How Upper Deck made record-setting Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant Logoman card
Bubby Johanson can still recall one of the first products he worked on as a newly-hired employee at The Upper Deck Company: 2007-08 Exquisite Collection.
As a product development manager, it was Johanson’s job to piece together a fascinating checklist for the high-end basketball product.
“I tried to make sure the popular players and trends were represented in terms of popularity and collectability,” Johanson told SCD. “Jordan and Kobe checked both these boxes.”
Johanson remembers that comparisons between retired NBA icon Michael Jordan and current superstar Kobe Bryant were everywhere in 2007. Pairing those two basketball legends on the same card was a logical choice.
“Plus, they were two of Upper Deck’s key exclusive spokesmen, so I wanted to celebrate this as well,” Johanson said. “I also knew that we had one of Jordan’s jerseys that contained a gold Logoman patch. I believe this was celebrating the NBA’s 50th anniversary. I thought it would be cool on this card. Little did I know how cool.”
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Johanson followed through on his idea and created a spectacular 1-of-1 Dual Logoman Autographs card of Jordan and Bryant. It was the first and only time the duo appeared on the same card. Almost two decades later, that Jordan-Bryant card eclipsed the all-time record price for a sports trading card, fetching $12,932,000 through Heritage Auctions on Aug. 24.
“There are times when I would be putting together checklists and pairings knowing that a specific card would be more coveted to collectors than others, but never to the tune of $13 million,” said Johanson, who still works at Upper Deck as a senior director of game development. “I constantly tell my team that the things we create at Upper Deck sometimes have a positive and profound effect on people that we can never predict. This is definitely one of those occasions.”
According to Johanson, the Dual Logoman Autograph card was a concept created by Upper Deck’s product manager, with its first year being the 2003-04 Exquisite release.
“Its popularity caused this insert to continue year after year through the 2008-09 Exquisite release,” Johanson said. “Every year a new card design for the insert was created by our graphic design team and themed around the core aesthetic of that year’s Exquisite release.”
The checklist for the Dual Logoman Autograph cards ranged from between 40-60 pairings of players. It consisted of combining key veterans and rookies of that year and extending to the NBA legends that could pair with those players.
“The 2007-08 release is the only time that we paired Jordan with Kobe on this concept,” Johanson said. “There are a few others throughout the years of Exquisite that contain Jordan and Kobe paired with other players, but this combo is unique.”
The card concept and design for the 2007-08 Exquisite Collection were finalized prior to selecting the pairings.
Since Jordan and Bryant were under exclusive trading card autograph contracts with Upper Deck, getting both players to provide on-card autographs wasn’t an issue. However, Jordan needed to approve every player that was on the same card as him.
“Once this pairing was approved, the cards were printed, assembled, and included to be part of the private signings that we had set up with each of them,” Johanson said. “These signings included all the trading cards and memorabilia pieces that we needed autographed during that session.”
According to Upper Deck President Jason Masherah, who was an NBA brand manager when the 2007-08 Exquisite Collection set was released, the Exquisite Collection cards were hand-packed to make sure all the Logoman cards made it into the product.
“Anytime that you have a 1-of-1 card, there is a chance that it gets damaged and cannot be included in the product,” Masherah said. “With both Jordan and Kobe, however, our talent relations team always takes special care of signings that involve our spokespeople. I had the highest confidence that this was going to make the product.”