The 1988 Fleer baseball card set is regarded as one of the most iconic issues in the modern era for several reasons. For starters, it was the year Fleer obtained the license to featureActive Major League players after Topps had monopolized MLB rights for decades. This allowed Fleer to showcase the biggest stars of the day in their prime.
The 1988 set is notable for being one of the first to feature special “MVP Card” parallels for the most recent winners of the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player award in each league. Fleer created a “rainbow foil” parallel variation for the American League and National League MVPs of 1987 – George Brett of the Kansas City Royals and Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs. These rare parallel cards became hugely popular with collectors seeking the most prominent stars and versions.
George Brett won the 1987 AL MVP award after a phenomenal season with the Kansas City Royals. At age 35, Brett batted .337 with 22 home runs and 115 runs batted in to power the Royals to the playoffs. The “Rainbow Foil” parallel card of Brett’s 1987 Fleer issue depicts him in a Royals batting stance. The card stock has a vibrant multi-colored foil pattern on the front that really makes Brett pop off the card. The parallel is identical to the standard card except for the eye-catching foil treatment. This variant is exponentially rarer to find in pristine condition due to the delicate foil layers. In high grade, a PSA 10 or BGS 9.5 example of Brett’s 1987 AL MVP parallel card can fetch thousands of dollars today.
Andre Dawson took the 1987 NL MVP honors after leading the Chicago Cubs to their first postseason berth since 1945. Playing through injuries, “The Hawk” batted .287 with 49 home runs and 137 RBI’s in powering the North Side nine. His “Rainbow Foil” Fleer card shows Dawson crouched in the batter’s box, ready to launch. Like Brett’s parallel, Dawson’s uses the bright multi-colored foil that makes it truly stand out from the standard card. High quality specimens of Dawson’s 1987 NL MVP rainbow foil variant have sold for over $1000. Both these parallel cards were produced in much lower quantities than the base versions, making them among the true key chases for 1988 Fleer completists.
The other major defining aspect of the 1988 Fleer set were the player photo variations that added a huge chase element for collectors. With Topps losing their exclusive deal, Fleer was in a race to sign as many big name players as possible for photography and ensure star availability. Due to this rushed initial photo process, many players ended up with multiple distinct posed shots appearing across the 408 card base set. Stars like Ozzie Smith, Dwight Gooden, Vince Coleman and others had at least three or four distinct photo variations floating around. This caused collectors to avidly hunt for sets with every known photo variation to achieve the ultimate completist mantle. Even today, high grade example sets containing all confirmed variations fetch premium prices.
Beyond Brett, Dawson and the sea of photo variations, the 1988 Fleer set contained several other key rookie and star cards that maintained significant collector interest over the decades. Future Hall of Famers like Ryne Sandberg, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Barry Larkin had iconic early career cards found in the issue. Gary Carter’s last starring Topps card was also released posthumously by Fleer after his sudden death in early 1992. Rookies like Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez also had low print run debuts that escalated greatly in value as their careers progressed.
When factoring in all the aforementioned attributes that defined 1988 Fleer – the colorful parallel MVP cards, myriad photo variations, rookie debuts of future legends and overall brand new Fleer MLB license – it’s easy to see why the set became such a pinnacle achievement and maintained its popularity for collectors old and new. Now heavily investment-graded specimens of stars like Brett and Dawson in their “Rainbow Foil” parallels can sell at auction for well over $10,000. And a true master set containing each known photo variation across the base checklist remains one of the holy grails for pre-1990’s collectors. All in all, the 1988 Fleer baseball issue richly earns its place as one of the most historically significant and desirable modern issues for card aficionados worldwide.
