1986 Sportflics

Description

In 1986, Major League Marketing became the fourth fully licensed card producer. In March, they released their debut trading card set: Sportflics. Developed by Optigraphics of Arlington, Texas, the cards used a state-of-the-art printing process called "lenticular printing." They were referred to as a "Triple Action Magic Motion®" card. Each card changes its picture three times. One headshot and two action shots of one sequence given the effect of the player either hitting or pitching. Optigraphics trademarked the idea on March 22nd, 1976. Sportflics was trademarked on December 15th, 1985. Optigraphics was owned by Ann Blake, whom later produced Score cards in 1988, and eventually start Playoff, Inc.

The 200-card set plus 133 trivia cards were touted as “Series #1” and the back of the packs told collectors to “Watch For New Series”, however, no second series ever materialized - most likely due to poor sales.

The 200-card set was made up of 139 base cards and 41 subset cards. Most of the stars of the day had five to eight cards each.

The front design (intentional or not) is very similar to the 1953 Bowman set. The back of the cards when applicable gave a relatively extended overview bio of the player along with their basic raw statistics for their career. The back of the card is also noteworthy because it lists the player's uniform number. A first in baseball card information.

Intended as innovation - it appeared to be gimmicky. Amurol Products president A.G. Atwater, the company responsible for distribution, said "Sportflics are official baseball cards but they have much greater dimension that other cards." [1] Nevertheless, The Hobby, in general, couldn't see pass that the cards were reminiscent of the Kellogg's 3-D cards (1970 - 1983) and the 1984 Seven-Eleven Coin set.

The unintended innovation came in its packaging. This was the first time that a tamper proof foil wrapper was used.

Card #182 showcasing "1985 Milestones" uses the picture of young fan, Matt Tallman, to represent the record setting attendance at MLB games.

Considered to be the least produced of the four licensed MLB card products from 1986.

According to hobby lore, 50 to 100 copies of the Robin Yount's card with a Yankees logo were produced.

[1] Sun Sentinel, 1986, March 19, Trading Cards Now Feature "Triple Action"

Distribution

36 packs per box, 3 superstar cards and 2 trivia cards per pack and a offer sheet for either a Dwight Gooden or Don Mattingly one of a kind disc. (MSRP .65¢)

Factory sets.

500 uncut sheets were produced. Each numbered set contained eight sheets.

Collation data from one box. Base Set Completion: 14.5% (29 of 200); Duplicates: 79

Reviews

In a 1986 Sun Sentinel article, Keith Olbermann, then sports director at KTLA-TV, Los Angeles said "Sportflics are very nice, but they're prohibitively expensive. Dealers are charging $40 for the 200 cards compared with $16 or $17 for a full set of 792 cards from Topps. They're novelty items, and this time, they may find their niche in some collector's shoe boxes."

1986 Sportflics pricing debuted in the March 1986 Beckett Baseball Card Monthly issue at $40 for the set. In the "Owner's Box" editorial Dr. James Beckett said, "We wish them well and appreciate their innovative multi-picture, multi-player approach."

Checklist

Promos

Persograph Prototypes

In 1985, Optigraphics produced six protoypes to show Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association what Sportflics was proposing in order to be a new licensee for producing cards. These cards are very difficult to find and are considerably rarer than the Sample cards which were given out after the Sportflics license had been granted (see below).

Four of the cards are standard-sized, along with one mini-sized (1 5/16" by 1 5/16") Joe DiMaggio card, and one trivia card (1 3/4" by 2"). The standard-size cards resemble regular 1986 Sportflics cards, but have different photos and stats only through 1984. One of the Winfield cards has a bio only; unfortunately the biographical statements on the back are incorrect in several instances. The DiMaggio card has black and white photos on the front, and career totals on the back. The Schmidt card is dubbed a "Persograph" as it contains a list of his favorite things on the back. The trivia card is the same as those distributed with 1986 Sportflics, except it shows the Major League Baseball logo on the front.

NNO Joe DiMaggio (mini)

NNO Mike Schmidt (stats)

NNO Mike Schmidt ("Persograph")

NNO Bruce Sutter

NNO Dave Winfield (1984 stats)

NNO Dave Winfield (biography)

NNO Magic Motion Trivia card.

Samples

A three-card pack was distributed freely by Optigraphics salesmen to potential buyers to show them what the new Sportflics card set would look like. The set is sometimes referred to as the Vendor Sample Kit. Some of these packs even found their way to the retail counters. They are not rare although they are obviously much less common than the regular issue of Sportflics. The cards show statistics only up through 1984. The copyright date on the card backs shows 1986. The cards are standard size.

1 Mike Schmidt / Dale Murphy / Jim Rice "RBI Sluggers"

43 Pete Rose

45 Tom Seaver

Base Set

• 1 George Brett
• 2 Don Mattingly
• 3 Wade Boggs
• 4 Ed Murray
• 5 Dale Murphy
• 6 Rickey Henderson
• 7 Harold Baines
• 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 9 Orel Hershiser
• 10 Bret Saberhagen
• 11 Tim Raines
• 12 Fernando Valenzuela
• 13 Tony Gwynn
• 14 Pedro Guerrero
• 15 Keith Hernandez
• 16 Ernest Riles
• 17 Jim Rice
• 18 Ron Guidry
• 19 Willie McGee
• 20 Ryne Sandberg
• 21 Kirk Gibson
• 22 Ozzie Guillen RC
• 23 Dave Parker
• 24 Vince Coleman RC
• 25 Tom Seaver
• 26 Brett Butler
• 27 Steve Carlton
• 28 Gary Carter
• 29 Cecil Cooper
• 30 Jose Cruz
• 31 Alvin Davis
• 32 Dwight Evans
• 33 Julio Franco
• 34 Damaso Garcia
• 35 Steve Garvey
• 36 Kent Hrbek
• 37 Reggie Jackson
• 38 Fred Lynn
• 39 Paul Molitor
• 40 Jim Presley
• 41 Dave Righetti
• 42 Robin Yount
• 43 Nolan Ryan
• 44 Mike Schmidt
• 45 Lee Smith
• 46 Rick Sutcliffe
• 47 Bruce Sutter
• 48 Lou Whitaker
• 49 Dave Winfield
• 50 Pete Rose

Tri-Stars

• 51 Steve Garvey/Pete Rose/Ryne Sandberg
• 52 Harold Baines/George Brett/Jim Rice
• 53 Phil Niekro/Jerry Reuss/Mike Witt
• 54 Don Mattingly/Cal Ripken, Jr./Robin Yount
• 55 Goose Gossage/Dan Quisenberry/Lee Smith
• 56 Pete Rose/Steve Sax/Darryl Strawberry
• 57 Don Baylor/Reggie Jackson/Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 58 Bill Madlock/Dave Parker/Pete Rose
• 59 Mike Flanagan/Ron Guidry/La Marr Hoyt
• 60 Tom Seaver/Rick Sutcliffe/Fernando Valenzuela
• 61 Tony Armas/Reggie Jackson/Jim Rice
• 62 Keith Hernandez/Dale Murphy/Mike Schmidt
• 63 George Brett/Fred Lynn/Robin Yount
• 64 Bert Blyleven/John Denny/Jerry Koosman
• 65 Rollie Fingers/Bruce Sutter
• 66 Andre Dawson/Bob Horner/Gary Matthews
• 67 Carlton Fisk/Ron Kittle/Tom Seaver
• 68 George Foster/Dave Kingman/Mike Schmidt
• 69 Rod Carew/Cal Ripken, Jr./Pete Rose
• 70 Steve Carlton/Tom Seaver/Rick Sutcliffe
• 71 Reggie Jackson/Fred Lynn/Robin Yount
• 72 Dave Righetti/Rick Sutcliffe/Fernando Valenzuela
• 73 Fred Lynn/Eddie Murray/Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 74 Rod Carew/Alvin Davis/Lou Whitaker
• 75 Wade Boggs/Carney Lansford/Don Mattingly

• 76 Jesse Barfield
• 77 Phil Bradley
• 78 Chris Brown
• 79 Tom Browning
• 80 Tom Brunansky
• 81 Bill Buckner
• 82 Chili Davis
• 83 Mark Davis
• 84 Rich Gedman
• 85 Willie Hernandez
• 86 Ron Kittle
• 87 Lee Lacy
• 88 Bill Madlock
• 89 Mike Marshall
• 90 Keith Moreland
• 91 Graig Nettles
• 92 Lance Parrish
• 93 Kirby Puckett
• 94 Juan Samuel
• 95 Steve Sax
• 96 Dave Stieb
• 97 Darryl Strawberry
• 98 Willie Upshaw
• 99 Frank Viola
• 100 Dwight Gooden
• 101 Joaquin Andujar
• 102 George Bell
• 103 Bert Blyleven
• 104 Mike Boddicker
• 105 Britt Burns
• 106 Rod Carew
• 107 Jack Clark
• 108 Danny Cox
• 109 Ron Darling
• 110 Andre Dawson
• 111 Leon Durham
• 112 Tony Fernandez
• 113 Tom Herr
• 114 Teddy Higuera RC
• 115 Bob Horner
• 116 Dave Kingman
• 117 Jack Morris
• 118 Dan Quisenberry
• 119 Jeff Reardon
• 120 Bryn Smith
• 121 Ozzie Smith
• 122 John Tudor
• 123 Tim Wallach
• 124 Willie Wilson
• 125 Carlton Fisk

Tri-Stars

• 126 Gary Carter/George Foster/Al Oliver
• 127 Tim Raines/Ryne Sandberg
• 128 Paul Molitor/Cal Ripken, Jr./Willie Wilson
• 129 Dennis Eckersley/John Candelaria
• 130 Ron Cey/Rollie Fingers/Pete Rose
• 131 Dave Concepcion/George Foster/Bill Madlock
• 132 Vida Blue/John Denny/Fernando Valenzuela
• 133 Doyle Alexander/Joaquin Andujar/Richard Dotson
• 134 John Denny/Tom Seaver/Rick Sutcliffe
• 135 Phil Niekro/Tom Seaver/Don Sutton
• 136 Vince Coleman / Dwight Gooden / Alfredo Griffin
• 137 Gary Carter/Steve Garvey/Fred Lynn
• 138 Tony Perez/Pete Rose/Rusty Staub
• 139 George Foster/Jim Rice/Mike Schmidt
• 140 Bill Buckner/Tony Gwynn/Al Oliver
• 141 Jack Morris/Dave Righetti/Nolan Ryan
• 142 Vida Blue/Bert Blyleven/Tom Seaver
• 143 Dwight Gooden/Nolan Ryan/Fernando Valenzuela
• 144 Davey Lopes/Tim Raines/Willy Wilson
• 145 Tony Armas/Cecil Cooper/Ed Murray
• 146 Rod Carew/Rollie Fingers/Jim Rice
• 147 Rick Dempsey/Reggie Jackson/Alan Trammell
• 148 Pedro Guerrero/Mike Schmidt/Dan Porter
• 149 Mike Boddicker/Ron Guidry/Rick Sutcliffe
• 150 Reggie Jackson/Dave Kingman/Fred Lynn

• 151 Buddy Bell
• 152 Oil Can Boyd
• 153 Dave Concepcion
• 154 Brian Downing
• 155 Shawon Dunston
• 156 John Franco
• 157 Scott Garrelts
• 158 Bob James
• 159 Charlie Leibrandt
• 160 Oddibe McDowell
• 161 Roger McDowell RC
• 162 Mike Moore
• 163 Phil Niekro
• 164 Al Oliver
• 165 Tony Pena
• 166 Ted Power
• 167 Mike Scioscia
• 168 Mario Soto
• 169 Bob Stanley
• 170 Garry Templeton
• 171 Andre Thornton
• 172 Alan Trammell
• 173 Doug DeCinces
• 174 Greg Walker
• 175 Don Sutton

Big Six

• 176 Awards
• 177 1985 Hot Rookies
• 178 1985 Hot Rookies
• 179 Gold Glove
• 180 Active Lifetime .300
• 181 Active Lifetime .300
• 182 1985 Milestones
• 183 Triple Crown
• 184 1985 Highlights
• 185 1985 20 Game Winners

World Series Champions

• 186 World Series Champs

• 187 Hubie Brooks
• 188 Glenn Davis
• 189 Darrell Evans
• 190 Goose Gossage
• 191 Andy Hawkins
• 192 Jay Howell
• 193 La Marr Hoyt
• 194 Davey Lopes
• 195 Milt Scott
• 196 Ted Simmons
• 197 Gary Ward
• 198 Bob Welch
• 199 Mike Young
• 200 Buddy Biancalana

Errors

42 Robin Yount (Yankee logo on back)

178 (Jim Wilson instead of Mark Funderburk)

179 Karl Best / Mark Funderburk / Andres Galarraga / Dwayne Henry / Pete Incaviglia / Todd Worrell

Sportflics
1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1994 Sportflics 2000 - 1995 - 1996
Boxed Sets: 1986 Sportflics Decade Greats - 1987 Sportflics Team Preview - 1988 Sportflics Gamewinners
Rookies: 1986 - 1987 - 1994 Sportflics 2000 Rookie/Traded
Other Sportflics Sets: 1995 UC3