Basketball Cards: Topps Rare Cards and Best Vintage Cards

1980s was the worst phase in the history of Basketball Cards. After the product release in 1981-82, Topps Company took a back plunge in production of basketball trading cards. The history of basketball sports card regained momentum in 1986-87 with the modern set release from Fleer basketball, which featured some of the memorable inserts of the greatest players.

Collecting of basketball cards was its' highest in 1990s with the entry of many companies in the market. With only fewer sets released before the 90s, there were sudden upsurge of the sets released before the 1990s. Here are some of the rare Topps basketball cards and best basketball cards ever released before 1990.

1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan Rookie Card

It is considered the most valuable basketball card ever made. Believe it or not, the wax box featuring three rookies of Michael Jordan once sold for $10 is now worth thousands. Jordan did not show up in games for years, but the rarity of this set helped push the price higher.

1980-81 Topps Larry Bird/Magic Johnson/Julius Erving

The set is actually a three mini-cards joined together and of regular size. This is a rare occurrence in the history of basketball card rookie featuring Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on the same card along with Dr. J.  All the three players were the most popular and biggest players of the 1980s and beyond. A raw card could be worth $100-$150 while a mint condition could be worth $500-$1000.

1984-85 Star #101 Michael Jordan (Extended Rookie Card)

The actual Michael Jordan's rookie card was from Fleer released in 1986-87, but at the same time his first ever NBA card was also released from Star. In recent auctions, ungraded fleer card was sold for $112 while the Star graded Jordan was auctioned for $800- thousands.

1970-71 Topps #123 Pete Maravich Rookie Card

During his ten years NBA career, Maravich played 658 games. If he were still in modern NBA, probably he would be amongst the highest paid players. There are only a few of his cards from Topps from 1970s to 1981. A high graded mint card could be worth $1000-$1400.

1968-69 Topps Test #19 Jerry West

The 1968-69 Jerry West is extremely rare and the set features 22 cards only. The pictures featured on the card were taken in different poses. A complete set could be worth $38,000 and more depending on the condition of the cards.

Talking about sports cards, basketball cards aren't popular like baseball, but the 21st century is shows steep rise in the demand of basketball cards amongst the collectors. But, investing in them is not an easy task. One needs to learn about the pricing trend and the popular items in demand. There are various sources from which one can find the value of the items. It is best to refer to a reliable basketball card price guide which could be either online or in print form.