Trading cards have become big business in recent years. No longer something kids collect for fun, trading cards can be as profitable as the stock market. Case in point: Golden Auctions.

Over the weekend the sports memorabilia specialists made a record $33 million from sports merch. The majority of this was from trading cards. The big seller was an Anthony Davis autographed rookie card that fetched a cool $1.05 million. But what got the Next Luxury office excited was the sale of two Michael Jordan rookie cards.

The 1986-87 Fleer rookie cards, depicting his Airness mid-dunk, sold for an astonishing $738,000 each. Yes, you read that correctly. Two pieces of laminated card went for $1.47 million! Both cards have been assigned Gem Mint PSA 10 grading, meaning they are in pristine condition, hence the high price tag.

What makes the sale of these two cards even more remarkable is the jump in price. Only a month ago a PSA 10 Jordan rookie card went for just $217,000 on January 3, while another sold for $211,560 in December of 2020. 

Pair of 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie Cards Sell for Record-Setting $738,000 Each Last Night at @GoldinAuctions https://t.co/FcoU5Cbj2F pic.twitter.com/3gCL1xzuWp

— Beckett Media (@beckettmedia) January 31, 2021

One of the more popular trading cards, over 20,000 1986-87 Fleer MJ rookie cards have been submitted to PSA for grading. Only 316 of these cards have received a Gem Mint 10 certification. It’s amazing this many have been classified as mint condition, as the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball cards are notorious for image centering problems and issues with dodgy corners suspectable to damage. 

Along with the Jordan and Davis rookie cards, a number of other items brought home the bacon at auction. A 2017 Patrick Mahomes signed patch rookie card sold for $861,000. One of only five cards in circulation, it’s the most expensive football card ever sold. The last jersey MJ wore during his final game also sold for a tidy $584,250.