Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson are two of the most famous, “modern,” two-sport professional athletes. But did you know there is an NBA Hall of Famer who also pitched for the Chicago White Sox? Among the 13 athletes to play in the NBA and MLB, Dave DeBusschere was undoubtedly the most successful at basketball. Still, many of today’s collectors may not know a lot about him, so in this piece, I’ll share his professional accolades and history along with every baseball and basketball card Topps printed for him.
Dave DeBusschere attended the University of Detroit between 1959 and 1962. He averaged 24 points per game, making the NIT twice and the NCAA tournament once. He also pitched for the baseball team, leading them to 3 NCAA tournament appearances.
He was signed as a free agent by the White Sox in 1962. The same year, he was a territorial draft selection in the 1962 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played for the White Sox in the majors from 1962-1963, in the NBA for the Pistons between 1962 and 1968, and for the New York Knicks between 1968 and 1974. After two more years of minor league pitching, he eventually gave up baseball to concentrate on playing and coaching basketball.
He had a career 3-4 win/loss record as a pitcher with a 2.90 earned run average as a baseball player.
His first baseball card was in the 1963 Topps set, with two variations.
1963 Topps #54 – 1963 Rookie Stars
1963 Topps #54 – 1962 Rookie Stars
He also had cards in the 1964 and 1965 Topps baseball sets.
1964 Topps #247 Dave DeBusschere
1965 Topps #297 Dave DeBusschere
DeBusschere had an impressive NBA career. He was known as an elite defensive player, which resulted in his election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. Over his career, he averaged 16.1 points per game, 11 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game. He was a two-time NBA champion with the Knicks, made 8 All-Star games, and was a six-time All-Defensive First Team member.
His first basketball card was in the notoriously rare 1968 Topps Test release, so his 1969 Topps Tall Boy is more classically considered his first Topps basketball card.
1968 Topps Test #11 Dave DeBusschere
1969 Topps #85 Dave DeBusschere
Topps also printed cards for him in 1970, 71, 72, and 73, and he was on the Knicks Team Leaders card in 1974.
1970 Topps #135 Dave DeBusschere
1971 Topps #107 Dave DeBusschere
1972 Topps #105 Dave DeBusschere
1973 Topps #30 Dave DeBusschere
1974 Topps #93 New York Knicks Team Leaders
Today, most athletes commit to a single sport long before going professional, though some successful two-sport athletes play multiple sports in college. Like Tim Tebow or Michael Jordan, others have tried to transition between sports, but few have had Dave DeBusschere’s success.
PS: The 13 men who have played in the NBA and MLB are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Hank Biasatti, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts, and Howie Schultz.
Variety is the spice of life, and Topps definitely mixed things up with the introduction of tall boy sized cards with their 1964 Hockey set. The cards must have been pretty popular because the following year, in 1965, they released tall boy football cards to stand out against their competition. Then, when they decided to re-enter the basketball card market, their 1969 release was, once again, of the tall boy variety. In this article, I’ll run down these three incredibly popular sets.
1964 Topps Hockey
1964 Topps Hockey #20 Bobby Hull
The first year that Topps didn’t have to compete with Parkhurst in the hockey card market, they released their set in a tall boy format (2-1/2″ x 4-11/16″) for the first time in any sport. From a historical perspective, some collectors think going with larger cards (Topps printed “GIANT SIZE” on the wrappers) was a “triumphalist call,” but no one knows for sure.
1964 Topps Hockey Wrapper
The set has 110 cards of players from all 6 NHL teams and was the first set in 10 years that included all the teams. The set is nearly double the size of previous Topps hockey sets and was released over two series. Hockey collectors consider 1964 Topps to be one of the greatest hockey sets of all time, and it’s the toughest of these three tall boy sets to complete in high grade.
1964 Topps Hockey #55 Second Checklist
1965 Topps Football
The football market in 1965 was a little different than the hockey market. Philadelphia Gum had the rights to the NFL’s licensing for cards, so Topps, to expand its AFL release (less interesting content) and compete for sales, released their set in the tall boy format to stand out. Remember, the larger size format worked with 1952 Topps baseball in competition with Bowman too.
The 176 card set would end up being the only football card tall boy set Topps made. Maybe tall boys were too expensive to print/machine? It does, however, feature one of the most recognizable football cards in the hobby, Joe Namath’s card #122.
1965 Topps Football #122 Joe Namath
Topps knew they didn’t have the best content because the packs didn’t advertise the AFL specifically, just “Pro Football.”
1965 Topps Football Wrapper
1969 Topps Basketball
Topps returned to the basketball card market in 1969 with their 99-card set. Again, Topps must have been trying to make a splash and have the cards stand out on shelves with their larger size as “10 GIANT CARDS” was printed on the wax boxes.
1969 Topps Basketball Wax Box
1969 Topps basketball is loaded with stars enhancing its popularity. But you may not know that Topps couldn’t use team logos on the cards due to licensing issues, so some players posed for photos wearing their jerseys backward. Still, it’s an incredibly eye-appealing set due to the tall boy format and choice of colors.
1969 Topps Basketball #20 John Havlicek
Topps did follow up the 1969 Topps basketball set with another tall boy set in 1970, but they never did publish a baseball tall boy set (1964 Topps Giant-Size All-Stars being the closest we have). The drawback of the tall boy format is that the cards’ size makes them more condition sensitive since they were tougher to store and more prone to miscuts in the factory.
Regardless of your desire to collect high-end cards or not, a trio of all three original tall boy sets would be a great addition to anyone’s vintage card collection. Let me know down in the comments which is your favorite, and happy collecting!
This is what we in the hobby would call a “fun rip.”
These 24 GAI-graded 1969/70 Topps basketball wax packs were offered for sale together in Mastro’s April 2004 catalog. The original 24-count counter-sales display box was included, too.
Each 10-cent pack had ten cards and one of the year’s paper “rulers” inserts. The pack’s grades included GAI Perfect 10: 6 packs; GAI Gem Mint 9.5: 7 packs; GAI Min 9: 7 packs; GAI NM-MT+ 8.5: 1 pack; GAI NM-MT 8: 2 packs; GAI NM+ 7/5: 1 pack.
If you didn’t know, PSA started grading oversized packs around the fall of 2023, and most notably, Goldin sold a lot of 14 1969 Topps basketball tallboy packs in March 2024 for $148,840!
The packs’ grades included:
PSA NM 7: 1 pack
PSA EX-MT 6: 9 packs
PSA EX 5: 4 packs
At the time (June 2024), PSA’s Pop Report still only included those 14 packs.
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.
1969 Topps Basketball Wrapper
1969 Topps Basketball Box
But the insert makes it clear why the hobby renamed them ‘rulers.’
1969 Topps Rulers #9 John Havlicek
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.
1969 Topps Rulers #11 Wilt Chamberlain
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.
1969 Topps Rulers REA Set – Image 1
1969 Topps Rulers REA Set – Image 2
1969 Topps Rulers REA Set – Image 3
1969 Topps Rulers REA Set – Image 4
1969 Topps Rulers REA Set – Image 5
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.
1969 Topps Rulers Memory Lane Inc. Set
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.
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!
When this 1969/70 Topps basketball uncut sheet was auctioned off in April/May 2008, it was one of only two known examples to the hobby.
The sheet is approximately 28” x 42” and features the entire 99-card set in a 9 x 11 arrangement. The sheet’s overall quality was described as ~Ex because of wrinkles affecting many of the single subjects (like Alcindor), creases, tears, and other faults. This consignor originally acquired the sheet from the Topps Vault.
From his archives, I know that Christopher Sanchirico once, or still, owns this example of a 1969 Topps basketball uncut sheet.
And then, just a few months ago, in February 2024, Heritage auctioned off this example of a 1969 Topps basketball uncut sheet, which sold for $216k despite a few pinholes and wrinkles from being rolled up for most of its existence.
This 11 1/2’’ x 13 1/2’’ piece of original artwork originates from Guernsey’s Topps Auction of 1989 and features 12 drawings, including the one used on Roberto Clemente’s card 50.
The sheet’s 12 different drawings represent the cartoons and pieces of trivia used on the back of the following player’s cards: Davenport, LeMaster, Aguirre, Pappas, Taylor, Clemente, Barton, Versalles, McBean, Alou, Carroll, and Glass.
The auction featuring this item in December 2001 highlighted that the card number had been penned on the artwork and that a Topps Auction stamp was on the otherwise blank reverse.
Here’s the back of Clemente’s 1969 Topps card featuring the final cartoon and trivia.
Here’s a 1969 Topps Cello Box Proof Sheet. Notice both the purple and red box variations on the single sheet.
The sheet was described as a large 29” x 38” uncut final process sheet that contains six complete 24 count ten cent 1969 Topps display boxes, with each box containing the color photos of Willie Mays, Carl Yastrzemski, Bob Gibson, Pete Rose, and others. The sheet was folded down and across at the center over the years and was listed as in VG condition.
Here are examples of both 1969 Topps cello box variations.
