1991 Fleer Baseball Forum

1991 was a weird year for Fleer. Their 1991 flagship wasn't even a product of it's time. I don't know what was going on in the company, I have no insider information. Maybe they were distracted by the new Fleer Ultra premium set, which was also a slapped-together dud in my opinion. There weren't any real design risks taken, nor does it appear much thought went into it. Weird yellow background, plain black striping, pedestrian typeface. The back side (outside of the color) may as well have been a totally different card. Here's the base Griffey for that set:

We have the player of a generation known for excitement and youthful energy, and on the front, he looks like he just popped out. I wanted to see if I could make an improvement to the design, maintain a 90's vibe, and still keep the spirit of the original design.

For 91 Fleer, that circle with a stripe coming off of it seemed to be a repeated motif, visible on the back of the base, and then on the All-Star cards, so I put that circle on the front and dropped a logo in it. Instant personality. The black stripe is still there in spirit, this time reversing out the position of the player (For me, a good card front has player name, team logo and position). Because of the vibrancy of the yellow, I wanted to take a chance with a font that communicated youth, fun and energy. I got rid of the top stripe because I wanted to let the name be the top boundary. And come on, how about a photo of The Kid's iconic swing, laying into a pitch to give it a ride. So anyway, my crack at a redesigned 1991 Fleer card:

I like your reimaging, but I think the original was fine except for the yellow.  I think it was too bold of a color to use, and if it was not as bright it might have been better.  Only thing I would have changed besides the color of the original would be spelling out Outfield or whatever position and getting rid of one of the straight black lines on the top and the bottom.  I would like to see a team logo too, but it wouldn't be a dealbreaker.

If whoever has the rights to the Fleer name now decided to use your design though, I would seek out a few cards.

1991 Fleer is one of my favorites.

I like your design better.  The original is my least favorite design ever.

Much better than the original! That original was like a fever dream and made my head hurt to look at them.

I didn't mind the design of the '91 Fleer set. It was the color that made them hard to look at. I would have changed the yellow to a pale gray or the green they used in 1992. I also like the black stripes at the top and bottom. They help determine if the card is centered and how off it is if not centered.

Your design does look a lot better for the yellow border though.

I've sorted through so many of the original design that it's grown on me and I don't mind it. I do like your design. The photo is definitely an upgrade.

The original '91 Fleer design was ok by me, but your version really is way better--much more vibrant, fun and original. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a future major card release use a similar design but with different colors.

I disliked 1991 Fleer Baseball but 1991 Fleer Football was way worse.

You will be right.  I do like the back of the football issue.