by Steve Grad

Though he’s been retired for two full seasons, Michael Jordan’s popularity continues to grow. The player who helped change the face of the NBA, and turn the Bulls into the 1990’s best team is also one of the top forged sports autographs on the market.

The only true way to buy an authentic autograph of Jordan is to spend the money, and buy an Upper Deck Authenticated piece. Many different items are available, including jerseys, balls, photos, cards, baseballs, bats, etc. You might be saying, “your nuts, why should I spend big bucks when I can find a signed photo on EBAY or Yahoo for under $50?” One problem. The cheap ones are fake. Let me explain.

Since Jordan became as star, I have been fortunate enough to be around him. As a collector in the mid to late 1980’s I was able to obtain Jordan’s signature almost when I wanted. For a four season span (1987-1990) Jordan was one of the most accessible players in the NBA. I used to wait outside the Bulls practice facility in Deerfield, where Jordan would pull up before practice and gladly signed what we had.

I remember a particular day in 1988. The weather was awful, right in the middle of February. My brother and waited for Jordan to exit the practice facility. I asked Jordan if he wouldn’t mind signing some posters for us, that were in the back of our Blazier. Jordan, who was parked two cars over, walked over to our car, and proceeded to sign 16 posters for us. He didn’t care, didn’t say anything, just kept signing.

Unfortunately, for collectors our good run of fortune wouldn’t last long, and before we knew it he was done signing. The last time I was able to get Jordan’s signature in person, was after the 1992 season, when he signed a Sports Illustrated for me.

Now we move ahead to the year 2000. Hop on to Ebay or Yahoo and you will be flooded with a slew of Jordan signed items. On this particular day, I pulled up 178 items on Ebay and 113 items on Yahoo. Of the 178 items on Ebay, 57 were from Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA) while on Yahoo 21 items were UDA.

A small sampling and I found the following items heavily forged: slam dunk 8x10, golfing 8x10’s, basketballs, golf balls, etc.

A few things to watch for: Glitzy phrases (HOT, WOW), big, colorful words in the description. It’s a fact that an authentically signed Jordan 8x10 sells anywhere from $400-$800. Fake photos, that are featured on various auction website’s sometimes sell for as little as $9.99 or as much as $99.99. Don’t be fooled by a high starting bid. Many times sellers will put this on an item, hoping one person is foolish enough to bid on their forgery. Check signed UDA items and compare the signatures. While many Jordan forgers are good at their work, they still can’t get close to Michael.

I recently saw this ball, and the auction had just completed. I notified the top bidder that they had just paid $180 for a fake Jordan autograph. The signature is horrendous and it almost seems, like in many forgery cases, the forgers themselves are using other forgeries as examples for their work.

Remember this if your looking to buy a Jordan signature. First, he’s a tough autograph. No dealer in the country will have a stockpile of Jordan signed items in their inventory. It’s possible that they may have one or two signed items in the course of a year, but the stuff that I’m seeing is appalling. Some dealers will offer 20, 30 and sometimes more in a month span on Ebay or Yahoo.

As is the case with purchasing any autograph, do your homework and if your not sure, don’t buy it.

AUTHENTIC JORDAN SIGNATURE BELOW ON UPPER DECK BALL