True Hobby Rarity finally surfaces!
 

I know this is getting moved but HAD to post as I'm so excited!

I can't believe it but I am truly holding this card!

Phil Jordon has only 2 Regular cards that were issued in packs over his short career. 1957 Topps Rookie card and this 1961 Fleer Basketball Card.

SGC, Beckett nor PSA/DNA have NEVER slabbed a Signed Rookie card. I believe 1 exists but it is not slabbed but comes with a PSA/DNA LOA.

SGC, Beckett, nor PSA had NEVER slabbed a 1961 Signed Fleer until now!!!!!!!! You are looking at an incredible rarity. Jordon died in a rafting accident in 1965 at the very young age of 31! He also had a very interesting non active part in Wilt's 100 point game but you need to read about it. I don't want to spoil the fun.

I had just been awarded autograph set of the year for my 1961 Fleer Signed Set and now this beauty resides in it! Appropriate I think!

PSA gives complete set awards if a set is over 95% full on the Registry and mine was at 96% when it won the Set of the Year a month ago. This was before this card was in the set!!!

I still need a signed Carl Braun and a signed Guy Rodgers from this set so please shake out your old autos and make some money! This card finally surfaced so I KNOW the other 2 are out there somewhere! Cha-Ching!

Peace, Mike

PS Thanks to "Jerry G" on this board who sold me my 1st 33 cards from this set already signed and set me on this incredible journey about 2.5 years ago!
PS 2 Strangely enough, I also own the only slabbed signed Wilt Chamberlain In Action RC from this set but this Jordon excites me more as I truly thought I would never see one in my lifetime!

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Very Cool!
 

Thanks for sharing!

Congrats Mike, it's always nice to have someone get a card that
has them as excited as you sound.

Congrats on both the card and your award! I have a question for you: how does PSA even authenticate the auto of a guy who has no known card autos? Do they go off of samples from team-signed balls and such?

Some exist....
 

Orlando,

He certainly has examples in the hobby but they are rare so there are some exemplars. Thanks!

Mike

Congratulations very cool.

Great card!

Congrats! That is a true rarity. Good luck with finding the other 2.

Agreed. I can't remember the last time I was that excited about a pick up.

love stories like this

With the huge gaps in sets pre-69 (48, 57, 61, then 69), there are a ton of players with only 1 or 2 cards in regular sets. Imagine that in baseball, it would be unthinkable.

Awesome, congrats!

Very neat

Great card. It comes through in your post how happy the card makes you. That’s super cool.

Best,

Scott

While some......
 

may not relate to the card (myself included). I suspect most as already has been referenced a few times here can relate to 1- the story and 2- the feeling of finding one of your holy grails!! Awesome job! Congratulations! Can you share any of the story of how you got connected with it? Did you send it in for grading or buy it graded?

Congrats on finding your white whale Mike!

Whuuut???!!! That is terrific, Mike! Congratulations on grabbing a holy grail!
You have been dogged in your quest. Only two left. Get 'em, Tiger!

And thanks for the mention above. I am truly happy for you.

That is too cool... I remember seeing the initial lot in the BST and looks like it ended up in the right hands! Keep it up!!👍🏼

Thanks!
 

It's funny really, I got the initial 33 on here from Jerry G. as he had started this set way back when and then sold it to me on the boards. I then over the past 2 or 3 years, wrote, called 2 of the players personally, attended shows, and scoured the boards, eBay, and anywhere I could really. I have gotten lucky at times but I learned in the military that persistence and luck are sometimes synonymous. This particular card just appeared out of no where on Ebay recently and I negotiated with the seller. No backstory unfortunately on this card but hoping to get one from the seller at some point. Either way, I'm content with it and so happy to have it. I do have a lead on 1 of the other 2 that I need but the current owner is holding it rightfully and hopefully someday will make a deal with me. The NEW "White Whale" is now Carl Braun which is a bit strange because Carl lived until the year 2010!!! That gave him almost 50 years to sign a 1961 Fleer card! I know it exists but someone has to find it, get it slabbed, then post it somewhere!
PSA has reached out to me to do a future SMR magazine article on my journey with this exact set so hopefully that will help me in my quest! Thanks!

Mike

1 of 1s in my set.....
 

I have had a couple of requests to show ALL of the unique 1 of 1s in this set that I own. I have 5 cards that are the only known signed and slabbed copies in existence! They are all tough in their own ways but the Jordon I feel the toughest since he only had 4 years or so to sign the card before his tragic death.

Walter Dukes, Sihugo Green, Phil Jordon, Wilt Chamberlain IAction RC, Larry Costello

I personally think the most incredible looking card is the Walter Dukes and if you want to read about a fascinating and tragic life, read about Walter Dukes!

Peace, Mike

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Love the excitement you have for this, congrats!

Also, love the "happy new year" inscription from wilt. Awesome.

A bit belated, congrats Mike!! And I agree with others, it's always good to see hobby enthusiasm.

ps...not all off topics get moved.

The only one on your list of 1 of 1's which surprises me is the Larry Costello. Unless he did not like to sign at all, as the coach of the Bucks in the 1970's he was certainly available to average fans.

Rich

Good point.....
 

Rich,

I consider myself now a bit of a student of this signed set so this is my best go at why the Costello is a 1 of 1. Overall, if you study the pop report for these signed cards, the lower "Regular" cards of these guys were signed in much greater numbers. It has nothing to do with rarity of the actual unsigned cards but more to do with Aesthetics or perceived looks of the Signed low numbers vs the higher numbered "In action" cards. I first learned this from longtime board member "Jerry G" as when he was collecting these way back when, he loved the look of the lower numbers as the autos seem to pop off the different colors. Most if not all of the High Number In Actions have very dark backgrounds which of course does not allow the autograph to display as well.
I'll just use 1 quick example.
The most any low number card is signed is Oscar Robertson of which 46 are signed.
The most any In Action card is Bill Russell high number which has been signed only 16 times.
This ratio almost plays out for the Costello cards as 4 low number Costello's have been signed and of course only 1 High Number In Action signed card has been slabbed.
It seems like a pretty simple explanation but I believe it to be one of the reasons for the disparity. Another reason that I think contributes is that given the choice to get the player's "Regular" low number card signed vs. the high number "In Action" card, I think most went for the "Regular" card which in many instances is also their true RC card!
Just my 2 cents!
Thanks! Mike

That is outstanding and something to get excited about.

Congrats!

Odd they spelled his name wrong, they got it right on his 57 Topps card.

True!
 

Good ole UER from Fleer. I agree on that Peter. He has a total of maybe 3 cards (1 Topps, 1 Fleer, and a Regional or 2) and his Fleer is spelled wrong.

For those who don't know: Full name: Phil Jordon
Fleer 1961 Spelling: Phil Jordan

Adds another interesting note to his life and story.

Thanks!

Mike

Sweet card! :eek:

Ricky Y

Quick update on Signed set.....
 

So.......just need a Signed (on card) Carl Braun to complete my #1 Registry Signed 1961 Fleer set and got antsy.............emailed PSA/DNA to see if i could even do this.........they said I could..........so...........bought a Carl Braun cut on Ebay. Bought a 1961 Fleer Braun on Ebay. Got some double sided tape at Michael's. VOILA!!!!!!! I cut the Braun auto down a bit to fit on the card and sent it to PSA/DNA. They authenticated the "Cut" only. The card is real but I just needed the Auto authenticated for this purpose.

I now have an "outside the box" 100% complete 1961 Fleer Signed Basketball set with EVERY card slabbed in a PSA/DNA Red Flip except this one!

Trust, me, when I find a Braun signed on card, my wallet will take a hit. Just sayin'. This is a cool filler for the time being! :)

Peace, Mike

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If you can't win under the system, change it. Go outside the box. Congrats.

For some reason this reminds me of the Star Trek episode where it was revealed that Kirk was the only person ever at the Star Fleet Academy to defeat the computer in some war game. It was, in fact, impossible to defeat the computer. But that didn't deter Kirk. He reprogrammed it.

Thanks Peter.....
 

I got a good smile from that. Loved the Star Trek notation! Just wanted to clarify 1 thing. PSA/DNA will not allow this card to be registered in my set as those cards are Red Label On Card autos. I certainly went outside the box to make my set whole with a "filler" in a roundabout way but I still need an "on card" Braun Auto to complete the 1961 Signed Registry set.

I know you must have one in your vast collection......please???? :)

Peace, Mike

Nice card! Great Story!

kobayashi maru

Awesome, Mike.


I traded my last basketball card, an ungraded Lew Alcindor RC, for an ungraded T206 Walter Johnson portrait - both were about EX and both the WaJo and the store owner who made the trade with me are long gone.

What about
 

His 1960 Kahn’s card??

Great card, and super to have it autographed!!! It made me go look at my very small collection of old Knicks cards, and I see I have one of these Fleer Jordan cards, raw, and of course NO autograph.

Indeed. It's an interesting philosophical question whether Kirk "cheated."