Our Worldwide Hunt for the Missing, Million-Dollar Jordan Rookie Cards

EPISODE 117: A mystery solved.

The NBA Draft is tomorrow. And exactly forty years ago, the Chicago Bulls picked Michael Jordan — giving rise to the holiest of basketball grails.

Now, I don’t know if you grew up collecting sports cards. But Lord knows I did.

And so I’d heard the legend of how no more than 23 Jordan rookie cards, officially autographed by Michael himself, got scattered across the globe by (licensed card company) Upper Deck.

The whole premise — branded “The Hunt for 23” — was as close as it gets to Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. In fact, per the terms of Jordan’s Upper Deck contract, these would be the last rookie cards that the GOAT would ever autograph.

Which is why, in 2022, when one of these cards was put up for auction at Christie’s, it sold for more than $1 million:

But in the booming world of sports memorabilia, the most important part of that auction listing wasn’t even the price.

It was this section, pointed out by Christie’s, ESPN.com, and collectors all around the world:

Of the 23 that were released, only 14 are known and graded…

It’s assumed that the remaining nine were never pulled…

And so the mystery of The Missing Nine has plagued the card industry for years. It’s been a question hanging over card conventions and forums and auction houses like a seven-figure bounty: Where are they?

Well, today, we ask returning PTFO correspondent Bradley Campbell to help us get to the bottom of this mystery.

And after four decades, three continents, black-market conspiracies, and an armored-car robber… we did.

DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:

Finally,

Pablo