Capturing History: The Story Behind Michael Jordan's Iconic 1986-87 Fleer Rookie Card

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Source: Graig Kreindler on X

A prolific American painter and “visual historian,” Graig Kreindler is nationally recognized for his oil paintings of vintage baseball scenes and notable ballplayers from all eras. Often sourced from black-and-white photos from the early 20th century, Kreindler’s work is known for its dynamic, museum-quality realism.

So, when a friend contacted him to commission a painting of Michael Jordan’s iconic 1986-87 Fleer #57 rookie card, Kreindler balked. But, he didn’t say no.

While certainly outside his typical scope of work, Kreindler understood and appreciated the historical significance and nostalgia for the card. In fact, he said he’s long been drawn to the image of a rookie Jordan soaring above a pair of New Jersey Nets, tongue out, for one of his trademark dunks.

So, Kreindler agreed to complete the commission.

“When I was collecting, I coveted this card,” Kreindler said. “I’ve always loved that image. And if you’re a card collector, you know that image. It’s one of the most iconic images of Jordan that’s around.”

A Fleer Set for the Ages

Just as his legendary play and competitiveness on the court helped turn the NBA into a dominant global brand, Michael Jordan’s 1986-87 Fleer #57 Rookie Card revived a branch of card collecting that was on life support during the mid-1980s.

Because of limited public interest, Topps quit printing basketball cards following the 1981-82 basketball season. The NBA then handed the licensing torch to a smaller (and, as Beckett later described, “nontraditional”) card manufacturer called Star Co., which printed and distributed NBA cards during three so-called “gap years” in basketball card production.

Then in September of 1986, Fleer came out with what some collectors consider one of the most important sports card sets of all time. Created in response to a surge in NBA popularity, the 1986-87 Fleer NBA Basketball set features several NBA legends and Hall of Famers from that era, including rookie images of Michael Jordan on both a card (#57) and a sticker (#8).

The card in this set became one of the most recognizable sports cards ever. Though it was not the first card of MJ in circulation, it is considered Jordan’s official rookie card and marks the beginning of the Air Jordan era.

Nearly 40 years since first being issued, the Fleer Jordan rookie card carries significant value both nostalgically and (if you’re lucky) monetarily. And like MJ the cultural icon, the card is not without some elements of controversy and mystery—like Jordan himself allegedly performing a secret signing of several PSA 10 Fleer Rookies in 2024.

It’s all part of the mystique that puts this card in high demand, even today.

A Legendary Photo of a Legendary Player

The photo on the 1986-87 Fleer Jordan rookie card has been the topic of online speculation and sleuthing for years. The image perfectly encapsulates the defining traits and abilities that made Jordan an athletic icon early in his career — the air, the focus, and the tongue — yet no photo credit appears on the card.

Fortunately, credit was given on a poster from the same era that also features the image from the card.

It turns out that hard-to-find New York-based freelance photographer Normen Trotman snapped the shot during Jordan’s rookie season when the Bulls visited the New Jersey Nets at Brendan Byrne Arena.

The Bulls played in New Jersey three times that year, a vagueness that simply will not do in today’s know-everything culture. Deep analyses into opposing rosters, shoe selection, lace color, and even spectator comparisons concluded the photo was likely taken on Dec. 14, 1984 — a 111-109 Bulls loss in which Jordan led all scorers with 34 points.

As an aside, keen-eyed card collectors may notice that MJ’s tongue is edited from the photo in reprints of this card. In the early 1990s, so-called “tongue-out pics” were no longer allowed on licensed cards featuring Jordan. The look became such a signature one to the Jordan brand that these photos were reserved for personal brand-endorsed items.

Is the Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie Card a Rare Card?

While so many of the top-tier cards we covet as collectors are sought after for their rarity, the Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card is not one of them.

Back in 1986 when they first appeared in check-out lines at grocery stores, wax packs of Fleer 1986-87 NBA cards sold for about 40 cents each. The odds of finding a Jordan rookie card in one of these packs was about 1 in 11, which meant an investment of $4.40 would likely have netted you a Jordan.

A former card collector, Kreindler remembers coveting the 1986-87 Fleer Jordan rookie card back when he was a kid in the early 1990s. They were pretty easy to find back then, he said, but he still regrets missing out on the opportunity to hunt for his own card.

“I [kid] you not … to this day I still, every now and then, have literal dreams of opening packs of 86-87 Fleer basketball cards,” Kreindler said, “because [that Jordan card] is what I need.”

Today, it’s still relatively easy to get your hands on one of these cards via a reputable card shop or auction site. And, if quality is not all that important to you, you can likely find a lower-graded card that’s in your price range.

If you want a top-tier card, though, be prepared to pay. Cards graded 9 and higher can be quite expensive. In 2021, a Fleer MJ rookie card rated 10 by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) was sold for $738,000.

Why is the 1986-87 Fleer Jordan’s Official Rookie Card?

The 1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan rookie card first hit the shelves in the fall of 1986 — just as Jordan was gearing up for his third NBA season. At this point, Star Co. had already released a Jordan Rookie card back during his actual rookie season

So, why isn’t this 1984-85 Star Co. #101 considered Michael Jordan’s true rookie card? The answer is … well, an answer.

While some top card experts will argue that the Star Co. card should be considered the real Jordan rookie card, authenticators like Beckett have long disagreed, saying Star Co. is “considered to be nontraditional in both structure and distribution.”

The knock on Star Co. seems to be three-fold. First, they didn’t produce nearly as many cards as Fleer did in its inaugural set, which made it so fewer people could access the card from traditional outlets. Secondly, Star distributed their cards in team bags rather than packs, which also bucked tradition.

The final straw, though, came when Star reprinted many of their earlier cards using the original printing plates in an authorized run. This happened in 1996-97, and it caused many of the big grading companies to refuse to grade Star Co. cards for a period of time.

Today, the 1984-85 Star Co. Jordan #101 card is considered an Extended Rookie Card, or XRC. This is a term invented by Beckett to differentiate between the first card of a player in a standard set (RC) vs. the first card of a player in a special set.

As such, the card is one of the most sought-after Jordan cards behind the Fleer Jordan RC. And as of 2024, both Beckett Grading Service (BGS) and PSA will grade this card, only increasing its value.

**Update: as of May 2024, the 1984-85 Star Co. #101 Michael Jordan card supplanted the 86-87 Fleer Rookie as the most expensive Jordan rookie card. Read the full story from Darren Rovell on cllct.

Iconic in the History of Professional Basketball

As he’s known to do with other pieces, Kreindler posted an image of his completed Jordan rookie card painting to social media. The response elicited some personal memories sprinkled among the usual kudos for his work.

One commenter recalls having once had “handfuls” of the card as a kid, while another shared that he once glued the card to an MJ poster in his childhood bedroom — a “costly mistake,” he admitted.

For Kreindler, whose devotion resides mostly with baseball, the Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card is the only basketball sports card he would have ever considered painting. Both the player and the card are iconic within the history of professional basketball, a crucial factor he considers when selecting subjects for new paintings.

“The Jordan [rookie card] is just the king,” he said. “The image is so incredible and so evocative. It still lives in my head rent-free, I like to think.”