Basketball Cards – Page 4

From Sketches to Collections: The 1969 Topps Basketball Rulers

September 11, 2024 by John

I’ve noticed a surge in interest around the 1969 Topps basketball rulers lately. There are more collectors, increased sales, and a growing enthusiasm for the first basketball card inserts. In this article, I’ll provide a quick overview of the 1969 Topps basketball rulers, highlight a few notable sales, delve into the story behind the original line art for the set auctioned at the famous Guernsey’s Topps Auction, and what it reveals about the set’s composition, particularly the intriguing missing ruler #5. I’ll wrap up by showcasing some incredible photos from the collection where many of those original pen and ink drawings ended up.

1969 Topps Basketball Rulers 101

These 2-1/2″ x 9-7/8′ Topps basketball brightly colored cartoon drawings were printed on a paper-like perishable product, folded, and inserted in 1969 Topps basketball packs (one each). However, that year, Topps advertised them as Super-Star Pin-Ups on the wrapper and box.

But the insert makes it clear why the hobby renamed them ‘rulers.’

Every blank-backed color ruler displays a caricature of the subject to the right of a standard ruler, accompanied by an arrow indicating their height, extending from the player’s depicted height to the ruler. The player’s name and team are in an oval near the top or bottom of the card.

The insert number (of 24) and copyright information are printed in small black text along the bottom right-hand side.

1969 Topps Rulers #10 Lew Alcindor Copy Right and Number

Despite the numbering of 24, the set only has 23 cards. #5 was never released, but we will talk about that later when we cover the original line art. One of the reasons the set is so popular, beyond the bright colors and unique design, is that it’s got huge star power. Twenty of the 23 players are Basketball Hall of Famers. Plus, the cards are relatively scarce; Topps never printed basketball cards as massively as they did baseball – PSA has only grade 3658 1969 Topps Rulers with the most for Lew Alcindor with 360.

Given the folds and paper stock used, ultra-high-grade copies are scarce; there are only 49 PSA 10s and 179 PSA 9s, leading to some really high sales prices.

Before the hobby boom and the set’s resurgence, Robert Edward Auctions sold a complete set in March 2019, advertised as #2 on the PSA Set Registry (8.91 GPA) for $7200. It included nine Gem Mint 10 examples, ten Mint 9s, and four Nm-Mt 8s.

More recently, in September 2023, Memory Lane Inc. sold the #11 set on the registry (6.04 GPA) for $8065. It had just three PSA 8s to go with seven 6s, ten 5s, one 4, and two 3s.

These individual sales exhibit the set’s recent growth in popularity and price:

A PSA 9 Billy Cunningham sold for $2500 in September 2023.
A PSA 9 Gus Johnson sold for $2000 in September 2023.
A PSA 5 Jerry West sold for $1525 in April 2023.
A PSA 8 John Havlicek sold for $528 in March 2023.
A PSA 8 Lew Alcindor sold for $4150 in February 2023.
A PSA 10 Lew Alcindor sold for $9600 in January 2022.
A PSA 10 Gail Goodrich sold for $1560 in January 2022.

Even raw lower-grade lots of cards, without the super-stars, sell for $20-$50/card.

1969 Topps Basketball Rulers Original Line Art

I mentioned earlier that despite the cards being marked ‘of 24,’ only 23 different rulers are on the market. The hobby learned why in 1989 when Guernsey’s auctioned off a lot of the original line art in their famous Topps Auction – they mislabeled them as pen and ink drawings used for the height scales on the backs of 1958 basketball cards.

1969 Topps Rulers Pen and Ink Drawings – Guernsey’s Catalog Page 120

1969 Topps Rulers Pen and Ink Drawings – Guernsey’s Catalog Page 121

The auction included 23 pen and ink drawings, but you might notice a few peculiarities. First, the original card artwork for #12 Nate Thurmond and #13 Hal Greer weren’t included. However, those surfaced in late 2020 when REA auctioned off the pair for $3360.

1969 Topps Rulers Pen and Ink Drawings – Gear and Thurmond

The other interesting thing is the inclusion of Celtic legend Bill Russell and 5x All-Star Rudy Larusso (spelled Carruso on the auction page). The Topps Archives believes because the NBA and Topps knew the 1969-70 Topps season would be Russell’s last, and the decision to make a 1969-70 basketball set was made at some point after Russell’s retirement but before Larusso’s on October 1st, Topps likely intended for Larusso to be the 5th card in the set. He added that it’s also possible Alcindor was swapped in for Russell, and Larusso’s retirement caught them off-guard. The “Carruso” sold for $100 in 1989, and the Russell went for $2250. The Topps Archives shared that Bill Schonsheck bought the Russell and many other pieces in 1989, which brings me to where much of this art is now.

1969 Topps Basketball Rulers Original Line Art Today

PSA wrote an article about the 1969 Topps Rulers in March 2011 and included a few quotes from Christopher Sanchirico, a business partner of Bill Schonsheck. They reported that Sanchirico owns the Larusso artwork and that, over the past 20 years, had acquired the artwork for 15 of the 25 players that Topps had drawings for. When you check out Sanchirico’s collection online, you can see many original pieces of artwork framed with released rulers! However, it looks like some items from his collection have been popping up for sale recently.

1969 Topps Rulers Lou Hudson – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers Gail Goodrich – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers Walt Bellamy – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers Wilt Chamberlain – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers John Havlicek – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers Jerry West – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers Oscar Robertson – Line Art and Cards

1969 Topps Rulers Bill Russell – Framed Line Art

Wrap-Up

The 1969 Topps Basketball Rulers are an incredible vintage basketball insert set appreciated today for its star power, scarcity, and fantastic design. The cards also display incredibly well; I ran across this framed example and got major hobby envy!

Calvin Murphy and Fran Tarkenton Topps Prototype Cards

September 10, 2024 by John

I ran across these circa 1970 Calvin Murphy and Fran Tarkenton “prototype” cards in Ron Oser Enterprises’ April 2000 auction catalog.

I’m unsure what to make of these items; the lot’s description explained that they appeared to be Topps prototype cards that were never issued.

The basketball card features Calvin Murphy of the San Diego Rockets, who moved to Houston before the 1971/72 season started. The writer said the style and size of the card were similar to those of the 1969/70 and 1970/71 Topps issues.

The football card features Fran Tarkenton as a New York Giants player, where he played from 1967-1971.

Both cards were still adhered to the original artist board and were described as being in perfect condition.

Let me know if you know anything about these items.

1970 Topps Basketball Full Uncut Sheet With Three Maravich Rookies

January 20, 2025August 29, 2024 by John

Here’s another historic hoops item: a 1970/71 Topps basketball uncut sheet.

This one features three Pete Maravich rookies, and when it was sold in 2008 by Mastro Auctions, it was the only known example (I’m unsure if this is still true; there are definitely some partial sheets).

The sheet contains 99 fully printed Topps Tall Boy basketball cards from 1970/71 in a 9 x 11 card arrangement. On top of the three Maravich cards are thee each for West, Frazier, Robertson (AS), Baylor (AS), Havlicek (AS), and Cunningham.

Despite some surface creasing and minor issues around the periphery, the sheet was described as being in excellent condition.

The sheet was actually sold by Huggins and Scott Auctions in October 2007 for $4600 before making its way into Mastro’s a few months later.

I suspect the copy from Christopher Sanchirico’s collection is the same one.

And that sheet appears to be for sale on eBay (in May 2024) for $250k.

You can read more about the 1970 Topps Basketball set’s uncut sheets on one of my favorite hobby blogs, The Topps Archives.

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

The Condition Sensitive 1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird Card

August 28, 2024 by John

When you ask a collector to name a Larry Bird card, odds are they will either mention the 1980 Topps Bird, Erving, Johnson triple, or his 1986 Fleer card since they’re two of the most expensive. But collectors who tackle multiple basketball sets will tell you what a tough find a nice 1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird is.

It’s widely accepted that the 1987 Fleer set was printed in significantly lower quantities than its 1986 Fleer predecessor. So that already limits the population of Larry’s card in what is a pretty popular set. Then, when you inspect the population report, you will find that the card is super tough to find in high-grade condition.

Of 3075 graded (August 2024), there are only 33 10s (387 9s and 1195 8s). Less than 1% of Bird’s 1987 Fleer cards are Gem Mt 10s. When you compare that to other cards in the set with over 1k regular grades, you can see that only Barkley has a (slightly) more difficult hit rate with PSA 10s. However, the Bird is slightly tougher when combining PSA 9 and 10 populations.

25/3000+ Barkley’s have graded PSA 10, 46/2000+ Ewing’s, 58/3200+ Johnson’s, 215/19500+ Jordan’s, 153/2400+ Malone’s, and 40/3000+ Olajuwon cards.

The Larry Bird is such a tough grade because so many copies have poor centering and registry issues. But why is that? The common belief has to do with the set being printed in 132-card sheets, with 12 rows of 11 cards across. Bird, card #11, was believed to be the last card in the top row (upper right corner), which means it was susceptible to cutting problems.

Despite my reach on social media and throughout the hobby, I couldn’t find a photo of an uncut sheet for a long time. But then I was forwarded a link to a bunch of images from Christopher Sanchirico’s collection, and he owned one! Unfortunately, the image size is small, but you can see the Bird in the upper right corner. In the image’s description, he wrote, “This is one of the only uncut sheets to ever have surfaced from this year (correct me if I’m wrong). Super rare, very colorful, and over 30 years old!”

Next, you can see a pair of miscut Bird cards.

1987 Fleer #11 Larry Bird – Off Center / Miscut

Even the first of the three PSA 10 Birds pictured below looks surprisingly off-center for a perfect 10 grade.

With the surge and dip of the basketball card market over the past few years, it’s a bit tough to say what these high-grade 1987 Fleer Birds are valued at now. PSA’s Auction Prices Realized for the card show the last two sales being $3,300 in November 2022 and $3,750 in September 2022, but they were over $5k in February 2021 (up to $7500). Those 10s were between $1000 and $1500 between August and November 2020 and about $1200 in May 2020. PSA 9s sold for between $260 and $339 this summer, but they were around $140 in May 2020. PSA 8s have settled around $45, which is where they were in May 2020.

Larry Bird is one of the NBA’s all-time greats who achieved every career highlight or award the league has. His popularity continues today, as seen in the demand for his cards. And while you can’t go wrong adding a 1980 Topps or 1986 Fleer Larry Bird card to your collection (they’re pretty liquid in high grade), his 1987 Fleer card will be a bit more challenging for the condition-focused collector.

1950-1951 Junge’s Bread for Energy Advertising Poster

August 24, 2024 by John

Christie’s offered this incredible Junge’s Bread For Energy advertising poster in their October 1993 Sports Memorabilia catalog auction. These are some of the toughest cards to find in the hobby.

Christie’s described the Bread For Energy Label Advertising Poster as follows:

The scarcest of all sports bread end label sets is the 48 label “Bread For Energy” set. It includes 16 Movie Stars, 16 Western Stars and 16 Sports Stars four each of boxing, basketball, wrestling, and football. This rare advertisement for Jungle Bread contains an uncut sheet of 16 labels in color including the following sports subjects, Johnny Lujack, Buddy Young, Kid Gailan, Joe Fulks, Gene Stanlee and the very rare Rocky Marciano. In excellent to mint condition.

The expected price was $1,800-2,200.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available about the set. While Christie’s said the set has 48 labels, Beckett’s online directory says the set has 44 cards, while the seller of the following sheet on eBay says 42. And if this is the D290-12 set, my American Card Catalog says there are 64 cards.

That seller on eBay wrote,

This 14 inch by 22 inch magnificent piece of sports and movie nostalgia is the only known, uncut bread-end label sheet and advertising poster for the 1950-51 D290-12 “Bread For Energy” series of 42 different multi-sport and Hollywood celebrities. The labels were distributed on the ends of loafs of various brands of breads & bakeries. Junge’s Bread was not previously known as a D290-12 bread label bakery brand and this advertising poster is as fresh and beautiful as the day it was printed and prepared in 1950.

A 16-card, 11 inch by 11 inch, uncut sheet of 16 different bread labels, which were originally exclusively identified with Fischer’s bread, have been affixed to a cardboard poster. These Junge’s Bread, “Bread for Energy labels” are brand new except for a slight crease that runs from Bing Crosby’s head to the bottom of the William Bendix label. The Kid Gavilan, Edgar Bergan, Joe Fulks are all affected. The sheet contains 3 of the 5 keys to the set including Johnny Lujack, Joe Fulks, and most importantly, a rookie issue of Rocky Marciano.

Curiously, they wrote that their poster, with an asking price of $10k, is the only known piece, when there is another one on eBay with an asking price of $6k, and none of the three, compared to Christie’s, look the same.

Also, Leland’s has sold three of these Junge’s Bread-style posters. The first two have the same look as the previous three I’ve shared; the first sold for $1,364 in December 2020, and the second sold for $1,240 in February 2021 (this appears to be the $10k eBay one).

However, Lelands also sold this Junge’s Bread for Energy poster for $1,364 in April 2021. Notice that it has a few different cards on it!

If you want to see more examples of the cards, BMW Sports Cards has a nice directory. If you know anything else about them, please get in touch with me.

1970-71 Phoenix Suns A1 Beer Regional Issue Complete Set

August 23, 2024 by John

Who doesn’t love a scarce vintage regional basketball issue?! Here’s an “ultra-complete” set of 13 1970-71 Phoenix Suns A1 cards.

Mastro offered this grouping in their November 2000 Fine Sports Auctions catalog with a minimum bid of $500. They explained that the scarce advertising cards were produced as six-pack inserts with A1 Premium Beer depicting Suns players in black-and-white photographs, formatted underneath a logo and price header, and distributed in only a very limited regional area. They then started talking a bit about the ten players in the set, plus the variations, but my 2003 Standard Catalog of Basketball Cards (6th Edition) explains it better with a checklist.

That Tuff Stuff guide explains that the cards measure 2-1/4” x 8-3/4” overall and

…feature a black-and-white photo of the player and his name printed beneath the photo at the bottom of the card. The top of the card features “Phoenix Suns picture special,” the A-1 Premium Beer logo and either a 95-cent price (most common), 98 cents (harder to locate) and no price printed. The player photo measures 2-1/4” x 3-3/8” and showcase the player in a posed position. The backs are blank and unnumbered.

Here’s the complete checklist:

Mel Counts (95 cents)
Mel Counts (98 cents)
Lamar Green
Clem Haskins
Connie Hawkins (98 cents)
Greg Howard
Paul Silas
Fred Taylor
Dick Van Arsdale (Error – reversed negative, no price)
Dick Van Arsdale (Corrected – no price)
Neal Walk (95 cents)
Neal Walk (No price)
John Wetzel (No price)

That Tuff Stuff Standard Basketball catalog priced a near-mint complete set at $1950 in 2003, and the prices appear to have stood up.

The following 12-card set is available on eBay (July 2024) for $3,600 from BMW Sports Cards and Memorabilia.

Scottsdale Baseball Cards has the following complete 13-card master set available on its site (and eBay) for $2,500.

However, Goldin sold the following 12/13 near master set, graded by SGC, for only $420 in June 2022. However, at the time, they wouldn’t have been my top choice for selling a set like this.

That Goldin set was also missing the Dick Van Arsdale error, which is one of the tougher cards. The priciest, though, is the Connie Hawkins.

If you’re looking for a graded sample, PSA has only slabbed 67 in total.

PS, while the cards say “12 oz. Bottles” on the front, if you want to augment a collection of them, think about hunting down these four A1 Premium Beer cans; from 1967-1974, the Phoenix Roadrunners were a WHL team.

Morean Auctions sold the pictured lot of empty beer cans for $527 in September 2023.

Wrappers By Ed Henderson

January 20, 2025August 21, 2024 by John

“How can you say you’ve got the whole set when you haven’t got what it came in?” Here’s Ed Henderson’s look at the collectibility of wrappers from the November 1992 issue of Baseball Cards Magazine.

PS: I’d love to see a resurgence of multi-page hobby writing like this today.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!