Advice on what to do with MJ auto.

CardChase509 · 01-14-2021, 03:52 AM

Hey guys. I've seen you all have pretty good advice about Jordan cards here. I have a unique one that I am hoping for some advice on what to do with and what value range it might hold. More info below image:

I got this card signed by Jordan at a celebrity pro-am golf tournament (Bob Hope Crysler Classic) in 1997. Rumors were he wasn't going to be signing autographs but my buddy and I decided to bring our favorite card each just in case. He ended up signing just our 2 cards!

I've held on to it over the years and when I was a bit younger (thinking I was holding a gold mine) took it to a card shop and the owner gave me the harsh reality.. "Without a COA it's just a card with ink damage".

Anyway, now that I am getting back into the hobby, I was hoping to get some advice as how to get the most value for a card in this condition. Card is in pretty good shape, does have a couple dings (most noticeably on bottom left), and signature is a bit faded from being a dumb kid and handling it to much.

Would the PSA grade + autograph authenticate be the best option? Can they surely authenticate it or could the autograph be too worn? Is there even enough value in something like this to grade and authenticate?

Thanks!

Italy61587 · 01-14-2021, 03:56 AM

Card shop owner's advice still holds up. Worthless without a COA. PSA would be a good option

drobfan8 · 01-14-2021, 04:00 AM

Yep, grade and authenticate.

No idea of price. But if it gets thw thumbs up I'd still probably just hold it. You got it in person. That's rare. Not that exciting for someone else.

CardChase509 · 01-14-2021, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Italy61587

Card shop owner's advice still holds up. Worthless without a COA. PSA would be a good option

Thanks. As a young teen that quote stung. But I have always remembered it and appreciate him telling it as it is.

Italy61587 · 01-14-2021, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardChase509

Thanks. As a young teen that quote stung. But I have always remembered it and appreciate him telling it as it is.

If you know it's legit that's all that really matters. Having it in a nice slab and protecting it is worthwhile thought I think

shu4040 · 01-14-2021, 06:23 AM

Do card grade and auto grade from psa if both seem like they’ll grade high.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Panthersfans · 01-14-2021, 06:27 AM

The shop owner could have certainly been cooler, especially to a young and excited collector. There were some good card shop owners, but some were just jerks. I’m not saying he was wrong, just no reason to be so harsh. Having said that, have it authenticated and slabbed, then nobody can do that to you again with proof positive that it is authentic.

exclusively_nba · 01-14-2021, 10:25 AM

No idea about value, but unless you're desperate for money, I would recommend you don't sell it. It's a great piece and an awesome story and memory. If you sell it, you'll regret it.

GC1980 · 01-14-2021, 10:42 AM

If selling is ever a consideration then absolutely run it through psa or bgs. PSA is no longer grading camp or UDA autos but since its an in person they may slab it.

If you plan to keep long term, just put it in a one touch and enjoy. You know it’s legit without a doubt so no need to pay for someone else’s opinion.

If selling you can always put it with a bin higher than you would be happy with and take offers or run it via auction house. I am sure it would do very well.

sonic311 · 01-14-2021, 03:27 PM

Nice. Congrats on getting MJ to sign your card. That must have been such a thrill.
If you know auto is real it should have a good chance of passing 3rd party authentication.
Personally I would get it authenticated for the following reasons.
- Having it encapsulated/authenticated enhances the protection/presentation and more importantly value of card.
- If you are ever in need of cash you can sell it immediately.
- If you decide to keep card in the family and someone inherits it they know what they have without having to go through doing research or seeking for advice which could lead to them getting taken advantage of by someone telling them it is worthless without COA as you were told by the rude card shop owner.

Asian62150 · 01-14-2021, 03:43 PM

Agree with the sentiment that the card will likely have the most value to you since there's a personal story behind it.

If I were buying an MJ auto, it would 100% have to be UDA.

It's a sweet card and a great memory. Don't sell unless you have to.

Bob824 · 01-14-2021, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic311

Nice. Congrats on getting MJ to sign your card. That must have been such a thrill.
If you know auto is real it should have a good chance of passing 3rd party authentication.
Personally I would get it authenticated for the following reasons.
- Having it encapsulated/authenticated enhances the protection/presentation and more importantly value of card.
- If you are ever in need of cash you can sell it immediately.
- If you decide to keep card in the family and someone inherits it they know what they have without having to go through doing research or seeking for advice which could lead to them getting taken advantage of by someone telling them it is worthless without COA as you were told by the rude card shop owner.

Agree with all the sentiments above. Slab that.

rifleman69 · 01-14-2021, 04:22 PM

Rip it up and burn it, just to be sure.

CardChase509 · 01-14-2021, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic311

Nice. Congrats on getting MJ to sign your card. That must have been such a thrill.
If you know auto is real it should have a good chance of passing 3rd party authentication.
Personally I would get it authenticated for the following reasons.
- Having it encapsulated/authenticated enhances the protection/presentation and more importantly value of card.
- If you are ever in need of cash you can sell it immediately.
- If you decide to keep card in the family and someone inherits it they know what they have without having to go through doing research or seeking for advice which could lead to them getting taken advantage of by someone telling them it is worthless without COA as you were told by the rude card shop owner.

Thanks for the nice reply. I guess I don't have to decide right now what I will ultimately do with it. But as you said, getting it slabbed and graded now will benefit either way. It was quite a thrill seeing him so close in person and I couldn't believe it when he stopped and grabbed my sharpie and card from me. One thing I remember is how small the sharpie looked in his hands lol! Funny thing was I grew up mostly watching football, so at the time I was more excited to get Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice autos at that event.

gnrsportz · 01-14-2021, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardChase509

Thanks for the nice reply. I guess I don't have to decide right now what I will ultimately do with it. But as you said, getting it slabbed and graded now will benefit either way. It was quite a thrill seeing him so close in person and I couldn't believe it when he stopped and grabbed my sharpie and card from me. One thing I remember is how small the sharpie looked in his hands lol! Funny thing was I grew up mostly watching football, so at the time I was more excited to get Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice autos at that event.

Michael was great at the golf tournaments. He tried to give everyone a nice sig.
If you plan on selling it then yes getting it graded will help you with that. But keep in mind that while the hobby has made the Third party authenticators -PSA, BGS and JSA the end all be with autographs they do make mistakes. Meaning they have passed bad autos and failed good autos. I know because BGS failed one of my MJ's that I got at his tournament in the Bahamas.

Duke1992 · 01-14-2021, 08:16 PM

You could probably get in the $500-$750 range selling this raw on ebay.

Grading will cost you $250ish for a Jordan authentication with either PSA or Beckett.

Autenticated by PSA easily enhances the value of the card. I'd guess anywhere from as low as $1500 up to $3000. You dont see many Topps Finest signed. I see a lot of early 90s Hoops cards and late 80s Fleer.

I would caution against getting the autograph itself graded. Its going to be a low grade between the skipping/smearing in the sharpie at the bottom of the "M" and the overall faded look of the sharpie. I dont see how a "6" auto for example enhances the value of this card.

rainmaker · 01-14-2021, 08:43 PM

Very cool story but I’ll be honest I can’t say for certain this one would pass authentication. Not doubting what you say but at best it looks like a very rushed inconsistent late 90s mj auto. Which, to be fair, would be in line with a quick walking through the crowd get.

I went to a lot of the Chicago area celebrity gold tournaments in the 90s. Michael did not sign at any of them after he returned to the nba from what I can recall. I did have an opportunity to get an ip mj auto in summer 1992 after the olympics.

As a Chicago boy of the 90s and the 92/93 era bulls being my favorite stretch I can say to this day it was the biggest thrill of my life. I was 11 years old, they just beat the blazers and just win gold in Barcelona, be like mike Gatorade commercial was running. Mj was at the top. He signed this for me...

https://flic.kr/p/2a1HS8Z

sickmantz · 01-14-2021, 09:47 PM

That auto won't grade a 10 and I don't think the grade on the card itself matters. Just authenticate it.

johnyensmith123 · 01-14-2021, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnrsportz

If you plan on selling it then yes getting it graded will help you with that. But keep in mind that while the hobby has made the Third party authenticators -PSA, BGS and JSA the end all be with autographs they do make mistakes. Meaning they have passed bad autos and failed good autos. I know because BGS failed one of my MJ's that I got at his tournament in the Bahamas.

Yup. I wish more people realized this. A lot of people think PSA, BGS, etc. authenticated means that it's real because they're "reputable" companies. At the end of the day, it's just another person's opinion of the autograph based on comparing some autographs and looking at the handwriting–a well-forged autograph by someone who practiced forging a lot (see Greg Marino ESPN documentary) will likely look good to anyone, even though it's fake.

jetcollectibles · 01-14-2021, 10:07 PM

That's very cool! I would just get it PSA slabbed and authenticated and not grade the card or auto.

rogermaris · 01-14-2021, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainmaker

Very cool story but I’ll be honest I can’t say for certain this one would pass authentication. Not doubting what you say but at best it looks like a very rushed inconsistent late 90s mj auto.

I think this auto actually looks pretty good for a rushed IP auto, and in a perfect world it would have no problem getting authenticated. But I agree that it may take a few tries to pass. And if I were choosing between PSA and BGS, this is one of the few times I'd recommend going with BGS.

In my experience, PSA has a greater tendency to reject IP autos (of any player) and will only pass the ones that look close to "ideal" exemplars. I've seen them reject many obviously authentic autos that deviate ever so slightly from the ideal standard.

BGS on the other hand seems to have a better eye when it comes to IP autographs. From what I've seen, they're less afraid to authenticate autographs just because they're rushed or a little messy.

Here's a great example. If you've spent a lot of time studying Jordan autos, you'll immediately recognize this one as authentic, despite how rushed it is. I still have to give credit to BGS for slabbing it though as I think you'd have a hard time getting it encased by PSA.

01-14-2021, 03:52 AM	#1
CardChase509 Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 50 cardchase509	Advice on what to do with MJ auto. Hey guys. I've seen you all have pretty good advice about Jordan cards here. I have a unique one that I am hoping for some advice on what to do with and what value range it might hold. More info below image: I got this card signed by Jordan at a celebrity pro-am golf tournament (Bob Hope Crysler Classic) in 1997. Rumors were he wasn't going to be signing autographs but my buddy and I decided to bring our favorite card each just in case. He ended up signing just our 2 cards! I've held on to it over the years and when I was a bit younger (thinking I was holding a gold mine) took it to a card shop and the owner gave me the harsh reality.. "Without a COA it's just a card with ink damage". Anyway, now that I am getting back into the hobby, I was hoping to get some advice as how to get the most value for a card in this condition. Card is in pretty good shape, does have a couple dings (most noticeably on bottom left), and signature is a bit faded from being a dumb kid and handling it to much. Would the PSA grade + autograph authenticate be the best option? Can they surely authenticate it or could the autograph be too worn? Is there even enough value in something like this to grade and authenticate? Thanks! Last edited by CardChase509; 01-14-2021 at 03:54 AM.

01-14-2021, 03:56 AM	#2
Italy61587 Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Lombard, IL (Greater Chicago) Posts: 3,235 glaspi2	Card shop owner's advice still holds up. Worthless without a COA. PSA would be a good option __________________ Collecting Bulls Autos & Rare Patches! Also Collecting 1996-97 & 2000-01 AUTOgraphics! BULLS PC: https://glaspi2.imgur.com

01-14-2021, 04:00 AM	#3
drobfan8 Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 17,779 drobfan8 drobfan8	Yep, grade and authenticate. No idea of price. But if it gets thw thumbs up I'd still probably just hold it. You got it in person. That's rare. Not that exciting for someone else. __________________ Wanted, 03/04 Exquisite Base Gold Tim Duncan and 05/06 Exquisite Base Gold /25 Michael Jordan

01-14-2021, 10:25 AM	#8
exclusively_nba Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 1,622	No idea about value, but unless you're desperate for money, I would recommend you don't sell it. It's a great piece and an awesome story and memory. If you sell it, you'll regret it. __________________ My "Grading 101" ebook on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2bw3phbl

01-14-2021, 03:27 PM	#10
sonic311 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Paramount, CA Posts: 956 colima311	Nice. Congrats on getting MJ to sign your card. That must have been such a thrill. If you know auto is real it should have a good chance of passing 3rd party authentication. Personally I would get it authenticated for the following reasons. - Having it encapsulated/authenticated enhances the protection/presentation and more importantly value of card. - If you are ever in need of cash you can sell it immediately. - If you decide to keep card in the family and someone inherits it they know what they have without having to go through doing research or seeking for advice which could lead to them getting taken advantage of by someone telling them it is worthless without COA as you were told by the rude card shop owner. __________________ Beckett BGS Registry https://registry.beckett.com/myregistry Last edited by sonic311; 01-14-2021 at 03:30 PM. Reason: added information

01-14-2021, 06:23 AM	#6
shu4040 Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 469	Do card grade and auto grade from psa if both seem like they’ll grade high. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

01-14-2021, 06:27 AM	#7
Panthersfans Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: NC, USA. Posts: 1,046 Kkirks496p	The shop owner could have certainly been cooler, especially to a young and excited collector. There were some good card shop owners, but some were just jerks. I’m not saying he was wrong, just no reason to be so harsh. Having said that, have it authenticated and slabbed, then nobody can do that to you again with proof positive that it is authentic.

01-14-2021, 10:42 AM	#9
GC1980 Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: NYC Posts: 3,918	If selling is ever a consideration then absolutely run it through psa or bgs. PSA is no longer grading camp or UDA autos but since its an in person they may slab it. If you plan to keep long term, just put it in a one touch and enjoy. You know it’s legit without a doubt so no need to pay for someone else’s opinion. If selling you can always put it with a bin higher than you would be happy with and take offers or run it via auction house. I am sure it would do very well.

01-14-2021, 03:43 PM	#11
Asian62150 Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 6,098 Asian62150	Agree with the sentiment that the card will likely have the most value to you since there's a personal story behind it. If I were buying an MJ auto, it would 100% have to be UDA. It's a sweet card and a great memory. Don't sell unless you have to. __________________ IG: Asian62150

01-14-2021, 04:22 PM	#13
rifleman69 Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Space Mountain Posts: 3,534	Rip it up and burn it, just to be sure.

01-14-2021, 08:16 PM	#16
Duke1992 Member Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 53	You could probably get in the $500-$750 range selling this raw on ebay. Grading will cost you $250ish for a Jordan authentication with either PSA or Beckett. Autenticated by PSA easily enhances the value of the card. I'd guess anywhere from as low as $1500 up to $3000. You dont see many Topps Finest signed. I see a lot of early 90s Hoops cards and late 80s Fleer. I would caution against getting the autograph itself graded. Its going to be a low grade between the skipping/smearing in the sharpie at the bottom of the "M" and the overall faded look of the sharpie. I dont see how a "6" auto for example enhances the value of this card.

01-14-2021, 08:43 PM	#17
rainmaker Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 2,824 thewescoast	Very cool story but I’ll be honest I can’t say for certain this one would pass authentication. Not doubting what you say but at best it looks like a very rushed inconsistent late 90s mj auto. Which, to be fair, would be in line with a quick walking through the crowd get. I went to a lot of the Chicago area celebrity gold tournaments in the 90s. Michael did not sign at any of them after he returned to the nba from what I can recall. I did have an opportunity to get an ip mj auto in summer 1992 after the olympics. As a Chicago boy of the 90s and the 92/93 era bulls being my favorite stretch I can say to this day it was the biggest thrill of my life. I was 11 years old, they just beat the blazers and just win gold in Barcelona, be like mike Gatorade commercial was running. Mj was at the top. He signed this for me... https://flic.kr/p/2a1HS8Z __________________ https://www.flickr.com/photos/152850287@N08/albums

01-14-2021, 09:47 PM	#18
sickmantz Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: CA Posts: 2,461 vashthe84	That auto won't grade a 10 and I don't think the grade on the card itself matters. Just authenticate it. __________________ In a system built on racism, status quo sustains it.

01-14-2021, 10:07 PM	#20
jetcollectibles Member Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Pelham, AL Posts: 593 jetcollectibles	That's very cool! I would just get it PSA slabbed and authenticated and not grade the card or auto.