I spent the last week or so rewatching the Last Dance, the ultimate documentary chronicling the history of Michael Jordan’s Bulls. It’s easily the greatest piece of basketball nostalgia for my generation. So much so that it got me thinking back to my childhood and the Michael Jordan paraphernalia that I owned, but was lost to time. I didn’t have a lot, a few cards, magazines, and collector’s cups. Oddly, the most significant piece of memorabilia that sticks out is a poster that came with a box of Wheaties. It was one of a set of three that made one big poster if you had them all. My mother bought several boxes of Wheaties while these posters were included, but I always kept pulling the same one of Jordan shooting a free throw on one side and his torso on the other side, so I was never able to complete the set. The good news is that I was able to easily track them down on eBay.
Quick tangent: It’s always interesting going through eBay listings and seeing what people are asking for the same item. A complete set of these posters ranged anywhere from $8 to $100. As far as I can tell, the more expensive listings were just as good as those priced lower. I mean, I know they’re from 1989 and could be classified as vintage, but Wheaties must have made millions of copies of these posters. They aren’t rare, as demonstrated by the number of listings I found.
Anyhow, after wrapping up my purchase (total cost: $9.71), I wondered what I would do with them. I’ve collected a fair amount of sports memorabilia over the years, a lot of which is just tucked away in boxes. I don’t have a designated man cave in my house, or even an office, so I’m limited on where I can display everything. There isn’t an obvious place in my house to hang three soon-to-be framed posters of Michael Jordan. My wife would certainly have an opinion about hanging them in our living room and she’d REALLY have an opinion if I suggested they be hung in our bedroom.
They arrived in the mail less than a week later. As I pulled them from the envelope to take a look, I immediately noticed one minor but very important detail in these posters that I missed as a kid:
Each poster is marked A, B, or C! And it’s on the outside of the packaging so you KNOW which poster you were getting when you picked up the box! I could have saved weeks, maybe months of disappointment if six-year-old me noticed this detail and could have said “Hey mom! When you go grocery shopping tomorrow, would you get a box of Wheaties that has the Michael Jordan C poster?” Alas, six-year-old me was not astute enough to see this and was left with enough B posters to fill a suitcase.
As if that wasn’t enough to torment six year old me, I also noticed this:
The fine print gave you an option to purchase the posters you couldn’t find for $2.00 apiece! General Mills went well out of their way to accommodate kids who wanted a complete set of the posters and I missed both! Side note: I’m half tempted to send in a 3×5 card with my info and a $2.00 check to see what happens.
Anyhow, I’m not going to let that ruin what is a very exciting eBay purchase. A few other things I noticed: 1. They seem bigger than I remember. 2. The super poster is HUGE.
I also attempted to find out which game the picture on the big poster was from. I also attempted to find out which game the picture on the big poster was from. Based on the partial logo in the lower right and the fact that it appears to be a national TV game, I think it’s from the Knicks/Bulls second-round playoff series during the 1989 playoffs. Maybe one day when I have more time, I’ll watch the whole series and see if I can find the moment the picture was taken.
I’m torn between displaying the three smaller posters or the super poster, but it’s a win-win either way.
The Shorts 