1990 Fleer

Description

1990 Fleer was a 660-card set that was ordered alphabetically by player within each team. The teams were ordered by their respective performance during the 1989 season. There were 3 subsets plus Checklist cards (654-660):

• Decade Greats (621-630)
• Superstar Combinations (631-639)
• Rookie Prospects (640-653)

Card fronts featured an action or posed photo of a player on white, non-glossy card stock that was framed with a team-colored border. Card backs were vertically oriented with the player name, statistics, and career stats by year. There is a "Vital Signs" graphic at the bottom of the card giving key career stats.

Key rookie cards included: Moises Alou, Juan Gonzalez, David Justice, Sammy Sosa, and Larry Walker.

Fleer produced, for the only time, a special Canadian edition of their annual baseball set.

Distribution

Wax: 36 packs per box, 15 cards and one team logo sticker per pack. 20 boxes per case.

Canadian Wax: 48 packs per box, 10 cards and one team logo sticker per pack. 12 boxes per case.

Cello (Blue wrapper): 24 packs per box, 33 cards and 3 stickers per pack. 8 boxes per case.

Jumbo Cello (Green wrapper): 24 packs per box, 43 cards and 3 stickers per pack. 8 boxes per case. Two possible wrappers (fin-sealed poly plastic or clear cellophane). (MSRP: $1.49)

Racks: 24 packs per box, 45 cards and three stickers per pack.

Factory Sets

NOTE: 1990 would be the final year for the "cello" pack. In fact, the 43-card "Jumbo Cello" packs (which debuted this year), are available in both cellophane and fin-sealed poly plastic wrappers.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Wax Odds	Cello Odds	Jumbo Odds	Rack Odds
Base	660	-	15:1	33:1	43:1	44:1
All-Stars	12	-	?	?	N/A	N/A
Soaring Stars	12	-	N/A	N/A	1:4	N/A
League Standouts	6	-	N/A	N/A	N/A	one-per-pack

Checklist

Base Set

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num < 621) ORDER BY num +0 ASC </sql2wiki>

Players of the Decade

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num BETWEEN 621 AND 630) </sql2wiki>

SuperStar Specials

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num BETWEEN 631 AND 639) </sql2wiki>

Major League Prospects

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num BETWEEN 640 AND 653) </sql2wiki>

Checklists

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer') AND (num > 653) </sql2wiki>

Errors

175A - Mike Devereaux ERR (White & Pink striping on back extends through 'Did You Know' section)

175B - Mike Devereauz COR (White & Pink striping on back stops before 'Did You Know' section)

353A - Dave Martinez ERR (90 in YELLOW on front of card)

353B - Dave Martinez COR (90 in RED on front of card)

621A - George Brett Players of the Decade ERR ("10 .390 seasons" on back of card)

621B - George Brett Players of the Decade COR ("10 .300 seasons" on back of card)

624A - Cal Ripken Players of the Decade ERR (Misspelled Ripkin on front of card)

624B - Cal Ripken Players of the Decade COR (Named spelled correct on front of card)

630A - Will Clark Players of the Decade ERR (32 total bases on card back)

630B - Will Clark Players of the Decade COR (321 total bases)

Printing Variations

In the September 1990 issue of Tuff Stuff, columnist Dick Gilkeson stated that the Martinez variation could only be found in some Fleer cello boxes with the lot number 6841A.

353 Dave Martinez (Yellow Fleer logo)

Parallels

Canadian

For the first, and only, time, Fleer produced a version of their annual flagship baseball set for the Canadian market. 1990 Fleer Canadian Baseball is a full 660-card parallel of the regular 1990 Fleer Baseball set, but unlike similar Canadian sets of the era (e.g. O-Pee-Chee) there is no French text on any of the cards -- only English. In fact, with the exception of the line "FLEER LTD./LTEE PTD. IN CANADA" on the card backs, there is hardly any difference between the two sets.

1990 Fleer Canadian was distributed exclusive in 48-pack wax boxes (12 more than the U.S. edition) with ten cards and a team logo sticker per pack.

Although these Canadian cards were undoubtedly produced in much lesser quantities compared to the U.S. issue, the fact that the versions are so similar has kept the demand down over the years. Most collectors probably aren't even aware of this issue.

Inserts

All-Stars

This 12-card set was exclusive to wax and 33-card cello packs and featured the most popular players in the game.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer All-Stars'); </sql2wiki>

Soaring Stars

This 12-card set was exclusive to 43-card jumbo cello packs and highlighted top young players in the game.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Soaring Stars'); </sql2wiki>

League Standouts

This 6-card set was exclusive to rack packs (one per pack) and featured top players in the game.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer League Standouts'); </sql2wiki>

World Series

This 12-card set featured player-themed highlights from the 1989 World Series and was included - in entirety - in each factory set.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer World Series') ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Box Bottoms

The 1990 Fleer Box Bottoms cards comprised six different box bottoms with four or six cards each, totaling 28 standard-size cards. Panels "A" through "D" contain four cards and were printed on wax boxes. Panels "E" and "F" have six cards are were printed on cello and jumbo cello boxes.

Box bottom cards were not printed on Canadian boxes.

Panel A

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Box Bottoms') AND (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2) < 5) ORDER BY (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2)) +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Panel B

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Box Bottoms') AND (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2) BETWEEN 5 AND 8) ORDER BY (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2)) +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Panel C

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Box Bottoms') AND (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2) BETWEEN 9 AND 12) ORDER BY (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2)) +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Panel D

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Box Bottoms') AND (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2) BETWEEN 13 AND 16) ORDER BY (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2)) +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Panel E

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Box Bottoms') AND (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2) BETWEEN 17 AND 22) ORDER BY (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2)) +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Panel F

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1990) AND (setname = 'Fleer Box Bottoms') AND (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2) > 22) ORDER BY (SUBSTRING(num FROM 2)) +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Team Logo Stickers

As usual, each pack of 1990 Fleer Baseball contained one team logo sticker. Each team has two designs: "Team Logo" and "Quad Logos." The Quad Logos stickers pair-up four teams with four nickel-sized mini team logos.

The reverse of each sticker features a team-related baseball quiz.

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
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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