Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989. In 1992, Fleer was sold to Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. for $265 million. Seven years later, Marvel sold Fleer-Skybox to a partnership formed by Alex Grass, the founder of Rite Aid Corp., and his son Roger at a significant loss—reportedly only $26 million. The Grass family retained ownership until 2005 when Upper Deck bought the rights to the name after it filed for bankruptcy.
History
The success story of Fleer Trading Cards dates back to 1849 when Frank H. Fleer began his chewing gum business. After successfully introducing the world to the first "bubble gum," Fleer decided it was time to begin producing trading cards. In 1923, Fleer created its first "trading card," 120 "famous pictures" (referred to in the ACC as W-515) packed with every 5-cent pack of Fleer's Bobs & Fruit Hearts. Babe Ruth's picture was among the stars, but because the set is so rare, no one knows all of the players who were included in the set. In 1935, Fleer packaged a Cops & Robbers trading card set with bubble gum. Fleer's first complete entry into the baseball card industry was an 80-card Ted Williams set in 1959 followed by Baseball and Football Greats from 1960-63. The first complete professional basketball card set was 1961 Fleer Basketball.
In 1995, Fleer acquired SkyBox International Inc., a trading card company located in North Carolina they had been partially owned by the NBA and the Lorillard Tobacco Company. The new company was renamed Fleer/SkyBox International Inc.
In February 1999, Fleer was bought by a partnership formed by Alex and his son Roger Grass.
In January 2001, the Fleer family expanded its umbrella with the purchase of White Rose Collectibles, one of the most successful die-cast manufacturers in the country. Fleer followed the purchase of White Rose Collectibles with another major announcement concerning the company. With the first release back in April of 2001, Fleer became the exclusive manufacturer of WWE Wrestling cards.
The company had been dealing with financial shortfalls for several months and on May 16th, 2005 shut down operations. Just prior they had canceled plans to attend the 2005 NFL Players Rookie Premiere photo shoot in Los Angeles. One of the company's printers refused to release products due to unpaid bills.
Fleer looked for potential buyers in 2004 and several other card companies submitted offers. Mr. Grass did not sell and the company invested in product improvement and promotions. After liquidation, the remnants of Fleer were sold to Upper Deck for less than $8 million.
The company did business under the names Fleer Trading Cards and Fleer Collectibles and was located at 1120 Route 73, Suite 300, Mt. Laurel, N.J. 08054.