10 Things You Didnt Know About Michael Jordan’s Rookie Card

Larry Bird- Even though Michael Jordan was the marquee star and the most sought after card in the set, Fleer put Larry Bird’s card on the box instead.

The Last Dance-

Due to the popularity of the recent Chicago Bulls documentary, Michael Jordan cards have shot up in value.  Some estimations have said that many Jordan cards have gone up as high as 20% in just the last few weeks.

The position- Something interesting to note about Jordan’s rookie card is that he is listed as “Guard/Forward”.  Now, everyone knows that Jordan played the shooting guard position, which makes this card one of the few places Jordan is officially also listed as a forward.

Fakes- There are so many fake Michael Jordan rookie cards out there that experts recommend not purchasing a card unless it has been graded by PSA or Beckett.  Some auction sites will not even list non-graded Michael Jordan rookie cards.

25 years-

Fleer made their last set of basketball cards for the famed 1961-62 set that featured Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie as well as many other HOF’s rookie cards.  Fleer did not produce any other basketball cards until the 1986 season.

Per Box- Data from over the years has shown that most 1986 Fleer boxes yielded a range of anywhere from 3 to 5 Jordans with a mean of 4.  There have been reports of boxes that yielded more than 5 Jordan rookies in a box, but that is extremely rare.

Chuck-

The second most valuable card in the set is the Charles Barkley rookie card.  For years it was Patrick Ewing’s rookie card that was the second most valuable, but the Barkley card has pulled ahead in the last few years.  Those are just two of the many sought after rookies in the set.

PSA has graded around 19,000 Michael Jordam rookie cards.  Of those 19,000, around 312 cards over the last 10 years have been graded Gem Mint.

2017- The highest selling Jordan rookie to date hapoened in 2017.  A pristine Michael Jordan rookie card (thats a card graded for perfection) graded by Beckett was auctioned and sold for $100,000.

Unopened Box- An authenticated unopened box (which is rare) of Fleer 1986 sells for $75,000+ and a complete unopened case has never surfaced.  There have been rumors of unopened cases being available, but one has never been for sale online.  If one does ever appear it could pass the million dollar mark.