The first wax packs featuring 1986 Fleer baseball cards were born into a hobby fully engulfed in the fire of rookie card fever.
Spurred on by the recent exploits of youngsters like Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Don Mattingly, and Ron Kittle, and further fueled by our continued infatuation with Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and other “oldsters,” collectors couldn’t get enough of that rookie card buzz.
And 1986 Fleer obliged, too, featuring not only the reigning rookies of the year but a bum rush of multi-player rookie cards that fed our speculators’ hunger.
Some of those guys panned out, some didn’t, and the hobby as a whole took a big hit within a decade as we realized just how much product was out there.
But that doesn’t mean all is lost — in fact, the most valuable 1986 Fleer baseball cards are still favorites among collectors all these years later.
And which cards are those? Read on to find out, keeping in mind the rankings and values are based on recent eBay sales for PSA 9 specimens.
Play ball!
1986 Fleer Nolan Ryan (#310)
You know the story — Nolan Ryan appears in a baseball card set, and that Nolan Ryan card is one of the most valuable cards in said set.
It happens just about every dang time The Ryan Express shows up, and it happens here in the 1986 Fleer set.
This hands-on-hip Astros shot sells for about $25 in PSA 9.
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1986 Fleer Pete Rose (#191)
In 1986, Rose had just come off a magical run that saw him return to Riverfront Stadium as the Reds’ player-manager, lead the team back into contention, and surpass Ty Cobb as the all-time Hit King.
In the process, Charlie Hustle elevated his rookie card to hobby royalty, and that RC pulled the rest of Rose’s cardboard up the value ladder with it.
Rose may never make the Hall of Fame, but he maintains a stronghold on the affection of collectors, and this late-career action shot brings in close to $25 in PSA 9 today.
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1986 Fleer Cecil Fielder and Cory Snyder Rookie Card (#653)
When this card debuted, it was all about Snyder, who had been part of Team USA at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
He was the wonder boy who was going to make Cleveland fans forget Joe Charboneau and lead the Indians to a championship.
Except … home runs with very little on-base support and defense to make Dr. Strangeglove cringe got Snyder nowhere fast (though he did smack 33 dingers in 1987).
Meanwhile, Fielder had trouble sticking with the Blue Jays, became a superstar in Japan, then returned home to the Detroit Tigers.
That’s where, in 1990, Fielder became the first player since George Foster in 1977 to reach 50 home runs in a season (51 for Fielder), and turned himself into a fan favorite.
Today, the Big Daddy Fleer rookie card is about a $20 item in PSA 9 condition.
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1986 Fleer Jose Canseco Rookie Card (#649)
Early in 1985, even remote reaches of the baseball universe started to receive reports of the imminent arrival of the next diamond savior — Jose Canseco was going to rewrite the home run record books.
Five taters and a .302 batting average in a late-season cup of coffee only bolstered that conviction, and the hobby was fairly frothing to get our hands on Canseco’s 1986 RCs.
That next spring, Topps whiffed completely, and Donruss ruled the hobby with their solo Rated Rookies card of Jose.
In between, you had this Fleer Major League Prospect card, which was only slightly diminished by the presence of Jose’s Oakland A’s teammate Eric Plunk.
(On a side note, how intimidating must it have been to stand in the box against a 6’5″ strikeout pitcher named “Plunk”?)
Of course, things got a little silly for Jose after he became the Majors’ first 40-40 man and won the 1988 American League MVP award, and he ultimately fell short of Cooperstown.
Still, this card is part of hobby history and today sells for around $20 in PSA 9 condition.
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1986 Fleer Rickey Henderson (#108)
Rickey Henderson, on the other hand, came out of the gates on fire and blazed his way all the way to the Hall of Fame.
In between, he became the game’s greatest ever leadoff hitter and obliterated pretty much every stolen base record.
As a consequence, his cards remain strong hobby favorites, and this Yankees-in-blue pasteboard approaches $20 in graded MINT condition today.
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