1986 Fleer Charles Barkley (Rookie Card) PSA 10: An Intriguing Find For Collectors
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When it comes to vintage basketball sets the 1986 Fleer Basketball set is no doubt the most legendary NBA trading card set of all time. The reason it’s so legendary is because it contains the rookie cards of dozens of NBA legends that include but are not limited to such names as Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, and Michael Jordan while also being one of the hardest sets of cards to grade and for that matter, grade well.
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For vintage NBA collectors, possessing the PSA 10 Gem Mint rookie card from anyone in this set is an achievement in and of itself, but possessing a PSA 10 Gem Mint rookie of a player such as Charles Barkley is some serious next level stuff.
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When it comes to Sir Charles Barkley, he never had the luxury of winning an NBA Championship but he has had an everlasting impact on the game of professional basketball. Throughout his illustrious playing career he won an NBA MVP award, earned 11 All-Star selections, claimed two Olympic Gold Medals, scored 23,757 points all while grabbing 12,546 rebounds.
So why is it considered “next level” to own such a card as the 1986 Fleer Charles Barkley PSA 10 Rookie Card? The reason why it’s so next level isn’t just because of the scarcity factor (there are 245 PSA 10s in circulation) but also because of how difficult it is to find a card without at least one of the many production flows that many of these cards are known to possess. For example, these flaws and blemishes include production-wide centering issues, chipping along the colored edges of these cards due in large part to a thinner than normal card stock, and ink issues that either display spots or blotches which can heavily impact the grade of a card once it’s been submitted.
From a broader hobby perspective, not only does Charles Barkley’s 1986 Fleer PSA 10 rank among some of the game’s greatest legends, it’s also in high demand among vintage collectors with a recent average sale price of $6,250. As demand for Barkley’s PSA 10 rookie card continues to rise there’s only one direction for its value to go, and that’s in an upward trajectory.
Passionate sports card collector and writer based in Queens, NY. Lifelong fan of the New York Mets, Jets, and Rangers. Covering sports cards and collectibles with deep industry knowledge and enthusiasm, while bringing a fresh perspective to the ever-evolving hobby world on http://SI.com/collectibles.
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