This is where the modern grail begins. In 1997, Fleer introduced the Masterpiece — a single one-of-one version of each card in the set — and in doing so invented the idea that would come to define high-end collecting: ultimate, absolute scarcity. The Jordan, card 23P, was the first true one-of-one ever made of him.

Not one of ten, or one of a hundred. One. The only copy in existence — the literal origin point of the chase for the rarest possible card of the most coveted player there is.

The first one-of-one Jordan ever made — the card that invented the category.

Its place in the record books is settled: when it crossed the block at Heritage in early 2026, it brought $2.1 million, a result we tracked in our Notable Sales. There is no rarer Jordan by definition, and no card with a better claim to having started the modern grail era.