1986 Fleer Basketball... Worth Collecting?

[lampertb]

The discrepancy reminds me of 2 other "rookie cards" from big, national issues, neither of which was actually the player's true rookie card.

Option #1) The 1938 Goudey cards were Joe DiMaggio's first cards in a major national set. They are, however, currently worth less than the 1934 Zeenuts Pacific Coast League cards and the 1936 Canadian World Wide Gum card, both of which obviously predate the Goudey.

Option #2) Mickey Mantle's true rookie was the '51 Bowman, which was in fact a national issue. However, that card doesn't come close in equitable value to the '52 Topps Mantle card. Chicken or the egg... this might be due to the overall popularity of the '52 Topps set, or conversely the '52 Topps set might owe so much of its popularity to this particular Mantle card's iconicity.

Regardless, same situation as the Jordan '86 Fleer vs. earlier Star rookie. Option #1 is LESS valuable, while Option #2 remains MORE valuable.

Which do you think the '86 Fleer Jordan more closely resembles... and more importantly WILL resemble moving forward? This is obviously a large part of predicting the '86 Fleer Basketball Set's investment value, but not the whole picture.

[Peter_Spaeth]

People have been waiting forever for Star Basketball to go to the moon and for the pseudo rookies in 86 Fleer to collapse. Not happening even with PSA now grading them. One problem is that the centering on some issues like the 101 Jordan sucks so many pristine cards are going to grade no higher than PSA 7. That said, if you want to debunk the myths, basketballgold.com is a nice site.

The 86 Jordan is here to stay. That said, I would not presume to predict the overall market. Anyone who so presumes is just guessing.

[Exhibitman]

The 86 cards have been volatile over the last few years. I would not expect them to regain the values they had during the pandemic, in real dollars. Then again, my preference at the moment is to put the money into first-rate basketball photos. More bang for the buck right now.

[jad22]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The 86 cards have been volatile over the last few years. I would not expect them to regain the values they had during the pandemic, in real dollars. Then again, my preference at the moment is to put the money into first-rate basketball photos. More bang for the buck right now.

Exactly.

[Exhibitman]

I guess the question is whether you'd rather have a run of the mill card or a work of art:

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I guess the question is whether you'd rather have a run of the mill card or a work of art

I sure do miss when I was getting amazing ones for less (sometimes much less) than 30-40 dollars just 5-6 years ago.

[Exhibitman]

Me too, but that ship has sailed. The only question is whether it is time to cash in.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by JustinD

I sure do miss when I was getting amazing ones for less (sometimes much less) than 30-40 dollars just 5-6 years ago.

I don't know that there's any upside, but you can still get amazing Type 1 press photos of actors, musicians, and other notable people for as little as $10.