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Last Updated On: January 11th, 2024
Inserts have long captured the imagination of collectors, and for good reason. With experimental designs that are often limited to a select crop of players, the thrill of pulling a high-ticket insert is like waking up on Christmas morning, the scent of gingerbread and wrapping paper wafting through the house.
And few inserts are as storied as Ultra’s Scoring Kings. Popularized in 1993, Scoring King inserts are big chase cards for Michael Jordan fans and basketball card collectors.
This post will provide an overview of four extremely popular Michael Jordan Scoring Kings cards and compare some prices and values.
Table of Contents
Overview
If you know anything about us, then you know that we love ourselves some Michael Jordan here at Only Greats. And why shouldn’t we? He’s not only the greatest basketball player of all time, but his “Last Dance” docuseries was a huge factor in the hobby rebounding in 2020.
We’ve chronicled several Michael Jordan Scoring Kings cards on the site before, both as a premier MJ insert of the 90s and its status as one of the baddest cards on the planet.
But the Scoring Kings’ majesty and history deserves it’s own bit of love.
Michael Jordan Scoring Kings Cards
Ultra traces its roots to 1991, a full two years before the Scoring Kings inserts would debut. That year, Fleer harnessed the hobby’s growing popularity to produce a novel brand that would print high-quality sets replete with inserts.
But with its 1993 debut, Scoring Kings quickly established its own reputation as a must-have item. And, like most things he touched during the course of his legendary career, the Michael Jordan Scoring Kings cards became the gold standard.
Let’s look a little closer at the ‘93 card.
1993 Ultra Scoring Kings #5 (The Original)
The first Michael Jordan Scoring Kings card produced was the 1993 #5, aka The Original. Inserts from this set were included in first series packs at a rate of 36 to 1. With ten cards in the set, one would need to open 360 packs to land just one Michal Jordan Scoring Kings insert from this year.
There’s so much to love about this card. The dark background is brought to life by a jolt of lightning, which must have been how Patrick Ewing felt underneath a Jordan dunk (captured in the 1992 Stadium Club #1 Members Only Jordan card).
The dark background really lets Jordan’s red bulls jersey pop. Add in a flair of silver lettering along the base, and this card is class-personified.
On the reverse side, you’ll see “X of 10” printed on the top right corner. This is not a serial number but refers to the card’s number among the Scoring Kings set (in Jordan’s case, #5).
Card prices for the ‘93 Scoring Kings Jordan insert spiked during the peak of the pandemic cards craze. Topping out at $21,600 for a card in PSA 10 Gem Mint condition in September 2021. The card’s value has come back down to earth since then, to between $12,000 and $14,000 in 2024.
1995 Ultra Scoring Kings #4
No Michael Jordan Scoring Kings inserts were printed in the 1994-95 Ultra set, likely because Jordan retired from basketball in October 1993. As a result, the next Scoring Kings insert to feature His Airness wouldn’t come out until 1995 (the year Jordan came back from his first retirement).
That year, Ultra upped the count to 12 cards in the Scoring Kings set, with Jordan taking #4. The cards were randomly inserted into one in every 24 series 2 hobby packs, meaning one would have to crack open 288 packs to land a Jordan insert.
In addition to the standard insert set, Ultra also released a “Hot Packs” variation of the Scoring Kings set. “Hot Packs” were packs that contained only inserts, essentially putting the insert-mania into overdrive.
The cards in the “Hot Packs” are the same as the standard Scoring Kings inserts, but came about one in 72 total packs. Additionally, cards belonging to the “Hot Packs” variation were stamped with a red “Hot Packs” seal on the front lower-left.
PSA has graded a total of 471 “Hot Packs” cards compared to just 232 non-“Hot Packs”; that’s about a 2 to 1 ratio. Regardless, there isn’t a substantial difference in the population count of the Gem Mint 10 grades handed out by PSA.
While the cards sell around the same price range in general, it’s hard to tell how a PSA 10 Gem Mint copy of each would do at auction today, head-to-head. One would think the “Hot Packs” version might have a lower valuation, as the seal takes away from the purity of the original card. It’s no more than a gimmicky distraction to a card loaded with questionable design decisions. Does this cheapen the overall product? The numbers aren’t that clear, but we think so.
1996 Ultra Scoring Kings #4 (Also Foil “Plus”)
In 1996, Fleer developed two different types of Scoring Kings inserts for this year: the base and “Plus” parallel.
The key difference between the cards’ layouts is one word: foil. While the base card has a standard print background, the “Plus” inserts have a gold foil-etched background. The design, on both front and back, was otherwise the same.
Another key difference is scarcity. As you might guess, the “Plus” parallel is substantially rarer than the base card (four times, to be exact). With 29 cards in the set, the base version was inserted at a rate of one in 24, meaning one would have to open 696 packs to land a Jordan base insert.
But the “Plus” foil insert was inserted at a rate of one in 96, meaning one would have to open 2,784 packs to stumble on a Michael Jordan Scoring Kings Plus insert.
2013 Fleer Retro Ultra Scoring Kings #18
In 2005, Fleer was sold to Upper Deck. Fortunately, UD kept Fleer’s iconic brands alive as best it could, including Skybox, Metal Universe, and the Scoring Kings inserts.
The only snag? By the end of the 2010s, Panini held the exclusive right to produce NBA-licensed cards. This meant any basketball cards printed by UD/Fleer would be devoid of team logos.
Nonetheless, in 2013, a new edition of Scoring Kings was printed under Fleer’s “Fleer Retro” brand. The lack of a license explains why the 2013 Scoring Kings insert features Michael Jordan not in his classic red and black Chicago Bulls uni, but rather the light blue and white North Carolina jersey.
With 20 cards total printed and pack odds at one in 60, one would have to open 1,200 packs to land one of these.
Comparing Values & Rarity
Below is a table of Michael Jordan Scoring Kings inserts organized by estimated value and PSA Mint and Gem Mint grades. As we’ll see, the ‘96 Plus Foil card tends to be the most valuable in Mint (or better) condition, with the Tar Heel jersey-clad Jordan card from 2013 among the least valuable.
Note: the estimated values are based on Card Ladder’s unique formula. Keep in mind the estimated value can miss the mark for cards that haven’t sold in a really long time. For example, an early pandemic sale like the ’96 Plus in PSA 10 could have an unreliable estimate given the card hasn’t sold in many years.
| Michael Jordan Scoring Kings Card | Value PSA 10 (Pop Count) | Value PSA 9 (Pop Count) | |
| 1993 Fleer Ultra #5 | $14,000 (97) | $1,745.80 (314) | |
| 1995 Fleer Ultra #4 | $4,629.63 (7) | $383.31 (32) | |
| 1995 Fleer Ultra #4 “Hot Packs” | $2,479.92 (10) | $383.98 (57) | |
| 1996 Fleer Ultra #4 | $11,680 (19) | $674.34 (65) | |
| 1996 Fleer Ultra #4 Plus (Foil) | $20,110 (6) | $3,014.46 (9) | |
| 2013 Fleer Retro #18 | $2,052.47 (2) | $1,551.33 (8) |
A few elements jump out almost immediately from this table. For starters, we see typical theories about scarcity’s relationship to value not always hold up: despite having the highest pop counts of any Jordan Scoring Kings card, the ’93 Original is one of the most valuable cards of the bunch.
The ’93 Jordan card holds significance as the starting point for the trend of Jordan Scoring Kings cards (one might even call it his “Rookie” Scoring Kings card), sparking a wave of exceptional cards in the hobby.
In the same breath, that ultra-rare Fleer Plus from ’96 isn’t just one of the hardest card to come by; it’s also the most valuable. Its most recent sale in Gem Mint condition came back in September 2020 for $11,877.
And now, estimated to be valued nearly twice that figure and with no additional Gem Mints having been graded in three years, the ’96 Plus appears to be a great buy-and-hold candidate (not investment advice, just reading the tea leaves!). A PSA 9 could also present a nice opportunity, though it’s certainly a sellers market, as evidenced in the chart below:
Finally, we get to the least valuable cards of the bunch: the 2013 Fleer Retro Scoring Kings. Despite smaller pop counts, the card isn’t as valuable as its ’90s counterparts if the estimated values prove to be correct. This is likely for two reasons. First, the card was produced in 2013, a time when Jordan had long since transitioned from NBA player to owner.
Second, the card is unlicensed, which often limits a card’s value potential. One important thing worth noting, however, is that the most recent recorded sale of a Gem Mint copy is all the way back in 2016 (publicly at least)! The card only sold for $305 — modest times, eh? We have a hunch this card would sell for substantially more than the estimated value provided by Card Ladder. If you’re wondering why, it’s because it’s only a population of two PSA 10’s, which is borderline impossible to come by.
Summary
Michael Jordan Scoring Kings cards have come to embody the elegance associated with the player depicted. There’s no doubt that Jordan was one of basketball’s best scorers. Thus, it’s only fitting that he’s honored with a card befitting such status.
While not every Scoring Kings card was as polished as the ‘93 Original or ‘96 Plus, each carries substantial value, especially in Gem Mint condition.
Have a favorite Jordan Scoring Kings card? Let us know in the comments. And if you think any other Jordan inserts are worth a shout, drop us a note below.