$494,600 worth of damage, $3.5 billion Michael Jordan estate takes unexpected hit

Sports cards have burst out of the bubble they existed in and are now at the forefront of fan collectibles. With the price of genuine rookie cards rising year by year, enthusiasts are always waiting for new cards to hit the auction block. Ever since a 1986 Michael Jordan Flair rookie card recently fetched $500,000 at an auction, people get excited when they find a new card in their safe.

But the auction didn’t go as expected. The price of the new cards is a far cry from what they sold for a month ago.

Latest Michael Jordan rookie card sold at auction

PSA names 1986 Jordan Fleer card “The most famous basketball card and the most important modern card of any sport in the entire hobby“. Fleer began as a bubble gum company and by 1923 was producing sports cards.

They started in baseball, eventually moved into American football, and in 1986, basketball. But the story of this Michael Jordan card is incredible on its own.

Each year, the state treasurer receives nearly 3,000 safes from people who have abandoned them.

After years of storage, they have run out of room and are now putting the items up for auction. Iowa Treasurer Roby Smith has owned the safes for more than a decade. Unable to find the rightful owner, they decided to put the items up for auction. One of the items is a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card.

In 1986, the rookie card was sent to a professional sports appraisal agency. They gave it a PSA rating of 7/10, which means it’s in “near mint” condition. The card was put up for auction, and surprisingly, it sold for just $5,400, a significant drop in price compared to the card sold a month ago, Radio Iowa reported.

Sports cards used to be bad for Jordan

Recently, a PSA 8.5 1986 wool card sold at auction for $500,000. This has led fans to speculate that the card may be sold for the same price. But just because of the loss of points at level 1.5, the card lost 494,600 in value.

However, the PSA 8.5 card also has Michael Jordan’s autograph on it. It all goes to show that the $3.5 billion legend won’t be able to keep up with LeBron James when it comes to spending money on sports cards.

Recently, a 2020 LeBron James rookie card was auctioned for $1.3 million. Even if a legendary Chicago Bulls rookie card sells for $500,000, it’s still far less than the price of sports cards for Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic.

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