Sports Illustrated and Fleer Combined for Iconic Card Sets in 1990s
Sports Illustrated has been a fixture in the sports world for over seventy years. Along the way, baseball and football have been covered extensively by them, even in the sports card industry. In the 1990s, Sports Illustrated partnered with Fleer to produce trading card sets centered around baseball and football that used the vault of SI photography.
The baseball sets were released from 1997-1999, and the cards themselves are breathtaking. The front of the cards feature a full photograph of the player, without any borders present - somewhat like the stadium club releases that started in the early 1990s. The top left of the card contains the Sports Illustrated logo, while the player name, team, and position are located at the bottom of the card. The backs of the cards were simplistic, like a modern day Topps release - containing a player's career statistics among a basic background.
While each release had certain sub sets within the base set like "ones to watch", "season highlights", or "year in review", perhaps the insert that appeals most to collectors are the reprinted Sports Illustrated Covers. They can be found in the 1997 and 1998 releases, and bring the iconic covers into trading card form. These cards are affordable for all levels of collectors, making them an easy addition into one's collection. Most cover cards go between $1-$5, depending on the subject. Autographs can also be found among the releases, and were tough pulls back in the day. Back in May, a hand numbered Willie Mays Autographed cover card from the 1997 release sold for $283 on eBay.
In 1999, Football received it's first and only release under the Sports Illustrated/Fleer partnership. It's center theme was "Greats of the Game" (Baseball got the same release as well). While it relied heavily on retired players, it did contain some current players at the time. Like the aforementioned Baseball sets, it contained autograph chases and inserts - including reproductions of SI covers. The autographs from the set are fairly obtainable for collectors as well. A few weeks ago, a Gale Sayers cover reprint autograph sold for $34 on eBay. Some will sell for more or less however, depending on the player.
The Sports Illustrated and Fleer partnership in the 1990s delivered some amazing sets to the hobby. It not only allowed collectors to chase autographs, but also incorporated SI's photography and cover history. These sets are fairly reasonable to collect in today's market, including the autographs, making them an appealing option to collectors.
Dylan is a collector based in Central Pennsylvania, and sports fan rooting for the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Pirates, and LA Lakers. He is currently attempting to collect a complete run of Topps flagship sets across football, baseball, and basketball. He is passionate about the history of the hobby including its continual growth and evolution.