Overview
1981 Fleer is a 660-card set and marks Fleer's first modern era entry into the current player baseball card market since 1963. Unopened packs contained 17 cards as well as a piece of gum -- the only year Fleer packs would contain gum. Wax boxes contained 38 packs. As a matter of fact, the boxes actually told the retailer there was extra profit as they were charged as if there were 36 packs in the box.
Cards are grouped in team order and teams are ordered based upon their standings from the 1980 season with the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies starting off the set. (Not coincedentially, Fleer was based in Philadelphia.) Cards 638-660 feature specials and checklists.
The 1981 Fleer set is best known for the sheer amount of errors that riddled it. There were three distinct printings: the two following the primary run were designed to correct numerous errors. The variations caused by these multiple printings are noted in the checklist below (P1, P2, or P3). The Craig Nettles variation was corrected before the end of the first printing and thus is not included in the complete set consideration due to scarcity.
All cards of pitchers in this set erroneously show a heading (on the card backs) of "Batting Record" over their career pitching statistics. Fleer never bothered to correct it.
Key Rookie Cards in this set are Danny Ainge, Harold Baines, Kirk Gibson, Jeff Reardon, and Fernando Valenzuela, whose first name was erroneously spelled "Fernand" on the card front.
