After the 1981 Topps set, there weren’t any major basketball releases for a couple of years. Some smaller issues such as the 1984-85 Star set were produced, however, no major basketball card sets were released until the 1986 Fleer.
This release is the most iconic basketball set of all time. It’s renowned in the hobby not only because of the rookies but also because of the design.
The 1986 Fleer cards have a red, white, and blue border around the outside of the card. Very Patriotic!
An action shot is in the middle with yellow borders directly surrounding the picture. The name of the player is bolded. Below the player name is the team name and position of the player.
With regards to the rookie cards, there are lots of Hall-of-Famers that make their debut in this set. Some of which include Chris Mullin, Isaiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Hakeem Oloajuan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and last but certainly not least: Michael Jordan.
Please note, some of the above players do have prior year cards with Star and Prism Jewel. The Hobby debates whether these cards are considered true rookie cards or XRCs.
Key Cards
Michael Jordan #57
Jordan is considered by many to be the best basketball player of all-time. He was drafted into the NBA in 1984, however some consider this to be his rookie card because it’s the first Michael Jordan card in a full flagship set.
Jordan shined as an all-star when he entered the league. He took a lackluster Bulls team from the bottom of the league to NBA champions.
Jordan has many insane accolades including being a 6x NBA champ, 5x MVP, 10x scoring champ, rookie of the year, and defensive player of the year. Crazy how he accomplished almost everything amazing a player would ever dream of during his career.
Akeem Olajuwon #82
Akeem (sometimes spelled Hakeem) Olajuwon was one of the best centers of all-time. He was dubbed “The Dream” for his ability to make crafty moves in the post. Olajuwon was a 2x NBA champ, 2x Defensive player of the year, and the MVP of the 1993-94 season.
It’s known that some current NBA players still go to Akeem for advice on how to make their game better.
Charles Barkley #7
Barkley was a unique power forward. This is due to him standing at only 6’ 6” which might seem tall until you compare him with other power forwards who are 6”8”- 6’10”. Nonetheless, Barkley held his own and was a force to be reckoned with. He averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds for his entire 16 year career. You can easily find Barkely on TNT as an NBA commentator.
Chris Mullin #77
Chris Mullin was a shooting guard and small forward for the Golden State Warriors. He was a 5x all-star, known for his ability to shoot from range, and a member of the infamous 1992 Dream Team (along with many others mentioned in this article). Mullin averaged 18 points per game and played most of his 13 year career with the Golden State Warriors.
Isaiah Thomas #109
Isaiah Thomas is known as one of the best point guards of all-time. He played on the Pistons during the 80s which were known as the “Bad Boys” because of their rough style of play. Thomas averaged 19 points and 9 assists a game (almost a double double). He also has an impressive resume which includes 2 NBA championships, the 1984-85 assist champ, and the 1989-90 Finals MVP.
After his playing career, Isaiah Thomas became a sports analyst that you can find on NBA TV.
Patrick Ewing #32
Patrick Ewing was one of the premier centers during the 1980s and early 90s. He averaged 21 points and almost 10 rebounds a game. Ewing played for the Knicks for the first 13 seasons of his 15 year career. He is known as one of the best Knicks players of all-time despite not winning an NBA championship during his career.
Dominique Wilkins #121
Dominique Wilkins was dubbed “the human highlight reel” for his insane dunks and acrobatic style of play. He also famously faced Jordan in the dunk contest numerous times and was his top rival for this event. Along with his flashy play style, Wilkins was also a great player who averaged 24 points per game. Like Ewing, Wilkins did not win an NBA championship in his career.
Johnny Moore #76
One important aspect for collectors to note is that certain cards in this set can be condition sensitive and because of that, worth lots of money. For example, a Johnny Moore 1986 Fleer card in a PSA 10 recently sold for north of six figures (as of writing this).
Crazy to think that an average player’s card could sell for those numbers.
Set Information
This set contains 132 cards and 11 sticker cards. One new aspect of this set is the concept of these “sticker cards”. These types of cards were introduced to basketball in this set. They were meant to be stickers that peeled off the card.
The 1986 Fleer sticker cards have a white background with a yellow banner that contains the name, position, and team. One sticker card comes in each 1986 Fleer pack. Due to the 86 Fleer sticker cards having a sticker aspect, it’s difficult to get extremely high grades. For example, there are only 121 PSA 10s.
All of the 86 fleer cards are normal sized. One interesting distinction between the normal cards and the sticker cards are the backs.
Although the backs are colored the same (red and white), there is different text on the two cards. The normal cards have basketball stats on the back whereas the sticker cards have a description of the player on the back.
1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2 Alvan Adams
3 Mark Aguirre
4 Danny Ainge
5 John Bagley
6 Thurl Bailey
7 Charles Barkley
8 Benoit Benjamin
9 Larry Bird
10 Otis Birdsong
11 Rolando Blackman
12 Manute Bol
13 Sam Bowie
14 Joe Barry Carroll
15 Tom Chambers
16 Maurice Cheeks
17 Michael Cooper
18 Wayne Cooper
19 Pat Cummings
20 Terry Cummings
21 Adrian Dantley
22 Brad Davis
23 Walter Davis
24 Darryl Dawkins
25 Larry Drew
26 Clyde Drexler
27 Joe Dumars
28 Mark Eaton
29 James Edwards
30 Alex English
31 Julius Erving
32 Patrick Ewing
33 Vern Fleming
34 Sleepy Floyd
35 World B. Free
36 George Gervin
37 Artis Gilmore
38 Mike Gminski
39 Rickey Green
40 Sidney Green
41 David Greenwood
42 Darrell Griffith
43 Bill Hanzlik
44 Derek Harper
45 Gerald Henderson
46 Roy Hinson
47 Craig Hodges
48 Phil Hubbard
49 Jay Humphries
50 Dennis Johnson
51 Eddie Johnson
52 Frank Johnson
53 Magic Johnson
54 Marques Johnson
55 Steve Johnson
56 Vinnie Johnson
57 Michael Jordan
58 Clark Kellogg
59 Albert King
60 Bernard King
61 Bill Laimbeer
62 Allen Leavell
63 Lafayette Lever
64 Alton Lister
65 Lewis Lloyd
66 Maurice Lucas
67 Jeff Malone
68 Karl Malone
69 Moses Malone
70 Cedric Maxwell
71 Rodney McCray
72 Xavier McDaniel
73 Kevin McHale
74 Mike Mitchell
75 Sidney Moncrief
76 Johnny Moore
77 Chris Mullin
78 Larry Nance
79 Calvin Natt
80 Norm Nixon
81 Charles Oakley
82 Akeem Olajuwon
83 Louis Orr
84 Robert Parish
85 Jim Paxson
86 Sam Perkins
87 Ricky Piee
88 Paul Pressey
89 Kurt Rambis
90 Robert Reid
91 Doc Rivers
92 Alvin Robertson
93 Cliff Robinson
94 Tree Rollins
95 Dan Roundfield
96 Jeff Ruland
97 Ralph Sampson
98 Danny Schayes
99 Byron Scott
100 Purvis Short
101 Jerry Sichting – Boston Celtics
102 Jack Sikma
103 Derek Smith
104 Larry Smith
105 Rory Sparrow
106 Steve Stipanovich
107 Terry Teagle
108 Reggie Theus
109 Isiah Thomas
110 LaSalle Thompson
111 Mychal Thompson
112 Sedale Threatt
113 Wayman Tisdale
114 Andrew Toney
115 Kelly Tripucka
116 Mel Turpin
117 Kiki Vandeweghe
118 Jay Vincent
119 Bill Walton
120 Spud Webb
121 Dominique Wilkins
122 Gerald Wilkins
123 Buck Williams
124 Gus Williams
125 Herb Williams
126 Kevin Willis
127 Randy Wittman
128 Al Wood
129 Mike Woodson
130 Orlando Woolridge
131 James Worthy
132 Checklist
Sticker Set Checklist
1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2 Larry Bird
3 Adrian Dantley
4 Alex English
5 Julius Erving
6 Patrick Ewing
7 Magic Johnson
8 Michael Jordan
9 Akeem Olajuwon
10 Isiah Thomas
11 Dominique Wilkins
