1985 Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

October 20, 2026

The 1985 Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set has 18 cards, all of Kareem, and is one of Star's five player sets, alongside Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

The set at a glance

Cards	18
Numbering	1-18
Released	1985
Packaging	One sealed bag
Sets printed (est.)	5,000 (Basketball Gold)
Design	Purple borders, Lakers logo, "STAR '85"

Card by card

The set covers his whole career, from college and the 1970 Rookie of the Year award through the Lakers' 1985 title. Titles are as printed on the card fronts.

#	Title
1	Checklist
2	Collegiate Stats
3	Regular Season Stats
4	Playoff Stats
5	All-Star Stats
6	All-Time Scoring King
7	NBA MVP / 1971, 1972, 1974
8	NBA MVP / 1976, 1977, 1980
9	Defensive Star
10	World Champs! Milwaukee '71
11	World Champs! L.A. '80, '82, '85
12	All-Time Records
13	Rookie-of-the-Year / 1970
14	Playoff MVP / 1971, 1985
15	The League Leader
16	Career Highlights
17	Personal Data
18	The Future

How the set was made

Star, Robert Levin's small Pennsylvania company, was the NBA's only licensed card maker from 1983 to 1986. It sold this set complete, all 18 cards in one sealed polybag. The fronts have purple borders, "STAR '85" at top right and a round Lakers logo at bottom left. Cards #11 and #14 cover the Lakers' 1985 championship and Kareem's 1985 Finals MVP, so the set came out after the 1985 Finals.

Basketball Gold estimates 5,000 of each card were made (starbasketballcards.com estimates 4,000). Basketball Gold also says the set was printed on the same sheet as Star's 1985 Last 11 ROY, All-Rookie Team and Coaches sets, along with Star's Dale Murphy and Rod Carew baseball sets. The uncut sheet in the gallery below, from Steve Ohsuree's collection, shows that layout.

What collectors should know

Condition: Basketball Gold says the set is generally in solid shape. Its warning about white surface specks on Kareem applies to the 1985-86 base card #26, not this set.
Sealed bags: an original sealed bag proves the cards are original, not that they are mint. Resealed Star bags exist, and a GAI bag grade rates the plastic and seals, not the cards.
Fakes: it is not one of the Type II sets (those are limited to 1985-86 #95-172, the 1986 Jordan set and 1986 Best of the New), and we know of no Shop at Home Kareem set.
Grading: BGS has graded Star since December 2008. PSA added the set in March 2023 as "1985 Star Kareem Abdul Jabbar." CGC began grading 1980s Star in May 2025, though its announcement does not name the player sets.

The key cards

No source ranks a chase card in this set. These are the cards that mark the big moments.

#6 All-Time Scoring King: Kareem set the NBA career scoring record during Star's years with the license.
#7 and #8 NBA MVP: his six MVP seasons, split across two cards.
#13 Rookie-of-the-Year / 1970: printed on the same sheet as Star's 1985 Last 11 ROY set, per Basketball Gold.
#14 Playoff MVP / 1971, 1985: Finals MVPs 14 years apart, with Milwaukee and Los Angeles.
#10 and #11 World Champs: Milwaukee in 1971 and the Lakers in 1980, 1982 and 1985.