CGC Now Grading 1980s Star Basketball Cards!

Calling all old-school basketball card fans! CGC® is excited to announce that it is expanding its industry-leading authentication, grading and encapsulation services for cards to include submissions of 1980s Star Basketball cards. For the first time ever, collectors can now have these classic basketball cards authenticated and graded as part of regular CGC card submissions. Submit now!

1986 Star Court Kings #4 Larry Bird graded CGC 9 Click images to enlarge.

About Star Basketball Cards

From 1983 through 1985, Star was the only sports card brand that produced licensed NBA cards. Due to a lack of demand by collectors for sports cards in the early 1980s, especially basketball cards, Topps discontinued its basketball line after their 1981-82 issue. Entrepreneur Robert Levin attempted to capitalize on this lull in the market, striking a deal with the NBA in 1983 to produce officially licensed Star Basketball cards for the next three years.

Issued in poly bags instead of the typical wax packs, Star Basketball cards could be purchased at hobby shops, local card shows and sometimes at local arenas. The cards were issued by team, with teammates' card numbers running in consecutive order in each season's base checklists. For each of the three main sets, the basic design stayed the exact same on the front of each card, with only the top right corner changing to denote the season. Cards featured either a white border or a team color border.

As the only licensed basketball card set for three years, Star provided collectors with several key early issues of iconic players, with the 1984-85 #101 considered by many to be Michael Jordan's true rookie card. As the earliest official release from Jordan's debut NBA season with the Chicago Bulls, the card has become highly coveted through the years and now easily sells for six figures in good condition. Other key early cards include Akeem Olajuwon (before changing the spelling of his name to Hakeem), Charles Barkley and John Stockton. The sets also featured NBA stars such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler and Isiah Thomas.

In addition to the three main sets, Star also produced a handful of player, team and specialized sets, including an All-Star series, Arena series and NBA Champions series. Each of the main and secondary sets averaged production runs of around 3,000 to 7,000 cards for each issue, making them widespread but not overproduced.

At the time of their production, Star cards didn't really catch on with collectors and didn't become popular until years after their release. In fact, during the three-year production run of Star Basketball cards, Levin and his card-making company lost money on the venture due to a lack of interest and low sales numbers.

1983 Star All-Star Game #14 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar graded CGC 8 Click images to enlarge.

Star Counterfeit Issues and Home Shopping Scandal

Due to rampant counterfeiting within the Star Basketball sets, third-party authentication and grading services were reluctant to offer certification services for these cards. Counterfeiters have attempted to profit for years, especially off of the several Jordan releases within the three-year series.

In the late 1980s, what came to be known as Type II counterfeits began circulating within the hobby. A former print production employee allegedly released factory reject cards to the public. The Type II counterfeits included the second series of cards from the 1985-86 Star base set (#95-172), the 10-card 1986 Michael Jordan set and the four-card 1986 Best of The New subset.

In addition to these cards, Star founder Robert Levin was part of a home shopping scandal in 1997. Levin worked with the Shop at Home Network to sell what he claimed were unearthed Star Basketball cards produced during the original print runs of 1983 to 1986.

However, Levin and some of his associates were accused of creating newly printed and back-dated Star cards and attempting to make them seem like originals. The NBA would ultimately sue Levin and his associates for selling these to the public, which created another controversy around Star Basketball cards.

Today, with new information and certification technologies, CGC experts are confident in authenticating and grading original Star Basketball cards with accuracy and consistency. Plus, collectors can submit with 100% confidence since all submissions are backed by the CGC Guarantee.

1984-85 Star #22 Bill Walton graded CGC 7 Click images to enlarge.

About CGC’s grading service for cards

CGC uses expert graders, advanced technology and operational excellence to provide collectors with accurate, consistent, affordable and fast card certification services. Every card certified by CGC is backed by a guarantee of authenticity and grade.

More than 7 million sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards have already been certified by CGC since its card grading service was established by the Certified Collectibles Group (CCG) in July 2020. CCG has a strong track record of success in third-party grading. Founded in 1987, CCG encompasses the global brands NGC, PMG, CGC and ASG, each of which is a leader in collectibles categories, including coins, paper money, comic books and stamps.