Buzz Break: 1990 Fleer football cards (four packs)

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The lot: 1990 Fleer football cards (four packs)
Where to buy: Check junk bins ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for what was in this one.

Packs per lot: 4
Cards per pack: 15
Cards in this lot: 60
Base set completion: 59 of 400 (15 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Dan Marino, Cris Carter, Eric Allen ... some rough sledding otherwise here.

Rookie Cards (8) – Blair Thomas, Byron Evans, Leonard Griffin, Orson Mobley, Eric Williams, Keith Jones, Harvey Armstrong, Robert Brown (all RCs and some base in gallery)

Insert/short-prints cards: 1
Fleer All-Pro (1) – Jerry Rice

Autographs/Memorabilia: None.

What's Buzz-worthy: While Fleer was one of the Big Three card-makers for baseball in the 1980s, their football presence in the 1980s was limited to highlights cards that focused on the teams only -- no player names ... you, know licensing stuff. ... They made standard cards in the 1960s and then highlight stickers/cards in the 197os, too, but this 1990 release was branded as their "Premiere Edition" in the modern era of football, which really opened up in 1989 with new companies taking on Topps in the NFL. ... I recently grabbed a mystery box of old football packs with some simple, Throwback Thursday-style retro Buzz Breaks of single packs in mind but it turned out to be a box of several packs from about five products in just a couple of years -- my prime NFL years, really, back in the day, but, overall, the box was a fail. ... This small batch actually included a few of the key names here -- Montana and Rice were big deals in 1990 and their cards here look pretty good, too, but the rookie presence here was limited to a small group of draft picks nods (like the Blair Thomas) and then veterans who had never had cards before ... definitely not as good as Pro Set was on that front. The inserts weren't, either, with just this one set (gasp!) a few times per box but I landed one name that's solid. The 1991 set was a seriously ugly dud -- a C at best, likely worse -- but things got better throughout the decade making sets like even this one, which is respectable, look rougher. But, they had to start somewhere ...

Product Grade: B+ (visually it still holds up ... at least on good names where photos are edited well)
Lot Grade: A- (good Hall of Famer names and one good name on insert)
Fun Grade: B- (Montana, Marino and Rice would have been a good return back then ... but not as much now)

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