The problem is that things started shifting before the patch. We don’t know how many shields are out there, but it was the increased effort to sell off old inventory that put it on people’s radar. It could have a normal explanation (returning players, for example,) but in light of the new Mystic Forge recipes, it definitely looks suspicious.
This definitely seems to be the case. It would be a large coincidence that 1500 shields were dumped like never before, just prior to such a drastic change being released for this specific item.
A question for the community/devs: If a dev is giving this info out to their friends online, is that breaking any rules? I know who is dumping the shields and he made a ton of money doing this, not to mention the money saved by dodging the potential crash from the MF loot table changes.