Issued well before his 1986-87 Fleer card, comes this 1984-85 Star Charles Barkley rookie. This card features a fresh-out-of-Auburn Barkley in a 76ers jersey, complete with college stats on the back.
After Topps left the basketball card industry following its 1981-82 release, the only licensed NBA cards on the market from 1983 to ’85 came from the Star Company. Star did not produce large quantities of its cards and did not distribute them through the same channels Topps had. Star packaged the cards in clear plastic bags as team sets or complete subsets, rather than including a random assortment of cards from the checklist in wax packs. The company then sent the poly bags to dealers and accepted mail orders from around the country. Needless to say, they weren't the best protected cards and top-condition copies can be scarce.
This condition sensitive card is typically plagued by a slew of condition issues. Of the 781 copies BGS has graded, there are just nine Gem Mint 9.5s.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 01/02/2026.
