There are certainly more expensive Michael Jordan cards, and it’s hard to argue against his 1986 Fleer Basketball base card being the biggest card in the sport. But my favorite Jordan card is his 1988 Fleer All-Star card.
Jordan was already becoming the face of basketball when the NBA held the 1988 All-Star game. And in case you weren’t aware, during the slam dunk contest that weekend, Jordan dunked from the free-throw line to score a perfect 50 and beat Dominique Wilkins for the win. Of course, there is a bit of controversy with people claiming a significant home-court advantage since the NBA held the all-star game in Chicago that year.
The 1988 Michael Jordan All-Star card captures that historically significant moment, Jordan mid-air, during his free-throw line dunk. That dunk was legendary and helped catapult Jordan towards becoming the most recognizable global athlete.
I haven’t seen the original photo Fleer used for Jordan’s All-star card, which by the way, fails to mention the dunk contest at all. But from the background, the card is clearly from the free-throw dunk, and the photos below confirm that, just from different angles. The first photo (angle 1) appears to be taken at nearly the same high-flying mid-air point. On the Fleer card, next to Jordan’s shoulder, you can see the Discover Card advertisement and digital dashboards at the correct points between the stadium decks, just like angles 2 and 3 below. Lastly, you can match the fans between the card and the images, the most obvious being the two guys in angle 3, between Jordan’s legs, behind the scorers’ table.
There are a ton of these cards encapsulated and authenticated in the hobby. Here are the current sales and population figures for Jordan’s 1988 Fleer All-Star card:
PSA 10 – $5-6k – Pop 357
PSA 9 – $650-700 – Pop 2429
PSA 8 – $220-275 – Pop 3369
PSA 7 – $130-180 – Pop 1010
I love it when cards capture historical moments, and the 1988 Fleer All-Star card is a classic Jordan moment that his fans all recognize and remember.
By the way, Jordan was also the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1988, putting up 40 points leading the East to a 138-133 victory.
Do you have a favorite Jordan card? Let me know which one down in the comments, and don’t forget to follow Post War Cards on Twitter for more hobby chats.