To set the scene: when I arrived at the show, the baseball bins from the main dealer I gravitate to were pretty full with people. To bide my time, I half-heartedly got a stack going from his football dimebox, but ended up abandoning it when the two guys beside me were getting a little annoying.
So I inched closer to the baseball area, waiting for a spot to open up, and my attention was grabbed by some sweet vintage front and center in the basketball 50¢ section.
So many Larry Bird rookies for 50 cents each! (1980-81 Topps Basketball is a weird set with each card being 3 attached minis with various player combinations.) Sure, none are the most desirable version shared with Magic Johnson, but still! 50 cents! Not reprints! Vintage! I don't need all of these. I'll probably Listia off the extras, but if any of you out there want one, let me know about a trade.
A couple early "Pistol Pete" Maravich cards. That fantastic Dr. J is an All-Star card from his rookie year. The Wilt is great too, though I believe I already have it, so it's also available for trade. The 1987-88 Fleer Magic and Bird ain't too shabby either.
A bunch of Bill Bradley cards (with a dupe available for trade). Keith Wilkes rookie card (a.k.a. Jamaal Abdul-Lateef). Bob McAdoo rookie card. LL card with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, and John Havlicek. Some damn fine cards there.
I'd be remiss if I didn't show a few backs of these cards so you can enjoy the cartoons:
Gotta love vintage cardboard.
So yeah, quite an impressive haul for 50¢ a pop. Turns out the baseball section being full was a blessing in disguise, since otherwise I would never have stumbled upon these screaming deals. I'm not a huge basketball collector by any means, but I do like to have a well-rounded card collection with a bit of everything, and these cards definitely bolster the basketball portion of my collection nicely. (That said, I'd be willing to listen to trade offers for most of these; really only the Dr. J card is untouchable.)
Back to baseball tomorrow.
Those are all real great (yup, gotta love vintage !), and some cards (Maravich) are a real steal at .50ct each ! well done !
ReplyDeleteWow, that's one terrible photo of Keith Wilkes.
ReplyDeleteI've recently given some thought to starting a "type collection" of different Topps basketball sets... these cards are pushing me a little more into that direction.
I'd definitely be interested in any one of the Bird cards that you'd be willing to trade, and I really like the '71 Maravich. If you're interested in setting up a trade, please email me at tim dot trisomenc at gmail dot com. Thanks. GREAT finds!
ReplyDeleteWow! Great cards! I don't do much basketball, but I'm interested in trading for the Maravich cards. Looks like Tim B. beat me to the punch, but if that doesn't work out let me know. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. Any time you can find 1980-81 Topps for 50 cents is a good day. I have NEVER found any of the for under $5. Let alone 50 cents! It looks like they were never even bent along the perforations, either! I'm jealous now, honestly.
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff! I am starting vintage Knicks collection and would be interested in the Bradley double. Please let me know what you need for it. Thanks.
ReplyDelete