Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 1999-2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Shoetime Autograph 1/23 #MJ-A BGS 8.5/9 Autograph | Game-Used Shoe Patch | On-Card Autograph

Offered is among the finest examples of a historic issue that brings together several components that exemplify the incredible progress of the trading card industry in the 1990s and serves as one of the hobby’s greatest commemorations of that which has made Michael Jordan not only a favorite subject of trading card and memorabilia collectors around the world but also a cultural and fashion icon: Upper Deck’s Michael Jordan 1999-2000 HoloGrFX Shoetime Autograph, serialized to only 23.

The 1990s saw revolutionary change in the sports card industry after a period spanning the late 1980s into the early 1990s characterized by mass production, sometimes affectionately known as the “junk wax” era. While suggestive of the broad appeal that trading cards enjoyed at that time among the general public, the enormity of the print runs as time went on led some collectors to shy away from buying new releases. This in turn led card companies to begin experimenting with new technologies and components that might expand the appeal of their products.

Among the most successful in this endeavor was newcomer Upper Deck. Upper Deck burst onto the trading card scene with one of the most iconic products in hobby history, their 1989 baseball release. In that, they introduced a hologram to help combat counterfeiting, a common issue in the hobby at the time that also helped birth the concept of professional third party authentication and grading. In 1990, they introduced the first pack pulled autograph card ever offered in the hobby: the 1990 Reggie Jackson numbered to 2500. This new chase also helped to introduce another appealing innovation to the wider trading card community: manufactured rarity. 

Over the following years, more companies such as Topps, Fleer, and Pacific among others began to offer both autographs and serialized cards in their packs. This gave collectors a much better sense of how many of their cards had been made as well as the knowledge of where theirs was in the print run. At the same time trading card manufacturers also began to work on expanding the variety of rare inserts in their products, yielding legendary inserts like Beam Team and Scoring Kings along with new technologies such as the opti-chrome Topps Finest and Chrome and their eye-catching refractor parallels.

As the decade came to a close, basketball cards particularly saw multiple major advances. That product year saw the introduction of historic inserts like Precious Metal Gems and Essential Credentials Now and Future, the introduction of 1-of-1 cards in packs, and the first ever cards to feature NBA game-used jersey swatches within the card with that year’s Upper Deck Series 1 and 2. Series 2 in particular offered an incredibly rare hand numbered and autographed version limited to just 23 prints. Upper Deck knew that they had introduced something truly special.

The following season, Upper Deck revived their game-worn series, this time with swatches from 1992-93 season Bulls uniforms for Jordan, the final year of his Bulls’ first three-peat, a feat on many fans’ minds with Jordan having just completed his second. Hand-numbered signed versions of the cards were seeded across six different products. 

The 1998-99 product year also saw some of the earliest releases of game-worn shoe cards, including a Michael Jordan issue limited to 230 in Upper Deck’s MJx product and Skybox’s Authen-Kicks out of E-X Century. Upper Deck had a new dimension for its winning autographed memorabilia card configuration highlighting one of the greatest athletes of the century as it and Jordan’s dominant decade drew to a close. 

The 1999-00 product year saw Upper Deck release a set that in many ways brought together the developments seen in trading cards across the previous decade: Upper Deck HoloGrFX. In its only release year for basketball, this product, which was intended as a retail-exclusive release, combined eye-catching foiling, short printed inserts, rare on-card autographs, and one of the most fitting chase cards ever devised for perhaps basketball’s greatest player, Michael Jordan: the Shoetime Autograph.

HoloGrFX’s Shoetime was already an incredibly rare card. Seeded just once in every 431 packs, these cards offered collectors a chance to own a card with pieces of game-worn shoe featuring all-timers like Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant among others across a 19 player checklist. The set also featured two autographed Shoetime chases, one of Karl Malone and the other of Michael Jordan, with both hand-numbered to the players’ jersey numbers. Among the earliest autographed shoe cards ever released, it is difficult to imagine a better commemoration of the player who revolutionized basketball, the basketball shoe, and sports culture over the previous decade and played a major part in helping to bring trading cards into the modern day. Limited to only 23, donning a bold blue signature, and preserved in exceptional condition, bested by only one example in BGS’ population report, this example bears the fortuitous serial number matching his rank on many basketball fans’ all-time rankings: one. Do not miss your chance to own this incredible piece of basketball, trading card, and Michael Jordan history. 

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Near Mint-Mint+ condition, receiving a grade of 8.5 from Beckett Grading Services (BGS). At the time of cataloging, only one print has been assigned a higher grade by Beckett. The autograph has been graded by Beckett and awarded a 9.

The BGS certificate number for this card is: 0008552473. 

Going Deeper - Michael Jordan

One of the most important sporting careers in history began when the freshly minted NBA Commissioner David Stern simply read: “The Chicago Bulls pick Michael Jordan out of the University of North Carolina.” Neither man knew it yet, but before Jordan hung up his sneakers for the last time, he would help complete the transformation of the NBA from a league struggling for live tv coverage to a global sports and pop culture superpower. 

After winning gold in the 1984 Olympics, Jordan joined a team that had only made the playoffs three times in the last 10 seasons. They would not miss them again for 15 years and in that time, Jordan became a global superstar. 

Just weeks after his NBA debut ushered in a paradigm shifting era in the NBA and sport of basketball as a whole, the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft showed off to the world for the first time a pair of shoes that would redefine sneakers, fashion, and collecting as we know it and would ultimately help make their namesake a billionaire: the Air Jordan. On April 1, 1985, the Air Jordan I became available to the public, and a cultural phenomenon began that is still yet to dissipate. A shoe that Nike hoped would bring in $3 million ended up bringing in over $100 million by the end of 1985, and the iconic jumpman etched itself into the public consciousness. 

Jordan’s playoff prowess was on near instant display with his 63-point outburst against the Celtics in the first round of the ‘86 playoffs, and Jordan would continue to deliver historic performances throughout the decade. Jordan appeared destined to reach the NBA summit in the near future, winning both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1988 and welcoming the addition of future hall of fame teammate and longtime partner Scottie Pippen, however one foe stood in his way.

While Jordan was receiving the adulation of many of his NBA peers, the Detroit Pistons bestowed a different, more punishing form of praise on him: The Jordan Rules. A physical defensive scheme specifically designed to neutralize Jordan’s otherworldly talents, the Pistons managed to best the Bulls for three straight years in the NBA playoffs, posing the first significant roadblock in Jordan’s ascendence. However, after tireless effort, Jordan and the Bulls bested Jordan’s first true NBA foe in convincing fashion, securing a sweep in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. This set up a matchup between Jordan and one of the stars he had taken the NBA reins from, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Jordan onslaught was too much for the Lakers, and the Bulls took Jordan’s first championship in five games. Over the course of the following two seasons, Jordan added another two NBA championships, his third MVP, and his sixth and seventh straight scoring titles to his already incredible legacy. He also led the 1992 Dream Team through their absolutely dominant performance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, bringing his and the NBA’s talent to a global audience in a sporting moment still etched in the minds of basketball fans. After nine seasons, many thought he was already a hall of famer, and one of if not the greatest players of all time. He seemed to agree.

On October 6, 1993, Jordan shocked the basketball world by announcing his retirement from the NBA. In his words, he felt that he had “reached the pinnacle” and “had nothing left to prove.” He opted instead to try his hand at a sport that had been close to his heart since childhood, baseball. He signed onto the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox (owned by the same Jerry Reinsdorf as the Bulls), the Birmingham Barons, making his Minor League debut on April 8, 1994. 

However, after just under a year on the diamond, trouble arose. The 1994 baseball season had been shortened by a strike, and there was no agreement in place when Spring Training was due to begin in 1995. Jordan refused to become a replacement player and in the absence of baseball activities, the hardwood kept calling Jordan’s name. He started joining Bulls practices informally, and his competitive fire for basketball was relit. He asked coach Phil Jackson about playing in just the playoffs, since he was still considering baseball, however Phil said no and that he needed to play some regular season games to get acclimated to his new teammates. As Jordan weighed his decision, the world eagerly awaited his final call. President Bill Clinton even joined in on the speculation, saying unprompted that “The economy has produced 6.1 million jobs since I became president and if Michael Jordan comes back to the Bulls, it will be 6,100,001 jobs.” Soon the world would have his answer. He would answer the call of the hardwood.

On March 18, 1995 Jordan made headlines, doing so with possibly the most iconic press release in history. Two simple words: “I’m back.”

With his number already retired and his likeness captured on a statue in front of the United Center, MJ returned to the Bulls midway through the 1994-95 in the number he had used as a Chicago White Sox minor leaguer the summer before, 45. Immediately, and unsurprisingly, he changed the fortunes of the team. After going 13-4 following his return, Chicago was back in the playoffs. While they fell in six games to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic, the three-time champion made it clear that the NBA was going to once again be his for the taking.

Ahead of the 1995-96 season, Jordan and the Bulls added dynamic rebounder Dennis Rodman and formed a new big three in the wake of imposing big man Horace Grant’s departure two seasons prior. The move paid dividends as Chicago became the biggest juggernaut in basketball history. That first season the Bulls opened the year with an unreal 41-3 mark and would finish with a then-record 72 wins. The sheer dominance resulted in Michael’s fourth league MVP, championship and Finals MVP. The next year was much of the same as the Bulls won 69 games and another title, and Jordan’s claim as the greatest player in the history of the sport to that point was fairly assured. Yet, with all the success on the court, the infighting and politics off it left the Bulls on shaky ground.

‘The Last Dance’ was Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls (1997-98) and is perhaps the most beloved period in Jordan folklore, as Michael reached the apex of his popularity and powers while simultaneously conquering major internal divisions that were fracturing the team dynamics of the late 90s Chicago Bulls. The season is referred to as The Last Dance in large part due to the smash-hit ESPN documentary of the same name, which chronicled the Bulls efforts in the 1997-1998 season. The players were cognizant that the roster would ultimately be disbanded at the end of the season and knew it was their final opportunity to capture a 6th Bulls Championship of the decade. The Last Dance was Michael Jordan’s ‘magnum opus’ as an athlete – a testament to him as a competitor, a sportsman, a teammate, and ultimately, a champion.

The fairytale season culminated in a rematch of the 1997 NBA Finals with the Bulls squaring off against John Stockton, Karl Malone, and the Utah Jazz. In Game 6, with the Bulls leading the series 3-2, Jordan famously came up with a last-minute steal before sinking a game-winning jumper in the closing seconds. It was a picture-perfect ending that only ‘His Airness’ could have delivered. At the conclusion of the game, Jordan was named Finals MVP for an all-time record 6th time and completed his second threepeat. Jordan retired for the second time from the Chicago Bulls, and his legacy as the greatest of all time in the eyes of many had been confirmed. When your name enters the lexicon as a synonym for greatness in all areas of life, you know that you have had a career for the history books.