The 1986-87 Fleer Basketball checklist is one of the most iconic of all-time. It’s not just loaded with rookie cards, but it includes numerous legends. Among them? The greatest basketball player to ever step on the court—Michael Jordan.
But 1986-87 Fleer Basketball’s fame, status and value didn’t happen overnight. When the set first came out, basketball cards were in a major lull and the card maker originally struggled to move the product. Over the years, things have certainly changed and this is one of the most coveted sports card releases ever.
1986-87 Fleer Basketball Checklist Details
Consisting of just 132 cards, the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball base set isn’t very big. That helps its potency. Another part of potency that can be traced to basketball’s relative obscurity in the world of sports cards at the time. After their 1981-82 release, Topps dropped the sport from its lineup. Star stepped in eventually, however the distribution of those releases were specialized and largely hobby-driven. In the early 1980s, the idea of card stores was still very limited and a lot of the hobby revolved around small regional shows and mail orders.
At the time, the hobby also had established rules over rookie cards. Part of that included distribution. To be a rookie, a card had to come from a set that was widely available. Star’s sets didn’t meet this criteria. With 1986-87 Fleer Basketball being the sport’s first mainstream set since 1981-82 Topps, that meant several years worth of rookie cards. The resulting lineup includes lots of Hall of Famers.
Michael Jordan and the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball Rookie Card Class
The 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card is one of the most iconic sports cards of all-time. It’s up there with the T206 Honus Wagner, 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. as the most widely recognized cards. It’s cardboard currency in any condition, which is especially notable given that it’s not a rare card.
But it’s not just Jordan that makes the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball checklist one of the best ever when it comes to rookie cards. He’s joined by fellow 1992 USA Basketball Dream Team members Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin.
The Hall of Fame rookie cards don’t end there. Hakeem Olajuwon (who went by Akeem at the time), Isaiah Thomas, James Worthy, Joe Dumars and Dominique Wilkins are also on the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball checklist.
Beyond Rookie Cards
1986-87 Fleer Basketball isn’t just about rookies. There are several notable veteran stars as well. Topps’ last set in 1981-82 featured the first solo cards of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. That makes this their third mainstream basketball cards and just second on their own.
Bill Walton has his final basketball card from his playing career on the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball checklist.
With the set being extremely popular on the PSA set registry, some common cards get a huge spike when they are found graded as PSA 10s. This is due to their condition sensitivity, likely caused by their placement on the original printing sheets, as well as not being overly popular players. Jeff Malone (#67) and Johnny Moore (#76) are two such cards. For the key rookies, Dominique Wilkins is particularly rare when it comes to Gem Mint copies.
1986-87 Fleer Basketball Stickers
Every pack of 1986-87 Fleer Basketball comes with one of 11 different Stickers. Like the base set, Michael Jordan leads the way here. While by no means cheap, it’s definitely more affordable than his base rookie card.
Ewing, Olajuwon, Thomas and Wilkins are other rookies on the checklist. The balance are mainly superstars like Bird, Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving.
While packs label this as the “Premier Issue,” this isn’t the company’s first basketball card set. Another iconic release, 1961-62 Fleer Basketball, carries that honor.
1986-87 Fleer Basketball Checklist
Click on the links to shop for cards on eBay or to check current market values.
Set size: 132 cards
Cards per pack: 13
Packs per box: 36
Boxes per case: 12
Release date: September, 1986
Shop for 1986-87 Fleer Basketball on eBay:
Base Set Checklist
132 cards.
Buy on eBay:
1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
2 Alvan Adams, Phoenix Suns
3 Mark Aguirre, Dallas Mavericks RC
4 Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics RC
5 John Bagley, Cleveland Cavaliers RC
6 Thurl Bailey, Utah Jazz RC
7 Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers RC
8 Benoit Benjamin, Los Angeles Clippers RC
9 Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
10 Otis Birdsong, New Jersey Nets
11 Rolando Blackman, Dallas Mavericks RC
12 Manute Bol, Washington Bullets RC
13 Sam Bowie, Portland Trail Blazers RC
14 Joe Barry Carroll, Golden State Warriors
15 Tom Chambers, Seattle SuperSonics RC
16 Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers
17 Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
18 Wayne Cooper, Denver Nuggets
19 Pat Cummings, New York Knicks RC
20 Terry Cummings, Milwaukee Bucks RC
21 Adrian Dantley, Utah Jazz
22 Brad Davis, Dallas Mavericks RC
23 Walter Davis, Phoenix Suns
24 Darryl Dawkins, New Jersey Nets
25 Larry Drew, Sacramento Kings RC
26 Clyde Drexler, Portland Trail Blazers RC
27 Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons RC
28 Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz RC
29 James Edwards, Phoenix Suns
30 Alex English, Denver Nuggets
31 Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
32 Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks RC
33 Vern Fleming, Indiana Pacers RC
34 Sleepy Floyd, Golden State Warriors RC
35 World B. Free, Cleveland Cavaliers
36 George Gervin, Chicago Bulls
37 Artis Gilmore, San Antonio Spurs
38 Mike Gminski, New Jersey Nets
39 Rickey Green, Utah Jazz
40 Sidney Green, Chicago Bulls RC
41 David Greenwood, San Antonio Spurs
42 Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
43 Bill Hanzlik, Denver Nuggets
44 Derek Harper, Dallas Mavericks RC
45 Gerald Henderson, Seattle SuperSonics
46 Roy Hinson, Philadelphia 76ers RC
47 Craig Hodges, Milwaukee Bucks RC
48 Phil Hubbard, Cleveland Cavaliers
49 Jay Humphries, Phoenix Suns RC
50 Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics
51 Eddie Johnson, Sacramento Kings RC
52 Frank Johnson, Washington Bullets RC
53 Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
54 Marques Johnson, Los Angeles Clippers
55 Steve Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
56 Vinnie Johnson, Detroit Pistons
57 Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls RC
58 Clark Kellogg, Indiana Pacers RC
59 Albert King, New Jersey Nets
60 Bernard King, New York Knicks
61 Bill Laimbeer, Detroit Pistons
62 Allen Leavell, Houston Rockets
63 Lafayette Lever, Denver Nuggets RC
64 Alton Lister, Seattle SuperSonics RC
65 Lewis Lloyd, Houston Rockets
66 Maurice Lucas, Los Angeles Lakers
67 Jeff Malone, Washington Bullets RC
68 Karl Malone, Utah Jazz RC
69 Moses Malone, Washington Bullets
70 Cedric Maxwell, Los Angeles Clippers
71 Rodney McCray, Houston Rockets RC
72 Xavier McDaniel, Seattle SuperSonics RC
73 Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
74 Mike Mitchell, San Antonio Spurs
75 Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks
76 Johnny Moore, San Antonio Spurs
77 Chris Mullin, Golden State Warriors RC
78 Larry Nance, Phoenix Suns RC
79 Calvin Natt, Denver Nuggets
80 Norm Nixon, Los Angeles Clippers
81 Charles Oakley, Chicago Bulls RC
82 Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets RC
83 Louis Orr, New York Knicks
84 Robert Parish, Boston Celtics – Last name spelled “Parrish”
85 Jim Paxson, Portland Trail Blazers
86 Sam Perkins, Dallas Mavericks RC
87 Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
88 Paul Pressey, Milwaukee Bucks RC
89 Kurt Rambis, Los Angeles Lakers RC
90 Robert Reid, Houston Rockets
91 Doc Rivers, Atlanta Hawks RC
92 Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs RC
93 Cliff Robinson, Philadelphia 76ers
94 Tree Rollins, Atlanta Hawks
95 Dan Roundfield, Washington Bullets
96 Jeff Ruland, Philadelphia 76ers
97 Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets RC
98 Danny Schayes, Denver Nuggets RC
99 Byron Scott, Los Angeles Lakers RC
100 Purvis Short, Golden State Warriors
101 Jerry Sichting, Boston Celtics RC
102 Jack Sikma, Milwaukee Bucks
103 Derek Smith, Los Angeles Clippers RC
104 Larry Smith, Golden State Warriors
105 Rory Sparrow, New York Knicks RC
106 Steve Stipanovich, Indiana Pacers RC
107 Terry Teagle, Golden State Warriors RC
108 Reggie Theus, Sacramento Kings
109 Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons RC
110 LaSalle Thompson, Sacramento Kings RC
111 Mychal Thompson, Portland Trail Blazers
112 Sedale Threatt, Philadelphia 76ers RC
113 Wayman Tisdale, Indiana Pacers RC
114 Andrew Toney, Philadelphia 76ers
115 Kelly Tripucka, Detroit Pistons RC
116 Mel Turpin, Cleveland Cavaliers RC
117 Kiki Vandeweghe, Portland Trail Blazers RC
118 Jay Vincent, Dallas Mavericks RC
119 Bill Walton, Boston Celtics
120 Spud Webb, Atlanta Hawks RC
121 Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks RC
122 Gerald Wilkins, New York Knicks RC
123 Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets RC
124 Gus Williams, Washington Bullets
125 Herb Williams, Indiana Pacers RC
126 Kevin Willis, Atlanta Hawks RC
127 Randy Wittman, Atlanta Hawks RC
128 Al Wood, Seattle SuperSonics
129 Mike Woodson, Sacramento Kings
130 Orlando Woolridge, Chicago Bulls RC
131 James Worthy, Los Angeles Lakers RC
132 Checklist
Stickers Checklist
11 stickers.
1 per pack.
1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
2 Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
3 Adrian Dantley, Utah Jazz
4 Alex English, Denver Nuggets
5 Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
6 Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks
7 Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
8 Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
9 Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
10 Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
11 Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks
