1997 Skybox Z-Force Michael Jordan Quick Strike card $199,999, 7. Getting your basketball card graded is simple as submitting your card to the company. Also, the front of the Michael Jordan #GJ13 basketball card features an authentic piece from a jersey worn by the legend himself in the 1992 All Star Game. Get my weekly newsletter with the latest hobby updates delivered straight to your inbox! Estimated PSA 10 Value: $85. For example, a 1/1 card shows that it is the only one that exists and will be very valuable. Still, his status as one of the most dynamic stars of the 1990s has helped him maintain some enduring hobby popularity, and the 1994-95 Finest is his most sought-after rookie card. Generally, a card with a higher grade (is in a better condition), and will be valuable than an identical card with a lower grade. His Finest rookie card is his most valuable by a wide margin, and it stands as one of the iconic cards of the decade. 15 (tie). 1990 Hoops #358 Michael Jordan. Like the 1990 Hoops and SkyBox sets, there were just so many of these cards printed. A passing of the torch from the MJ years. In number 3 is the 1997 Michael Jordan Upper Deck Game Jersey Autographed card, currently the most valuable MJ card sold to date. 10 seed Santa Clara to an NCAA tournament win over Maryland as a senior, Steve Nash was selected 15th in the 1996 NBA draft. The lightning quick move allowed Hardaway to create just enough separation against opposing defenders to turn him into an elite scorer and passer. The odds of pulling it from a pack is 1 in 55,000 packs. One of the most important factors when determining what a card is worth is its grading. The card is graded as a PSA 7 with the autograph graded as an 8. Its graded as a 9 by Beckett and was sold by Goldin Auctions for $170,400. His 1996 Topps Chrome is his most coveted rookie card by a fair margin, as the phenom was already viewed as an extreme talent by anyone who had seen him on the court for any amount of time. 1990 Hoops card list & price guide. However, by 1990, the basketball card hobby was clearly back on the map as kids everywhere were ripping through packs in hopes of pulling a Michael Jordan. Pippen's cards have also taken off since "The Last Dance" documentary went on air. The card is personally autographed and hand-numbered 12/23, making it a great addition to any collection. Sports Card Investing: Maximize Portfolio Returns (Ultimate Guide), 10 Best Football Card Packs to Buy in 2023, In-Depth Sports Card Market Trends and Statistics (2023). MJ has signed the card in blue ink and handwritten the serial number 10/23. A real piece of history, the 97 Upper Deck Game Jersey helped to kickstart the beginning of the Jersey Patch craze and set the precedent for future productions. Only the first 10 cards in the set were done in green with the rest in red making this one in green foil very rare and valuable. 9 pick in that year's draft. 1990 saw notable rookie cards from Shawn Kemp and Tim Hardaway, along with other historic players such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Dennis Rodman, and Scottie Pippen. A few important parameters for our list before we get started: After a terrific collegiate career at Duke, Grant Hill was the No. All card images courtesy of TCDB, while pricing data is pulled from recent eBay sales as of Tuesday morning. Prices are updated daily based upon 1990 Skybox listings that sold on eBay and our marketplace. Also, if the card comes with a game-worn patch of the featured players jersey, itll be very valuable. Best 1990s Basketball Cards - Sports Collectors Daily These include: 97 UD Michael Jordan auto patch #GJ13 BSA 10, 96 Finest Gold Refractor Kobe Bryant #269 PSA 10, 92 Classic DP Shaq ONeal auto RC PSA 10, and 97 Topps Chrome Refractor Allen Iverson #171 RC BGS 10. In this guide, Ill take you through the most valuable 1990s basketball cards, looking at their values and what makes them so rare. Upper Deck has emerged over time as the most valuable base rookie card (not including inserts) for ONeal, with PSA 10s reaching over $3,000 in mid-2020. Looking at the 1990 cards above, the 97/ 98 UD Game Jersey Michael Jordan #GJ13 is worth a whopping $599,999.99, while the 1998 UD SP Authentic Michael Jordan #M4 is worth $22,575. For years during the 1980s, there were hardly any basketball cards to collect whatsoever Topps bowed out of the hobby after 1981, Star released a few sets later on and Fleer didn't join the market until 1986. The Sign of the Times inserts which were all die-cut autos, issued in Bronze, Silver, and Gold versions. The card was sold following the release of the 10-part Netflix special The Last Dance. The card features Kobe, again in a yellow Lakers jersey, looking to shoot the ball whilst being guarded. The second Shaq RC to make our list, the 1992 Beam Team insert features an image of the giant dominating the defense as he reaches high above the rim of the net. 1998-99 Upper Deck Michael Jordan Living Legend - [Base] #147. "The holy grail of all '90s basketball cardsthe Michael Jordan 1997-98 Metal Universe PMG Greensold in 2007 for $5,300.23. Generally, basketball cards released during a players rookie year are more valuable than those released afterwards. In the early to mid 1990s, there were few players as exciting to watch as Shawn Kemp. If a popular card produced in limited quantities is in high demand with collectors, it makes the card more valuable. Like Barkley, Malone was a guy who was clearly good enough to be an NBA champion but sadly never won one. 1990 Upper . His Finest rookie card is his most valuable by a wide margin, and it stands as one of the iconic cards of the decade. Notable rookies from 1993 include Anfernee Hardaway, Chris Webber and Toni Kukoc, each of whom have a Topps Finest Refractor rookie card. The deep-etched image sees Jordan leaping through the air, with purple lightning exploding across the background, lighting up the night sky. This s because grading officially authenticates the card and establishes its quality/ condition. 1997-98 Upper Deck Game Jerseys In some basketball packs today a jersey card is guaranteed. Barkley's 1990 Fleer issue was one of the few cards to picture him with any amount of hair whatsoever. The former president was presented with one hundred copies of his very own baseball card from his days as captain at Yale in 1990 by Topps. (Sold February 2021 by Heritage Auctions). The odds of pulling one of these cards are thought to be 1/5000 packs, making them extremely rare. This UD Ovation Super Signature Jordan #MJS card is one of the most beautiful basketball cards youll find. This is truly the most valuable basketball card brand of the 90s. These are 16 of the most valuable cards currently valued or recently sold at auction. The design is clean and features gold trims. Many people will list a card as a refractor when it is in fact not, because the base 1993 Finest design looks a lot like a refractor to the naked eye. The 1990s defined the game of basketball. Fleer started out the decade where it left off in the late 80s as the most valuable basketball card brand in the business, despite much of these years being described as junk wax. The pack version is the one that is considered his true rookie card, and it was also short-printed since it was a late addition to the set, making it the more valuable of the two and his most valuable rookie card overall. His rookie cards are head and shoulders above everyone else on this list in terms of value, with PSA 9 versions of his Topps Chrome rookie selling for more than a PSA 10 version of Allen Iverson's in the No. Hes in his Orlando Magic jersey, as he was their number one pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. However, with so many basketball cards printed every year, a whole decade will have an ocean of cards, with a wide range of value. He and the Bulls also dropped the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 to pick up his first NBA title after struggling for years to get past the Detroit Pistons and into the finals. 1990 Big Blue Shaquille ONeal #19 Non Perforated card $100,000, 8. Just twenty-three examples of this particular card were autographed, making them far rarer than the unsigned editions. This card is produced with a red foil background, making it not as rare as the green Metal gems card in the number 4 spot. Sports Cards From The 90s Worth Money Malone was an incredible power forward who was extremely effective on both offense and defense as he used his strong frame to his advantage night in and night out. (However, most signatures are aftermarket examples. The 1990s saw a host of famous players make their debuts and play in their rookie years making the cards very valuable to collectors. I do want to be 100% clear that most of the cards in this set sadly have no value these days. Total Rookie Cards: 15 5. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. However, an ankle injury sidelined him for most of the 2000-01 season and he was never quite the same after that. In that year, 90 cards were put into the base sets and separated into Rows. 1996 Finest Gold Refractor Kobe Bryant #269 PSA 10 $500,000 3. With a few exceptions, the most expensive basketball cards of the 90s are rare RPA (rookie patch autographed) mint cards. 1 1990 - Fleer is the most valuable basketball card brand to start the decade 2 1991 - Fleer 3 1992 - Upper Deck 4 1993 - Topps Finest 5 1994 - Topps Finest 6 1995 - Topps Finest 7 1996 - Topps Chrome becomes the most valuable brand of the 90s 8 1997 - Topps Chrome 9 1998 - Topps Chrome Isiah Thomas was the leader of the Detroit Pistons squads that won back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. (Especially considering his untimely death following a helicopter crash in January 2020.). There are a lot of grading companies. There are many online shops that specialize in buying and selling 1990s basketball cards. Ross is the founder of Old Sports Cards and has been collecting sports cards for over 30 years. The list is in order of year of release. Worse decade of basketball? Wat is more, it is autographed and hand-numbered by the big man himself. The lanky 6'11" forward played sparingly as a rookie, tallying 10.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 28.7 minutes per game, but his potential was impossible to ignore. Ungraded & graded values for all '90 Hoops Basketball Cards. The card features Michael Jordan bouncing the ball as he prepares for a scoring run. That is the story of this Metal Basketball Kobe Bryant #181 card. 1989 Hoops #21 Michael Jordan All-Star Estimated PSA 10 Value: $90 MVP Karl Malone may have led the West to a 143-134 victory over the East during the 1989 All-Star Game in Houston, but, not surprisingly, Jordan's All-Star card is the most desirable in the set. I'd like to think he's in the middle of going across the lane for one of his signature "baby sky hook" shots that were nearly impossible to defend. Michael Jordan Cards), with lots of info about each one, including how and why they cost so much. You can still find hobby boxes from all these brands and years on eBay. He won back-to-back MVP awards during the 2004-05 (15.5 PPG, 11.5 APG, 43.1 3PT%) and 2005-06 (18.8 PPG, 10.5 APG, 43.9 3PT%) seasons, and he currently ranks fourth all-time with 10,335 career assists. This chrome approach to card design is one that is continued to this day. 1996-97 E-X2000 A Cut Above made the cards resemble the blade of a buzz saw. He was a model of consistency in the middle of the San Antonio Spurs roster for 19 seasons, finishing his career 18th all-time in points (26,496) and seventh all-time in rebounds (15,091). You wont find any like it anywhere. Not only was it the rookie year of Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson, Topps Chrome was released. Kobe tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in January 2020 leading to the value of his memorabilia skyrocketing. The card sold at auction in December 2020 for $915,000. As you can see, even the most valuable cards in this set don't pack a great deal of value these days. And Bo continues to stir the imagination of fans and collectors nearly three decades after his careers in the NFL and Major League Baseball ended. Your email address will not be published. 1981 Topps Basketball Magic Johnson #21 The next card also features Magic Johnson, in a great action shot that sees him evading multiple players on the court. It sold at a Heritage Auction in November 2021 for $132,000. Lets take a look at the most valuable basketball card brands of the 1990s. It was all a recipe for superstardom, and his development from tantalizing teen star to franchise player and all-time great helped solidify his place as one of the hobby's biggest names. The colors and the edging make it susceptible to chips and wear, which is another reason why its valued highly. 2 spot in these rankings. The credentials set was made by the company Panini, known as the biggest competition for the Topps trading card brand. This means it is rarer than the unsigned cards. And he definitely didn't disappointthe 10-time All-Star, 2-time NBA champ and 1-time MVP easily goes down in history as one of the game's greatest centers. If a card is signed by the featured player, itll be more valuable than an unsigned version. Getting your basketball card graded by a professional card grading company is important. His 2,973 threes rank second all-time, and he hit them at a 40.0 percent clip over the course of his 18-year career with the Bucks, SuperSonics, Celtics and Heat. But this particular one is pristine with BGS 10 grade. He averaged 25.7 points per game during his second season in the NBA, peaked at 27.6 points per contest the following year and he earned eight straight All-Star Game selections during his time with the Raptors and Nets. Finest introduced refractors, which is a coating on a cards surface that creates a rainbow-like shine when reflected by the light. Bryants card is one of 90 in the base set, while each has a further three tiers or Rows. Importantly, it is also a PSA 10 GEM mint card. With a third of the card dedicated to his signature, its one of the best pieces of signed Jordan merchandise youll be able to buy from the 1990s. Given his height, almost every Shaq RC features him soaring towards the backboard, and this card is no different. The 90s were a classic era, and arguably the best time to be a fan of basketball aside from the modern-day. This card perfectly captures Robinson throwing down one of his two-handed slams, almost making it look easy. There are other Larry Bird cards worth more than this one but I've always loved the action shot on this card of him shooting a jumper over his career rival, Magic Johnson. Over the past few years, basketball cards have exploded in value when compared to other sports cards. I remember being amazed as a kid when I heard stories of him being able to grab a quarter off the top of the backboard. 1997-98 Topps Chrome #115 Tim Duncan 6 of. Sports Cards: 10 Most Valuable Basketball Rookie Cards of the 1990s Apart from being a piece of history, this is one very rare card. Some of the things considered are: centering of the card, printing errors, and evidence of wear. What is the most expensive card in the world? He doesn't quite command the same attention as Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson from his same rookie class, but there is no question Nash was one of the elite players of his generation, and the value of his Topps Chrome rookie card reflects his status. This makes Big Shaq cards very valuable. Kobe was always going to make any list with the most expensive 1990s cards, and the 1996-97 Topps set has one of the strongest rookie classes of all time. The Jordan name is one reason why the card makes the list, but he also wore the jersey in question during the 1992-93 NBA All-Star game. Sometimes, what makes a collectible very rare and valuable is an error. Topps Chrome continued into 1998 with another highly collectible set of cards. The gold-colored card also shows Michael in a red Chicago Bulls jersey performing a jump shot. The 10 Most Valuable '90s Baseball Cards That Might Be - TheRichest Rookie cards are always regarded as more valuable, especially if they feature well-known athletes. Kemp was a dominant power forward in the 1990s and his ability to score and rebound routinely wreaked havoc on opposing teams night in and night out. This special basketball card features Michael Jordan throwing what is definitely a 3-pointer.