The 1987 Fleer baseball card set is one of the most iconic and collectible issues in the modern era of the hobby. What makes the ’87 Fleer cards particularly notable and fascinating for collectors is not just the quality and design of the cardboard itself, but also the unique packaging they were distributed in – colorful round tin containers that are now highly sought after relics of 1980s baseball card culture.
Released in the spring of 1987 as Fleer challenged Topps for baseball card industry supremacy, the entire 398 card base set came wrapped inside a reusable round metal tin that featured colorful graphics advertising “400 Baseball Stars.” Standing at about 5 inches tall, the tins had a peel-open lid that contained 10 wax paper packs with 8 cards each. Each tin sold for around $3 at the time, meaning collectors got 80 random cards for a very reasonable price enclosed in a fun and iconic collector’s piece.
The distinctive tins helped Fleer stand out on store shelves against Topps’ traditional wax packs and boxes. They allowed the set to be easily organized and stored as a complete collection. Beyond their pure functionality, the tins themselves became a nostalgic artifact that took on a life and significance of their own beyond just housing cards. Finding an intact ’87 Fleer tin in mint condition today is a real treasure for collectors.
While the front of each tin featured the same general “400 Baseball Stars” design, they differed in the specific color combinations used. The most common variants seen included solid colors like red, blue, green, yellow, orange and purple. There were also some rarer bimetallic and trimetal color combo versions that popped more on shelves. Each hue carried its own charm and nostalgia. Over time, as the tin designs themselves became collectors items, variants gained their own cult followings and value.
Inside each tin, collectors were treated to Fleer’s revolutionary laser cut card stock and sharp, colorful new photograph design aesthetic that broke from Topps’ traditions. Ranging from stars to prospects, the base set captured a who’s who of 1980s baseball including then-active greats like Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens. Rookies included future Hall of Famers like Barry Larkin and Tim Raines. Each card had intriguing new stats and bios on the reverse.
As the ’87 season unfolded that summer, card values and investor excitement grew. Stars like Mark McGwire and Terry Pendleton had breakout rookie campaigns captured on their Fleer rookie cards. The entire set achieved a high level of completion among collectors excited by the novel packaging and photography. For many kids and teenagers of the era, the ’87 Fleer tin represented their first complete baseball card collection.
By the late 80s, as the baseball card industry boom peaked, ’87 Fleer tins and full sets were being enthusiastically traded and sold. Completed tins in excellent shape still intact with all 80 original packs gained immense cache and value above and beyond loose cards. This added a whole different dimension to the collecting experience – the thrill of finding that vintage sealed tin was a real high.
Today, over 30 years later, ’87 Fleer remains one of the most popular and valuable vintage baseball sets. Near-mint complete sets routinely sell for well over $1,000. But the tins have taken on an almost equally legendary status. Finding one in pristine mint condition with crisply printed graphics and no dents, scratches or other flaws can unlock bids in the multi-hundred dollar range or more.
There’s a real Holy Grail quality to an intact ’87 Fleer tin at this point. Unlike other 1980s sets that came in boxes or just loose wax packs, the tins represent some of the most visually distinctive and collectible packaging in the entire hobby. For fans and investors of a certain age, seeing or acquiring one of the colorful relics instantly takes them back to childhood summers spent collecting cards. The 1987 Fleer baseball card tin continues to spark nostalgia and commands top prices as one of the hobby’s all-time great collectible encasements.
While the diverse photography and rising young star rookies within Fleer’s ’87 baseball card set drove much of its early popularity and enduring legendary status, it was the innovative inclusion of retail tin packs that truly set it apart. By thinking outside the box, literally, Fleer created not just a successful annual issue but a true collector’s item that maintained its charm and significance long after the cards inside lost value as common players. The 1987 Fleer baseball card tin stands as a pioneer of creative baseball card packaging design and a beloved relic of the 1980s hobby boom era treasured by collectors to this day.
