The 1990 Fleer baseball card set is well known among collectors for some significant printing errors that occurred during production. While errors are not uncommon in the mass production of sports cards, the 1990 Fleer set stands out due to the scale and conspicuous nature of several mistakes. Some of the errors produced ultra-rare and valuable variants that are highly sought after by error card collectors to this day.
The most famous error from the 1990 Fleer set involves switch-hitting superstar George Brett’s base card. Due to a plate switching error during the printing process, approximately 1 in every 100 of Brett’s base cards were instead printed with the image of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan on the front. While the stat lines and other text on the card correctly referred to Brett, collectors were stunned to see the imposing image of Ryan staring back at them from a card labeled as Brett. Remarkably, Fleer did not catch this mistake during quality control and the Ryan/Brett mash-up cards entered circulation amongst unsuspecting collectors and hobbyists. Today, a near-mint condition example of the ultra-rare 1990 Fleer George Brett/Nolan Ryan error card can fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction.
In addition to Brett’s mix-up with Ryan, another mix-up occurred involving San Diego Padres starting pitcher Andy Benes. Approximately 1 in 600 of Benes’ rookie cards were instead printed with the image of Chicago Cubs veteran outfielder Andre Dawson on the front. Like the Brett/Ryan error, the Benes/Dawson mix-up resulted in a Frankenstein-like baseball card with contradictory imagery and stats. Error cards of this magnitude with star players are exceptionally uncommon, making the Benes/Dawson mistake a true anomaly. Graded examples in high grades rarely become available on the secondary market.
A third noteworthy error from the 1990 Fleer set involves Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas and his rookie card. An extremely small number of Thomas rookies were mistakenly printed with a cropped photo that cut off the sides of his face. Referred to as the “Frankenstein Frank Thomas” error, these scarce cards are easily identified by Thomas’ strangely warped face across the front. The cause of this particular plate error during printing isunknown, but it resulted in one of the most bizarrely mutated baseball cards ever produced by a major manufacturer. Only a small double-digit number are believed to exist today.
Beyond the highest profile image swap errors, there were also two variations that occurred within individual player’s sets of cards due to plate switching mishaps. St. Louis Cardinals ace reliever Lee Smith had approximately 1 in 400 of his cards mistakenly printed with a missing copyright symbol in the lower right corner. Likewise, about 1 in 500 of Cleveland Indians pitcher Greg Swindell’s cards lacked the Fleer hologram strip down the left side. While less obviously erroneous than the image mix-ups, these two variations are still eagerly sought after by discriminating error collectors looking to obtain the more elusive mistakes.
Apart from the plate switching flubs, another type of noticeable production mistake present in the 1990 Fleer set involved missing or incomplete player jersey numbers. Most famously, approximately 1 in every 300 copies of San Francisco Giants first baseman Will Clark’s rookie card lacked his familiar #22 on the front. Other jersey number omissions known to collectors include missing numbers on specific cards belonging to pitchers Bruce Hurst, Mark Guthrie, and John Dopson. These “missing number” errors are considered quite rare within the overall context of the release and can hold substantial monetary premiums compared to the standard issue versions.
The chaotic assortment of wildly errant cards within the 1990 Fleer baseball collection is undoubtedly one of the strangest and most visually dramatic productions errors in the history of the modern sportscard industry. While other oddball mistakes occurred in Fleer sets before and since, the clustering of high-profile image swaps and crooked player photos set 1990 apart as one of the most aberrant years ever from a major manufacturer. The unique cards have become hugely popular with the error collecting community and maintain icon status amongst devotees of manufacturing mistakes in the baseball card hobby. Over 30 years later, the intrigue around 1990 Fleer errors still runs deep for both hobbyists and those simply fascinated by rare aberrations in pop culture.
Through a succession of random production glitches at the Fleer factory including misprinted plates and missing ink deposits, baseball card collecting serendipity was delivered in 1990. Collectors received unexpected mutant versions of famous players that have since taken on noteworthy distinction. While surely not planned occurrences, the strange cards seem almost artistically conceived in retrospect. They represent one of the most overt and collectively substantial deviations from the norm ever seen from a major sportscard brand. They remain an anomaly that continues to captivate curious minds with their sheer bizarreness and the unpredictability of chance that placed them in the hands of kids opening packs so long ago.
