In 1981, after an 18-year hiatus from the market, Philadelphias Fleer Corporation took the hobby by storm with its return to baseball cards. The previous year, a court decision had forced the Baseball Players Association to offer contracts to other card companies besides Topps, and both Fleer and Donruss jumped at the opportunity. Although riddled with errors, Fleers 1981 set earned distinction as the #1 design of the year by Baseball Hobby News, and the company then set out to make improvements for its 1982 set. In addition to streamlining its design and improving its photography, Fleer decided it would improve its card stock. According to Sports Collectors Digest, To test a proposed cardboard stock from International Paper Co., a run of 100 sheets of test cards was printed and delivered to Fleer officials. The cards on the sheet include various combinations, incorrect picture/name combinations and cards with no player identification. All cards have the words TEST CARD overprinted in black in the player identification area at the bottom center, along with the letters o, n or both vertically at the left end of the oblong. Backs are blank. At least half of the 132-card test sheets have made their way into the hobby where they are offered both as complete sheets and as hand-cut single cards or panels... Each of the 66 cards is double-printed on the sheet. Fortunately for collectors, the sets key card appeared on the sheet in two different variations, both with Cal Ripkens iconic rookie image, but one with Cals name and one with Dave Fords name, that latter of which has sold in previous auctions for over $2,500. Graded BGS 9 Mint and verging on Gem Mint, Small Traditions is now pleased to offer one of the hobbys finest surviving examples of the most coveted version of this near mythical Ripken rookie card. Although approximately 100 examples of the card are believed to exist, surprisingly few have turned up for professional grading, most likely due to the poor condition in which most copies have been found. Dallas-based Beckett Grading Services has graded only three, including one NM-MT 8 and another Mint 9, while PSA has now slabbed six copies, all merely Authentic because PSA no longer assigns numerical grades to proof cards. New Jersey-based Sports Card Guarantee has slabbed another authentic copy, plus an SGC 60 EX 5. So thats a total of just 11 copies ever graded by the hobbys three leading third-party grading and authentication firms, and the offered example is one of the two finest on record! In short, here is a very rare opportunity to acquire an exceptionally high-grade copy of a card that most advanced collectors have perhaps heard rumors of but have never seen in person and certainly never called their own. Not believing the card even existed until seeing it with their own eyes, even former Fleer employees acknowledge its extreme scarcity. While rookie cards numbered to 100 or less may be standard in todays market, imagine, before you bid, if any other prominent Hall of Fame player from the 1980s or 90s had a key rookie card variation limited to just 100 copies? Imagine Rickey Henderson or Tony Gwynn rookies in alternate poses, or Ken Griffey Jr. or Derek Jeter with glaring errors such as the infamous 1990 Topps Frank Thomas No-Name, whose scarcity is not nearly as limited as this legendary Ripken rookie.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 20:10:12 +0000
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