CSG Proudly Presents The Locker Room Collection of 1990s Chicago Bulls Cards

Recently, Certified Sports Guaranty® (CSG®) had the privilege of certifying the authenticity and provenance of a special cache of player-issued basketball cards known as The Locker Room Collection. CSG is currently grading thousands of cards from the collection, which card companies Topps and Upper Deck sent to Chicago Bulls players in the 1990s, with the intention of the players handing the cards out to children. Below is the first group graded, which are also featured in a gallery that will include all of the cards once grading is complete.

The Locker Room Collection includes cards of some of the most notable players of the era, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, among others from the legendary team's six NBA championship wins. With letters from the card manufacturers, CSG was able to establish the provenance of the cards, and created a special pedigree label, which includes the quantity of each card and pedigree: "The Locker Room Collection."

Of course, any cards of Jordan — arguably the greatest basketball player of all time — will garner interest from the collecting community. One of the highlights of the collection is a 1996-97 Topps Finest #127 Michael Jordan w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 22 graded CSG 9.5. This particular card was part of the Topps Finest Series 1 subset called Maestros. It shows Jordan aggressively dunking the basketball with a dark background and a silver border on a premium chromium cardstock. While bronze cards were considered common, cards with the silver border were uncommon and only found in one out of every four packs opened.

1996-97 Topps Finest #127 Michael Jordan w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 22 graded CSG 9.5 Click images to enlarge.

Other standouts include four Jordan cards from the 1996-97 Topps Stars series, which was created to commemorate the NBA's 50th Anniversary. The set contains the league's selected roster of the 50 greatest players in NBA history up to that point in the mid-1990s. Each NBA great has three cards in the main set, plus rookie reprints and parallels. The Locker Room Collection has numerous examples of all three of Jordan's main set entries and his 1984-85 rookie card reprint.

The first Jordan card in the anniversary set is the 1996-97 Topps Stars #24 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 23 graded CSG Gem Mint 10. The card features a simple design with the player's name in the top right and the Topps Stars logo in the bottom right. There are no borders, so the clean design allows the image of Jordan driving to the basket in his popular black and red pinstripe Bulls jersey to be the main focus of the card.

1996-97 Topps Stars #24 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 23 graded CSG Gem Mint 10 Click images to enlarge.

Next, the anniversary set has a "Golden Season" card honoring Jordan's 1990-91 season when he won his first of six NBA championships. The 1996-97 Topps Stars #74 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 10 graded CSG Gem Mint 10 shows an image of Jordan dribbling the ball in his red Bulls jersey and features a "Golden Season" border running down the left side of the card from top to bottom.

1996-97 Topps Stars #74 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 10 graded CSG Gem Mint 10 Click images to enlarge.

The third main set card is the 1996-97 Topps Stars #124 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 26 graded CSG Gem Mint 10, which is similar to the #24 card. It also features a full-card image of Jordan with no borders, except the 5-time NBA MVP is seen dribbling past a defender while wearing the Bulls' pinstripe jersey.

1996-97 Topps Stars #124 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 26 graded CSG Gem Mint 10 Click images to enlarge.

The anniversary set also features Star rookie reprints, which for Jordan is the 1984-85 Star #101. The 1996-97 Topps Stars Reprints #24 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 41 graded CSG Gem Mint 10 is an exact replica of the popular rookie card showing No. 23 wearing his cursive 'Chicago' jersey worn during his debut season.

1996-97 Topps Stars Reprints #24 Michael Jordan - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 41 graded CSG Gem Mint 10 Click images to enlarge.

Jordan wasn't the only NBA superstar on the Chicago Bulls during their dominant run in the '90s. The player-issued collection also included some great cards of forwards Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

Similar to the Topps Finest Maestros card of Jordan, the 1996-97 Topps Finest #133 Scottie Pippen w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 23 graded CSG 9.5 is another standout of this special cache of cards. It was also included in Series 1 as part of the Sterling subset. It has a gold border, which is the rarest version of the cards in the series, with only one discovered per box.

1996-97 Topps Finest #133 Scottie Pippen w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 23 graded CSG 9.5 Click images to enlarge.

Another Pippen card in the collection is a 1995-96 Topps #45 Scottie Pippen - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 17 graded CSG 9. This is an additional card with a straightforward design that features an image of Pippen driving to the basket within a simple white border. The player's name, team and position sit at the bottom in a modern stylized font, with the Topps logo in the upper right corner.

1995-96 Topps #45 Scottie Pippen - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 17 graded CSG 9 Click images to enlarge.

In addition to the Jordan and Pippen cards, eclectic All-Star Dennis Rodman is also included in the collection. Similar to previous Topps Finest cards in the list, Rodman has some great examples that were released within the subsets of Series 1.

The 1996-97 Topps Finest #145 Dennis Rodman w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 25 graded CSG 9.5 is another great card from Series 1 of the set. It's part of the Gladiators subset and is encased in a gold border, making it one of the rarer cards in the series.

1996-97 Topps Finest #145 Dennis Rodman w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 25 graded CSG 9.5 Click images to enlarge.

Additionally, Rodman has another Topps Finest card from Series 1, which is a more common card with a bronze border that is part of the Sterling subset. The 1996-97 Topps Finest #5 Dennis Rodman w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 25 graded CSG 9.5 is another premium card featuring Rodman in between plays in a game while wearing the Chicago Bulls' white jersey.

1996-97 Topps Finest #5 Dennis Rodman w/ Coating - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 25 graded CSG 9.5 Click images to enlarge.

"The Worm" also has a unique Topps Stadium Club card that is part of the collection. The 1996-97 Stadium Club #130 Dennis Rodman - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 25 graded CSG 9.5 features a horizontal image of the defender doing what he did best — rebounding the basketball. The card shows Rodman mid-air bringing in another rebound, with his name at the bottom in a text bubble and a gold Stadium Club logo in the lower left corner.

1996-97 Stadium Club #130 Dennis Rodman - The Locker Room Collection 1 of 25 graded CSG 9.5 Click images to enlarge.

The Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan with the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. He immediately helped turn around one of the worst teams in the league as Jordan quickly became a household name. While he and his teammates struggled to progress in the playoffs, their fortunes changed in 1987 when the Bulls made a draft day trade for Scottie Pippen. The dynamic duo of Jordan and Pippen would go on to win three NBA titles in a row from 1991 to 1993.

Following his first retirement to play baseball, Jordan returned to the Bulls in 1995. The team also traded for Dennis Rodman prior to the 1995-96 season. By the next season, the trio of stars led the Bulls to a fourth NBA championship on their way to another three titles in a row from 1996 to 1998. With six titles in eight years, the Bulls were truly one of the greatest dynasties ever in the NBA, and The Locker Room Collection contains a small piece of their historic legacy.

Related Links:

• The Locker Room Collection Gallery
• The Dynasty Collection™
• CSG Registry: Michael Jordan Player Sets
• CSG Registry: Scottie Pippen Player Sets
• CSG Registry: Dennis Rodman Player Sets