1963 Fleer Baseball Cards

Fleer decided to skip putting out a baseball card set for 1962 (although they did manage a football set), but returned in 1963 with a handsome set of cards... although a small one, at 66 cards.

The reason for this is that Topps sued Fleer for selling baseball cards with gum, a merchandising combination for which, they figured, they held the sole right. As a result, Fleer's 1963 baseball card set was issued with a cookie instead, and the series was cut short at 66.

Card fronts featured a color photo of the player, with a white border around the photo, and at the bottom a block for the player's name, team, and position, along with a small cartoon image of the player's position at left.

Card backs held all text in one large white block surrounded by a color border, with the player name at the top, followed by team and position, basic info, a biographical paragraph, and total career statistics. The card number was held in a small cartoon bats-crossing-ball design near the center.

This was Fleer's first full baseball card set to feature only current players.

This set includes an unnumbered checklist, which is generally included into the total set price.

Packs of this series also included team logo stickers: fronts featured the logo against a white background, while the back was printed in red ink.

Note: for whatever reason, cad #46, Joe Adcock, is more scarce than the others, and is one of the more expensive cards in the set.

Prominent players in this set include: Brooks Robinson, Willie Mays, Carl Yastrzemski, Sandy Koufax, Maury Wills (rookie), and Roberto Clemente.