1986 Fleer Michael Jordan - The Official Counterfeit Guide

The Air Jordan VII is one of the harder pairs to tell the authenticity, but here are a few tips to help you figure out if your Air Jordan VII’s are authentic or fake. Wrong Colorways.
Check the quality of the box. Jordan’s are a beautifully packaged sneaker. There’s a number of.

The 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card is one of the most recognizable and sought-after cards in the hobby. While other cards from this decade have plummeted in value, the Jordan rookie has soared, with high end examples selling for over $20,000. Due to its popularity, unfortunately the Jordan rookie is the most counterfeited card in the hobby. This exhaustive guide was created to help educate collectors and navigate the waters to buying this iconic card with confidence.

The Air Jordan line kicked off in 1985, but to many, the Air Jordan 3 is what started the line of greatness. In so many ways, the Air Jordan 3 was a first in footwear. The Jordan 3 was the first Air Jordan designed by famed and legendary sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield when it hit Michael Jordan’s feet for the 1987-88 season.

1986 Fleer Michael Jordan Back

1. Fleer Logo

The Fleer logo in the upper right corner should be the first thing inspected on any Jordan rookie card. It is usually the easiest way to spot and fake and contains numerous indicators. On an authentic Jordan rookie, the yellow arrow will be a darker shade of yellow, almost a golden color. Many counterfeits show the logo and arrow as the same shade of yellow. Below is a side-by-side comparison of an authentic card and counterfeit. The counterfeit is shown on the right.

Another thing to check on the yellow arrow is its location on the yellow “PREMIER” banner. On an authentic example, the tip of the yellow arrow should not reach the top of “PREMIER” banner, but rather should have a small gap. On some of the counterfeits, this arrow will extend pass the top of the “PREMIER” banner. Below is a side-by-side comparison of an authentic card and counterfeit. The counterfeit is shown on the right.

The “FLEER” font will often be slightly different on counterfeits and authentic cards. On an authentic card, the “FLEER” font will have sharp square corners while the counterfeit will have a slightly “fatter” look and have rounded letters. The vertical alignment of “FLEER” and “PREMIER” is another item to examine. On the authentic version the “F” and “P” should be nearly perfectly aligned on the left edge, while the counterfeit example will have “Fleer” slightly indented to the right. Both indicators can be seen on the above example.

2. Red/Blue Transition

There should be a very distinct transition between colors between the blue and red. The counterfeits commonly show a “fuzzy” transition. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

3. Black Border

The black border should be solid black ink. On the reprints, under magnification, this line will not be solid, but rather made up of small dots or pixels. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

4. Jersey

The word “Chicago” should be seen clearly. On the reprints, this is usually fuzzy and unclear. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

5. Nameplate

On the nameplate, there should be clear distinction between the background color (light blue) and the white font for Jordan’s name. The reprint will usually have a “fuzzy” transition. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

6. Registered Trademark Symbol

The “R” logo should be clearly distinguishable. On the reprints, it is not printed clearly. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

7. Bulls Logo

The lines in the eyes of the bull should be separate and cleanly printed. On the reprints, the detail in the eyes is very poor. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

8. Copyright Symbol

The “C” logo should be clearly distinguishable. On the reprints, it is not printed clearly. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

9. Basketball Logo

The lines inside the basketball on the NBA logo should be visible. On the reprints, the ball is typically solid ink. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

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10. Scoring Average '27.2'

There should be a period between the 27 and 2. This is missing on many reprints. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

11. Bottom Border

The lower half of the card should be a darker pink color. The reprints have a very light pink, almost peach color. Below is a high-resolution scan of an authentic card.

Detecting a Counterfeit - Graded

As the hobby moves into the future, very seldom are high profile cards sold ungraded, but rather are sold entombed in a tamper-proof holder from a third-party grader (TPG). The most well-known TPGs are PSA, Beckett, and SGC. PSA is the most well-known TGP and is a market leader. In the past, one could feel relatively safe when buying a graded card; that what they were buying was authentic and not altered. However, when it comes to high dollar cards, that is no longer the case. Counterfeiters have figured out how to compromise the holders by opening them, swapping out the cards or flips and resealing the holders again. The holders that are most commonly targeted are from PSA, which will be the focus of this guide. In the past years, PSA has made changes to their holders to prevent or minimize the fraud, but the older holders are still at risk. When examining a graded card, three things need to be examined – the card, the holder, and the flip (label). Since we’ve already covered the card in the previous section, we discuss the holder and the flip in this section.

PSA Holder

When a card gets sent to a TPG (third-party grader), they will assign a grade to the card and then entomb the card into a tamper proof case that is sealed via a sonic welding process. If the case is ever pried open, it will cause the edges of the holder to cloud up or “frost”. Here is an example of 1952 Topps Mantle that was opened on the right side and had a counterfeit example inserted. Note the frosting along the right edge as well as frosting on the top-right and bottom-right.

Prior to 2013, PSA used a holder that was made up of two equally sized halves and joined by a sonic welding process. In 2013, PSA redesigned their holders to have two unequally sized halves, where one half would fit inside the other half before they were welded, creating a much more secure seal similar to the holder of Beckett. The newer style holder is much more secure and all cases of tampering that I’ve seen have been limited to the old-style holder.
In addition to frosting, another thing to check on a holder are the security nubs directly below the flip. If a holder has been tampered with, the security nub will mushroom out. Below is a picture showing illustrating this:

PSA Flip Comparison

Another method to detect a counterfeit graded 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan is by examining the label or “flip” of the card. When these counterfeits are “produced”, the counterfeiter is cracking open a legitimate PSA holder, re-inserting a lower grade or counterfeit card and new homemade flip. The homemade flips will often contain the same certification number, barcode and grade, so simply checking the PSA database will not help in determining authenticity of the graded “card”. However, the homemade flips typically utilize very similar, yet slightly different fonts, character spacing and alignment than a PSA generated flip. By comparing these flip attributes to known good flips, one can also determine whether the graded card is counterfeit.
One important thing to point out is that PSA has gone through several generations of flips, so it is important to compare same generation flips to draw accurate conclusions. Here is a brief history of the PSA flip that can be used as a guide, summarized from a Net54 thread.

Generation 1 Flip

Original PSA flip used from 1991-1992
The zeros have slashes
The barcode is longer than future