A Michael Jordan collecting card from 1986 that was signed by the athlete in 2006 is leading pre-sale bidding in a major sports card sale due to close at the end of January.
The card is for sale in Heritage Auctions’ Winter Sports Card Catalog Auction due to close with live sales on January 30 – 31.
It is a 2006 Fleer Buyback card and carries a $600,000 estimate.
The card was created as a promo by Fleer, the company who created bubblegum, which later became a major collecting card issuer.
The original card was Jordan’s 1986 rookie card, the first to carry his image, traditionally the rarest and most valuable card for any athlete.
Fleer bought back a small number of these cards and somehow persuaded Jordan to sign them.
Heritage say in their lot description: “We aren’t sure how he was coaxed into participating in this Fleer promotion, and we’d suspect that the fee paid for the few minutes it took him to autograph twenty-three examples of his rookie card in 2006 would boggle the mind. But, nearly twenty years after that signing session, a period during which the Jordan Fleer rookie has become one of the most famous collectibles on the planet, whatever that sum might have been has been rendered reasonable by context.”
It’s not all sports cards in the sale, and this colourful set of Mickey Mouse cards are also expected to make over $250,000. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions, ha.com.
This example is authenticated and graded as “Gem Mint 10” for condition.
There are only 300 of Jordan’s Fleer rookie card known in this condition. A signed example from a run of 23 is superlatively scarce.
With an estimate of $600,000 and up, the card has a $440,000 bid registered today, January 22.
It is expected to be the most valuable card in the sale, followed by a slew of baseball cards predicted to realise $250,000 and more. Standouts include a 1916 Babe Ruth rookie card, and a rookie card for “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, whose reputation was ruined by the scandal of the 1919 World Series, which he was accused of helping to fix.
The most valuable non-sporting cards are a set of 1935 Mickey Mouse cards that also carry a $250,000 minimum estimate.
Sporting cards had a standout year in 2025, with the sale of a Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant joint card for just under $13 million.
This card shouldn’t match that price, but no-one will be surprised if it surpasses that estimate and perhaps goes over $1 million.
