After nearly a decade of obscurity, insignificance, and underwhelming performances, basketball is finally back! Now before you hardcore fans bite my head off, take a long hard look at the level of talent league wide throughout the period of 2000-2008. It was stomach turning! With every GM chasing down the next Kobe, drafting purely on best case scenario speculation and The League still allowing players to jump right from high school, the NBA was flooded with inexperienced, undeveloped, and often immature players that made watching the sport almost painful (and this is coming from a lifelong fan of the game).
Yes, out of all that muck came LeBron, but he alone won’t erase the memory of Eddy Curry, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Sebastian Telfair, Stromile Swift, DeJuan Wagner, Greg Oden, and worst of all Darko Milicic. Let’s also not forget about the shiner put on the game by the infamous brawl in Detroit and the fact that the San Antonio Spurs, led by a man nicknamed “Big Fundamental” (insert yawn here), were in the Finals seemingly every year. Now take that all in and tell me I’m wrong. Fortunately though those dark days are behind us and the market for vintage basketball related material is once again on the rise. Leading that charge is the classic 1980-81 Topps basketball set with its signature three-panel look that collectors can’t now get enough of. The 176 card collection, highlighted of course by the #6 card featuring Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Julius Erving, was certainly an original idea though its unique design, with perforation lines and a number of commonly found print errors, has made finding pristine individual examples near impossible. Case in point, of the more than 4,700 Bird/Johnson, Erving cards submitted to PSA, just 17 have been deemed PSA 10s! And that’s just the tip of the rarity iceberg, card #76 featuring Brian Taylor, John Shumate, Larry Demic has still yet to be found in a “10” and both Pete Maravich cards (#8 and #96) have proven equally as difficult to find in perfect shape. Bottom line is that this set not only marks the beginning of the era in which the NBA went global but it’s one that is also filled with a ton of high-grade intrigue and value. So if you’re holding on to any of these triple threats Just Collect would be happy to make an offer today. We’re always buying vintage basketball cards, sports cards and non-sports cards. Enjoy the playoffs, hoop fans, and……LET’S GO KNICKS!
