The 1987 Fleer Baseball card set holds a special place in the world of sports card collecting. It was the final Fleer baseball card release featuring just players before officially licensed Major League Baseball players and stats were included starting in 1988. For collectors of vintage sports cards from the late 1980s, a complete unopened 1987 Fleer Baseball wax box filled with factory sealed wax packs is considered a true prize. Let’s take a deeper look at what makes these unopened 1987 Fleer cards so desirable over 30 years later.
The 1987 Fleer set was the 10th annual baseball card release by the Fleer company. It featured 524 total cards including 450 base cards showing current MLB players from that season. Roster changes, call-ups, and additions meant no two wax packs contained exactly the same players. Some stars featured included Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens, and Ozzie Smith. The design style with large action photos and minimal stats text was common for Fleer cards of that era. No gum was included inside the wax packs, unlike earlier years.
Unlike today’s prospect heavy base sets, relatively few rookie cards were present in 1987 Fleer. Notable rookie debuts included Terry Mulholland, Brian Harper, and Ozzie Canseco, though none would become superstar level players. Insert sets within the release featured Career Statistics, League Leaders, and Team Cards. No serially numbered parallels existed yet. The lack of a central licensing agreement meant thorough stats were omitted, though uniforms were correctly depicted.
Finding a sealed 1987 Fleer wax box today is truly a challenge. Beyond being over 30 years old, distribution of the product was limited in several ways. First, baseball card collecting had begun declining in popularity by the late 1980s as the incoming sports memorabilia boom led collectors to seek autographed items instead. Many potential collectors passed on or opened the 1987 Fleer boxes as children. Second, Fleer’s distribution deal with printers allowed production of only a finite number of wax boxes to be shipped to stores originally.
Once packs and boxes left the Fleer and printer warehouses in 1987, natural attrition over decades further reduced intact sealed product. Wax and cardboard are not archival materials meant to hold up for lifetimes undisturbed. Improper short or long term storage conditions like heat, moisture or rodent/insect damage degraded some surviving stock. Any unopened 1987 Fleer boxes that made it through three+ decades did so thanks to attentive storage practices by knowledgeable collectors. Very few sealed cases remained in the hands of dealers by the 2010s.
What makes an unopened 1987 Fleer wax box so special for today’s vintage collector is the thrill of capturing a completely undisturbed time capsule back to the 1980s hobby. Each factory sealed wax pack inside could in theory contain any one of the 524 different available base cards, serially issued to packs randomly at the Fleer factory. Variations in jersey colors or photo cropping were still possible. Locating key rookie cards of future Hall of Famers who knows. And of course, the box itself represents a scarce surviving sealed relic from before the baseball card boom faded.
Prices paid for a fully sealed 1987 Fleer wax box today reflect the rarity and nostalgia it taps into. While individuals packs sell for $5-10 each if seals are intact, a full sealed wax box in mint condition would garner bids well into the thousands of dollars amongst proven vintage collectors. Some elite sealed boxes have even crossed the $10,000 price point in recent years. For those seeking to experience the thrill of the 1980s pack-by-pack without risk to capital, well-documented unsealing videos of various 1987 Fleer wax boxes exist online for fans and historians to enjoy virtually.
The allure of pristine sealed 1987 Fleer Baseball cards lies not just in possible chase cards within, but representing the final years before the modern sports card licensing era began. Knowing few survivors remain after three decades bolsters the historic significance. Although packs held few big rookie names back then, their scarcity versus popularity today fuels collector demand. A fresh sealed 1987 Fleer wax box lets today’s fans feel like kids again, not knowing who might be found inside timeless pieces of 1980s culture. Their value is cemented both historically and monetarily for the fortunate few who can add one to their collections.
