Ask a lot of longtime collectors which Jordan they'd actually hang on the wall, and a surprising number say this one. The 1987-88 Fleer #59 — his second-year card, the red, white, and blue border framing Jordan rising for a jumper — is, purely as an object, one of the best-looking cards he ever appeared on.

It will never carry the rookie's title, and it doesn't try to. What it offers is the same early-Jordan era and a more striking design, at a fraction of the rookie's cost — which is why its market has been climbing steadily while no one was looking.

Never the rookie. Often the better-looking card — and a PSA 10 that keeps rising.

Like everything from the era, condition is the whole game. The colored borders show every nick and the centering wanders, so gem copies are genuinely tough. A PSA 10 #59 has quietly become one of the more talked-about Jordans in the hobby.