[Bored5000]

You may be right that the surge in prices of the Jordan Star 101 is just price manipulation (or a PWCC phenomenon). I know the shilling/price manipulation charge has been leveled against the stratospheric rise in prices of some of the rare '90s Jordan inserts from a few years ago.

But I also think the prices of the Star 101 are finally catching up to where they should be relative to how "rare" that card is. I know the card is not rare compared to most pre-war cards, but that is still an iconic card, debatedly his true rookie card. It doesn't sell anywhere close to prices of high grade iconic cards of Ruth and Mantle. PSA alone has graded nearly three time as many '52T Mantles as total Jordan Star 101s have been graded, and look what has happened to the prices of '52T Mantles over the past 2-3 years.

IMO, the Jordan Star 101 has moved more to where is should be price-wise compared to his 86 Fleer card. PSA alone has graded over 14,000 'Jordan '86 Fleers (including 233 PSA 10s) compared to 452 total Jordan Star 101s graded by Beckett.

To me, the really crazy thing is that the 1997 Topps refractor reprints of the Jordan Star 101 card routinely sell for $200-250 at auction.

I get the point you are making. It is kind of amazing where the Jordan Star 101 has gone lately price wise. It may indeed all be manipulation. But the sold listings at $12-14,000 on eBay in recent months for 8.5s have all been BINs. I dunno, maybe the auction price for that card really is $20K right now in a Beckett 8.5.