1961 Fleer - have I lost my mind or is this actually a fun set

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by brian1961

I vividly remember the Fleer All-Time Greats second series because they appeared during my first year of card collecting, late in 1961, in my home town of Skokie, Illinois. I was late to discover the Fleer ATG, but I recall getting a bunch of packs of the second series, as well as the second series of Topps football, on the same day. I think my parents let me pick them out at the Ben Franklin Dime Store. --- Brian Powell

Were you ever in a barber shop quartet in Skokie Illinois?

Sorry couldn't resist.

[ronniehatesjazz]

I think it's the most underappreciated postwar set. The fact that you can get so many vintage cards of HOFers for peanuts (don't care if it were their playing days or not) makes it incredibly collectible. Most importantly, I absolutely love the design. Can so easily imagine some 10 year old chap tacking up one of these, fresh out of the pack, bad boys on his bulletin board (much like I sadly did with several 93 topps Jeters). Looks like a background prop you'd see on Leave it To Beaver, which I find cheesy but wholesome and in a weird way very much needed as a vestige of how great the american culture once was (not trying to get political). I find it odd that people are willing to pay 10x for some Topps 2020 SP of one of these greats but completely overlook this set. The Gehrig is on the cusp on potentially becoming somewhat iconic (although that's a stretch), but the rest are incredibly affordable. I love the autograph versions and have thought about doing some type of psa/dna subset at some point.

[ALR-bishop]

As I mentioned above, I like the 61 set, but prefer the 60 set just because of the challenge of trying to add the 3 # 80 cards ( I only have one)

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Were you ever in a barber shop quartet in Skokie Illinois?

Sorry couldn't resist.

No, Ben. When my family moved from Skokie in April, 1964, I was 9 years old. While I was never in a barber shop quartet, I do love to sing. I understand all the Powells may be traced to Wales, Great Britain. The Welsh are known for their enthusiastic, lusty singing. Fits me to a T. All the best to you my friend. Recently, my family traveled through Mitchell, South Dakota on I-90. I thought of you; however, it was about 4 am, so .......

Back to the 1961 Fleer, I have a real fondness for the set. I loved many of the tinted photos, and the colorful backgrounds. Among my favorites were Honus Wagner, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Hack Wilson. Really, the set introduced me to many of the greats of the game. Several of the photo selections were lousy, but Fleer did well for the most part. Let's face it--few sets are perfect, but then, has that ever stopped us?????

--- Brian Powell

PS--- I will always remember my older cousin, Greg. He was eight years old when he collected the '61 Fleer.. For some reason, the portrait of Cap Anson, with his long, rapier-pointed mustache, bothered Greg. He tore up every Anson he got, except one. During a visit at his home in Iowa, I was shuffling through a deck of his Fleers with him, and we came to another Cap Anson. He tells me, "Be my guest"; and I tore up the Anson. Glad it wasn't a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle!