The 1984 Fleer Baseball set has plenty of cards collectors are supposed to want. There’s the Don Mattingly rookie, the Darryl Strawberry rookie, and cards of Nolan Ryan, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Rickey Henderson, and plenty of other stars and Hall of Famers. The standard set checks in at 660 cards.
But forget all of those.
If you’re going to own just four cards from 1984 Fleer, these are obviously the ones you need.
#182 Glenn Hubbard
Let’s start with perhaps the greatest snake card in baseball-card history. You can find graded copies on eBay by clicking here.
Hubbard is standing on the field with a giant boa constrictor draped over his shoulders, and, as a bonus, the Phillie Phanatic is lurking in the background. The photo was taken during the Phanatic’s birthday celebration at Veterans Stadium. Hubbard spotted the snake, asked a photographer to take his picture with it, and had no idea the photographer freelanced for Fleer until the image showed up on his baseball card the following year.
Hubbard actually hated the card at first. Thankfully, he eventually came around.
For a great 101 on the card, read MLB’s story on how the famous Glenn Hubbard snake card came to be.
#495 Jay Johnstone
If Hubbard gets a snake, Jay Johnstone gets a Brockabrella. Grab a graded copy for yourself on eBay by click here.
The notorious prankster is pictured wearing the umbrella hat covered in Budweiser branding during a hot and muggy photo day at Wrigley Field. Johnstone later said he wasn’t even aware Fleer was photographing him. According to Johnstone, Budweiser subsequently rewarded all that free cardboard advertising by sending him a complimentary case of beer each summer.
Baseball cards used to be fun.
#638 Brett & Perry — The Pine Tar Incident
Okay, this one actually has two Hall of Famers on it, but that’s beside the point.
Fleer’s Super Star Special commemorates the infamous July 24, 1983, Pine Tar Incident, with George Brett and Gaylord Perry posing with the bat at the center of it all. Perry had played his own memorable role in the chaos, attempting to spirit Brett’s bat away after the home run was disallowed.
It’s basically a little piece of baseball history on cardboard.
There are a few graded copies you can grab on eBay by clicking here.
#256 Larry McWilliams
And finally, my favorite kind of baseball card: a baseball card featuring another baseball card.
Pirates pitcher Larry McWilliams proudly holds up his 1981 Fleer card on his 1984 Fleer card, giving us one of the hobby’s great cardboard-within-cardboard moments.
Why? Who cares. It’s fantastic. And raw copies are about $1.50 on eBay.
So yes, you can chase Mattingly, Strawberry, Gwynn, Ryan, Ripken, and the rest.
But if your 1984 Fleer collection doesn’t have a snake, a beer umbrella, the Pine Tar bat, and a guy holding his own baseball card, is it really complete?
Happy collecting!
P.S. You can try your hand at pulling one of these four awesome cards yourself by picking up a BBCE-authenticated box on eBay.
Be First to Comment