Amid the record sales and more frequent appearances of Michael Jordan 1984 Star cards in recent months, there have been high watermarks set at nearly every grade.
A PSA 7.5 example sold for $93,000 over the weekend at Robert Edward Auctions, a record for the grade. The previous high was $34,066, set in September 2022. The last comparable sale came in August 2023, when a copy sold for a little less than $25,000 via PWCC (now Fanatics Premier).
The most recent example to set a record at its grade, it’s also one of the last in a PSA slab to appear for auction in the past year, with nearly every other grade selling publicly in the past few months.
From PSA 3 to PSA 9, here are the most recent record sales:
- PSA 9: More than $1 million in a private sale in September 2024
- PSA 8: $244,000 at Goldin in September 2024
- PSA 7: $68,320 at Goldin in September 2024
- PSA 6.5: $52,460 at Goldin in September 2024
- PSA 6: $55,498 at Memory Lane in September 2024
- PSA 5: $26,962 at Goldin in September 2024
- PSA 4: $20,000 on eBay in August 2024
- PSA 3: $20,740 at Goldin in September 2024
The list above doesn't even count records set for signed examples or copies in BGS slabs. But the trend is quite clear: In nearly every grade, there have been record sales recorded in the last month or two alone.
Looking only at PSA slabs, the population report shows 389 total cards graded. As seen above, regardless of the rarity of the card in each grade, ranging from three PSA 9s to 104 PSA 7s, these cards have transacted recently multiple times.
Few examples in high grade appear to have remained in the hands of collectors unwilling to part with them via public sales, such as PSA 8.5 examples. PSA has assigned 8.5 grades to just three copies in its census, the most recent of which sold publicly over a year ago, when Goldin sold one for $144,000 in September 2023. None have sold since, according to CardLadder.
The PSA 7.5 sale, while a record for its grade, is not indicative of much considering how much the market has changed since it last sold. At the time of the previous comparable sale in August 2023, the record for a PSA 7 was $31,666 (August 2022). Today, that record is more than double.
The high-water mark for a PSA 8 was $158,400, sold in March 2021. That record has since ballooned to $244,000.
Considering half-grades in PSA slabs are rarer and more unpredictable than standard full number grades — after all, the record for a 6.5 is lower than a 6 — it’s difficult to derive much sense from a one-off sale here.
However, it is worth noting this sale is not only higher than any sale recorded for a lower grade, but actually fetched a premium of more than 35%.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.