This Michael Jordan insert might be his coolest card
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It is a bit of an understatement to say that Michael Jordan has had a lot of unique and valuable collectibles over the years. One of his more distinctive cards that many fans and collectors may not be aware of was released seven years after his second and final retirement.
In 2009, Upper Deck released an insert as part of their basketball release. The inserts were called Now Appearing and featured various players in movie style posters on the front of the card. The back featured the players stats as usual but were designed to look like a movie ticket stub. The set included modern players as well as retired ones including Jordan.
Obviously, the Jordan card is the most desirable of the set both for his stature in the game and for the specific look of his card. In general, the design of the cards were not supposed to elicit any direct connection to any movie. However, the Jordan card stood out because it did bear a striking resemblance to a specific movie. The card included a dramatic black and white image of Jordan kneeling.
The background also included black and white divided directly down the middle with Jordan’s name bold red lettering above. The card design was almost an exact replica of the movie poster for the 1983 cult classic Scarface starring Al Pacino. At the time many fans and collectors began to immediately notice the similarities between the card and the poster. The card was dubbed the “Scarface” insert. Upper Deck never confirmed a direct connection to the movie, nor did it mention it as a source for the card.
Although critically panned at the time of its release due to the profanity, drug use and how graphic the violence was, Scarface developed an incredible cult following. Perhaps the movie’s biggest influence was felt in the hip hop community. For example, the music video for Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg’s song “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” is a reference to a scene from the movie, and rapper Future released the gold certified song Tony Montana, which was the name of the lead character in Scarface.
The combination of the greatest basketball player of all time (a pop culture force himself) and a popular movie with such broad pop cultural impact have led to the “Scarface” Michael Jordan card being particularly valuable. According to a recent listing by Fanatics Auctions and 130point sales data, PSA 10 versions of the card sell for $1,000 with raw cards selling in the $350-$400 range which is impressive for a card released in the early 2000s. Overall the Now Appearing “Scarface” is certainly one of the cooler cards of Michael Jordan on the market one that make a great addition to any Jordan fan’s collection.
