Over the years, there have been a lot of basketball cards made by different companies. Some of the older cards, like George Mikan‘s 1948 Bowman card, can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
Then SkyBox entered the basketball trading card market in '90, and there was something different about their cards. They were colorful and they had a lot better production value than the others that were available. People found their eyes being drawn to the cards that these newcomers put out on the market.
Just like cards from other sports, there are going to be a lot of worthless cards from the SkyBox collection. For every Larry Bird, there were multiple role players who did things that were not shown on a stat line or even lucky to still be in the league.
A lot of the cards on this list are going to be from the '90 set, since that is the first year the cards came into existence. Yes, there will be many that have that guy named Michael Jordan on them. He was only the face of the league at that time, and his Fleer rookie card is up there with Mikan's in terms of value.
1996 SkyBox Premium Star Ruby #55 Kobe Bryant
There's something majestic about this card as it shows Bryant soaring in the air with his back to the basket. He was truly special and there were few who worked harder at their craft. If you want this card, you had best be ready to reach deep into your pockets since it could cost several thousand dollars, depending on the state of the collectibles market.
Part of the reason that this card is so valuable is due to the untimely passing of Bryant in 2020. Another one is that he was the one who basically later took the torch from Jordan as the mantle of the game's best player – though there are those who would argue that LeBron James would have something to say there. We can leave that one for the hosts of sports talk shows to sit and argue about until they are blue in the face.
1991 SkyBox USA Team Card
There will be no argument about this – the Dream Team was the greatest collection of basketball players in the history of the game. The team rampaged through every single opponent they faced on the court and it was never really close. It was borne from their country's humiliating showing in the '88 Olympics.
The squad of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin … and the token collegian, Christian Laettner all had one single mission: Show the world that the American pros are the best.
Collectors might say the same about this card. You're not going to see a card with this amount of greatness on it again. Savor it if you have it.
1991 SkyBox #39 Michael Jordan
This card shows off the creativity of the SkyBox design team. You see Jordan about to do a one-handed dunk and there is a trail behind the ball, like it's a comet. This is quite different than the more static cards of earlier days.
In fact, people who grew up around the mid-90s might have a memory coming back of a game called NBA Jams, where players would literally turn into a blaze when they had made several shots in a row, getting “hot.” Who knows if that game was inspired by the SkyBox designs?
If you are a Michael Jordan fan … and who isn't… this is a great one to have. It's more valuable than the next one partly because he was also on the Dream Team and he had started his legacy of winning championships.
1990 SkyBox #41 Michael Jordan
While this is the first SkyBox Jordan card, it is dwarfed by the '91 and the Olympic ones. It started the trend of the company doing cards of him dunking while a comet trail runs behind the ball. One thing for sure, though, is that Jordan was no short-lived shooting star. He played for years and left an incredible legacy even after missing two seasons following the death of his father.
SkyBox was something completely alien to sports cards – they were ambitious and creative in their presentation. Their goal was to make memorable cards, and they succeeded. Other companies followed their blueprint …. and the collectibles market is much better for it. By having this in your collection, you have a bit of sports card history.
1991 SkyBox #534 Michael Jordan Olympics
Yes, we are continuing a streak of Michael Jordan cards here. This was another one from when he was on that Dream Team. He is just standing in a relaxed pose for this one – no streaking basketball, which does snap another sort of streak. It's still a good card to have if you are a fan of His Airness.
If you are an Olympics buff, then this is the card for you. It was a big part of sports history, a time when the United States reasserted its basketball dominance over the rest of the world, and this card is an important commemoration of that time. You will love having this card as part of your basketball collection, especially if you remember watching those games live as they happened.
1998 Michael Jordan Dunk'n Go-Nuts
When Jordan dunked, people would go nuts. He made it seem like he would hang in the air for longer than other players. Who can forget that amazing slam that he did from the free-throw line?
This one is a play with Dunk'n Donuts – you can see the recognizable color scheme and font on the left of the card. It shows Jordan throwing one down. It's a great tie-in.
Another reason that people like to get this card is that it was the last year Jordan played for the Bulls before his second retirement. It's a bit of nostalgia for them.
1991 SkyBox #333 Michael vs. Magic
Finally, another one that has Jordan sharing the card with someone else. It's none other than Magic Johnson, who was one of the greatest players. But '91 proved to be a pivotal year for Johnson, too.
In one of those “Where Were You When You Heard” moments, he revealed that he was HIV-positive. Remember, during that time, finding out that you had it spelled a death sentence for many. But Johnson is still alive heading in '23, thanks to medicine.
This card is bittersweet because it represents what was and couldn't happen again – Magic matching up against Michael. If you are a fan of both, get this card.
1990 SkyBox #138 Magic Johnson
It's only fitting that Magic is the next one on this list. He was one of the faces of the NBA in the 1980s before Michael came in from North Carolina and took the league by storm later in the decade. There's a good chance that if there was no Magic, then Jordan would have a much higher mountain to climb to make the league be as popular as it was.
Fans loved Magic's game and his magnetic smile. His willingness to even play center as a rookie only cemented that love. He became a worldwide superstar and his announcement that he had the HIV virus was one that shook the regular world as well as the sports world. His becoming the face of the disease helped spur research for what was once a death sentence, and the fact that he is still alive and healthy over 30 years later is inspirational.
SkyBox decided to go with an action shot of Johnson. They had him dribbling a ball with a trail behind it. While they usually made good decisions here, it might have been better to have a close-up of his high-wattage smile.
That's just us, though.
1990 SkyBox #14 Larry Bird
When you talk about the saviors of the NBA, you can't mention Magic without including Bird. The two of them dueled for years and their dramatic match-ups made the NBA go from a league that showed its championships on tape delay to being a league that could command prime-time viewing for the NBA Finals.
Bird was known for being a shooter extraordinaire. He made shots from all spots on the court … he even made one from behind the backboard. Unfortunately, it didn't count. Whenever he participated in the three-point contest at the NBA All-Star Game, he told others that they were playing for second place … and he backed it up. For some reason, SkyBox decided to show him dribbling with a little mini comet trail on the ball. We think that was a missed opportunity.
Depending on where you buy this card and in what condition it is, you can expect to pay between $50-$100 or more.
1990 SkyBox #46 Scottie Pippen
Before Scottie Pippen came to the Chicago Bulls, Jordan was a one-man team. The league basically dared any of the other Chicago players to score instead of Michael. That led to a lot of frustration in the Windy City.
Enter Pippen. He was a scoring threat who took the pressure off Jordan and it allowed the team to operate Phil Jackson's vaunted triangle system. The result was Chicago becoming a dominant dynasty through the 1990”s.
The design decision behind this one was a curious one, too. It shows Pippen bringing the ball upcourt, which hardly shows what a dynamic player he was and such a vital cog in that Bulls machine.
1990 SkyBox #211 Charles Barkley
Here's Charles “The Round Mound of Rebound” Barkley in all of his glory. The card shows him about to fight off defenders after he has pulled down a rebound. Too bad the card can't show what a motormouth he was.
Barkey was one of the greatest players to never win an NBA championship. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. He even left the Eastern Conference to escape Michael Jordan and STILL lost.
As of this writing, Barkley was still talking up a storm as an NBA commentator. Some things never change.
1990 SkyBox #365 Gary Payton Rookie Card
Before he came into the league, Payton was already viewed as being an elite defender. He continued that trend when he joined the Seattle Supersonics, earning the moniker “The Glove,” which was based on how toughly he guarded his opponents, sticking to them like he was a glove.
Since there were no action photos of him in the NBA yet, he was shown in his Draft Day suit, smiling for the camera. The card noted that he was a draft pick. If you were a fan of Payton, or just laughed along with Jordan in the documentary after he ran his mouth off again, you can get this card for a good price to add to your collection.
1990 SkyBox #95 Tim Hardaway Rookie Card
Hardaway was part of a trio in Golden State called Run TMC. The other two were Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. He also included a crossover dribble that he dubbed the UTEP Two Step. His son currently plays in the NBA.
The SkyBox card shows him in motion, with lines showing the ball in motion. It might have been a good idea to show him about to do the UTEP two-step on the card. We are not card designers,
There are a lot of other players that might have made a longer list – like Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaq, Steve Kerr(just kidding), and Chris Mullin. They have all cemented their basketball immortality. It was hard to narrow this list down to just a few.
As for the history of the card company: The original SkyBox card company is no more. First, it was bought by Fleer, but then Fleer was bought by Upper Deck, and now Marvel Entertainment owns SkyBox.
When you are looking online for cards, especially if you are on eBay, you need to be careful. People overprice a lot of their items. You would have to be a big fan of Julie Moran to spend $5,000 to get a SkyBox card of her interviewing Michael Jordan, for example. That is a niche, and if you fit it, then that is great, but you should not expect a casual collector to want to buy this card.
These prices can fluctuate greatly. Also, when you are looking online on sites like Amazon or eBay, you will see different prices. If you are able to, you might want to tuck these away in a safe place so that you can possibly benefit from them at a time when the prices are much more favorable for you.
When you are doing your research, make sure that you are looking at the most recent listings. You don't want to be getting advice from a column that was written five years ago. Circumstances and selling or buying habits can be very different. That way, you won't be put into a possibly awkward and embarrassing situation if you come to a collectibles dealer with bad information or be taken advantage of by someone who is unscrupulous.
This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the Skybox cards go, though. There are a lot more to be found, and since, at least at the time of this writing, basketball cards were going through a really big boom, it's a good idea to look and see if you have any or if there are any that you want to invest in for the long term.
