If Topps was worried about competition in the first ten years of their monopoly, it probably wasn’t 1961 Fleer baseball cards that was keeping Sy Berger and his cohorts up at night.
After issuing a dedicated Ted Williams set in 1959 and a set full of all-time greats in 1960, Fleer evidently didn’t make any headway in their quest to print cards of then-current players over that offseason.
So, back they came for another round of Baseball Greats in 1961, this time with an updated patriotic design and an expanded checklist (154) cards that have made the second issue generally more popular than the first.
Here, then are the most valuable 1961 Fleer baseball cards, based on prices listed for graded NM copies in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.
1961 Fleer Babe Ruth (#75)
Greatest player of all time? Check.
Card issued in a season when the Babe was getting more attention than ever thanks to Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hunting down his single-season home run record? Check.
Most valuable card in this set?
Check, at about $120 (PSA 7).
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1961 Fleer Ted Williams (#152)
Williams returned for a third go-round with Fleer, all at the expense of Topps and their ability to feature Teddy Ballgame in their own sets.
This only-game-in-town 1961 Williams card also fetches close to $120 in PSA 7 condition.
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1961 Fleer Lou Gehrig (#31)
Gehrig again checks in behind Williams and Ruth here, just like he does in the 1960 Fleer set.
The man whose name is synonymous with Hall of Fame greatness and overall class checks in here at around $70 in graded NM condition.
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1961 Fleer Ty Cobb (#14)
If this list is starting to look familiar, maybe it’s because you’ve already read our 1960 Fleer article, whose first four listings are exactly the same.
Here in the 1961 Fleer set, Cobb appears on the final card issued during his lifetime, and that card sells for about $50 in PSA 7.
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1961 Fleer Ross Youngs (#154)
Youngs gives us our first new name when compared to the 1960 Fleer set, and he makes the cut by having been the starting rightfielder for two World Series champion editions of the New York Giants in the early 1920s.
Youngs also made the Cooperstown cut via the Veterans Committee in 1972, and he lines up here at $50 in PSA 7 — even though Fleer went with “Young” on the card.
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1961 Fleer Honus Wagner (#150)
Wagner is back as the greatest shortstop in the 1961 Fleer set and one of the top few men at that position to ever take the field.
Here, The Flying Dutchman offers up an elder statesman look on his $45 card (in PSA 7).
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1961 Fleer Cy Young (#153)
Young wins the battle of Hall of Fame pitchers in this set, just as he did for most career victories (511) and in having a yearly pitching award named after him.
The Cleveland and Boston great is $45 buy in PSA 7.
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