Paying tribute to Flair

I don't know what it is about Flair. I really like the cards, even though they're cheesy as hell. At the time, super thick card stock with so much foil and glossyness was something new. The price tag also. But for $14 a box, I was willing to recapture my adolescent years, when I'd marvel at the little cigarette-like boxes the cards would be wrapped in. WHat I didn't realize at the time was how much plastic was involved in the wrapping. The box is shrink wrapped. Each individual box is also. And the cards are in some kind of plastic bag. I definitely do not need that much plastic in my life, thank you very much Fleer. Plus, of course, it takes forever to open the various layers.

To me, Flair looks like obituary cards. The kind you'd have at someone's funeral (or retirement party, to sound less morbid). The superposed pictures, the blurred background, the gold lettering, the cute font used for the capital letter of the player's name...everything's perfect.

here's the only insert aailable for that product. The Piazza is actually the biggest 'hit' possible. Manny looks very, very young, and not everybody made it to the future in the Majors, wave or not...

Couple of cards I needed for my collection. Always nice to add a Molitor.

A floating head of David Justice in front of empty seats, looking right at us, mourning people.

There aren't many action shots in Flair. Which is natural, as you're saying good bye to one guy, not two. Here's an exception, but it's always nice to see Bonds make a cameo where he's about to be out. You know what ? This is a pretty nice card.

A couple of rare horizontal cards. They'll adopt that format in 95, and they should've kept it that way.

I have no idea where he's pitching, but he must feel really lonely, in the middle of nowhere like that. And Angel among angels...

This one's perfect. It's as if he's looking at himself in the sky, hovering over the crowd, finally at peace.

Here's airbrush gone wild. What were they thinking, erasing that poor umpire ?

Finally, a card that epitomizes Flair. They also remind me of those horrible posters you see from time to time, with dolphins jumping in the sea in the sunset. That's exactly what Joe Girardi is doing there. Jumping like a dolphin in the reddish sunset.
I'm moved to tears.