Broadly tunable lasers are useful for basic spectroscopy studies， as well as a wide range of applications from optical communications to biomedical imaging. Transition-metal-ions doped solid-state gain media are eminently suitable for generating broadband emissions. Ti³⁺：sapphire and Cr⁴⁺：YAG crystals are 2 successful examples that are now widely used. Glass-clad Ti³⁺：sapphire and Cr⁴⁺：YAG crystal fibers have shown superior performance for broadly tunable lasers in the near infrared wavelength ranges. The tunable Ti³⁺：sapphire crystal fiber lasers are efficient， and have demostrated the lowest threshold over a 180 nm tuning range. The Cr⁴⁺：YAG crystal fiber laser shows a tuning range of 170 nm， limited by the excited state absorption. To celebrate the 60^th anniversary since laser invention， a brief historical review and the latest developments of the Ti³⁺：sapphire and Cr⁴⁺：YAG crystal fiber lasers are discussed in the manuscript. The tunable Ti³⁺：sapphire crystal fiber laser's wavelength sweeping speed is envisioned， and the optical properties are compared with that of the Cr⁴⁺：YAG crystal fiber. With well-developed crystalline cores and clads for broadly tunable lasers， it is expected that novel applications， such as ultra-broadband optical fiber communications and cellular-resolution optical coherence tomography， could be evolved to meet the high data rate and high image resolution needs in future.