34 SportsCollectorsDigest/ August16, 2019 http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com
swatchcard(CF1/ JC1)anda game-usedbatvariation(CF2
/ JC2).MyresearchshowsthattheCansecobatcards(JC2)
appearasbotha silverandgoldvariation,buttheFiskbatcard
(CF2)onlyappearsasa silvervariation.Theyareallincludedin
mynumbersabove.
Anotherneatfactis thattheGloryoftheirTimeTony
Gwynncards(TG1andTG2)areofferedasa whiteuniform
swatch(TG1)anda greyuniformswatch(TG2).TheTG1and
TG2cardsalsohavetheirownpatchcardvariationaswell.
Movingalong,theGreatsoftheGameeditionalsoinclude
sixComparisonCutsautographedcardsandthreePersonality
Cutsautographedcards.Includedherearethe“bigboycards”
suchascutautographsofBabeRuth,ConnieMack,LouGehrig
andJackieRobinsontonamea few.Bytheway,thesenine
beautiesbringourtotalfortheGreatsoftheGameeditionto
365 cards.
Finally, the Greats of the Game edition concludes with a
15-card Etched in Time cut autographs subset. These are also
what I consider the “big boy cards” of this edition. Mostly
1/1 or at most “of 3,” they include Roy Campanella, Roberto
Clemente, Thurman Munson and Ty Cobb. These are beautiful
cut signatures, based on the pictures I’ve seen. These Etched in
Time cards bring our total for the Greats of the Game edition to
a whopping 380 cards. Quite the growth spurt from a base set of
80 cards.
My personal refl ections on this set are as follows:
The Greats of the Game concept with Fleer began with a
Baseball Greats set appearing in 1960 and 1961. It was one of
the fi rst “retro” sets featuring baseball stars from the fi rst half of
the 20th Century. The Greats of the Game issue returned with a
Card Collecting
Pictured are two of the variations of the Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra Battery
Mates subset card from 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Baseball.
Pictured are three of the variations of the Tom Seaver and Johnny Bench
Battery Mates subset card from 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Baseball.