MJ 'aftermarket' card sets record with $2.7M sale

An "aftermarket" signed 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie paper has sold successful a backstage merchantability via Goldin Auctions for $2.7 million. According to the auction house, it's a grounds paid for a paper with an "aftermarket" signature.

"Aftermarket" signed cards are autographed extracurricular the concatenation of paper production; physically autographed cards are either hard signed straight onto the surface, signed onto a hologram sticker which is aboriginal placed onto the card's surface, oregon embedded arsenic chopped signatures -- autographs chopped from documents specified arsenic checks.

Because of Jordan's longtime exclusive woody with Upper Deck, signed Jordan rookie cards were hard to find for decades extracurricular the 23 copies Jordan signed for a 2006 20th day buyback Upper Deck promotion. But Jordan has precocious started to bash backstage signings, including connected the Fleer rookie card, which are inactive considered rare.

Goldin Auctions laminitis and CEO Ken Goldin confirmed done a typical that the paper -- graded a PSA Mint 9 with a 10 autograph people -- was 1 of the 9 signed by Jordan "in backstage with witnesses" astatine a 2024 signing.

Another paper from that signing (one of 3 PSA 9s; the remaining six received 10 grades from PSA and, arsenic of June, haven't surfaced publicly) sold via Joopiter, Pharell Williams' auction house, for $2.5 cardinal successful precocious June. Goldin besides confirmed to ESPN that this $2.7 cardinal Jordan is not a reselling of the $2.5 cardinal Joopiter card.

"Signed rookie cards of greatest-of-all-time athletes, similar Michael Jordan, correspond the pinnacle of sports collectibles," Goldin said successful a statement. "This record-breaking merchantability is simply a testament not lone to Jordan's enduring bequest but besides to the designation of aftermarket-signed cards [...]."