Dateline: 03/30/00
Game worn, Game used, Jerseys, Bats, Balls, Sticks, Bases, Nets, Pucks,
Tires, Gloves, Shoes! Did I leave anything off the list? Wow!
The memorabilia card craze is out of control. Hardly a new product is
introduced that doesn't have a piece of something card in it. At first
collectors were excited when they found one, then over time they were concerned
(cutting up a Babe Ruth Bat?), but now they're overwhelmed by the shear number
of memorabilia cards and the easy odds. So what could the manufacturers do
to keep people buying?
Fleer has made its bid for keeping collectors interested by taking a single team, the New York Yankees, and creating a game worn card set of some of their most famous former stars. I've been a life long Mets fan so naturally I was skeptical. The set is called Yankee Clippings and they can be found amazingly easy about one every two boxes of the new 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game.
What makes the Clippings such an interesting set is both the design as well as the player list. We've seen so many different looks to jersey cards, but none are more original than what Fleer has given us, die-cut into the famous New York Yankee logo. Add that to the fifteen players selected and you have one of the nicest insert sets in recent sportscard history.
The list starts with deceased greats like Mickey Mantle, Thurman Munson, and
Billy Martin, and adds more recently retired stars with Reggie Jackson, Dave
Winfield, and Don Mattingly. In all it's the ultimate collection for
Yankee fans as well as collectors who just like well made new products..
Fleer "Greats" is not just limited to Yankees and jerseys, it's also filled with autographs (about four per box) of many great retired players including a nice number of Hall of Famers. Look for Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and George Brett among those putting their ink on classy gold bordered cards. Old timers like Phil Rizzuto, Dom Dimaggio, and Bobby Doerr are also easy to find at about one per six packs.
Of course all of these beautiful cards don't come without a price. Fleer decided to go with fewer autographs (last year they were one per pack) and set an affordable suggested retail price of $4.99 per pack. Unfortunately, they also appear to have made less cases and when you factor in the collectors all looking to get a Yankee Clippings jersey card, the prices rose quickly. Last weekend they were selling rapidly at $10 per pack at local shows with dealer to dealer box prices close to $200 (24 packs).
This makes two big winning baseball products in a row for Fleer. Their Fleer Tradition set is one of the nicest base sets produced since the mid 70's and coming back at us with Greats of the Game just insures their position as one of the top baseball card companies. Hopefully this won't be just for baseball as it would be nice to see what they could do with the same idea in basketball (Celtic Clippings?) and football (Packer Pieces?).
ANDY
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