The 1985 Star Gatorade Slam Dunk set was built around the one thing early Jordan did that stopped a room — the leap. Tied to the era's slam dunk showcase, it is a rookie-year Star issue that puts him where the hobby's imagination always placed him: above the rim, in mid-air, the picture of what made him a phenomenon before he had won anything.

Among collectors it has become one of the more sought-after of the Star subsets, and for good reason. It captures the athlete at his most electric, from the same scarce Star family as his rookie, and there is no version of the complete early-Jordan story that leaves it out.

Rookie-year Jordan, caught in the air — the card that shows the thing that made his name.

The Slam Dunk cards were made in the same small, polybag-distributed quantities as everything Star produced, so a clean, well-centered example is a real find and the reason strong copies are chased. It is a card about flight, from the season the flight began.