And Now, the rest of the story! 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game – Cut Signature Edition – Part 1.

Just like one of my idols, Paul Harvey, said; “And now, the rest of the story!”

The 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Baseball set had a second series that was the 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game – Cut Signature Edition.  Of course.  The second series carried along most of the personality and characteristics of its older sibling with a few twists thrown in.  Of course.

During the next few weeks, I’ll let you know of my findings and deep-dive into the Cut Signature Edition of this great set.

Here we go…..

Let’s unpack the “second series” of the 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game product; better known as the Cut Signature Edition. This issue was released in December, 2004 and please remember that Fleer ceased operations in May of 2005.

Observing and respecting the namesake of the series, I’ll discuss the Etched in Time cut signature subset of this series first. This group of 40 cut-signature cards includes the full spectrum of print production numbers; from the 1/1 cut signature cards from the likes of Jim Thorpe, Earle Combs, Max Carey, Nap Lajoie, Pie Traynor, Tony Conigliaro, and Ted Williams to the more plentiful cut signature cards from Edd Roush (of 93), Ethan Allan (of 76), Earl Averill (of 50) and Rick Ferrell (of 50). Mixed in are wonderful cuts from Chico Ruiz (of 5), Freddie Lindstrom (of 5), Zach Wheat (of 4), and Lefty O’Doul (of 3). Of this group, twenty-five (25) have been produced in a quantity of less than 10, so they are taken off of my want list! That still leaves fifteen (15) terrific cards for the “regular guy” to collect.

 

Now, the base cards for this set…

Cards numbered 81-145 continue the base cards from the Greats of the Game edition into the Cut Signature Edition of this set. This begins our count with 65 base cards. Consistent with the first series, each base card has a blue parallel card. This is where the first “twist” hits this set. The blue parallel cards from the Greats of the Game base cards (number 1-80) had a production run of (and are numbered to) 500. The blue parallel cards from the Cut Signature Edition base set (81-145) are not as generously produced and have a production run (and are numbered to a quantity) that is unique to that player. For example, card number 90 is Mark Fidrych. The “blue parallel” for this card is short printed and numbered to 76 (his rookie year!).

That pattern continues with each of the “blue parallels” from the Cut Signature Edition. Another example; the Joe Charboneau #89 card is short printed and numbered to 80 (his rookie year and ROY award year). There is some fun to be had in figuring out why the production run number was selected. Fun – yes! But also makes it a little more difficult to complete the set. With that said, adding the blue parallel cards brings the total of the base set to 130 while adding the Etched in Time subset brings the total to 170 cards.

Of the 65 base cards in the Cut-Signature Edition, 48 appear as a Gold Border Autograph (GBA) variation. Nice, crisp autographs signed on stickers and then affixed to the card. The 48 GBA cards bring us to 218 on the checklist.

In my next installment, I’ll explore the many subsets included in the Cut Signature Edition.

Until then, enjoy late spring and avoid the flooding and storms!