The Michael Jordan rookie card is the 1986-87 Fleer #57, and a genuine copy is worth approximately $300-800 raw in played condition, a few thousand dollars graded PSA 7 or 8, and six figures in PSA 10. It is one of the most valuable basketball cards ever printed and also one of the most counterfeited, so the first question with any copy is whether it is real, and the second is its condition. Most copies found in old collections are real but worn, and worn still means real money.
Jordan entered the NBA in 1984, but Fleer did not make basketball cards in the 1984-85 or 1985-86 seasons, and Topps had stopped. The 1986-87 Fleer set was the first major national basketball release in years, sold in wax packs in stores. That is why the hobby treats Fleer #57 as his rookie card, even though it came out in his third season.
The card shows Jordan going up for a dunk in a red Bulls uniform, with a red, white and blue border and the Fleer "Premier" logo at the top. The back is red and white with his stats and a card number of 57.
Value by grade
Condition drives the price of this card more than almost anything else. The 1986 Fleer cards were printed with off-center cuts and soft corners, and the red borders show every nick. Truly sharp copies are scarce, which is why each step up the grading scale adds so much.
| Card | Typical sale range |
|---|---|
| 1986 Fleer #57, raw, played (creases, rounded corners) | $300-800 |
| Raw, clean and sharp looking | $800-2,500 |
| PSA 4 to 5 | $1,200-2,500 |
| PSA 6 | $2,000-3,500 |
| PSA 7 | $3,000-5,000 |
| PSA 8 | $5,000-9,000 |
| PSA 9 | $15,000-30,000 |
| PSA 10 | $100,000-250,000 |
| 1986 Fleer Sticker #8, raw | $150-500 |
| 1986 Fleer Sticker #8, PSA 8 | $1,500-3,000 |
| 1987-88 Fleer #59 (second year), raw | $50-200 |
| 1984-85 Star #101, PSA 8 | $20,000-40,000 |
These ranges are wide on purpose. The market for this card moves with the wider sports card market, and it rose and fell sharply between 2020 and 2024. A PSA 10 sold for more than $700,000 at the 2021 peak, and later sales have been far lower. Check recent sold listings before pricing a card, not asking prices.
BGS and SGC grades also sell, usually a little below the same PSA number. A BGS 9.5 can sell close to a PSA 10, because of how the two scales line up.
The sticker
Fleer packs in 1986-87 included one sticker per pack, and Jordan is sticker #8. The sticker is smaller, with a peel-off backing and a white border around a blue frame. It is a genuine 1986 Jordan from the same packs and many collectors treat it as a rookie year card, but it is not the rookie card itself. It sells for a fraction of the #57, though high grade stickers are still valuable.
Fakes and how photos show them
Counterfeit 1986 Fleer Jordans have been made for decades, and modern printers produce convincing copies. Most fakes can be spotted with clear photos and a loupe.
Print pattern
Real 1986 Fleer cards were printed with a fine dot pattern, called rosettes, visible under magnification in the photo and border colors. Many fakes are printed digitally or rescanned and show blurry, pixelated or irregular dots. The fine text on the back, including the copyright line and stats, should be sharp. Fuzzy small text is a strong warning sign.
Colors and gloss
The real card has a slightly yellowed, soft gloss on the front and a dull, uncoated feel on the back. The red border on the back of a real card is a specific deep red. Fakes are often too glossy, too bright, too white on the back or the wrong shade of red and blue.
Card stock and edges
Original 1986 Fleer cards were cut from large sheets, and the stock is relatively thin with a gray core visible on the edge. Fakes often use whiter, stiffer or thicker stock. Look at the edge under magnification and compare it with a common card from the same set if one is available.
Corners and centering
Genuine cards from this set are famously off center. Many real copies have one border much wider than the other, left to right or top to bottom. A card that is perfectly centered, with razor sharp corners and bright stock, but sold raw and cheap, deserves extra suspicion rather than excitement.
The Fleer logo and the name
The "Fleer Premier" logo at the top and the "MICHAEL JORDAN" nameplate at the bottom should be crisp with clean edges. Fakes often show slight blur, wrong spacing or color bleeding into the white.
Fake slabs exist as well. Any graded card should be checked by entering the certificate number on the PSA, BGS or SGC website and comparing the stored photos, label and grade.
The 1980s Jordan cards that are not rookies
1984-85 Star Company #101
Star Company printed Jordan cards before Fleer. The 1984-85 Star #101, in a Chicago Bulls team set, is his first card from a recognized maker. Star sets were not sold in packs. They were sold as sealed bagged team sets, mostly through hobby dealers, and were printed in small numbers.
The hobby treats Star cards differently for three reasons. They were not a national pack release, the print quality was poor, and they have been heavily reprinted and counterfeited. Unsealed Star cards are hard to trust. Many collectors call the 1984-85 Star #101 an extended rookie, or XRC, and value it seriously, but the 1986 Fleer #57 is still called the rookie card. Graded Star Jordans from PSA or BGS sell for tens of thousands of dollars in high grades. Raw ones are best treated as unconfirmed until graded.
Star also produced 1984-85 All-Star and Court Kings Jordans and 1985-86 Star cards. All carry the same caution.
Other early cards
- 1985 Nike promo card: a large or standard sized promotional card, often reprinted. Real ones sell for hundreds to low thousands graded.
- 1986-87 Fleer Sticker #8: covered above.
- 1987-88 Fleer #59: his second year Fleer card, worth $50-200 raw and around $1,000-2,000 in PSA 9.
- 1988-89 Fleer #17 and later: common in raw condition, mostly $10-50.
- 1990s reprints: Fleer and other brands reprinted the 1986 design in later sets, usually marked with a reprint logo or later copyright on the back. They are worth a fraction of an original.
Should you get it graded?
For a real 1986 Fleer #57 in almost any condition, yes. Grading by PSA, BGS or SGC confirms the card is genuine and records the grade, and graded copies sell for much more than raw ones because buyers do not have to take the risk. The fee is small compared with the card's value. Before sending, handle the card by the edges, put it in a penny sleeve and a semi-rigid holder, and do not try to clean or press it.
Photos that settle it
- The full front and full back, straight on, in daylight without flash
- A macro shot of the photo area and the border, to show the print dot pattern
- A close shot of the back's small text and copyright line
- All four corners close up
- An edge shot showing the card stock
- For graded cards, the full slab with the label and certificate number readable
If the same box holds baseball cards, the old baseball cards guide covers the same grading and sorting logic for those.