Fleer baseball cards hold a special place in the hearts of many baseball card collectors. As one of the original baseball card manufacturers dating back to the 1880s, Fleer produced some of the most iconic and valuable vintage cards in the hobby. While most common Fleer issues from the 1950s and 1960s in high grade can be acquired for a few hundred dollars or less, there are a select group of rare Fleer cards that command prices well into the thousands, and sometimes over $100,000. Let’s take an in-depth look at some of the rarest and most valuable Fleer baseball cards that collectors drool over.
One of the holy grails of vintage baseball card collecting is the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card. Only one is known to exist in mint condition and it last sold for $5.2 million in a public auction in 2016, making it the most valuable baseball card ever sold. While Fleer did not produce the 1914 Baltimore News card, they did issue Babe Ruth’s first true “Rookie card” in the 1927 set. An unprecedented home run hitter and the game’s first true superstar, cards featuring the “Sultan of Swat” from any early set are highly coveted. The rarest of all is the incredibly scarce 1927 Fleer Babe Ruth card #109, with only 4-5 graded examples known. One copy in Near Mint condition recently sold for just under $500,000.
For collectors looking for even more of a challenge to track down, the 1955 Fleer Carl Yastrzemski rookie card #31R is one of the genuinely rare pre-1960 cards around. Only 1-2 high grade copies are believed to still exist according to population reports. Yaz would go on to earn many accolades including the 1967 AL Triple Crown and capture 3 Gold Gloves over his Hall of Fame career, making this iconic fleer issue hugely desirable for Boston Red Sox fans and master set builders. A PSA NM 7 grade example was reported privately sold for $275,000 in recent years.
While the aforementioned Ruth and Yaz cards are mostly out of reach for all but the most well-heeled collectors, another challenging level of rarity from early Fleer sets can be found in high numbers cards that have eluded grading over the decades. One such example is the 1960 Fleer Dick Groat #89 card. Groat was a 12-time All-Star shortstop but demand for his fairly generic looking cardboard never seemed to take off historically. Today, there are believed to be only 4-5 PSA/SGC graded Fleer Groat rookies left in the population database. A PSA NM 7 copy changed hands for $67,000 in late 2018, showing the strong demand for complete vintage Fleer cardboard, especially in pristine condition.
Several highly coveted short prints also exist from early Fleer flagship sets which, due to low original print runs, are much tougher pulls for collectors. Among the rarest is the 1955 Fleer Willie Mays short print card #130, which was issued at approximately 1 per sheet compared to the standard 36 cards. Only a handful are thought to exist in high grades like NM/MT 8 today. A PSA 8.5 example owned by collector Barry Halper sold for $198,000 back in 2017, signifying Mays’ status as a true icons of the game as well.
Continuing in the 1960s, the 1963 Fleer Ted Williams #42 card stands out as one of the set’s supreme short prints. Williams legend and Hall of Fame numbers were well established by this point, making any cardboard well preserved from his playing period highly collectible. The 1963 Fleer issue is unique in that it featured a gold Fleer logo on the back while all other cards used the same silver design. Opinions differ but most experts agree only 18-36 were issued, making a high grade example among the rarest individual cards from any ’60s baseball set. A PSA NM 7.5 copy fetched a whopping $93,000 at auction in 2014.
While modern issues are not typically considered valuable, there are a couple recent Fleer exceptions proving rarity still exists. Back in 1999, Fleer released a small subset called “Greats of the Game” within the standard set highlighting past stars. The rarest by far was the uncorrected Ty Cobb error card showing him in a Tigers uniform despite having his iconic career with the Detroit franchise. Only 2 are known to exist in any grade. Meanwhile in 2016, Acuna Rookie Cup Parallel Printing Plates emerged showing the superstar prospect on 1/1 plates. Only 3 were awarded to winning bidders during the Ginter X launch. Both modern rarities have realized prices well over $10,000 reflecting their unique scarcity.
As one of the first American card producers, Fleer holds a truly iconic place in baseball history. While many issues were mass produced over the decades, the instances where mistakes were made or short printing occurred have left collectors with a handful of genuine “needles in a haystack” in the Fleer output. For those willing to search far and wide and spend top dollar, adding one of these rarest examples to a collection represents a true pinnacle achievement and testament to a lifelong passion for the hobby.
