1986 Fleer Basketball Find On Marketplace- Is the Jordan Real?
orioles93
Posts: 3,537 ✭✭✭✭✭
Took a chance on a box of cards today on Facebook marketplace because I saw the backs of a few 86 fleer in the picture. Everything else in the box was junk and dirty, except for the 86 fleer stack. Got home and to my amazement found a ton of stars and a Jordan.
I am no expert on the Jordan but I know the general things to look for and it passed the test to my eye, but looking for some opinions from others before I send in to PSA. Thanks for any help!
What I Collect:
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
1
Comments
it looks fake to me.
I'm not an expect and there are artifacts possible with lighting and photography. I would get lots of opinions.
the back does look darker in the photo than in hand, especially the blue lettering. Could be the lighting there
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jMluoPAHsZM
what a great find if the jordan is legit. good luck.
It’s a fake….sorry. Still a nice find on the rest of the lot. Compare the blue border on the front under magnification to other cards in the set. Also look at the blue ink blurring of the number 57 on the back and the Chicago Bulls font.
blue border on the front under a loupe looks the same on all the cards.
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
First thing I noticed is the pixelation/dots on the front and also the back. I don't know enough about that card to know if that's normal or a sign of a fake? Could also just be the zoom on your camera too.
It's just tough to tell from pics. If I wasn't sure I would submit it. You never know so that's a value submission
wait for the upcharge perhaps.
PSA 6
Chaz
telltale for me is the omission of the distinct black line that transitions from the red section to the blue at the top
every legit MJ has one. edit: or so i thought.
@galaxy27
So this one I linked is fake? I'm perplexed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/318356212104
Another with no "distinct" black line between red and blue. Not sure it's a telltale sign, or PSA is missing phony baloney cards. I'd recommend the OP get the Jordan up top into a secured package and mailed ASAP. Just my opinion.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/298346869492
The OP's Jordan also has a crease running from the letter D in FORWARD down to the bottom border edge. I retract my prior PSA 6 post and change it to PSA 3. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
@ElMagoStrikeZone
now you have me questioning it. it's just something i noticed long ago with this card. i went to REA's archives and checked the first 50 or so graded examples, and 90-95% of them have it. but not all.
if you watch tsalem's short up above, this card passes all 4 sniff tests.
i'm with you -- he should fire it off and see what PSA says. i'm curious to know now.
I've had a bit of experience with this card I guess. Handling both real and fake examples, though I don't consider myself qualified any better than anyone else here. My opinion is that it's legit and I immediately thought so by looking at the cards curvature in one of the photos above. If all the cards are curved like that and they derived from the same source, it's probably what was once somebody's complete or close to complete set. OP could tell us if there are multiples of any card in the collection. These are telltale signs I look for when scouting 86 Fleer, which I've been doing a little more lately. There seem to be a lot of people selling them.
The "black line" referenced is just an overlap of the blue and red ink on some cards. The OP's card does look to have had an offset black plate... which I've never seen with a fake. You can really tell how offset it is around the nameplate.
@ElMagoStrikeZone
for orioles' sake i hope you're right
another thing that gives me pause is the smear job with the blue ink, to jordangretzky's point
Here’s what I was looking at. Could be the photo or my lack of experience.
I bought a box from someone, it was full of 86-early 90s baseball and hockey that was in terrible shape, a handful of late 70s football and had a stack of 86 fleer basketball in it. 82 total cards, 52 commons, and 30 stars, semi stars and HOFers. They were all stacked together with the same curvature. Rickey green, Steve Johnson, Larry smith I think were the only duplicates.
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
So, if you're willing to accept the opinion of a semi-intelligent old codger, I think you scored. Well done. Even if the Jordan gets graded in the 2-3 range, if you sell it, that's a few thousand for you after fees, etc. plus you have some other nice cards there as well. Best of luck if you submit. I hope for good next chapter of this story.
As someone pointed out, it passes the four (4) tests in the video. I think it is legit...
Very nice find!
Sending off to PSA today, will update the post when I hear something!
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
I thought the same thing in regards to the 4 tests. Good luck with the sub!
Looks real to me.. the card has the curvature that most counterfeits don’t/can’t replicate.
The centering also- you don’t see many OC counterfeits.
Lastly the slight rough cut on the left edge, looks natural to me.
Based on that and the context of the lot, I’d be surprised if this were not real.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
I vote real due to the off centering.
Fake ones are nicely centered.
Based on the opinions given above and the slight tan aging on the back that seems to occur with these cards I vote REAL!!!
Here’s another guide with some more things to look at. Most look good but the circles called out above don’t seem present on the pics on this page - could just be the scan / pic and not what the card looks like in hand… hard to say from just looking at the images.
(zoomed in image from the guide below - ignore their blue circle, just trying to show that the circle pattern doesn’t appear to be there like in the pics above)
https://bbcemporium.com/index.php?step=counterfeit&step2=michael_jordan
Jim
Were any of the other 86's grade able?
And curious, did you buy it the first day the cards were posted on Facebook? In other words how long were they up before you bought them?
Good luck on the Jordan.
Bought them same day they were posted but like I said, you couldn’t even really see them in the pic on the listing. It was just one photo of a box and could see a bunch of baseball and hockey junk. In the one corner I could make out the backs of a few 86 fleer so I said why not. Didn’t even see them when I bought it, just did a blind purchase.
I put aside the Wilkins, Erving, Bird, and Ewing for grading in the future. Sent Jordan in solo for now.
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
Good Luck!!!!!!
Live long, and prosper.
I hope it passes! Very exciting find!
Agreed. OP found a 40-year-old Jordan in the wild, and hopefully it will be coming back to him in a plastic cage.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball cards
also collecting Canadian silver coins
Good luck with the submission!
Regarding your sub, could you please share answers to the following, if you don't mind?
What submission level did you choose?
How much did it cost?
Did you state a minimum grade for encapsulation?
Just curious about your strategy as I have a similar card I need to submit eventually, plus I'm just curious in general what you chose. Thanks!
Chose Express Level to get an answer "sooner". Was like roughly $200 after shipping. No min grade. Im just looking for authentication here, so dont care what grade it gets. Didnt want to go with a lower level due to their backlog and really long wait times.
PSA HOF Baseball Postwar Rookies Set Registry- (Currently 80.16% Complete)
PSA Pro Football HOF Rookie Players Set Registry- (Currently 19.87% Complete)
Hopefully if the Jordan passes muster it is a confirmation for all the others to be the real deal. But if the Jordan does not pass the others still could be legit.
@BLUEJAYWAY
The cards are real. Legit. All of them. There's no muster to pass. There's no debate.
Then why send the Jordan in. I thought he wanted confirmation because he was unsure of it's authenticity. Over on the coin forum it's been stated that coins are harder to authenticate via photos alone.
Prolly because it makes it easier to sell the card when it is authenticated/graded verses a buyer beware scenario. Grading collectibles has reduced a huge amount of conflicts between buyers and sellers as the average buyer knows almost exactly what they are getting. Additionally third party grading has MASSIVELY increased/expanded most all collectible markets. Rock on!
Over on the coin forum I’m sure they have productive discussions. Over here the simple fact is several people have expressed their opinions regarding the authenticity of the Jordan RC and it’s pretty much acceptable that the card is real. The owner wants it in a slab because it will create a substantial increase in value, which makes perfect sense.
I'll add that more people have probably been criminally swindled by fake 86 mjs than any other card in history.
If there is any one card that should be authenticated it is that one.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Wow Evan! That's quite a haul.
I'm sure hoping the Jordan is the real deal buddy!
Did you say how much you paid for the lot?
Best of luck - I'm sure looking forward to the verdict. 👍
Just for fun, I ran this by chatGPT - here's what I got:
Mike, with the giant disclaimer that nobody can authenticate a raw 1986 Fleer Jordan from photos alone, I can tell you what jumps out at me.
My first impression: I am not seeing any obvious red flags that scream counterfeit.
A few things I like:
The print pattern appears consistent throughout the card. The closeups show what looks like normal offset printing dots rather than the muddy inkjet look often seen on cheap reprints.
The front colors don't appear overly saturated. Many fakes have a neon-red jersey and overly bright borders.
The back pink stock color looks reasonably close to what I'd expect.
The registration on the Bulls logo and text looks decent.
The borders don't immediately suggest a modern laser-cut reproduction.
Regarding the YouTube tests:
The yellow arrow under "PREMIER"
The little arrow tip often gets discussed because many counterfeits print it the wrong shade. In your close-up, it does appear to have that yellow/orange transition rather than a flat bright yellow. That's a positive sign.
The dot above "© 1986 FLEER CORP."
I can see the tiny dark dot you're talking about near the copyright line. That feature has been mentioned by some Jordan specialists as one of the recurring characteristics on authentic examples. Presence of the dot is better than absence, although I wouldn't use it as a standalone test.
"Casper the Friendly Ghost"
The white and reddish print anomalies in the pink box on the reverse are another hobby diagnostic. From your photos I can see mottling and light areas in the pink field that look consistent with authentic printing. Whether they're the exact "Casper" pattern I'd want a higher magnification image to say.
What I cannot determine
The biggest authentication tests are the ones we can't really do from these photos:
Card stock thickness
UV reaction
Edge appearance under magnification
Rosette pattern under 10x–30x magnification
Exact measurements
Comparison against a known authentic Fleer common from the same sheet
If this were shown to me at a card show and somebody asked, "Gut feeling?" I'd say:
More likely real than fake.
Not:
"Definitely real."
"I'd buy it raw without hesitation."
I hope you checked the edges for recoloring... I got left holding the bag on one that I knew was real, but never checked the edges. By the time I got the email about it being recolored, it was too late for me to ask them to mark it authentic, and I was out $200. Tough lesson.
Yeah, the recoloring is the one thing that I wouldn't consider when examining the card. When I bought my set several years ago, it was from a long-time collector who had 3 Jordans. Someone I know picked out the nicest Jordan before I got there, so I picked from what was left. Mine got a 5.5 - was slightly disappointed, but at the same time, so I was so happy to have a real, unaltered Jordan. The nice one came back Altered from PSA. He then submitted to Beckett and it came back Authentic. I saw the card after it came back from Beckett (he contacted me, looking to see if I wanted it, added all the seller talk, trying to put lipstick on a pig). The card looked really nice - didn't look trimmed, so I thought maybe it was colored. I kindly said thanks, but no thanks.
I feel fortunate to have been criminally swindled by phony Jordans in the early 90s when they were at the dawn of their journey into outer space. We purchased 2 raw, then both were rejected by PSA, and we got a stern education from a guy we knew at a local card shop as to why that happened. I still have one of them buried somewhere around here. But, never again. Anytime the opportunity arose, we were prepared. Made some good buys "back in the day" and turned down some obvious fakes at card shows, even at the National.
Every time I see 86 Fleer Basketball I remember back in 1986 and seeing boxes of that stuff on the shelves at the Richdale up the street from my house, I bought so much baseball from that store but I wasn't into hoops so I never touched it 😒
Good luck with the MJ hope it's legit
Me too! At T G & Y while at Florida State in Tallahassee, FL…
AM/PM Mini-Market. Right there on the counter next to the ca$h regi$ter. I mean, where was the future when I needed to know. 😭
Which Richdale? I know it is just pretty much a Nothern Massachusetts chain when it was owned by West Lynn Creamery. My Dad had a part time gig working for a couple of them. My go to place was either Larry's or Bill's Variety in Salem, Ma.
As mentioned years ago, my fear is the restarting of old vintage wax pack machines and equipment: though admittingly the raw materials are a huummmm dinger