The "junk wax" era has been overlooked for years. Now collectors have finally realized how good the inserts were along with the players.

Such a huge spike in such a short time is bizarre especially for the 89/90. The 88/89 has a strong rookie class at least and eventually there's not going to be that stuff available to buy. Right now the people like us that grew up on that and were either buying it or refusing to buy it because we weren't collecting basketball yet have the money to buy that stuff so naturally it's driving up the price. Excellent point on the value that TV plays into how cards are collected. Cable TV was ginormous with TBS broadcasting Hawks games and WGN with the Bulls. Back in the 80s sometimes that would be the only way you'd see teams like Denver, San Antonio, Dallas etc if you didn't live in a market with an NBA team. You saw the Lakers, Celtics, 6ers, Rockets and Pistons later in the 80s on CBS regularly but it was nothing like the 90s when NBC took over and the Knicks, Bulls, Pacers, Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Sonics and teams all over were getting a chance to shine. Unfortunately the guys from the 70s and early 80s had nowhere near that kind of exposure

88-89 fleer design is awesome also has Miller, Stockton, Price, Rodman, Pippen rookies

I have complete sets of Fleer basketball 1987- 90 when they first came out. Got my 1986 Jordan in 1990 and the rest of the set in 2007. Also have a BGS 8.0 1984 Star Jordan #101

This current situation, kiddos, is going to be known in the hobby as "The Pump & Dump," Swipe It For Cheap, Then Hype It To Sweep" and/or "F.O.M.O. Is A Serious Drug!" Someone decides to buy up at lowest historic market prices, hype it like it's better than your brand new baby and then sell it to the "New Whales" in the hobby at new market highs. Then they prepare for their next scheme to catch the next big sucker(s).

I remember when the 1988 Fleer Basketball packs were $15 on Baseball Card Exchange and the 1987 Fleer Basketball packs were $35 and that seemed kind of expensive at the time. They stayed at these prices for many years. Pre-covid they maybe tripled in price, but post covid they went up 10x plus. I would have bought more of these packs had I known they would go so high. I wasn't a big fan of the 1987 set though with too much grey. I did end up with Reggie Miller's rookie card, but still need a Scottie Pippen.

Eye of the beholder, my guy. I love the 88 Fleer basketball set. Those are the first packs I ever ripped.

You're right. It was cable that really gave the NBA a boost. I watched a lot of Bulls games on WGN in the 80's and 90's. NBA on NBC was huge as well. Marv Albert and "The czar of the telestrator" Mike Fratello.

I figured all this junk wax era stuff skyrocketed in price because collectors have swarmed on sealed product like locusts and opened so much of it.  Yeah, there’s billions of these packs and boxes out there.  But still, there’s a finite amount and in the last decade most of it has been opened.

It's a loaded set.  119 cards check list with 30 HOFer and tons of stars.  well over half the set are HOFer and stars from the best era in basketball (80s and 90s).  Oh and don't forget the all star and stickers sub set.

4:05 I like the old cheesy box art. That's it.

These boxes are rare.

NBA guy here who collects more junk wax baseball than NBA cards: there are no chumps in an NBA pack. A baseball pack has all sorts of scrubs and reserves but a typical NBA pack at worst owns some college legend (and NBA scrub) and way more prominent players. It’s like every pack comes all Gubizca or Kevin Mitchells

80s packs in general have gone up a lot in recent years.  Football is also similar to basketball. The more heavily produced 1986 football set is worth more unopened then much harder to find 1978 set.

wow this was a greta vidoe i neevr knew thse kinds of cards were they expensive

An unopened box is a unique situation. Someone has held off the satisfaction of opening it immediately for some delayed gratification. Delayed gratification in all matters of life is something people today are not good with. Hence the high price of these boxes, instead with your video go a level deeper

Man.  I’m glad I built this set in 2014/15.  I remember paying $30 for the MJ and thinking if I didn’t need it to finish the set I’d never pay that much for it.  Yeah, that’s how much prices have exploded.

88 Fleer is a beautiful design. Your opinion is definitely in the minority.

Why do people always think they will get a 10?  That 89 Jordan will get an 8, maybe a 9 if not graded by PSA.  At least the 88 set has some good rookies.  Those cards will grade an 8 at best because of the fish eyes, but they won't  be bricked like the 90's boxes.

10 years ago you could find these at any flea market or little collectible shops for cheap as hell. Now with the wave of collecting, all 80’s and 90’s stuff has skyrocketed in price. So much in fact that I left collecting all together. Sold all my stuff. Retro video games, cd’s, VHS and DVDs, action figures, movie posters, all memorabilia. I became and still am disappointed by the level of greed. I understand supply and demand and FOMO. But it’s gotten out of hand. Saw the other day CRT tvs are now a few hundred bucks. Walked into the used bookstore/ collectables store the other day (one where I tried selling my vhs tapes to about 5 years ago but was told I one would buy these) and vhs tapes were $5 a piece. Greed ruins the fun of every hobby.