Whether or not Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all-time is a debate that cannot be won. The answer may just boil down to what person is asked. Or when maybe when they became enamored with sports, or what is their favorite team happens to be. Every collector knows that Michael Jordan’s rookie basketball cards can sell for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. But then there is the other version of Michael Jordan, as a baseball player. Are Michael Jordan’s baseball cards undervalued?

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. Collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have otherwise been invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or real estate. If anyone spends $50,000 or $200,000 for a Michael Jordan rookie, that is exponentially higher than an average investment in stocks or bonds.

Another aspect for collectibles as an alternative asset class is that collectors with a passion to own an asset are having to compete directly against investors. Those investors may not care about the asset they are buying. They only care about making a profit, and just like in stocks there are no guarantees that those profits will be made.

Despite the price tags of the Michael Jordan basketball cards, his baseball cards from the 1990s are quite affordable on a relative basis. In most cases, they are sold in auctions as if they are almost a novelty item rather than as if they are an investment. A large supply of cards may be the main reason for this, but this was also a time where the “Junk Wax Period” was raging. And then there is the notion that many people forgot Jordan ever even went to play baseball. Those issues alone take away scarcity and demand that would drive card prices.

Despite Michael Jordan taking a major chance on his future, collectors seem to be the main buyers of the baseball cards more than investors. What is unique is that Jordan made this choice at the height of his basketball fame.

As with any baseball card or sports card of the modern era, condition is the most important aspect. Cards graded under PSA 8 or PSA 9, or the equivalent from SGC, Beckett, or CGC, will carry very little value in the card market. The only good news about the lower condition or ungraded cards is that they at least make a nice addition for a youngster’s collection or a starter collection.

Collectors Dashboard has tracked some recent sale prices for Michael Jordan’s top baseball cards. These will seem like a bargain against his basketball cards of any similar grades. Again, there is more than just one reason for that huge price disparity.

The Michael Jordan “rookie” baseball card is shown to have graded examples of 10,173 by PSA alone. Examples of a PSA 10 are 1,515 by the top count. The highest populated grade is PSA 9 with 4,065 examples. Here are some of the recent eBay sales and respective high grades of the 1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan SP1 baseball rookie card:

• July 19, 2021 — 1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan #SP1 PSA 10 Gem Mint Rookie Baseball Card for $860.00 after 45 bids.
• July 18, 2021 — 1991 Upper Deck #SP1 Michael Jordan SP Rookie Baseball Card PSA 10 GEM MINT sold for $570.00 after 42 bids
• July 11, 2021 — 1991 Upper Deck #SP1 Michael Jordan SP Rookie Baseball Card PSA 10 GEM MINT sold for $590.00 after 47 bids
• July 11, 2021 — PSA 10 Gem Mint 1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan SP1 Baseball Rookie Card Rc Tough sold for $620.77 after 31 bids
• July 3, 2021 — Upper Deck Michael Jordan SP1 Baseball Rookie Card SGC 9.5 sold for $102.50
• July 6, 2021 — PSA 10 Gem Mint 1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan SP1 Baseball Rookie Card Rc Tough sold for $860.00 after 45 bids
• July 5, 2021 — 1991 Upper Deck Baseball Card #SP1 Michael Jordan Chicago White Sox – PSA 10 sold for $635.98 after 34 bids
• June 30, 2021 — PSA 10 Gem Mint 1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan SP1 Baseball Rookie Card RC sold for $805.00 after 16 bids

Dropping card grades (condition), similar to other graded cards, will bring the price down handily. That said, the lower the grade the lower the demand from those who collect the best cards or who consider themselves collectibles investors. Recent sales of the 1991 Upper Deck SP1 of PSA 9 examples have been selling for closer to $100 and PSA 8 examples have been selling for closer to $50.

There is another Michael Jordan baseball card that is sought after by Michael Jordan baseball card collectors. This is the 1994 Classic card (#1) of the Birmingham Barons. Cards can be tracked for sale prices on eBay, but the most recent PSA 10 sold for $317.00 after 40 bids on July 17, 2021.

The 1994 Upper Deck Star Rookies Michael Jordan #19 is another desirable card among Jordan’s baseball card fans. A recent sale on eBay of a PSA 10 example sold for $525.67 after 37 bids on July 25, 2021 and another sold for $416.55 after 35 bids on July 22, 2021. This card is desirable because of its dark edges that make its PSA 10 cards look more immaculate than many cards with white borders. That said, each grade lower comes with defects of some sort and those become very evident with each corner ding or mark on the edges.

Card number 200 in the 1995 Upper Deck baseball card series features Michael Jordan being interviewed by Harry Caray. Two popular Chicago Sports figures on one card in a crossover moment. Harry Caray did not interview basketball players. These recent selling prices of the card will show it is more of a novelty card:

• May 23, 2021 Michael Jordan & Harry Caray 1995 Upper Deck Baseball #200 PSA 7 NM Near Mint sold for $22.50 after three bids.
• July 8, 2021 Michael Jordan 1995 Upper Deck #200 95 Chicago White Sox Harry Caray sold for $3.00 after 2 bids.
• June 4, 2021 Michael Jordan 1995 Upper Deck #200 95 Chicago White Sox Harry Caray Just Pulled sold for $0.99 after 1 bid.
• June 13, 2021 1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond Michael Jordan #200 Harry Caray sold for $5.00.
• June 30, 2021 (15) Michael Jordan 1995 Upper Deck Baseball Lot Chicago White Sox Harry Caray sold for $28.95.

The PSA population for the Michael Jordan 1995 Upper Deck #200 is 982 examples. Of the 982 graded examples, only 32 are PSA 10. PSA 8 has the highest population with 749 graded examples. Here are recent sale prices of PSA 10 examples:

• June 27, 2021 1995 Upper Deck #200 Michael Jordan Harry Caray PSA 10 sold for $599.99
• April 17, 2021 1995 Upper Deck #200 Michael Jordan Harry Caray PSA 10 sold for $400.00
• April 6, 2021 Goldin Auctions Lot #1247 PSA Grade 10 sold for $492.00

As with other sale prices in the industry if you go back in time prior to 2021 the sale prices were lower:

• January 17, 2019 eBay Lot #372523618613 PSA Grade 10 sold for $122.46
• January 17, 2019 eBay Lot 143083443676 PSA Grade 10 sold for $178.49
• January 16, 2018 eBay Lot 182999056761 PSA grade 10 sold for $195.00

And the site COMC offered 37 ungraded examples of the Caray/Jordan card. These are generally Mint or Near-Mint by the appearance, but the appearance there is up to the beholder. Those examples will generally be available for well under $20 per card.

These are not the only baseball cards for Michael Jordan. Some collectors and some investors may be hoping that the price of these cards may rise in the future. That verdict remains to be seen. While nothing is impossible, it seems like an impossible task to ever expect Michael Jordan’s baseball card prices to ever come anywhere close to the value of his basketball rookie cards.

The website beckett.com listed the “Harry Caray Jordan” card as number 11 on the top 13 Michael Jordan baseball cards of all time. While this is not a particularly valuable Michael Jordan baseball card, it’s easily one of the most fun and has a special appeal to collectors who love “everything Chicago” in sports cards and memorabilia.

Just like value investing in stocks, there is a saying that applies in this evaluation of Michael Jordan’s baseball cards versus his basketball cards: “They are cheap for a reason, and ‘value’ doesn’t mean the price has to go up.”