If you’ve followed along over the recent years you’ll know that I have a special appreciation for the 1994-95 Collector’s Choice MJ Blow-up auto cards. If not I recommend you read these articles as a primer:
These cards have a lot going for them. They are Jordan’s first auto in a basketball product, have seriously low population, feature a huge autograph on a massive 7x5” card and capture a unique part of sporting history depicting Jordan playing baseball distributed within a basketball product.
As I mentioned, there aren’t many around. No one knows the population for sure and my research to date had turned up five copies. We can now increment that number to six as another copy - still with its original owner - was shared with me recently.
Tim from AZ - 30 years framed showpiece
A baseball cards collector in the 90’s, Tim wrote in recently to share his story of pulling an MJ Blow-up auto.
On a lucky recommendation by his Spartanburg, SC local card shop the baseball collector took a chance on two Series 2 Hobby Boxes of 94-95 Collector’s Choice basketball. The shop owner picked them out and handed them over to Tim who headed home to open them that night.
The first box yielded a regular Calbert Cheaney Blow-up along with some nice You Crash The Game inserts.
Upon opening box number two Tim was happy to find a Jordan Blow-up. It wasn’t until a second glance that he realised the card was indeed autographed. After a comparison with the Cheaney comparing the holograms - one round, one diamond - Tim knew he had something special.
Tim quickly had the card mounted and framed. In 1997, he wrote into Tuff Stuff about his card which tells his story beautifully.
A while ago, my wife and I went to our local card shop to see whether the new products had anything exciting in them. I am primarily a collector of baseball cards, but my dealer suggested I buy some of the (then) new 1994-95 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice basketball cards. He said that the Series 2 packs had some really good rookies as well as “Crash the Game” redemption cards.
He also said - almost as an afterthought - that UD had inserted a blow-up card in every box. Some pretty big names were on the blowups - including Michael Jordan and Shawn Kemp.
I decided to buy two boxes. The dealer asked whether I wanted to choose the boxes and I told him “No.” So, he grabbed a couple and handed them to me. I paid for them and left.
Later that night, I opened the first box, and the blowup was Calbert Cheaney. I also pulled a couple of good “Crash the Game” cards. Then I opened the second box and saw that the blowup was Michael Jordan. Naturally I was happy to see it. I took the card out of the box and placed it on the table beside me.
A few seconds later, I glanced over at the card again and almost fell out of my chair. The card was autographed! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I compared the holograms on the backs of the two blowups and saw that they were different. I knew then that I had something very special.
I took the card back to the shop the next day and the dealer had a fit, but he was excited as I was. I later brought the card to a friend who runs a framing shop and had him frame it so that you can see both sides of the card. Now it’s proudly displayed in my family room.
Since Upper Deck hadn’t advertised that some of its blowups were autographed, I called the company’s customer service line to find out more about them. I asked how many Jordan had autographed, and the customer service representative said that UD couldn’t release that information. I persisted and asked whether he had autographed more than 100. The rep replied, “Oh much less than 100.” The rep also stated that I was “very lucky” to have pulled one of the autographed cards.
The card is now booking at $4,000, and needless to say I am very proud of it. I don’t intend to ever sell it, at any price.
I haven’t seen or heard of anyone else pulling one of these cards, and I would like to hear from some other people who have pulled them.
The auto on Tim’s copy is as beautifully large and bold as any I’ve seen.
While it was Tim’s intention to keep the card in his family, times have changed and he is considering selling it. Tim has investigated grading and authentication options and may be bringing the card to auction via Heritage Auctions in the near future. The buyer will also receive the Tuff Stuff magazine as pictured.
I will keep this article up to date with grading and a link to the auction should Tim decide to go that route.
That gives us a nice segue into the most recent Heritage Auctions public offering.
Tim’s card is headed to Heritage Auctions in the May Auction
Updated: April 13, 2024
Tim did decide to auction his card through Heritage Auctions and it will be listed as part of the May Spring Sports Auction. The card was first graded by PSA - receiving a 5 on the condition and 7 on the auto. I’ve included scans of the card in the PSA holder below.
Updated: May 19, 2024
On May 16 2024 Tim’s card sold for $42,000 including buyer’s premium.
Second copy auctioned via Heritage Auctions
Around the same time as I was talking with Tim, a copy became available in a public auction via Heritage Auctions. You may remember the copy sold in August 2023 by Heritage for $81,000.
This most recent copy - a PSA7 Auto Auth copy - is only the second of the Jordan Blow-up Autos I’ve seen go to public auction. The card presents a beautiful, bold autograph with a slight fingerprint smudge to the bottom left. We have seen a similar - possibly MJ? - fingerprint smudge before…
That’s right - the PSA7 copy available via Heritage is one we know of. Kyle* - like Tim - has owned this card since pulling it himself in Toronto. You can read more of Kyle’s story through the link above.
At the time of writing Kyle’s card reached a high bid of $55,200 including buyer’s premium.
Six known 94-95 Collector’s Choice Michael Jordan Blow-up autos
So this fine example of a monster Jordan autograph card takes the total I’ve seen to 6. Please do write in if you own or know of one not on the list here.
For your viewing pleasure, here is all six I know of together in a single list.
Buying a Michael Jordan Blow-up autograph card
If you’re in the market for a copy keep an eye on this page. I will update the article if Tim does decide to bring his card to auction.
You can also check out the links below - busting boxes (if you can find them) may yet yield one!
