The 1985 Fleer Limited Edition baseball card set was released by Fleer as a premium offering above their mainstream flagship set that same year. It contained 200 cards featuring current MLB players and included several innovative features that set it apart from other contemporary card releases. The Fleer Limited Edition set holds an important place in the history of the hobby as one of the early examples of the premium card market that exists today.
At just 200 cards, the set had significantly less players than a typical full MLB release would, but this exclusivity was by design. Fleer aimed to create a set that was more selective in its content while also focusing on aesthetics and design elements meant to feel higher end compared to a typical card release. The smaller sized set allowed for thicker, higher quality cardboard stock to be used that gave the cards a distinct heavyweight feel in the hand. The cards also featured matte finish rather than the typical glossy finish of the time period which many collectors enjoyed the look and feel of.
Prominently displayed on the fronts of each 1985 Fleer Limited Edition card was the player’s autograph taking up much of the real estate. This was groundbreaking for the time as very few other releases included true on-card autographs from MLB players. It added a unique authentic element that collectors found highly alluring. Each autograph was obtained through the Fleer company directly from the players and hand-applied before printing, giving the signatures on the cards true scarcity and legitimacy.
Another innovative aspect of these cards was the incorporation of actual on-card trivia facts about each player. Ranging from personal tidbits to career stats and accomplishments, these player factoids were printed directly on the reverse of many of the cards. This served to add informative substance and context beyond just a static baseball card image. The card backs also included the standard Fleer sports photography and player information that fans had come to expect at that time.
In terms of rarity and chase aspects so coveted by collectors today, the 1985 Fleer Limited Edition release incorporated several intriguing parallel subsets. 22 chase cards were made specifically with gold foil signature autographs that garnered much attention. Gold parallels like these were still a novel concept in the mid 1980s. Another parallel involved 13 cards produced with red foil autographs as the next tier of scarcity below the gold signatures. Even the base issue signatures had substantially lower print runs compared to Fleers mainstream releases that year.
Perhaps most notably, the 1985 Fleer Limited Edition set introduced the very first Mike Schmidt Superstar Subset. Containing one card each of nine of the game’s biggest stars of the era like Schmidt, Ryne Sandberg, and Dwight Gooden, the sharp looking Superstar cards stood out visually from the base issues. They would serve as the foundation for what became one of the hobby’s most storied and ambitious long-running parallels.
Due to the high quality components, autograph elements, limited print runs, and early integration of card parallels/short prints that added collectibility, the 1985 Fleer Limited Edition baseball cards achieved coveted status upon release among enthusiasts. While expensive for the time at $7 per pack, collectors eagerly snatched them up seeing their premium attributes. Today amongst vintage enthusiasts, complete sets in top condition can sell for many thousands of dollars given their trailblazing influence on later premium cardboard products. Three decades after their introduction, the 1985 Fleer Limited Edition cards still retain a prominent place in the origin story of the modern collectibles card industry.
