There’s only one name when it comes to hologram cards: Upper Deck.
In fact Upper Deck bet their reputation in the fight against counterfeiters rampant in the trading card industry by launching with their authenticity hologram as part of every trading card made.
Their authenticity page proudly publishes ‘no Upper Deck trading card has ever been counterfeited’. This feat achieved due to the cost and technical requirements involved in generating a hologram.
TL;DR - let's see the Michael Jordan hologram cards
A look at some of the Michael Jordan hologram cards including die-cuts, full holograms, multiple holograms, an error card and an auto.
The Upper Deck authenticity hologram was also used to authenticate between auto and non-auto cards when the 1994-95 Collector's Choice Blow Up Auto cards were released. On one set the hologram was circular and another a diamond.
The non-die-cut and die-cut SP Championship Playoff Heroes cards can be authenticated also by their hologram - one is silver and one is gold.
Upper Deck didn’t leave it just an ‘authenticity program’ - the company continued to pioneer hologram technology to the cards themselves in the early 90’s.
This era gives us the best Michael Jordan hologram cards ever made - beautiful designs from full card holograms, combined full colour and multi-hologram cards through to some very nice die-cut hologram cards. Oh, and there’s an error card and autograph card thrown in the mix to boot.
So read on and let’s take a look at how Upper Deck used hologram technology in the 90’s to take their trading card offerings to the next level.
Remember Upper Deck released a lot of cards internationally in this era so be sure to find the release you’re after or just collect them all!
Michael Jordan Award Winners Holograms
Introducing Michael Jordan Hologram cards. The 1991-92 (inaugural) and 1992-93 Upper Deck sets gave us the four Michael Jordan Award Winners Hologram cards you can see below.
This insert set celebrate NBA league leaders with Jordan receiving the scoring and MVP award winner cards in both the 1991-92 and 1992-93 sets.
The cards feature full holograms with an action photo in the background of a deep etched holographic player photo.
Interestingly these cards do not feature the Upper Deck hologram on the back perhaps to do with the technology at the time required to print front and back holograms.
The Award Winner inserts are valued at around $5-$10 raw depending on condition. A PSA 9 recently sold for $25 and PSA 10 for $735 at auction.
Michael Jordan McDonald’s Holograms
Upper Deck produced a similar card to the Award Winners sets above for McDonald’s in 1992.
The card has a blank back and slightly rounded corners. It features the same style full card background hologram and deep etched player photo as the Award Winner insert cards.
The front of the card includes the McDonald’s logo and identifies Jordan as the 1991-92 NBA MVP.
Raw Jordan McDonald’s Holograms can be bought for a few dollars raw. Recently a PSA 9 sold for $44.
Michael Jordan Triple Double
Many people point to the Triple Double 3-D Standouts as one of their favourite hologram cards - myself included.
The value of the Michael Jordan Triple Double remains affordable, selling in the realm of $50 for PSA 8 copies.
It may not be one of the most valuable Jordan cards but it is a fantastic looking card released in Jordan’s prime. If you were a collector in the early 90’s this was one of the cards to own. It looks particularly great alongside the next card in the set - the Scottie Pippen Triple Double.
The card card features four action shots of Jordan in full flight. Two photos are stunning holograms trapping into the background and bound by an excellent deep etched Jordan mid shooting photo. On the back is an aggressive fight for the ball against Ewing making this card also a Ewing shadow card.
Though it is usually referred to as just the Michael Jordan Triple Double, it is actually named the Triple Double 3-D Standouts. This is a play on the hologram technology and the fact the cards feature ‘standout’ players.
The Michael Jordan Triple Double value is $8-$10 raw with PSA 8 Triple Double’s valued around $40 and PSA 9 at $190.
Michael Jordan Team MVP Holograms
The Team MVP Holograms was a box set release for the 92-93 season. This can get confusing as there were non-hologram Team MVP insert releases for the regular issue 92-93 and 93-94 Upper Deck sets.
These sets are designed to feature the most valuable player for each team.
The hologram release continues Upper Deck’s style of a full hologram action photo with deep etched full colour player photo.
These cards feature a classic 90’s design front and back and no Upper Deck hologram. The player’s name is highlighted with some very nice use of holographic foil.
A PSA 8 Jordan Team MVP Holograms was recently valued at $29 through open auction via COMC.
93-94 Michael Jordan Holojam
Here Upper Deck continued to make excellent use of the technology and use a play on the term to release the Holojam. The box set was in honour of Upper Deck’s choice of the best slam-dunker in each team.
The card features two aggressive Jordan ‘jams’ - shown here in lighting to highlight the hologram effect.
96 SPx Michael Jordan
Base card full hologram die-cuts?!
Yes that’s right - Upper Deck up the ante with their 1996 SPx release featuring full action hologram, a posed player photo hologram (which must have taken serious co-ordination), a deep etched full colour player action photo and a very nice die-cut.
The base set was a 50 card set featuring a silver background, there was a gold parallel insert with a gold background and finally a Michael Jordan SPx Record Breaker insert.
The value of the 96 Michael Jordan SPx cards range from around $90-$100 for PSA 9 base cards, around $100 for PSA 9 for the Record Breaker and over $200 for PSA 9 Gold parallels.
The three excellent Michael Jordan holograms from the 1996 SPx release are shown here.
96-97 SP Michael Jordan
The base cards in this set used a very nice trapped holofoil background overlay.
This isn’t truly a hologram in the usual sense of enabling depth and motion for the viewer however I’ve included it as the foil overlay gives a similar feel with different execution.
There’s also an interesting angle here where some cards have been found where the holofoil continues much further into the card than intended.
A recent sale puts the value of the #16 Jordan 96-97 SP PSA 9 at $26.
97 SPx Michael Jordan
If you thought 1996 SPx was good take a look at 1997 SPx 🤩.
For the 1997 SPx set Upper Deck released another holograph heavy, die-cut rich set. This time the die-cut and design looks to lightly play on the SPx name.
This time the action hologram and posed player photos form the right part of the design mimicking a ‘P’ somewhat while a deep etched with grainy background full colour photo appear to the left. A curved ‘S’ and a sharp ‘X’ style die-cut finish off the card - don’t forget this is the base card design!
Like the 1996 SPx set there is a gold parallel insert - this time differentiated by the ‘X’ side being gold (the base cards feature a team colour).
There are three further 1997 SPX Jordan inserts - the Holoview Heroes, ProMotion and ProMotion autograph.
All cards in the 1997 SPx set are landscape in orientation which works well with the ‘SPx’ die-cut however the Holoview Heroes inserts are portrait. This offers a nice point of differentiation as the hologram and deep etched photo are also oriented differently.
Like the Triple Double 3-D Standouts we get an insert with a name which is a play on the technology. The ProMotion references the holographic motion which can be seen when tilting hologram cards under light. The ProMotion features two high motion posed player photographs which were presumably shot using laser holography. I also like the use of a background hologram alongside the full colour deep etched main player photo as a nice touch.
Finally the ProMotion Autographs is an autographed copy of the regular ProMotion with an accompanying congratulatory message on the back. These cards are hand numbered to 100.
The value of the 1997 SPx Jordan cards varies widely at the moment so I recommend doing some research.
Michael Jordan Holoviews
I mentioned earlier the Triple Double as a member of the best Michael Jordan Hologram cards list - well here’s another!
The Michael Jordan Holoviews and Holoviews Die-Cut cards are an elegantly designed card making full use of silver foil and hologram technology.
There is an excellent full colour deep etched photo along with a posed 3-d hologram. Within the holofoil background the words “Premium Collection” can be seen.
A recent sale of the Jordan Holoviews puts the PSA 9 value at just under $160.
The parallel die-cut “Holoview Special F/X” version of the insert adds to the elegance with a nice, restrained die-cut at the top of the card.
Michael Jordan error hologram card
The error Michael Jordan hologram card is the 95-96 Holoviews non-die-cut with Antonio McDyess in the posed holograms instead of Jordan.
BGS grade this card as card number PC5A having been introduced to the card by former high-end collector Lou Costabile.
Michael Jordan Baseball Holoviews
I’ve shown here the 95-96 Michael Jordan Holoview inserts however these weren’t Upper Deck’s earliest release of the insert set.
In 1994 Upper Deck released the Holoview insert set (blue) and die-cut parallel when (red) Jordan was playing baseball for the White Sox.
The hologram is much more subtle here - trapping into the background of the action photo is a posed Jordan hologram.
The non-die-cut Jordan baseball Holoview sells in the realm of $50 for a PSA 9 and the die-cut most recently sold for $605 in a PSA 9 holder.
UD3 Michael Jordan Hologram
Here’s another base card with both a nice holofoil action photo and interesting design. The 96-97 Michael Jordan UD3 hologram is an easy to find card from the Bulls’ second threepeat season.
$5-$10 is a good raw value for this card and PSA 8 recently sold for $19.
That rounds out a look over some of the best Jordan hologram cards around. There’s plenty more available so be sure to keep an eye out if you’re looking to buy Michael Jordan hologram cards.