Getting a High-Grade Michael Jordan Rookie Card for Less Than $1,500

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of my lifetime. It's my opinion, but it's not a controversial opinion. When I think of athletes who influenced my youth, none comes close to Jordan. So, looking at the market for his rookie cards, I came upon an interesting card.

Michael Jordan played during the most talented, competitive, and exciting era ever.

Those who watched the 1980s and 1990s @NBA live and in person are the luckiest and most knowledgeable basketball fans on Earth.pic.twitter.com/rno78S5GxH
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I didn't know his 1986 Fleer Sticker card existed until a few months ago. All I knew existed were his 1986 Fleer base card and the trio of 1984 Star cards. There is an argument to be made for the Star cards as the true Jordan rookie cards, but I'm not interested in that argument.

1986 Fleer Michael Jordan — Image Courtesy of Card Ladder

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Instead, why not look at the two Jordan rookie cards from the same set? The 1986 Fleer Jordan card is one of the most iconic cards in the hobby. The former PWCC, now Fanatics Collect, ranked it second on its Iconic 100 Countdown. It is not a rare card, but cards don't have to be rare to be valuable, and the 86 Fleer Jordan Rookie is Exhibit A of that.

PSA graded the 1986 Fleer Jordan rookie more than 28,000 times. Its PSA 10 is selling for about $180,000, according to Card Ladder. But there's another card in the set, the stickers, that featured 11 players with one sticker in every pack. Based on distribution, there are the same number of sticker cards as the base cards of the featured players.

1986 Fleer Sticker Michael Jordan — 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan Sticker Card | Image Courtesy of Card Ladder

The sticker card has been graded more than 21,000 times, about 25% less than the base card, even though we know there are roughly the same number of sticker cards as base cards. But here's the kicker, the Jordan stickers in PSA 8, pop. 4,550, have a 3-month sale average of $1,222. The last sold price was recorded at $1,450.

The 86 Fleer base card, in PSA 8 and population 8,992, is selling for an average of $7,000, or about a factor of five compared to the sticker card, with nearly twice the population. I'm not arguing that the sticker and base cards should be equal in value. The 86 Fleer rookie card is iconic Jordan with his tongue out about to dunk.

However, the PSA 8 Jordan sticker card is a great option if you're looking to buy a Jordan rookie for less than $1,500. Plus, both images of Jordan were taken from the same game, when the Bulls were playing on the road against the New Jersey Nets. In the 86 Fleer sticker card, you could see Jordan driving past the Nets' Otis Birdsong.