The 1983 Fleer baseball card set was unique in the history of the sport for several reasons. It marked Fleer’s re-entry into the baseball card market after several years away, it featured an innovative but controversial design, and it introduced rookie cards of future Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Cal Ripken Jr.
Fleer had last produced baseball cards in 1981 before losing its license. Topps had enjoyed several years as the lone manufacturer of officially licensed major league cards. In 1982 Fleer was able to strike a new deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association to resume making cards starting in 1983.
The company wanted to make a splash with its return set after being away. Design director Art Kaminsky spearheaded Fleer’s plans for a totally new and different look compared to the traditional vertical format used by Topps for decades. Kaminsky opted for a horizontal “wraparound” design with the player’s image taking up nearly the entire front of the card.
While innovative, the horizontal layout proved very unpopular with collectors accustomed to the vertical standard. It was difficult to properly stack and display the Fleer cards alongside traditional issues. There was less room for stats and career highlights on the fronts compared to vertical cards.
The 1983 Fleer set did showcase some cutting edge production techniques. A lenticular printing process gave the fronts a shiny 3D effect when cards were tilted from side to side. Also, photos extended slightly beyond the edges of the cards for a unique wraparound appearance never seen before in the hobby.
Despite the controversial design, the set totaled an impressive 792 cards when issued. This was Fleer’s largest baseball checklist up to that point. Notable stars featured included Nolan Ryan, Johnny Bench, Wade Boggs, and Rickey Henderson among many others. The true rookie gems were future Hall of Famer quarterback Dan Marino’s sole baseball card and Cal Ripken Jr’s first card prior to his epic consecutive games played streak.
Unfortunately for Fleer, the 1983 set faced distribution problems which severely hampered the company’s return. Only about half the printed run was fully released to hobby shops and retailers. Many of the cards that made it to market were off-centered or cut poorly due to production issues. This scarcity drastically increased values for “tough” cards to find, like the Ripken and Marino rookies, over the following decades.
While disliked by traditionalists at the time, the 1983 Fleer set has grown in esteem among collectors in modern times. Its innovative horizontal design became influential and was eventually adapted by sports card manufacturers in other industries like basketball and football. The set also contains some of the most iconic raw rookie cards in the hobby given the stardom achieved by Ripken and Marino in their respective sports.
Graded high-grade copies of stars like these two in particular have reached astronomical amounts at auction. A PSA 9 grade Dan Marino Fleer rookie sold for over $93,000 in 2020. Meanwhile a BGS-graded PSA 9 Cal Ripken Jr. 1983 Fleer fetched more than $221,000 in another auction. With so few sweetly centered examples surviving to the present day, ungraded versions also demand premium prices above typical 1980s cardboard.
While flawed in execution compared to traditional vertical card designs, the unique horizontal wraparound style of Fleer’s landmark 1983 baseball issue ended up leaving an indelible mark on the industry. It announced Fleer’s reclamation of its license from Topps in bold fashion for younger collectors not accustomed to the upstart brand yet. Issues with distribution scarcity and centering have only added to the set’s legend over the past four decades. The Ripken and Marino rookies in particular solidified the 1983 Fleer as one of the true classics in sports card history.
