A History Of Star Basketball Cards

If you were a basketball fan in the 1980s and collected cards, odds are that you came across Star Basketball cards.  The cards were issued in team poly bags starting in 1983, and they were the only licensed NBA issue from 1983 through 1985.  Since Star cards were the only issue for three years and didn’t have the typical release via wax packs, so they were not hugely popular in the early years.  The three-year adventure was a money-losing proposition for Star.

However, as Michael Jordan came to prominence, his cards from the Star sets (24 to be exact) continued to increase in value.  In this piece, we examine Star’s history (at times checkered history), taking a closer look at the issuance over the years while providing collectors some intel into our thoughts regarding the future of Star cards from an investment potential. 

Topps gave up on basketball cards following their 1981-82 issue, primarily due to a lack of demand for the cards and a lack of interest in basketball.  Entrepreneur Robert Levin garnered a license from the NBA to produce Star cards beginning in 1983, lasting three years.  The cards were issued to dealers via Star master distributors.  

I remember purchasing Star poly bags of the Celtics back in probably 1985.  They were available, yet not a huge deal when they were released; team sets could be purchased for a few bucks, and they were not valuable.  Star cards could be bought at local card shows, hobby stores, and often at your local arena. 

Since Topps stopped producing basketball cards following the 1981-1982 set, there was a one-year gap in which no licensed basketball cards were produced.  Thus, big-time rookies’ cards were missed; cards that might have included players such as James Worthy, Dominique Wilkins, and Isiah Thomas, who started their careers around this time.

Star certainly filled a massive gap in the three years of its production of basketball cards. Without the cards, there would have been a considerable number of rookie cards missed and fulfilled only by the return to a major licensed issue from Fleer in 1986. 

Star’s first basketball issue was the 1983 All-Star Game Set, including the first basketball card issue for Pistons great Isiah Thomas.  Star would issue three standard ‘base’ sets from 1984 through 1986 while producing many other player, team, and specialized sets.  Production runs for Star cards vary, yet on average, production runs range from between 3,000 to 7,000 cards for each issue.  You can find a complete list of Star basketball issues here and production run estimates. 

In the late 1980s, some peculiar-looking cards from the 1985-86 Star base set started circulating.  Steve Taft sums it up well in an interview with All Vintage Cards:

I bought 4 cards and there was just something uncomfortable about them right away.  This was 1992, plus or minus a year.  I sent one card in for grading.  It came back graded a Mint 9. However, in the week I spent waiting for that card to return from the grading company, I immersed myself in research. By the time the card returned, I knew it was not the original issue (despite being in a graded holder).   

According to Taft, these cards, known as Type II counterfeits, were ultimately stolen by a former print production employee and released to the public.  They were likely created around the same time as the 1985-86 set but were factory rejects.  

The Type II cards include the second series of cards from the 1985-86 Star base set (#95-172)(including White and Green Celtics), the ten-card 1986 Michael Jordan set, and the four-card 1986 Best of The New subset. 

In 1997, Robert Levin, the founder of Star, was selling cards on the Shop At Home Network. Levin claimed that the sold cards were unearthed Star cards produced during the initial Star run from 83-86. However, the cards were newly printed and back-dated to look older.   Ultimately, the NBA sued Levin and several associates for selling counterfeit cards.  

It should be noted that the cards known to collectors as the ‘Shop At Home’ cards were not previously produced cards, and in some instances a variation on other formerly created sets, including different years, different border colors, etc.

 The ‘Shop At Home’ Cards In Question (And To Avoid)

Star 1984-85 Olympic Michael Jordan Set – Shop At Home, Red Bordered, Jordan Olympic Set

Star 1984-85 Olympic 10-Card Set – Shop At Home issue has all blue borders.  There is a gold medalist Jordan card in the 1984-85 set, but it is a different photo with a red background. 

GAI was one of the early graders of Star cards, but not sure how they botched this one…maybe it was before the scandal? Note this is a definite Shop At Home card

Star 1984 Miller Lite Set – Shop At Home issue has white borders and ‘1985’ date, note that there is an original 1985 Star Miller Lite set with blue borders.

Star 1986 Crunch ‘n’ Munch Set – Shop At Home issue has a ‘1986’ date and is orange (see below), whereas the original has ‘1985’ date and is yellow

Star 1985 Last 11 Rookies of the Year – Shop at Home cards are white with red lettering (see below). The original cards are white with blue lettering. 

Star 1985-86 Chicago Bulls Arena sets – These Shop At Home sets will often fool unwitting collectors–mainly when a well-known seller sold this exact bag on eBay. 

Star 1984-85 Court Kings (regular size cards) – note that there is an original, licensed 1986 Court Kings, standard size set, with yellow background, but with a ‘1986’ date in the top right corner..it also has red lettering.

Star 1984-85 All-Rookies (blue border) – The Shop At Home All-Rookies set as shown with the Jordan card below has blue borders.  Note that there is an identical card in the authorized issue from the 85-86 All Rookie set but it has red borders.  

PSA Won’t Grade Em, But Becket Joins The Scene

The Shop At Home cards left a confusing stain on Star basketball cards.  I should also note that before the Shop At Home scandal, pre-production press samples or even factory rejects were illegally stolen by a former print production employee and released to the public.  Thus, it’s pretty clear, that without the correct information, it could be difficult to authenticate Star cards. 

PSA had initially graded Star cards but ultimately threw in the towel.  Here’s one awesome-looking Jordan card–note that it is pretty challenging to find many PSA slabbed Star cards. 

Beckett got into the mix in 2008 and remained the only third-party grader to grade Star cards until PSA got back in the game more recently.  I will also note that SCD and GAI graded Star cards early on and were pretty reputable, despite some mistakes–one that I had pointed out early in this piece.

Despite massive price increases over the past few years (note that many Jordan Star cards have increased by 10x over the past year), I still think Star cards are a solid long-term investment.  If we examine the production runs (which in many cases were 5,000 or lower), it’s clear that the cards from a supply perspective are much lower than any significant issue from the era.  

While the Jordan cards might be out of touch for some collectors, other stars of the day, such as Dominique Wilkins, Charley Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, and others, can be more affordable.  While the premier rookie cards continue to escalate in value, other specialized issues can be cheaper.  I encourage you to explore this site more in detail to discover some of the Star sets available.