This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/2/2021
The famous 1986 Fleer basketball set is a modern masterpiece that is single-handedly responsible for resuscitating what was a virtually dead market for basketball trading cards, and the decision makers at Fleer couldn't have picked a better time to re-enter the market. After a 25 year layoff, Fleer designed an aesthetically pleasing but condition-sensitive red, white, and blue bordered set, the first nationwide distribution of basketball cards since Topps suspended operations following the 1981-82 season. Due to the four year gap, players breaking into the league after 1982 had to wait until 1986 to make their pasteboard debut, so an impressive list of players who had already been in the league were making their "rookie" appearance: Danny Ainge, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Joe Dumars, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Hakeem Olajuwon, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, and James Worthy, most of whom would eventually be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition to this impressive list of key rookie issues, the 1986 Fleer set also boasts appealing issues of several other HOFers, including: Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, and Bill Walton. But head and shoulders above all is the legendary Michael Jordan rookie card, the single most important card dedicated to the hardcourt and an icon that ranks with the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card as the greatest post-war trading card ever produced. The featured collection is an incredible 1986 Fleer complete set, all 132 cards plus 10 of the 11 sticker inserts (no Abdul-Jabbar) with each and every piece graded PSA 9 MINT. All are hand selected for quality, and the cards easily earn the MINT assessment. The Michael Jordan rookie card is an exceptionally high-end specimen for the grade, sporting near perfect side to side centering and endpoints that make a great case for GEM MINT status. One barely discernable fleck on the lower right edge and maybe a degree or two shift in the top to bottom centering is all that separates this Jordan RC from GEM MINT specimens that are presently closing in on seven-figure prices. This is a tremendous collection that is pioneering a resurgence in the basketball card market and that seems to grow in value with no end in sight.