1959 Fleer Ted Williams uncut sheets/panels

[jason.1969]

I suspect most of you at some point have seen uncut sheets or panels from the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set. Most commonly they seem to be 2, 6, 15, or 20 cards. Here is a 15-card sheet, for example.




Something I’ve been able to piece together, quite literally, from the uncut sheets and panels online, is that this “master table” governs the sequencing of the cards on any sheet/panel.



For example, flip over the sheet above and the card numbers correspond to columns GHI of the table.



My next article for SABR Baseball Cards will go deeper into this topic and I am interested in anyone with uncut sheets/panels in posting pics (esp. backs) that I can use in my research.

If you post pics please let me know if the pic is “for research only” vs if it’s “okay to share” in my article.

Thanks!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

I suspect most of you at some point have seen uncut sheets or panels from the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set. Most commonly they seem to be 2, 6, 15, or 20 cards. Here is a 15-card sheet, for example.




Something I’ve been able to piece together, quite literally, from the uncut sheets and panels online, is that this “master table” governs the sequencing of the cards on any sheet/panel.



For example, flip over the sheet above and the card numbers correspond to columns GHI of the table.



My next article for SABR Baseball Cards will go deeper into this topic and I am interested in anyone with uncut sheets/panels in posting pics (esp. backs) that I can use in my research.

If you post pics please let me know if the pic is “for research only” vs if it’s “okay to share” in my article.

Thanks!

When finished I would greatly appreciate a link to the article.

The 59 Fleer set is by far my favorite set. I have owned a NrMint+ graded set and currently own a nice ungraded set. Have considered trying to piece a sheet together from panels many times over the years.

[jason.1969]

Excellent! A fave of mine as well. Most of my set was built when I was a broke college student so a lot of $1 bargain box cards with creases. I may be the only one whose card 68 is in better condition than the other 79.

[metroac]

I bought a beautiful set of these in the early 80's for $100. I sold it in '97 when I left the hobby for about 15 years. I started collecting again about ten years ago, and this was one of the first sets I put together. My set is mostly raw, with some PSA 7's and 8's, but PSA is absolutely brutal on these cards. Most of them are toned with age and PSA just kills them. But if you don't mind the toning, there are lots of nice raw cards around, especially in New England where I live and around Boston.

[jason.1969]

Would still love any tips on uncut sheets I’ve overlooked. Article has been published but I’ll update if new sheets are found.

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2021/...williams-code/

[DaveW]

I’ve always liked this set but I don’t know a lot. Any theories on why card 68 is so scarce? From your layout, it should be the same as any other.

[ALR-bishop]

Card 68 scarcity

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrJ...xbwVxsO_LBrnc-
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrJ...dJyx5csAvnggI-

[DaveW]

Thanks for those links Al! I learned something today.

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by DaveW

I’ve always liked this set but I don’t know a lot. Any theories on why card 68 is so scarce? From your layout, it should be the same as any other.

The 1933/1934 Goudey Lajoie card is probably the best parallel. Card was printed with other 1934 Goudey series four cards but not put in packs. Ultimately it was only distributed to collectors who wrote letters to complain about the holes in their 1933 sets.

The main difference with the Fleer Williams card is that some made it into packs before the card was pulled. From there, card may have still been printed but not added to packs. Again, many collectors only received when they wrote in to complain about the hole in their set.

But let me also clarify something from the article. These surviving sheets may all date prior to the need to pull the card. True, we would assume the most sheets (by far) would have been printed afterward (else the card wouldn't be very tough). However, I doubt that the surviving sheets simply came from some random time during the print run. Rather, I think it's more likely that they were more like "file copies" that would have come at the very beginning. As such, the presence of card 68 on these sheets doesn't necessarily tell us that it remained there for any significant length of time.

Ultimately, my article was more about identifying a pattern for all surviving print sheets that helps explain why we have the ones we have and why certain other ones don't exist. What I don't speculate on in the article is when during the year these sheets were printed, though I'll offer here that I believe it was very early.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

Would still love any tips on uncut sheets I’ve overlooked. Article has been published but I’ll update if new sheets are found.

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2021/...williams-code/

That was great. I had no idea they got printed that way. I would have guessed all on one sheet.

Thank you for posting the link and writing the article.

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by bnorth

That was great. I had no idea they got printed that way. I would have guessed all on one sheet.

Thank you for posting the link and writing the article.

Thank you. I must admit the combo of 20 and 15 still seems strange to me, but at the moment it seems to fit what’s out there. Am hoping some new sheets come to light that offer added insight.

[TUM301]

Hey Jason, not exactly what you`re looking for but being a fan of the Williams set and The 3 Stooges thought this was a cool uncut scrap sheet. Great sheet you have Sir.
1959 Fleer scrap, Ted Williams and 3 Stooges. Go Larry ! by Hugh Murphy, on Flickr
Untitled by Hugh Murphy, on Flickr

[steve B]

I've thought for years that the uncut panels were promotional or sales items.

If you're making a very large batch of cards a small sheet size isn't the best way to go.
What makes more sense, and fits the layout you've figured out is two "panels" of 40 5x8 cards on a single sheet with a wide margin in between them.

This 20 card panel shows portions of additional cards along one side.
http://feb17.hugginsandscott.com/cgi...l?itemid=13920

Doing it that way makes the printing reasonable, and the cutting easier. It even makes removing the 68 easier depending on how they did the cutting.

[bobw]

I remember way back when at the Philly shows in Willow Grove and Ft Washington, there was a fellow walking around the show selling uncut Ted Williams strips as well as 1960 Fleer Football strips to dealers.