Fleer Corporation began producing baseball cards in 1956, becoming the first successful competitor to gain market share against industry leader Topps Chewing Gum. Fleer was founded in 1881 by brothers Frank and William Fleer in Philadelphia as a manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum. Through most of the 20th century, Fleer primarily produced gum while also experimenting with other confectionery products like candy and bubble gum.
In the early 1950s, Fleer began exploring opportunities to expand beyond gum production as worldwide gum sales leveled off following a post-World War 2 boom. Company executives noticed the growing popularity of baseball cards among American children and saw an opening to break into the trading card market which was still in its infancy but growing rapidly thanks to Topps’ success with their 1951 and 1952 sets featuring players’ photos on the front for the first time. Fleer saw trading cards as a way to recruit new young customers to potentially buy their gum as well.
In 1954, Fleer produced their first non-sport related trading cards as a trial run. Called “Funny Valentines”, the cards featured humorous drawings on the front instead of photos. Despite little promotion, they sold reasonably well and gave Fleer confidence they could compete with Topps in the baseball card space. However, Topps had already solidified deals with both major baseball leagues as the exclusive gum and candy maker so Fleer would need to find another way in.
After failed negotiations with minor leagues, Fleer came up with a creative workaround. In 1955, they decided to produce cards featuring current major leaguers but without licensing deals. Instead, Fleer paid players individually for rights to their names and photos, sourcing pictures from newspapers, magazines and team publicity photos instead of original photographer shoots. This stratagem allowed Fleer to release their first baseball card set in spring 1956 featuring over 350 major league players without breaching Topps’ exclusive deals.
The 106-card 1956 Fleer set debuted to widespread attention but mixed reviews. While praised for vibrant color photo reproduction, errors with some player stats and team affiliations drew criticism. The set still sold well thanks to aggressive Fleer promotion and novelty as the first competitor to Topps in the nascent but booming baseball card boom. An estimated 9-10 million Fleer packs were sold that first year, netting around $750,000 in profit.
In 1957, Fleer improved on their formula with a hugely popular 212-card release. Featuring cleaned-up design and accurate stats, the set was a critical and commercial success that really established Fleer as a legitimate threat to Topps. Meanwhile, legal challenges from Topps seeking to block Fleer’s access to players due to their exclusive deals wound through the courts without any definitive rulings. Undaunted, Fleer pressed forward with innovative releases like 1959’s Cel-O-Paks which featured cards sealed in waxy cellophane pockets.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Fleer and Topps waged an intense behind-the-scenes trade war as the only two major baseball card producers. Both companies aggressively signed players to exclusive contracts and filed numerous lawsuits against each other for alleged contract tampering, antitrust violations and intellectual property infringements. Despite legal battles and Topps’ greater distribution muscle, Fleer managed to maintain around 25-30% market share during this era through dynamic product design, shrewd contracts and relentless innovation in sizes, sets and specialty subsets.
A key advantage Fleer developed was their status as an independent, family-owned corporation compared to Topps’ position as a public company beholden to shareholders. This allowed Fleer more flexibility to take risks, stay nimble and focus first on the collector experience rather than quarterly earnings reports. They became famous for experimental non-sport sets on topics like monsters, space and American history that helped diversify beyond baseball while keeping the brand fresh. It was this risk-taking creative spirit that defined Fleer as “The Pepsi to Topps’ Coca-Cola” in the trading card world.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Fleer maintained their position as the clear #2 player in baseball cards behind Topps but developed a loyal following among collectors. Major innovations included 1967’s tremendous success with the first football cards in decades as well as blockbuster annual “Million Card Sets” topping 1,000 cards each during the late 1960s/early 1970s boom. Escalating costs and production Complexities made it increasingly difficult for the small, family-owned Fleer to compete financially with the mighty Topps behemoth controlling over 70% of the market.
After nearly being acquired in the mid-1970s, Fleer underwent a restructuring that saw them shift from primary focus on trading cards to other toy and game products through the 1980s. They never fully exited baseball cards and remained a respected secondary producer behind Topps with popular annual sets. In 1992, Fleer was purchased outright by card manufacturer SkyBox International (later acquired by The Upper Deck Company). Under new ownership, Fleer experienced a revival in the 1990s alongside baseball’s resurgence by pioneering innovative inserts, parallels and short prints that reinvigorated the high-end hobby market.
Throughout its pioneering six decade history, Fleer established itself as the David to Topps’ Goliath in American baseball cards. Despite perpetual legal harassment from the incumbent, Fleer’s perseverance, creativity and nimbleness fighting above their weight class made them synonymous with innovation, risk-taking and the underdog spirit in the hobby. While Fleer has changed ownership hands since and seen annual disruptions, their legacy of fun, accessible sets from the pioneering 1950s through experimental 1980s ensured they remained “America’s second card company” who helped shape baseball cards into the beloved modern collectible we know today.
