The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Jordan memorabilia prices out of control
For sports card collectors, it doesn’t get any better than a rookie card.
For novices to the hobby, a rookie card marks the first time a player appears on cardboard. In some instances — especially for superstars in this era of mass production across several sports card companies — it’s debatable which trading card is the true rookie.
That’s even true for arguably the most iconic and popular athlete of all time — Michael Jordan.
In the mid 1980s, sports card company Fleer produced a 1986-87 NBA set that included a host of rookie cards, but the crown jewel was Jordan’s. It wasn’t the first Jordan card ever as several smaller companies produced Jordan cards from his North Carolina years, and his Olympic year of 1984.
The ‘86-87 Fleer NBA set is one of the most sought-after for collectors. The reason would raise eyebrows today, considering the current popularity of the NBA. In 1981, Topps released an NBA set. Then for the next four years, there was nothing. Not one company produced NBA trading cards.
Baseball cards boomed in the early ‘80s. Basketball cards were another story. When Fleer released its NBA set, it flopped.
Boxes and packs sat in corner stores throughout the country collecting dust. Eventually stores returned the product to Fleer.
More than 30 years later, the Jordan rookie is smoking hot. The popularity of ESPN’s justconcluded 10-part documentary “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Jordan’s last season with the Bulls in 1998, has no doubt helped. However, the Jordan Fleer rookie price tag has bloated to ridiculous measures in the past decade.
ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported in 1992, the Jordan Fleer rookie had a price tag of $25. By 1998, asking prices were under $1,000. By 2003, a graded card that came back a 10 (basically in perfect condition) sold for more than $6,000.
Then this the past moth, which has coincided with the airing of “The Last Dance” — a perfect Jordan rookie sold for $51,600. A few weeks later in early May, Rovell reported a Jordan rookie sold for $96,000.
Another Jordan rookie — this one signed by the man himself — sold on EBay shortly after that sale for $125,000.
When the stay-at-home order was lifted by Gov. Mike DeWine last week, I visited a sports card shop and had a discussion with one of the workers there about the Jordan rookie card explosion.
“Ridiculous money,” the worker said.
To which, I agree. But hey, to each their own. It does show the power of Jordan and his influence as a sports and world icon. The novel coronavirus shut down the sports world, and “The Last Dance” will go down for sports fans as a marker of the time.
Still, more than $100,000 for a sports card that’s not even 40 years old? Maybe it’s because store owners in the mid80s returned those Fleer boxes and packs by the truckload. Maybe there are hundreds, maybe thousands of Jordan rookies stored in some random warehouse. Maybe some or all were thrown away.
Perhaps it’s the mystery of that Fleer set and the Jordan rookie that’s pushing prices through the roof. Or maybe it’s just ridiculous money at play here.
But get this: That huge price tags for those Jordan rookies pale to another Jordan trading card that sold in February of this year. According to the Chicago Tribune, a 1997-98 a Jordan Precious Metal Gems Green card (one of 10 produced by Skybox) sold for more than $350,000.
Up next for Jordan memorabilia is a chance to bid and win the hoop MJ scored when he made “The Shot” in a May 7, 1989 playoff game against the Cavaliers at the old Richfield Coliseum. The rim and backboard from the now-demolished Coliseum will go on auction May 24.
The owner of the rim and backboard is Cleveland-area property developer Daniel Dzina, who approached the Cavs about demolishing the venue and keeping its contents. Dzina recently gifted the items to Heritage Auctions. They come with a letter of provenance from Dzina and a letter of authenticity from Heritage.
Don’t be surprised if the bidding gets completely out of control.
Ridiculous money indeed.
Reach Podolski at MPodolski@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @mpodo