I thought I would sneak in another post in between episodes of my Jordan cards countdown, but it’s not meant to be. Too many things to get done before leaving.
Need a refresher? Follow the links! #50-41, #40-31, and #30-21.
If you thought what you saw before was good, just you wait. We’re past the halfway mark, so they’re going to start getting special. Whether or not you agree remains to be seen. Hope you like holograms!
Okay, what couldn’t crack the top ten?
#20
1991-92 Upper Deck Award Winner Holograms #AW4 Michael Jordan/MVP – So, I think we’re all aware of the resurgence that die cut cards have seen lately. I wish I had the pull to bring holograms back into the limelight again. Look at this. No borders, just pure silver rainbow greatness. This was a big deal back then. To me, it’s still a big deal and it’s not even the best pure hologram on the countdown.
#19
1993-94 Hoops Fifth Anniversary Gold #28 Michael Jordan – Do I really have to say anything? Jordan’s like a freakin’ ninja coming out of nowhere. Flying through the sky to steal what looked to be an easy 76er breakaway layup. It could only be better if we could zoom out a little bit to see a full picture of the ball. I also had to pick the one per pack gold parallel version on top of that, because I’m lucky enough to have one.
#18
1991-92 SkyBox #583 Michael Jordan SKM – I can actually think of a better skyline card than this one, but it wasn’t in my binder. I need to do some searching next time I’m home. It’s interesting to me that Skybox chose to avoid the Hancock and Sears Tower. I love the skybox trademarked trail on the ball. I only wish Air were more horizontal.
#17
1994 Upper Deck USA Gold Medal #85 Michael Jordan/USAB Greats – I wanted to represent his place in Olympic history on the countdown. This isn’t the most obvious choice. I mean, he’s not wearing his Dream Team #9 jersey (we’ll see that later). But it does talk about his accomplishments, and it has the added bonus of reminding me of his famous eyes closed free throw. You remember the story. Jordan was initiating a young rookie named Dikembe Mutumbo. I’m not sure what D.M. might have said to provoke it, but famous trash talking MJ sank the shot blindly with ease. “Welcome to the NBA.” You can be damn sure I practiced that over and over in my driveway. Got pretty good, too.
Oh, and a word about the Gold Medal parallel. These also came one per pack. This particular card is one of my newer acquisitions. Shortly after I got back into collecting, I bought a box of this set cheap just so I could chase this card.
#16
1995-96 SP #23 Michael Jordan – SP cards aren’t really all that rare or special anymore, but this was a time when a 3-5 card pack for $5-7 was a HUGE deal. I bought a couple in my (still ongoing) chase for all the Jordan Collection inserts. This great card was a happenstance byproduct. A sweet, premium card with a full-body flying pose. It’s tough to see in the scan, but if you look hard enough you know none of the Magic (not even former teammate Horace Grant) are going to catch him. Then you have the bonus black & white inset portrait to add even more class to an already classy set.
#15
1992-93 Upper Deck McDonald’s #NNO Michael Jordan Holo – You remember those McDonald’s packs I mentioned earlier in the countdown. Why yes, they did have special holograms randomly inserted inside. Why yes, they were quite uncommon. Why yes, it is badass. Tell me, why isn’t anyone producing holograms on sports cards anymore?
#14
1993-94 Upper Deck Triple Double #TD2 Michael Jordan – More holograms! Triple Double….3D. Get it? Yeah, this was probably my favorite insert set of this year. Even more so than the Locker Talk you saw before. Although, I suppose that would be obvious from the rankings.
#13
1993-94 Upper Deck SE #JK1 Johnny Kilroy/(Michael Jordan) – Before there was Deion Sanders posing as Leon Sandcastle there was Michael Jordan posing as Johnny Kilroy. I don’t remember the commercial too much anymore, but the concept was the same as what we saw during the Super Bowl. I do remember my intense desire to find this sucker. I bought a lot of 93-94 UD. It was only a matter of time before it was mine.
#12
1992-93 Upper Deck #453B Michael Jordan/FACE COR (Slam Dunk Champ/in 1987 and 1988) – There is an error version of this card with the incorrect years, which I think I have somewhere. I chose this because of his Slam Dunk Championships, but more than that because of the great mid-dunk photograph that came from the contest. Some may see the ball breaking fictional glass as cheesy or unnecessary, and I can see your point, but I like it. It gives the subset an extra bit of character.
#11
1990-91 Hoops #223A S.Vincent w/M.Jordan – Just missing the top ten is the Jordan card that isn’t. You’re looking at the most valuable Sam Vincent card you’ll ever see. That’s because it’s the only cardboard proof that Jordan wore a number other than #23 in a game up to that point. Michael’s jerseys were stolen before this game against Orlando, so the team had to improvise. He couldn’t sit the game out after all. So, they found an unassigned #12 and the result is the candid shot you see here. If that little bit of history wasn’t enough, collectors went wild when a “Corrected” version found it’s way to market later. That card featured Vincent all by his lonesome. This was 1990. You can imagine how popular an “error” card like this could be.
3 Jordan holograms? Pure awesomeness. Love the Johnny Kilroy & Sam Vincent cards too.
Would have been ironic if the Sam Vincent card was #12 in your countdown instead of #11.
I think that Sam Vincent shouldn’t be in a card because he is the worst
I’ve got #15 been having it for 23 or 24 years now remember getting it with my food lol