Early 80s wax question

[Rich Klein]

The early Fleer cards are almost always perfectly collated. Fleer did a great job of getting you most of the set in a box.

I opened enough of the Fleer boxes to say they were good and 1981 Donruss was hilariously bad. You could get 10-16 of the same card in the box and multiple of that occurance

They did improve but it took a couple of years. About 10 years ago I opened a 1982 Donruss box and got 5 Ripken RC's out of the box but none of them were even centered better than 70/30. Distribution in that box was more like the 2nd go round of 81. Took till about 1984 to get better on their collation

Rich

[judsonhamlin]

And I think that 1981 Fleer vending boxes were set up in an A-B-C-D pattern that would get you 3 complete sets out of one set of 4 boxes.

[mikemb]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

The early Fleer cards are almost always perfectly collated. Fleer did a great job of getting you most of the set in a box.

I opened enough of the Fleer boxes to say they were good and 1981 Donruss was hilariously bad. You could get 10-16 of the same card in the box and multiple of that occurance

They did improve but it took a couple of years. About 10 years ago I opened a 1982 Donruss box and got 5 Ripken RC's out of the box but none of them were even centered better than 70/30. Distribution in that box was more like the 2nd go round of 81. Took till about 1984 to get better on their collation

Rich

Exactly as I remember it. Bought many unopened boxes of 1981 cards in 1981. Fleer had great collation and Donruss was terrible. I think I got 3 boxes and was not even close to a complete set.

Originally Posted by judsonhamlin

And I think that 1981 Fleer vending boxes were set up in an A-B-C-D pattern that would get you 3 complete sets out of one set of 4 boxes.

This is also what I have heard.

Mike

[steve B]

Originally Posted by judsonhamlin

And I think that 1981 Fleer vending boxes were set up in an A-B-C-D pattern that would get you 3 complete sets out of one set of 4 boxes.

That's entirely true. I spent a couple afternoons making up sets for the local shop from the "set/vending" case. Got a few dollars in trade value.

[Chicosbailbonds]

As a Cub fan, I remember opening the first two boxes of 81 Donruss and getting ONE Cub - the manager. It was common to get duplicates in the same pack. I would be leery of opening it today as the paper is thin, and the gum was gooey. I could see it bleeding thru 4-5 cards.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Just watched the posted video, yup, that’s 81 donruss. I still like the set, warts and all. Brings back good memories since the pics were mainly from Chicago.

[homerunderby]

Originally Posted by Chicosbailbonds

Just watched the posted video, yup, that’s 81 donruss. I still like the set, warts and all. Brings back good memories since the pics were mainly from Chicago.

Donruss to me back then were "exotic." They weren't in every store, and I wasn't familiar with the company. Topps was Topps of course, and Fleer produced those sticker sets in previous years which I bought when the drug store was out of Topps. But Donruss was a whole new thing. 1981 was a pile of hot garbage, but 1982 was outstanding, if overproduced.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Originally Posted by homerunderby

Donruss to me back then were "exotic." They weren't in every store, and I wasn't familiar with the company. Topps was Topps of course, and Fleer produced those sticker sets in previous years which I bought when the drug store was out of Topps. But Donruss was a whole new thing. 1981 was a pile of hot garbage, but 1982 was outstanding, if overproduced.

I remember some of the non-sport cards Donruss put out in the late 70’s - seemed to be a lot of car-themes. I’m right across the lake from Chicago and couldn’t always find them. They got the license late, so went with any old picture I guess. Funny as in 82, a lot of fleet’s pics were bad compared to Donruss. I’ve been working on early signed Donruss sets, emphasis on the 84 (down to 40).