Can you imagine the pressure on 1981 Fleer baseball cards?
I mean, here they were, simple cardboard rectangles, but they had the weight of decades on their shoulders.
See, Fleer had been battling Topps since at least the late 1950s (remember that 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set?) for the right to issue cards of current players.
The cardboard giant shot down the upstart time and again, and the skirmishes eventually escalated to a full-on court battle in the 1970s.
That dragged on for several years until Fleer finally prevailed in 1980 — they could print their own cards! (And they got a cool $1 settlement out of the deal).
Against that backdrop, Fleer rushed to work and put together an inaugural set that looked pretty decent on the surface but that was riddled with problems once you looked a little deeper — errors, suspect print quality, etc.
Still, this is a historical set, and it remains a popular target for collectors all these years later, and that means there’s some dollars in them there stacks — at least in some cases.
Here, then, are the most valuable 1981 Fleer baseball cards, as listed in PSA 9 condition by the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.
Let’s rip right in …
1981 Fleer Fernando Valenzuela Rookie Card (#140)
Fernandomania swept through not just baseball, but all of America in 1981, as 20-year-old left-hander Fernando Valenzuela emerged as maybe the best pitcher in all of baseball.
As a rookie for the Los Angeles Dodgers — who would win the World Series that fall — Fernando led the National League with 25 games started, 11 complete games, eight shutouts, and 180 innings.
Those numbers were all the more amazing given that the 1981 season was ripped apart by the players’ strike, and Valenzuela’s sterling performance resulted in a 13-7 record with a 2.48 ERA. That showing garnered the youngster both the NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards.
While he was piling up those gaudy marks, collectors were busy looking for Fernando cardboard, and that’s where Fleer was able to make hay.
Because, while Topps featured Valenzuela on a three-player future stars card with Mike Scioscia and Jack Perconte, and while Donruss whiffed on him completely, Fleer put the Mexican hero on a solo card.
Too bad they spelled his name “Fernand”!
Oh well, this has been a popular card forever, and today, it sells for $15+ in PSA 9 condition.
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1981 Fleer Harold Baines Rookie Card (#346)
Fernando was a bona fide superstar in the early 1980s, and he looked to be headed for the Hall of Fame by the time he was 25.
Spotty health as he approached his 30s, though, led to inconsistent results, and Valenzuela fell short of Cooperstown levels when he hung up his spikes in 1997.
And … well, Fleer pulled a Donruss when it came to Tim Raines, neglecting the Montreal speedster entirely.
So for years, it looked the 1981 Fleer set would never sport a Hall of Fame rookie card.
Then came the 2019 Veterans Committee vote, and suddenly designated Harold Baines hitter was in.
No matter what you think of Baines’ candidacy, he’s now a Hall of Famer — and he was a darn good hitter, for sure. I remember clearly a lot of folks thought a plaque was a strong eventual possibility for Baines back when he was toiling with the White Sox in the 1980s.
Today, that’s a reality, and his 1981 Fleer rookie card is about a $20 item in graded MINT condition.
(For what it’s worth, Donruss missed out on Baines in ’81, too.)
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1981 Fleer Rickey Henderson (#351)
While the newcomers (Fleer and Donruss, that is) were spotty with regards to rookies, they were spot-on with it came to another young superstar.
Fleer, in particular, seemed pretty enamored with Rickey Henderson, who had broken out with a .303 batting average and 100 stolen bases for the Oakland A’s in 1980.
I mean, they gave Rickey not one, but two cards, and you could make the case that they’re both “First Fleer” cards of Mr. Hot Dog.
They’re also both still pretty popular with collectors today, and you can expect to pay about $10 for a PSA 9 copy of either one.
First up, at #351, was this card that commemorates Henderson’s basepath exploits and is titled, “MOST STOLEN BASES AL.”
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1981 Fleer Rickey Henderson (#574)
And then, checking in at #574, is Henderson’s base card, which looks almost exactly the same as the “stolen bases” cards.
“Hey, Rickey! Turn to the right!”
Still, both are great-looking early-career cards of a stone-cold baseball legend.
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1981 Fleer Pete Rose (#1)
And speaking of stone-cold baseball legends, Fleer picked one to lead off their inaugural fully-licensed set.
In 1980, his second season in Philadelphia, Rose had helped the Phillies win their first-ever World Series. And, although he was closing in on 40 years of age, the fire in his belly was as evident as ever.
The ravages of time and scandal have diminished Pete’s luster, of course, but the man who broke Ty Cobb‘s all-time hit record in 1985 still carries plenty of hobby clout.
This is about a $10 item in PSA 9 these days.
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