Vintage card showcase
 

Hanxter's thread inspired me to do yet another topic regarding collecting. Only this time I want you all to get involved! This is our chance to showcase any of our vintage sports cards. If you have a story for 'em, tell us! If not, still show 'em off! If you collect, be proud of it and let us all know! :) I'll start off with a few highlights from my vintage collection. Since I'm all about basketball, that's all I'll be posting, but feel free to post cards from any sport.

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/1.jpg
1957-58 Topps Card #54 Earl Lloyd Rookie Card. Beckett value: $50.00
Earl Lloyd was the very first African American to play in the NBA. I picked this up off of eBay for about $40.00.

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/2.jpg
1969-70 Topps Card #25 Lew Alcindor Rookie Card. Beckett value: $400.00.
In case you didn't know, Lew Alcindor is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's "slave name," which was given to him before he became a muslim. He played for good ol' UCLA and is one of the best Lakers centers along with George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Shaquille O'Neal.

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/3.jpg
1969-70 Topps Card #20 John Havlicek Rookie Card. Beckett value: $150.00.
I don't know too much about "Hondo" myself, but my dad remembers him as one of the greatest Celtics of all time, along with Bill Russel, Bob Cousy, K.C. Jones, and Bill Sharman (this was waaay before Larry Bird or Paul Pierce).

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/4.jpg
1970-71 Topps Card #123 Pete Maravich Rookie Card. Beckett value: $250.00.
Good ol' Pistol Pete! I devoted an entire thread to him and this card. See if you can find it! :)

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/5.jpg
1972-73 Topps Card #195 Julius Erving Rookie Card. Beckett value: $200.00.
C'mon now. You HAVE to know who Dr. J is! He was Jordan before there was a Jordan! He brought style and flash to the NBA, and mixed it up with great ball-play at the same time.

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/6.jpg
1986-87 Fleer Card #121 Dominique Wilkins Rookie Card. Beckett value: $25.00.
'Nique was one of the greatest dunkers and scorers of all time. It wasn't until recently that I found out he actually played for my team, the Los Angeles Clippers, for a portion of a year and scored 30+ points per game during that short run. The current slam dunk champion, Josh Smith (a rookie out of high school), paid tribute to Wilkins by donning his old-school throwback jersey and performing his trademark windmill slam.

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/7.jpg
1988-89 Fleer Card #115 John Stockton Rookie Card. Beckett value: $25.00.
The Utah Jazz recently retired Stockton's jersey #. He is known by many as the greatest pure point guard of all time. He could score, play defense, make plays, and BOY could he pass! He is the all-time leader in assists, and was my favorite player throughout his time in the NBA.

http://www.gamesandbkbcards.com/TFPcards/031005/8.jpg
1988-89 Fleer Card #57 Reggie Miller Rookie Card. Beckett value: $25.00.
This is Reggie's last year in the NBA, and he has spent his entire career with the Indiana Pacers. He never won a championship, but he sure came close. He will be known as the most prolific three-point shooter of all time for quite some time...until Peja Stojakovic retires that is! :lol: We'll miss you, Reggie.

Ok, nevermind...

/me runs off into his nerd closet to hide.

Dr J. was the man in the NBA. I remember as a kid dad taking me to see Dr. J play at the Coluseum in Cleveland (Richfield) to play the Cavs. IT was business for dad as some boss and his family took ours out.

Don't remember much but I came away as a huge Dr. J fan and have been since. Never a big NBA fan but I have been a fan of some players and he will always be my favorite..... then Bird and Lebron.

I didn't see this thread back on the 10th, but real cool man. Nice collection you got there.

I am not trying to be particular, but while reading all your descriptions, some of the years and rookie status didn't seem to match up. For example, Stockton's rookie year was 84-85, but his card is 88-89. Same thing with Dominique, 82-83 was his rookie year, but his card is 86-87.

Perhaps a typo? Maybe another reason (both rookie cards were 4 years after)?

You are correct about Stockton and Dominique's rookie seasons, but the rough definition of a rookie card is the first card printed of a specific player. The definition has recently expanded to the first card printed of a specific player by an accepted professional manufacturer (So companies like SAGE and HIT, who overproduce their cards and only consist of rookies, don't lower the value of rookie cards).

Fleer didn't start producing basketball cards until the 1986-87 season, which is why Dominique's rookie card is '86-'87. For some reason, they didn't make any cards of John Stockton until '88-'89, so his card from that year is his rookie card. Cards from older years were all produced by Bowman and Topps (Bowman is now owned by Topps). Bowman only had one year with basketball, which was 1948 (the set with George Mikan's RC, which has a Beckett Value of $2,500.00!). After that, Topps started up in '57-'58 (Earl Lloyd was a rookie in 1950, but his rookie card is from this set). Their next season wasn't until '61-'62, and after that it was '69-'70 (which is why Havlicek, who was drafted in 1962, has a rookie card from that season).

It's all confusing until you look at the chronology of set production. Fleer was the company that started the ongoing, year-by-year production of basketball cards, while Topps was busy with baseball. Hoops didn't start until '89-'90, and Skybox didn't start until '90-'91. Both companies are now owned by Fleer. Upper Deck, which is the current industry standard for basketball (primarily because LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett can only sign autographs for them due to lucrative contracts) didn't start producing basketball cards until '91-'92.

One more tidbit: Topps' last year in basketball was 1981-82, until they started back up again in 1992-93 after an 11 year hiatus in basketball.

Wow, what a thorough explanation :thumbsup:

Thanks dude