John Stockton Cards up over 50%
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The 1984 NBA Draft was one of the best of all time. It featured legends like Hakeem Olajuwon (first overall pick), Michael Jordan (3rd pick), Charles Barkley (5th pick), and all-time assist leader John Stockton (16th pick). Because neither Fleer nor Topps released a basketball set in 1985, the 1986 Fleer release became the de facto rookie set for the entire '84 class.
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When you look at the 1986 set you have all the aforementioned players except for Stockton. The legendary Jazz guard didn't make it into the 1987 Fleer set either. It isn't until 1988 when we finally see John Stockton appear. In fact, as if to make up for lost time, he appears not once but twice in the 132-card set.
So, despite being drafted in 1984, it takes Fleer three seasons to give Stockton a card (or two). However, Fleer wasn't the only company making cards in the 80s. Another company called Star was producing cards, and unlike Fleer, they did make a set for the 1984-85 season featuring Stockton and all the other greats from that rookie class.
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John Stockton cards are soaring
According to Card Ladder, John Stockton cards are up a whopping 58% in the last year, outperforming Victor Wembanyama, Lebron James, Larry Bird, and even Michael Jordan. It's unclear why but perhaps Stockton is getting an extra boost from Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance in February, where he name drops the Jazz legend in his song "Not Like Us".
Over the summer PSA 10 sales of the 1988 Fleer Stockton rookie card (#115) were selling for around $600, with the highest sale this year hitting $750. The highest selling copy of this card was an autographed version with perfect grades both for the card and the auto which sold for $5,325 in March, 2024.
His other 1988 Fleer card, the All-Star version, used to be a lot more affordable but demand is pushing prices higher in 2025. A PSA 10 1988 Fleer Stockton All-Star rookie card (#127) sold on June 1, 2025 for $525. The highest selling copy of this card was a PSA 10 autographed copy that sold for $1,500 in August, 2024.
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The Star cards mentioned earlier are the most valuable, and are considered by many to be Stockton's true rookie card. The highest selling ungraded copy was a PSA 9 that sold for $7,499 in August, 2025, and an ungraded signed copy sold for $10K in February, 2022.
Why was Stockton snubbed?
It's difficult to say, but my best guess is that Fleer had to draw the line somewhere so they opted to not include the 10-time All Star into this set. After seeing his stats for his first few seasons in the NBA, I can't say that I blame Fleer for this move.
During his first three seasons with the Jazz, Stockton was coming off the bench. He only started 5 games his rookie season and 2 games in the 1986-87 season. So with only a handful of slots available for Jazz players, Fleer looks to have selected players based on playing time and popularity.
Where do Stockton cards go from here?
Even with this years spike in price, I still like Stockton rookies and autos for the long haul. He's got a career assist record that I don't think will ever be touched, he's a Hall-of-Famer, and he was a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary team. His 15,806 career assists are more than 3,000 above Chris Paul, who is #2 all-time with 12,528. Nothing in the hobby is guaranteed, but I'm pretty bullish on the long-term value of Stockton cards.
Conor is a life long sports card enthusiast who started collecting in the early ’90s, inspired by hometown heroes like Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz. Like many ’90s hoops fans, he also started building (and continues to build) a modest Michael Jordan collection.