1986-87 Fleer Basketball Common Trading Cards

The fleer 1986-87 basketball trading card set can't be duplicated in popularity today there are too many card makers in today's industry of basketball cards.Collecting a full set of common cards and stickers is a hobby of many basketball fans and an underground niche that can be fun.

Imagine a basketball card set that was printed today that had rookie cards of every top player in the NBA. Let's say, for example, that the set in question had the first widely available cards of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Gilbert Arenas, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady. It's no stretch to say that such a set would be one of the most popular products ever created from cardboard.

Of course, a dream set with rookies of all of today's top players is just that. The athletes listed below entered the league in various different seasons, and all of them were featured on multiple rookie cards as soon as they hit an NBA court for the first time. There's just no way any one set in the current basketball card market would be lucky enough to have such an exclusive gathering of star power.

Twenty years ago, that wasn't the case. After 13 consecutive years producing a basketball set, Topps bowed out of the game following the 1981-82 season. Five years later, Fleer stepped in to fill the hardwood void. In the meantime, a number of prominent NBA players made their debuts, including a guy named Michael Jordan.

The Most Famous Basketball Rookie Card of All Time
Basketball fans probably remember that Jordan dazzled fans for the first time in 1984, right in the middle of the gap between the end of Topps' run and Fleer's initial effort. The Star company did include Jordan in its 1984-85 set, and many collectors recognize the card as an official RC. Others do not, since the Star set was packaged in team bags instead of packs, and not as widely distributed as the products of other basketball card manufacturers.

There's no question about Jordan's 1986-87 Fleer card, one of the most well-known and popular rookie cards in any sport. From the iconic shot of Jordan soaring to the rim for a one-handed dunk to the patriotic feel of the set's red, white and blue borders, it's a classic in every sense of the word. As PSA President Joe Orlando says in his article on the historic Fleer set, the Jordan rookie is basketball's equivalent of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.

That kind of notoriety has also earned it a more dubious distinction: it's one of the most frequently counterfeited cards in hobby history. Fakes have been floating around in fairly large numbers at various times, forcing buyers to do their homework to ensure they purchase the genuine article.

Much More Than Just MJ
The Jordan card alone would assure the 1986-87 Fleer set of a place in the basketball card hall of fame, but it also includes the rookie cards of plenty of other NBA superstars. Some appear in earlier Star releases, like Charles Barkley, Isiah Thomas and Dominique Wilkins. Others, like Joe Dumars, Karl Malone and Chris Mullin, make their official trading card debuts.

And there's more than just rookies on the checklist, with cards of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Magic Johnson also included. Add it all up and there's something for just about every basketball fan, making it a hit with collectors to this day.

It's not that difficult to find singles from this historic set on the internet or at large card shows, and graded versions of the top rookies often change hands for big money. Two things to look for when examining the condition of singles from this set are centering (the border should be evenly distributed on both sides of the card) and chipping of the edges, a problem that plagues many sports card sets with colored borders.

The table below features the most notable rookie cards from the 1986-87 Fleer basketball set, with book values for cards in Near Mint condition from the February 2007 issue of Tuff Stuff magazine.

The table below features the most notable rookie cards from the 1986-87 Fleer basketball set, with book values for cards in Near Mint condition from the February 2007 issue of Tuff Stuff magazine.

1986-87 Fleer Basketball Rookie Card Checklist

Player .....................................Number ................Book Value
Danny Ainge................................. 4.......................... $9
Charles Barkley............................ 7 ..........................$65
Tom Chambers .............................15........................ $5
Terry Cummings............................ 20 .......................$5
Clyde Drexler................................ 26 ........................$60
Joe Dumars.................................. 27......................... $30
Patrick Ewing ................................32 .........................$55
Derek Harper................................ 44 .........................$5
Michael Jordan.............................. 57........................ $650
Jeff Malone ...................................67.......................... $5
Karl Malone.................................. 68 ..........................$70
Xavier McDaniel ............................72 .........................$5
Chris Mullin ...................................77 .........................$30
Larry Nance ..................................78.......................... $5
Charles Oakley.............................. 81......................... $6
Hakeem Olajuwon.......................... 82 .........................$60
Sam Perkins ..................................86 .........................$5
Doc Rivers ....................................91.......................... $7
Byron Scott ...................................99 ..........................$6
Isiah Thomas ................................109........................ $30
Wayman Tisdale ...........................113........................ $5
Spud Webb................................... 120........................ $6
Dominique Wilkins......................... 121....................... $45
Buck Williams ................................123 .......................$6
Kevin Willis ....................................126 .......................$5
James Worthy................................ 131 ......................$35

The first thouhgt that that entered my mind when I initially saw this player who was teamed with Dr. J on the Sixers was who is this fat kid ?Oh but he would soon shut up all the pundits with his aggresive play and coast to coast ball handling skills.
Charles Barkley hailing from Auburn University sometimes weighing over 300 pounds was drafted by the Philadelphia Sixers in 1984 first round fifth pick .Playing forward at only 6 feet 4 inches his physical size and skills ultimately earned him the nickname "The Round Mound of Rebound.
Short in stature but wide around the backside Sir Charles could out rebound most opposing forwards and once he had the rebound opponents had to hustle back on defense because Charles was very good at taking the rebound from his end of the court to score with a lay up or dunk.

Clyde Drexler nick named clyde the glide was named one of the nba's top fifty players.He Played basketball for the university of houston from 1981-1983. I can remember his college days when Houston went to the final 4 two consecetive years.Phi Slamma Jamma was the name given to Drexler and his team mates at the university of houston for their above the rim style of play.Team mates on his college team included hakeem olajawon who he would later reunite with to win a NBA title in 1995 as Houston Rockets.
Clyde was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 1983 first round 14th pick taking Portland to the nba finals twice, in 1990 against the Detroit Pistons and 1992 versus the Chicago Bulls.His common card from the fleer 1986 set is always in great command.

Joe was a gaurd for Detroit during the bad boys days of the Pistons a ferosious defender with a great jumper to boot they would win 2 world titles with him at guard.

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA Champion (1989, 1990)
6× NBA All-Star (1990-1993, 1995, 1997)
1× NBA Finals MVP (1989)
1× All-NBA Second Team Selection (1993)
2× All-NBA Third Team Selection (1990, 1991)
4× NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
1× NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1991)
1× NBA All-Rookie First Team Selection (1986)

Patrick Ewing in my opinion the greateat Knicks center of all time. Patrick is presently a coach for the Orlando Magic.

Career highlights and awards
11× NBA All-Star (1986, 1988-1997)
1× All-NBA First Team Selection (1990)
6× All-NBA Second Team Selection (1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1997)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1988-1989, 1992)
1986 NBA Rookie of the Year
1986 NBA All-Rookie Team
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
1× NCAA Men's Basketball Champion (1984)
1× NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1984)
1× Naismith College Player of the Year (1985)
1× Adolph Rupp Trophy (1985)

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA MVP (1997, 1999)
13× NBA All-Star (1988-1998, 2000-2001)
11× All-NBA First Team Selection (1989-1999)
2× All-NBA Second Team Selection (1988, 2000)
1× All-NBA Third Team Selection (2001)
3× NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1997-1999)
1× NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1988)
1986 NBA All-Rookie Team
2× NBA All-Star MVP (1989, 1993)
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team

Career highlights and awards
1x All-NBA First Team Selection (1992)
2x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1989, 1991)
1x All-NBA Third Team Selection (1990)
5x NBA All-Star
2x Olympic gold medalist (1984, 1992)
1985 USBWA College Player of the Year
1985 John R. Wooden Award

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA Champion (1994, 1995)
1× NBA MVP (1994)
12× All-Star (1985-1990, 1992-1997)
2× Finals MVP (1994-1995)
2× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1993-1994)
6× All-NBA First Team Selection (1987-1989, 1993-1994, 1997)
3× All-NBA Second Team Selection (1986, 1990, 1996)
3× All-NBA Third Team Selection (1991, 1995, 1999)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1987-1988, 1990, 1993-1994)
4× NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1985, 1991, 1996-1997)
1985 NBA All-Rookie Team
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team

Basketball Hall of Fame

Career highlights and awards
NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1981)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1982)
12× NBA All-Star (1982-93)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1984, 1986)
3× All-NBA First Team (1984-86)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1983, 1987)
2× NBA Champion (1989, 1990)
NBA Finals MVP (1990)
U.S. Olympian (1980)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1987)
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996)
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2000)

Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie Team (1983)
2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion (1985, 1990)
9× NBA All Star (1986-94)
1× NBA Scoring Champ 1986
1× All-NBA First Team selection
4× All-NBA Second Team selection
2× All-NBA Third Team selection
1× FIBA World Championship Gold Medal 1994
1× Greek Cup Champion 1996
1× Greek Cup MVP 1996
1× Euroleague Champion 1996
1× Euroleague Finals Most Valuable Player Award 1996

This card is listed on ebay for $23,230.00! It's highly priced yet demonstrates the magnitude of the popularity of the 1986 fleer set.

Career highlights and awards
6× NBA Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
5× NBA MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998)
14× NBA All-Star (1985-1993, 1996-1998, 2002-2003)
6× NBA Finals MVP (1991-1993, 1996-1998)
1× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)
10× All-NBA First Team Selection (1987-1993, 1996-1998)
1× All-NBA Second Team Selection (1985)
9× NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1988-1993, 1996-1998)
1985 NBA Rookie of the Year
1985 NBA All-Rookie Team
3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1988, 1996, 1998)
2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1987, 1988)
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
1× NCAA Men's Basketball Champion (1982)
1982 ACC Freshman of the Year
1× ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year (1984)
1× USBWA College Player of the Year (1984)
1× Naismith College Player of the Year (1984)
1× John R. Wooden Award (1984)
1× Adolph Rupp Trophy (1984)
1991 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
2000 ESPY Athlete of the Century
1990s ESPY Male Athlete Decade Award
1990s ESPY Pro Basketballer Decade Award