One of the two 1984-85 Star Company Michael Jordan cards graded BGS 9.5 Gem Mint has been listed on eBay and after only a few days online, bidding has already topped $115,000.
The other BGS 9.5 sold in March of 2015 for $52,000, at the time a record price for a Star Company Jordan card. The card currently up for auction was graded sometime after that sale.
The Star Company cards, issued two years before Jordan’s “official” 1986-87 Fleer rookie card, have been attracting more interest in recent years with prices climbing upward. Star Company was the NBA’s trading card licensee from 1983-85 but distributed its sets primarily through hobby channels and team promotions.
Beckett has graded only 523 Jordan cards from the 1984-85 Star Company basketball set. By contrast, PSA alone has graded more than 16,000 Fleer Jordan cards with 264 Gem Mint 10s.
For years, collectors have debated which card is more desirable. The Star Company is a ‘true’ rookie card, distributed during his first NBA season but because the cards weren’t widely available to the public as a whole, they’ve been dismissed by some who consider them more of a novelty. Recent sales prices of Star Company Jordan rookies would seem to indicate that current collectors are more accepting.
A BGS 8.5 Jordan sold in September for $15,100. Another is currently offered for $13,900 while a few graded 8 and below are also listed.
The auction for the 9.5 is scheduled to close Sunday, October 30.
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