1986-87 Fleer Charles Barkley #7 RC

The set that brought basketball cards back

Topps quit basketball after its 1981-82 set. The licensed cards made in the years between, by the Star Company, had very low print runs and were hard to find. When Fleer issued its 1986-87 set, it was the sport's first traditional card set in five years, and because there had been no mainstream cards for so long, most of the 132-card checklist was rookie cards.

The design has red, white and blue borders and a thin yellow frame around the photo and nameplate. The player's name, team and position run along the bottom, and Fleer's crown logo sits at the top with a small ribbon that reads "Premier." The backs are plain: basic player information and yearly stats printed in blue on a pinkish-red background.

Barkley's card is #7. Its photo shows him rising for a dunk, and the back carries his first two pro seasons with no write-up. Guides count it as his only recognized mainstream rookie card. He had appeared earlier on Star Company issues and on a 1984 Nike poster card alongside Moses Malone, but the hobby treats those as pre-rookie cards.

Sir Charles before the nickname

Charles Wade Barkley was born February 20, 1963, in Leeds, Alabama, about 17 miles east of Birmingham. He was the first Black baby born at the town's segregated, all-white hospital and was among the first Black students at his elementary school. As a high school junior he stood 5 feet 10 and failed to make varsity. That summer he grew to 6 feet 4, and as a senior he averaged 19.1 points and 17.9 rebounds.

Auburn found him late; an assistant coach scouting a state semifinal reported seeing "a fat guy... who can play like the wind." Barkley played center there despite his size, led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding all three years, shot 62.6 percent from the field (still the school's career record) and was SEC Player of the Year in 1984. His habit of grabbing a rebound and dribbling the length of the floor for a dunk earned him the name the Round Mound of Rebound.

Philadelphia drafted him fifth overall in 1984, two picks after Chicago took Michael Jordan. He joined a team built around Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks, and he credited Malone, whom he called "Dad," with teaching him to manage his weight and prepare for games.

1986-87: the year he took over

Before the 1986-87 season Philadelphia traded Moses Malone to Washington, and Barkley became the team leader. On November 4, 1986, he had 34 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists in a loss to Indiana. On March 20, 1987, he put up 26 points, 25 rebounds and nine assists against Denver.

He won his only rebounding title that year, averaging 14.6 per game and leading the league in offensive rebounds at 5.7, while scoring 23.0 points a game on .594 shooting. He made his first All-Star team and the All-NBA Second Team for the second straight season, and finished sixth in MVP voting.

That is the player Fleer sold in packs that season: a 6-foot-6 power forward (by his own account, 6 feet 4) out-rebounding the league's centers. The next season Julius Erving announced his retirement, and Barkley became the 76ers' franchise player.

Why a 10 is so hard

Barkley's card is common in ordinary condition. The challenge is finding one without the flaws found across the whole 1986-87 Fleer run: centering problems throughout the production, chipping along the colored borders because of thinner-than-normal card stock, and ink spots or blotches on the surface.

As of 2025, PSA had graded 245 copies a 10. That is more than some other Hall of Famers in the set, yet a November 2025 review noted that Barkley's PSA 10 still sold for more than theirs. Counterfeits of the set's key cards are a known problem, and guides advise buying high-grade copies already graded by a major service.

Other first cards in the same set include Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon (spelled Akeem), Patrick Ewing, Dominique Wilkins, Isiah Thomas, Clyde Drexler, Joe Dumars and Chris Mullin.

From the 2021 peak to today

The highest PSA 10 sale found for this page was $21,700 in April 2021, at the peak of that year's card boom. Recorded PSA 10 sales from 2023 through mid-2025 mostly landed between about $5,300 and $7,500.

Prices then rose. A copy sold for $8,750 in October 2025, another for $8,601 at auction in January 2026, and three sold online between July and September 2026 for $9,800, $9,660 and $9,100. A November 2025 review put the six-month average for a PSA 10 at $6,700 and the most recent sale at $8,175.

The Dream Team forward on a dunk card

Barkley never won a title, but he became the 1993 MVP with Phoenix and led the Suns to the Finals. He was an 11-time All-Star and won Olympic gold in 1992 and 1996. On the 1992 Dream Team, the first Olympic team with NBA players, he led the U.S. in scoring at 18.0 points per game on 71.1 percent shooting.

He retired in 2000 as the fourth player in NBA history with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists, and entered the Hall of Fame in 2006. Since then he has kept a national audience as a studio analyst on Inside the NBA, and a November 2025 review of the set's top sales credited that unfiltered TV role with keeping him relevant to collectors.

The numbers

1986-87 season (card year)

68 G, 40.3 MPG, 23.0 PPG, 14.6 RPG (league leader), 5.7 offensive RPG (league leader), 4.9 APG, 1.8 SPG, 1.5 BPG, .594 FG. All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, sixth in MVP voting.

1987 playoffs

5 G, 24.6 PPG, 12.6 RPG, .573 FG

1985-86 season

80 G, 20.0 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 3.9 APG, 2.2 SPG, .572 FG. All-NBA Second Team.

1984-85 season (rookie)

82 G, 14.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, .545 FG. All-Rookie First Team.

Career (16 seasons)

1,073 G, 23,757 points, 12,546 rebounds, 4,215 assists; 22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, .541 FG

Honors

1993 MVP, 11 All-Star selections, 11 All-NBA teams, 1991 All-Star Game MVP, Olympic gold 1992 and 1996; Hall of Fame 2006

Timeline

1. Feb 20, 1963

   Charles Barkley is born in Leeds, Alabama.

2. 1984

   Barkley is SEC Player of the Year and leads Auburn to its first NCAA tournament.

3. 1984

   Philadelphia drafts Barkley fifth overall, two picks after Chicago takes Michael Jordan.

4. Oct 26, 1984

   Barkley makes his NBA debut.

5. 1985

   Barkley is named to the All-Rookie First Team.

6. 1986

   Fleer issues its 132-card NBA-licensed 1986-87 set; Barkley is card #7.

7. Nov 4, 1986

   Barkley posts 34 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists against Indiana.

8. Mar 20, 1987

   Barkley has 26 points, 25 rebounds and nine assists against Denver.

9. 1987

   Barkley wins the rebounding title at 14.6 per game and plays in his first All-Star Game.

10. 1992

    Barkley leads the Dream Team in scoring at the Barcelona Olympics.

11. 1993

    Barkley is named NBA MVP with the Phoenix Suns and reaches the Finals.

12. 2000

    Barkley retires with 23,757 points and 12,546 rebounds.

13. 2006

    Barkley is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

14. Apr 2021

    A PSA 10 sells for $21,700, the highest sale found.

15. Sep 28, 2026

    A PSA 10 sells online for $9,100.

The world in 1986

• Jan 28, 1986

  The space shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after launch, killing its crew of seven.

• May 25, 1986

  About 6.5 million people join Hands Across America, a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, California.

• Jun 8, 1986

  The Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets in six games for the NBA title.

• Jun 19, 1986

  Len Bias dies of a cocaine overdose less than 48 hours after the Celtics draft him second overall.

• Jul 5, 1986

  The Statue of Liberty reopens after an extensive refurbishing.

• Oct 27, 1986

  The New York Mets beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the World Series.

• Nov 25, 1986

  The attorney general announces that profits from secret arms sales to Iran were diverted to the Contra rebels.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this card every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

No completed sale at PSA 10 is on record yet. The same card at other grades:

Every grade and recorded sale for this card

Price record

A realized private sale is a completed transaction outside an auction room. The amount is what changed hands on the date shown. Private sales are reported less consistently than auction results, so a single comparable carries less weight than a run of them.

By reference price, 1986-87 Fleer Charles Barkley #7 RC is number 72 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (35 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Barkley's listed height is 6 feet 6, but his book I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It gives it as 6 feet 4.
• He made the final 20 at the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials but was one of four players released in the cut to 16, along with John Stockton.
• In his last season in Philadelphia, 1991-92, he wore No. 32 in honor of Magic Johnson; the team unretired Billy Cunningham's number, with Cunningham's approval, so he could.
• His 62.6 percent career field goal shooting is still Auburn's school record.
• In his first game with the Houston Rockets he grabbed 33 rebounds, a career high.
• The back of his 1986-87 Fleer card has no write-up at all, just personal information and two seasons of stats.