1983 Fleer

Description

1983 Fleer is a 660-card set. The set was a notable improvement over the previous year's set in terms of both aesthetics (a visually-pleasing beige design) and quality (fewer errors).

The player cards are again ordered alphabetically within team and teams seeded in descending order based upon the previous season's standings. The front of each card has a colorful team logo at bottom left and the player's name and position at lower right. The reverses are done in shades of brown on white.

Notable Rookie Cards include Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn and Ryne Sandberg.

Distribution

Wax: 38 packs per box, 15 cards plus one sticker per pack (MSRP: $0.30).

Cello: 24 packs per box, 28 cards plus two stickers per pack (MSRP: $0.49).

Rack: 24 packs per box, 84 cards plus six stickers per pack (MSRP: $1.49). Three boxes per case.

Triple Wax Racks: Three wax packs per pack.

500 card Vending Boxes

Checklist

Promos

A 7 1/2" X 10 1/2" sheet promoting the upcoming 1983 Fleer Baseball set was inserted into the December 1982 issue of Baseball Hobby News. The front of the sheet features mock-ups of six '83 Fleer cards. The back has mock-ups of the reverse sides of each card along with the statement "Support FLEER: the company that brought competition to Baseball!"

Base Set

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1983) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num < 629) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

SuperStar Specials

1983 Fleer marked the beginning of the annual SuperStar Specials subset, which would be featured in every Fleer baseball set until 1994.

NOTES:

• Card #642 is meant to correct an error from the previous year's set. Card #639 of the 1982 Fleer set commemorates Cleveland Indians pitcher Len Barker's 1981 perfect game by showing Barker and Indians catcher Bo Diaz. Unfortunately, it was Ron Hassey who was catching that night.
• Cards #643-#644 and #645-#646 are "puzzles" that are meant to laid side-by-side.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1983) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num BETWEEN 629 AND 646); </sql2wiki>

Checklists

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1983) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num > 646); </sql2wiki>

Errors

Card 129 Steve Bedrosian UER (Reads Height 6'33")

Card 216 Jerry Reuss UER (Home omitted)

Card 327A Tom Brookens (Short 3/8" brown box shaded in on Back)

Card 327B Tom Brookens (Longer 1 1/2" brown box shaded in on Back)

Card 408 Ed Glynn UER (Photo actually of Bud Anderson)

Inserts

Team Stickers

Each pack of 1983 Fleer Baseball contained a team logo sticker. There were two styles: "Hat" and "Large Logo." Variations of each sticker involving the red-to-green gradient background are known to exist. The design of this set was recycled for next year's Fleer Baseball set.

Fleer/Fleer Tradition
Pre-License Era: 1959 Fleer Ted Williams - 1960 - 1961 - 1963
Triopoly Era: 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987
Junk Wax Era: 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991
Marvel Entertainment Era: 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997
Fleer Tradition Era: 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005
Upper Deck Era: 2006 - 2007
Update Sets: 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 Final Edition - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2002 - 2003
Other Fleer/Fleer Tradition Brands: 2002 Fleer - 2006 Fleer Tradition