from this post, I will consider listing the set on the BST here, rather than immediately going to ebay.

Michael