The Last Dance: 12 ways to collect Michael Jordan & the Bulls

With the COVID-19 pandemic erasing pretty much everything in the sports world right now, ESPN's decision to launch The Last Dance early is a jolt of nostalgia that's fueling plenty of extra demand for some already legendary basketball cards from the past.

The eagerly awaited 10-part documentary arrives Sunday night at 9 p.m. Eastern and it tells the story of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls and their final championship run -- their third title in three years and sixth of that decade. It obviously keys upon the NBA's greatest player of all time and its biggest name on cardboard, Michael Jordan. But he's far from alone as the series will present original and new footage from that season as well as interviews from the players -- both on the court and beyond -- back then. We'll also hear from others from around the league who were on the court or covering the team as it commanded attention, won it all and then was forced to go their separate ways.

For Jordan, that meant a second retirement and return with the Washington Wizards three years later -- we probably won't hear a word about that (call it a hunch) -- but we'll be hearing plenty from many involved every Sunday night (two installments per evening) from here until May 17. If you're a new collector wanting to jump on the Jordan bandwagon it's not going to be easy -- you're about 35 years and 13,000 cards too late -- and the asking prices for many a Jordan gem are though the roof more now than ever. However, if you're a fan who missed some of the historic action back then there are still plenty of ways to dabble in cardboard from The Last Dance as it's ultimately a tale that's not just about Jordan.

Keep reading for 12 ways to explore the cardboard for The Last Dance ... both for Jordan and others who we'll see often every Sunday night.

THE KEYS TO THE JORDAN LEGACY
The cards: 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie Card and his 1984-85 Star pre-Rookie Card ("XRC")
The prices: Hefty in top grades and you should always buy in slabs ... or (maybe) original team set bags if feeling frisky
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: There are plenty of legendary cards for Jordan since these arrived -- years filled with super-rare autographs (from him and alongside others) as well as memorabilia cards -- but there are two iconic cards from the simpler years of collecting that are in high-demand. Both are heavily faked, too, so buying graded copies are your best route to take at nearly every potential time. Believe it or not, there was a time when the NBA simply didn't have cards found in packs -- it's happened a few times in league history. After Topps bowed out of the action after its 1981-82 release, the NBA went cardless before Star arrived in 1983-84 with small sets issued in sealed bags, not packs. They were small themed sets for the All-Star Game, NBA championship team and then regular team sets -- there were loads of stars to be found but actually getting your hands on these sets was the challenge as they simply didn't make as much as a normal release would entail ... and then there were often issues with wear from the packaging and printing. And, to make things worse, Jordan was atop the Bulls' set. After a couple years of small sets and other Jordan appearances, Fleer arrived in traditional pack form in 1986-87 with a small but loaded set of 132 that had 69 cards considered to be RCs based on its more traditional distribution. Both of these cards for Jordan are key -- and easily five-figure cards in the toughest of grades. Neither of these is serial-numbered or paralleled, either, showing there's some power in there being basically no competition for early cards. (Zion Williamson, for example, already appears on 1,100 different cards with more to come ... a different world in many ways.)

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THE KEY TEAMMATES' KEY ROOKIE CARDS
The cards: Scottie Pippen 1988-89 Fleer, Dennis Rodman 1988-89 Fleer, Toni Kukoc 1993-94 Topps Finest, Ron Harper 1987-88 Fleer, Steve Kerr 1989-90 NBA Hoops (series 2), Luc Longley 1991-92 Skybox
The prices: Hefty for high-grade copies for the Hall of Famers and at times surprising for others -- click here for Pippen, here for Rodman, here for Kukoc, here for Harper, here for Longley, here for Kerr.
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: The 1997-98 Bulls had 17 players take the court that season, and, after Jordan, these are the six that got the majority of the starts with the exception of Kerr, who didn't have a single start but ranked seventh on the team in minutes played. For the most part, each of them are from the simpler years of basketball cards so they're mostly guys with just a single Rookie Card to chase. (Kukoc and Longley are the exceptions and picking from Longley's list is really a toss-up as to what's best.) Pippen and Rodman are established big cards, while the Harper prices right now seemed a little surprising to me. The Kerr has been a strong seller with his Warriors successes, while the Kukoc RC is one of several options with the Refractor version of that card being the money-maker. The Longley cards are, by far, the cheapest, but I mention the teammates here because I think it's inevitable that some of the names you might not have thought about in years get some kind of weird reality-TV viral moment in The Last Dance that makes people look for their cards during the duration of the series. You might see some of the biggest gains for key cards of those guys as there's already plenty of attention here for the notables.

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HIGHLIGHT CARDS FROM THAT YEAR & THE RUN
The cards: You have a ton of options ... depending on how you approach this.
The prices: Can vary dramatically depending on how you collect the 1997-98 Bulls.
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: This one is the P.S. to the Rookie Cards rounded up in the previous section -- you may not want to see Kerr in a Cavs jersey or Rodman in Pistons Blue without his crazy dyed hair if collecting the Bulls. You can focus your collecting habits from cards solely in 1997-98 sets or in the 1998-99 sets that should most-reflect the players from The Last Dance. While Jordan was done playing in 1998-99 he wasn't done appearing on cards -- he had more than 1,800 different releases that year (nearly all from Upper Deck, which continues to make his only cards to this day). The one you see above is a simple 1997-98 Topps Stadium Club base card (No. 5 in the set for the team's fifth title), which dubbed it the Team of the '90s and noted that only three franchises had ever won at least five titles in seven years. Maybe you'll want to grab all Bulls from some sets -- or maybe some players only. This way to collect The Last Dance is a wide-open option and one that, like I said, keeps everybody in the right uniforms.

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JORDAN, INK
The cards: Various Michael Jordan autographs
The prices: Super pricey ... click here if you don't believe me
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: I picked this example due to its power of the moment more than its design, but as you can see it's still a pricey one. Buzz was in junior high/high school for the first part of the Bulls' runs and in college for the second trio of titles, so the cashflow to chase anything made during that time just wasn't there -- and I was more of a baseball guy, anyway. (We'll get to that.) But when it comes to ink Jordan is by far the biggest focus of all of The Last Dance signers here (but not alone as being expensive). There's a boatload of demand and a small supply with small print runs on pretty much all of it to this day. He appears on roughly 2,000 different certified autograph cards with the early ones coming in 1996-97 SPx. His newest are in the 2019 Goodwin Champions boxes ... but we'll get to those appearances later. Jordan's days of signing more certified autographs for inclusions in packs really took off around and after the time that The Last Dance happens.

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THE HIGH-END STUFF
The cards: Exquisite Collection autographs and other super-rare inclusions
The prices: Super pricey ... click here if you don't believe me
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: The arrival of the ultra high-end brand known as Exquisite Collection back in 2003 actually came due to the guy on the right side of this card, but it doesn't matter why now as a card like this one carries a $75,000 asking price right now on eBay. Actual sales prices (at least on eBay) aren't as intense as the asking numbers but big stuff like these are often handled via auction houses, too, where six-figure sales for rare cards (hint: Logoman) or high-grade key cards are not uncommon. These aren't nutty due to The Last Dance ... but it won't hurt the demand for them, either, as Jordan has fans in all tax brackets out there. There are plenty of high-end cards and high-end brands from NBA releases and many of the biggest ones include Jordan.

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THE LOW-END
The cards: Michael Jordan on a budget? Yes, it can happen.
The prices: There are plenty of cheap classics ... just gotta go hunting
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: This is a catch-all as a reminder that while many of the cards seen here carry new-car pricing they're not all that way. Jordan's prime playing years came in the midst of sports cards' most-prominent years in pop culture (at least when it comes to print runs) and there are plenty of cheap cards to look for out there, too. (These statements don't apply as much to mid/late 1990s NBA boxes ... those are some of the toughest finds in the sports card world these days.) There are also plenty of MJ collectors who will pay for high-grade copies of simple stuff like his 1989-90 NBA Hoops card you see here. Check out this price on a BGS 10. Getting that grade isn't easy and the prices drop fast for lower grades, but they can be out there waiting on slabs. (Get ripping!)

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MJ MEM
The cards: Jordan has various options -- none truly bargain-priced if an NBA uniform is involved
The prices: Asking prices can be nutty ... but flip to eBay completeds for some reality
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: Believe it or not, Jordan actually has fewer memorabilia cards than autographs -- not by much, but it's true and that's normally not the case for players. His earliest mem cards came right at the same time as The Last Dance and key early mem cards can cost you plenty ... like this one. Meanwhile more recent mem cards can also cough up some surprises like this 2009 Goodwin Champions card that sold for more than $100 on eBay. Without new NBA sets for him to appear on mem cards, the market for those older NBA-licensed releases for him remain relatively strong compared to other players.

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PHIL, THE ZEN MASTER
The cards: Phil Jackson's past releases
The prices: Affordable for the most part ... unless there's ink involved
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: A huge part of the Chicago Bulls' success and The Last Dance isn't necessarily Jordan (who played six years before winning a title), but rather this former Knicks forward who averaged less than seven points a game as a player but entered the Hall of Fame in 2007 with 11 NBA championships as a coach and 13 during his entire career. His cardboard days began with this Rookie Card in the 1972-73 Topps set and it's a card that seems to be more on the cheaper side than it should be. After the Bulls, Jackson went on to win five rings leading the Lakers. He doesn't have a lot of cardboard -- less than 150 different cards despite a life in the game -- and his 30 or so certified autos that are low-volume creations can command big, big bucks. (I'd go RC first, myself, for the money and an authenticated signed book or other item might be an easier grab.)

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THE VILLAINS?
The subjects: Bulls GM Jerry Krause and Bulls Owner Jerry Reinsdorf
The prices: Will depend on if you can find something
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: I suspect we'll hear and see plenty of this duo in The Last Dance and there isn't a whole lot to collect for either of them, though that shouldn't be all that surprising as executives have always had a minimal place on cards in general and a seemingly even smaller place for this sport if you ask me. The owner has a single standard card appearance -- a spot in the 2016 Panini Hall of Fame Class of 2016 set -- and a cut autograph from the 2009 Sportkings Owner's Box cut auto set. That's it. Krause has some oddball appearances but not really any cards. Signed business cards for Reinsdorf are pretty common finds on eBay (and under $20), while Krause, who died in 2017, is a tougher 'graph with higher asking prices. This Chicago Tribune archives photo of the two along with Jordan in 1988 sold for $150 on eBay. Maybe it was due to Jordan? Maybe not?

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BARGAIN RIPS
The boxes: 2009-10 Upper Deck Michael Jordan Legacy & Hall of Fame Edition
The prices: Click here
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: You can find a ton of bargain singles out there for Jordan -- again, a reflection of him having more than 13,000 different cards -- but actually being able to rip into a box and find MJ in bulk? That's not happened in a long time and these two versions of a set prepped for around his time entering the Hall of Fame are perhaps one of the best last-remaining ways to do so. They're not the cheapest sets compared to back when they arrived, but they do have pretty good break-up value if you're a singles seller but there are some solid photos to be found here and there are some extra inclusions, too. The 50-card version includes one of 10 oversized cards per box and there are potential autographed cards to be found. The Hall of Fame Edition includes double the cardboard, is more limited, and has five cards at the end of the set that carry different looks. (No chance at ink.) One of the inclusions is a Fleer Rookie Card reprint (since Upper Deck owns the Fleer rights) and the others use the 1989 UD design for him at North Carolina and with the Bulls. (Nope on the Wizards. Apparently didn't happen ... didn't make the set or make the card showing his career stats, either.)

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MODERN-DAY MJ
The cards: They're out there ... but different.
The prices: Often modest compared to NBA cards but still pricey for the hits and rare stuff
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: With Jordan maintaining an exclusive card deal with Upper Deck and Panini America having exclusive NBA rights for a decade now, new MJ cards have been limited to the golf course or in Goodwin Champions-type multi-sport releases where he's in street clothes or airbrushed images to remove logos. There's still big demand for his autographs (of course) and his ink has even appeared in golf releases alongside Tiger Woods, which he shares cardboard with above (not the only time). There can be solid demand for the unique stuff among the cards in this category -- the card above, for example, sold on eBay for $20.

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COLLECT WHAT YOU LIKE ... AND CAN AFFORD
The cards: Will vary ... for me I like Jordan's baseball cards
The prices: Vary depending on type -- though there's some pricey memorabilia to be found
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Why they're Buzz-worthy: This last thought applies for all of you with sticker shock right now who might have made it this far. My pick of the bunch here -- aka what I like -- is something that isn't likely to be seen much on TV with The Last Dance. (The "Bag it, Michael" era with the Birmingham Barons was in between the title trilogies and the focus here will likely just be on the end ... we think.) Sure, Jordan was only a .202 hitter, but that got him appearances on nearly 200 different baseball cards -- most of which were a big deal at the time and stand as something definitely different today. His autograph volume is way low here (under 10 options and all but one from the 2000s) and his memorabilia volume is nearly a third of his cards, but it somehow seems a little less impossible to collect 'em all (it still is) in comparison to tracking down all of his NBA cards. Collecting Jordan isn't cheap -- especially about 35 years too late -- but The Last Dance offers all of us something different on TV that might pique our interest in cardboard from the past.

We'll see how it shakes out beginning on Sunday night.

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