This Michael Jordan SI Cover Could Be the Most Expensive Magazine Ever

Michael Jordan’s most iconic Sports Illustrated magazine is up for auction, and it could challenge the record for the most expensive graded magazine ever sold.

A 1984 Sports Illustrated with Jordan on the cover has been graded CGC 9.8 and is being offered in Goldin’s Summer 100 Auction. The magazine features a rookie-year Jordan soaring toward the basket in his Chicago Bulls uniform underneath the fitting headline, “A Star Is Born.”

The magazine captures Jordan at the beginning of his NBA career and represents his first Sports Illustrated cover in an NBA uniform. Jordan had previously appeared on the November 28, 1983, Sports Illustrated cover while playing at North Carolina, but he shared that cover with teammate Sam Perkins.

This MJ Magazine is an Extremely Rare CGC 9.8

Finding this 1984 Sports Illustrated magazine in such a high grade is extremely difficult. Only four known 9.8 examples exist across CGC and PSA. One of the four copies originally graded CGC 9.8 was crossed over to a PSA 9.8, but it still appears in CGC’s population report because the original CGC label has not been returned.

Newsstand editions are more coveted because they are significantly rarer than subscription copies. Newsstand copies also have the added visual appeal of lacking a subscription mailing label. Their disposable nature is one of the biggest reasons high-grade examples are so difficult to find decades later. Most magazines were read and then thrown in the trash.

Only 126 total “A Star Is Born” newsstand magazines have been graded by CGC, while 54 have been graded by PSA. For comparison, PSA has graded 28,130 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie cards. There are 335 PSA 10 copies of the card, and one recently sold for more than $400,000.

In August 2023, a CGC 9.8 newsstand copy of “A Star Is Born” sold for $126,000 through Heritage Auctions. At the time, the blockbuster sale established a new record for the most expensive Sports Illustrated magazine ever sold.

That Jordan sale no longer represents the all-time high sale for “A Star Is Born,” but the overall magazine record now belongs to Mickey Mantle.

Could Jordan Reclaim the Magazine Record?

The graded magazine market has changed dramatically since the $126,000 Jordan sale from 2023. Earlier this year, a PSA 9.6 copy of Jordan’s first Sports Illustrated cover from 1983 sold for $229,360 through Goldin. Then, on June 28, Mickey Mantle took the record even higher.

A PSA 9.6 copy of Mantle’s first Sports Illustrated cover from June 18, 1956 sold for $328,180. This is the current record sale for any graded magazine. Now Jordan will have an opportunity to take the record back, and it has already taken the first step. The current $158,600 price has surpassed the $126,000 sale of the other CGC 9.8 “A Star Is Born” from 2023, with 19 days still remaining in the auction.

Magazine collector Joel Koman, who consigned the record-setting 1956 Mickey Mantle Sports Illustrated that sold for $328,180, believes the graded magazine market had been growing gradually for several years before accelerating more recently.

“I think growth has been steady for the last four years, but during the last 18 months, it’s starting to go a little parabolic,” Koman said. And the growth has not been limited to just the highest graded magazines.

Koman also pointed to a PSA 8.5 copy of Mantle’s first Sports Illustrated cover that recently sold for $85,400. He said comparable examples were worth around $20,000 before the record setting PSA 9.6 sale. In 2019, a PSA 8.5 copy of the same magazine sold for less than $1,000. According to Koman, the major sales are drawing more attention to magazines as a collectible category.

Koman believes magazines remain an emerging collectible market compared with the much more established sports card market. “Magazines have been undervalued for so long. Now they’re finally catching up a little bit. We’re still probably in inning two of our big growth.”

Ken Goldin Believes Magazines are Following the Same Path as Cards

Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, sees the growing magazine market following a path similar to sports cards.

“We see magazines following a similar trajectory today to cards decades ago,” Goldin said. “Certain S.I. covers like the 1956 Mantle break out from the rest and become a vintage grail. ‘A Star Is Born’ becomes the modern grail. The same thing happened with 1952 Topps Mantle and 1986 Fleer Jordan rookies. This is how emerging categories grow and catch fire. Through constant record-breaking prices for the finest pieces.”

Whether the Jordan magazine can surpass Mantle’s $328,180 record remains to be seen. It has already exceeded the $126,000 benchmark established by the other CGC 9.8 in 2023, but would still need to more than double its current price to take the overall magazine record.

Why “A Star Is Born” Matters

A “first appearance” on a cover is significant in the magazine world, just as a first appearance is important with comic books or a rookie card is in the sports card hobby. While Jordan’s 1983 North Carolina cover may technically be his first appearance on the front of Sports Illustrated, the 1984 magazine has several characteristics that separate it from his other famous covers.

Compared with the 1983 issue, “A Star Is Born” shows the version of Jordan that basketball fans came to know best. He is alone on the cover, wearing his Chicago Bulls uniform during his rookie season and soaring toward the basket in an action photo. The earlier cover shows Jordan at North Carolina and shares the spotlight with teammate Sam Perkins.

Million Dollar Magazine?

The extreme scarcity of the CGC 9.8 has also fueled lofty predictions. Zachary Katcher, a prominent sports magazine collector and contributor to YouTube’s magazine show “Collectors Roundtable”, believes the combination of scarcity, condition, and increased attention on the magazine market could create a significant bidding war. Katcher said he could see the magazine ultimately reaching anywhere from $850,000 to $2 million.

That would be a massive increase from the $126,000 sale three years ago, but both Katcher and Koman believe the highest-quality magazines still have plenty of room to grow. “These magazines sit right in between cards and comics,” Koman said. “They’re in the sweet spot. I think there’s room for growth. Lots of room.”

The price difference between the best sports magazines and the best comic books remains enormous. An Action Comics #1 featuring Superman sold for $15 million this year. A Batman comic sold for $9 million, while another Superman comic sold for $7 million earlier in 2026.

Spider Man Comic — The most expensive Spider-Man comic ever sold is this CGC 9.6 copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, which went for $3.6 million at Heritage Auctions. | Author's Photo

Koman believes that gap could become smaller as sports magazines become more established as high end collectibles. “You basically have fictional superheroes versus real life superheroes,” Koman said. Few athletes fit the description of a real life superhero better than Michael Jordan.

The last time a CGC 9.8 “A Star Is Born” reached public auction, it sold for a then-record $126,000. Three years later, this example has already surpassed that price with nearly three weeks of bidding remaining. Whether it can reclaim the record, or potentially become the hobby’s first million dollar magazine, will be decided when Goldin’s Summer 100 Auction concludes on September 19th.

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