Michael Jordan 1986 fleer rookie - real or fake?

Bluskey

Hi! I bought a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan card when I was a kid. I definitely made the purchase before 1991, most likely in 1990 or 1991 (I know because I moved from Texas to California in 1992 and made the purchase while still living in Texas).

The card is in rough condition and has lived in my parents’ safe deposit box at the bank for decades. I recently got access to the various cards I had stored there and was considering getting the Jordan graded.

I took the card to my LCS, where they put it under a microscope and didn’t see any of the tell tale signs of a fake. However, after reading some of the posts on this forum, I’m now concerned that this card I’ve cherished for 20+ years may not be legit. The most concerning things to me are:

1. A lot of discussions discuss the lines on the basketball on the back right corner. I cannot really discern lines on mine, although I have poor eyesight and haven’t put it under a microscope myself. Zooming in on the photo, it appears there may be some faint lines.
2. My Jordan has a substantial amount of red bleeding on the top section of the back of the card. I’ve seen some legit graded Jordans with slight bleeding, but none as bad as mine. I’ve searched and cannot really find evidence that this was common on any cards in the 1986 fleer set
3. While the black lines on my card are solid and not pixelated (as they are in many fakes) there are some parts of the picture that start to look grainy if you zoom in real far.

Is it worth sending this card in for grading/authentication? What do you think?

jordangretzkyfan

Unfortunately, this is a fake. The red color bleed around the Fleer logo on the front is a tell. Also, the FG % holes are filled in on the back stat header. The dot printing pattern on the front and back should also appear smooth and not so pixilated. Sorry to share the bad news.

RufussCkingston

Unfortunately it's not even close.... Here's a close-up of the real thing...

dontippet

Even the photo on the real one is much more crisper and photo-like.

BaltimoreYankee

@RufussCkingston said:
Unfortunately it's not even close.... Here's a close-up of the real thing...

That is a really nice PSA 4!