The 1986 Fleer baseball card set holds a special place in the history of the hobby as it was one of the earliest mainstream releases to incorporate “tin boxes” as a marketing gimmick to attract young collectors. Packaged in colorful rectangular tins that promoted the new “chrome” design of the cards themselves, these Fleer packs became a hugely popular item that Fall and helped ignite even more interest in the expanding baseball card craze of the 1980s.

While Fleer had dabbled with different packaging formats before for their sports releases, 1986 marked their first major effort to move away from the standard wax pack format that Topps had long dominated the hobby with. Inspired by the tin packaging of tobacco products and other consumer goods, Fleer devised a nifty container made of thin metal that showed off renderings of superstar players like Wade Boggs, Fernando Valenzuela, and Cal Ripken Jr. in an eye-catching chrome-like finish.

Each tin box contained five collector packs with eight cards each for a total of 40 cards. The colorful lithograph design on top promoted both Fleer’s new “chrome” imaging technology for the cards as well as iconic players from that 1986 MLB season. Inside, the packs still had the familiar waxy wrapper but now nested neatly in the squared off tins which felt more substantial and collectible than a basic foil pack.

For kids of the 1980s, the allure of the 1986 Fleer tin boxes was immense. Walking down the aisle at the local drug or hobby store, these stood out amid the sea of other cardboard wrapped options. Children eagerly pulled the iconic tins off shelves to feel the metallic rattle inside and see the emblazoned baseball stars shining back at them from the packaging. The tins themselves soon became almost as coveted as what was inside, with many collectors today still proudly displaying empty ’86 Fleer boxes in their collections.

While the notion of specialty sports card packaging had been brewing since the early 1980s bubble gum and candy spinoffs, 1986 Fleer tins took it mainstream. Their success cemented the concept of limited-edition binders, plaques, and other non-traditional housing units for cards in future release from virtually every supplier. Even Topps, who had long clung solely to plastic wrapped packs, experimented more with creative containers and box sets after seeing Fleer’s surge in sales attributable to these flashy metal packages.

In terms of the cardboard inside, the 1986 Fleer offering showcased their groundbreaking “chrome” photo technique which gave players an eye-catching shine compared to the duller facsimile images of competitors like Donruss. Superstars like Boggs, Ripken, and Gooden gleam prominently on the fronts of these cards surrounded by a foil-like frame. Turning them over, the reverse side featured colorful action photos and comprehensive stats that brought the players more to life for collectors.

While production mistakes led to several photo and stat errors that are now regarded as some of the set’s most error-prone and valuable by enthusiasts, the overall quality of the 1986 Fleer cards was a step above what the hobby had seen before. Their pioneering special “photographic process” received lots of press and added uniqueness that collectors appreciated. Strong rookie cards were also issued for future Hall of Famers like Roger Clemens, Barry Larkin, and Ron Guidry who all broke in prominently that season as well.

In retrospect, the 1986 Fleer baseball card set helped define several revolutionary trends that shaped the entire sportscard industry for decades to follow. By leveraging premium packaging like the iconic tin boxes, they drew in a new generation of young collectors hungry for flashy presentations beyond the simple wax pack. Their showcase of stars through pioneering “chrome” imaging brought the players to vivid new life on cardboard. And the inclusion of key rookie cards for future legends like Clemens planted the seeds for speculation and investment that became staples of the modern collecting landscape.

Whether proudly displaying empty 1986 Fleer tins in a collection or seeking out the highly coveted cards within, this seminal release is remembered today as among the most important in fostering both the artistic achievements and business innovations that characterized the entire boom period of the 1980s. Their flashy packaging, groundbreaking photos, and inclusion of formative rookie talent combined to produce a true lightning in a bottle product that played a major role in popularizing baseball cards on a mass scale. For these reasons, the 1986 Fleer set remains one of the most iconic and desired in the entire hobby even over 35 years since its original fleeting run on store shelves during that magical Autumn for American youth.