1981 Magic Johnson / Larry Bird and 1987 Jordan

lssportscards

Exploring my dad's previously unopened basketball cards and trying to figure out what they would be rated. Curious to hear people's feedback and if it is worth it to get graded, especially considering the long lead times.

addicted2ebay

Yes! I would join the collectors club and submit the 10 best star cards. Looking at $20 each. One good grade would pay for the whole submission.

thehallmark

The 1981 Larry Bird has been on fire and I've bought and sold many of these in the past 18 months. Yours has a nice fat margin on bottom and no white dot over Larry's left shoulder - both details make the initial eye appeal very strong. However, the top margin and corner wear makes yours very likely a PSA 7 (maybe it gets a PSA 8 approximately 10% of the time). But because of your card's specific strengths, it is likely to sell for as much or slightly more than PSA 7 market price while ungraded. Same goes for 1981 Magic. Not worth the time and money to slab, ship, risk transit problems, etc.

87 Jordan is nice - you should get it slabbed and consigned.

rtimmer

I’d get them graded if you’re not in a hurry to maximize your return

RufussCkingston

Forget the Akeem from Zamunda and the Dr. J. Everything else would be good for $20 a pop value sub ($99 to join for access). The 1987 Jordan regular is at best an 8, so you could consider that one for $100 sub if you are in a hurry.

lssportscards

Appreciate all the help so far. Going through a lot more cards in the collection, but it sounds like these would all be around a 7. Is there anything I should be looking specifically for that would allow a card to go from a 7 to a 9, since these cards are all mint to my inexperienced eye.

dontippet

Get a 10x loupe and look at the corners really good. If you see no corner damage under 10x magnification, then you may have a 9 or 10. But centering and surfaces are also crucial, but don't take magnification to assess.

JoeBanzai

@lssportscards said:
Appreciate all the help so far. Going through a lot more cards in the collection, but it sounds like these would all be around a 7. Is there anything I should be looking specifically for that would allow a card to go from a 7 to a 9, since these cards are all mint to my inexperienced eye.

Also, look at PSA graded cards on ebay if they have good scans. 10's are VERY hard to get.