In an early challenge to the Topps mid-period monopoly on baseball trading cards the Fleer Company of Philadelphia in 1963 issued baseball cards packaged with a brittle sugary cherry-flavored cookie. The set not tremendously popular at the time has gained favor among collectors today partially because of the set"s small size (just 66 cards and an unnumbered checklist) but largely due to the challenge of obtaining high-grade examples of the cards. The quality control at Fleer was suspect at best with cutting issues resulting in severe centering problems as well as significant tilts and diamond cuts.Beautiful in their simplicity the card designs featured clear photographs dominating the bulk of the front with a plain player name team and position printed alongside a line illustration of a ballplayer fielding his position. The green-bordered backs susceptible to edge chipping and general wear included statistical and biographical information on the player.As with most card sets legend explains that the first and last cards of any set were exposed to more wear and tear than the rest since those cards sat at the top and bottom of the stack often wrapped in rubber bands. The result is that the first and last cards of most vintage sets have greater value in high grades and the 1963 Fleer Billy O"Dell as the last card in the set is no exception. Meeting the technical grade of MINT 9 by PSA just one 1963 Fleer O"Dell has ever graded higher.This card is beautifully sharp and clean but does have a modest tilt of the image which is much more pronounced on the card reverse than it is on the front. Still a particularly scarce card in high grades this remains a strong high-grade example of a difficult card from a popular but offbeat 1960s set.Population Data:PSA Population: 273 total graded 15 at this level 1 higherSGC Population: 44 total graded 2 at this level none higher