Basketball Cards

PSA’s Alleged 1964 Kahn’s Wieners Jerry Lucas Variation: Real or Not?

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I’m a big fan of the Kahn’s Wieners series of basketball cards, printed each year from 1957 through 1965, and I’ve documented them on the Oddball Archive and highlighted Jerry West’s Kahn’s Wieners cards in a dedicated article. But the 1964 Kahn’s Wieners Jerry Lucas card has piqued my curiosity lately.  You see, PSA’s checklist … Read more

6 Original Photos That Transformed into Iconic Basketball Cards

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When I wrote my article about 14 Incredible Photos Topps and Bowman Used to Inspire Classic Cards, I kicked off the list with a PSA Type 1 photo used for the 1948 Bowman #69 George Mikan card. But that was the only basketball card that made the cut that day. So, today here’s a short … Read more

The 10 Items from the Topps Vault VIP Exclusive Auction Held at the 2011 National in Chicago

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Back in 2011, at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, IL, Topps held an auction exclusively for VIP ticket holders on Wednesday, August 3, at 2:30 PM. It featured “10 magnificent TOPPS items direct from the Vault!” In this article, I’ll share the paragraphs describing the lots exactly as Topps advertised them on the … Read more

What’s the Deal with the 1968 Jack in the Box San Diego Rockets Short Prints?

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I wrote a high-level overview of the 1968 Jack in the Box San Diego Rockets basketball set on the Oddball Archive a few months ago. I mentioned that the Harry Barnes and Henry Finkel cards were short prints in a version of the set that Jack in the Box released in 1968. Jack in the … Read more

What the 1961 Fleer Basketball Uncut Sheet Teaches Us About the Set’s First Six Cards

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In February 2021, I wrote an article called 5 Reasons to Collect Uncut Sheets of Sports Cards. In it, I wrote that uncut sheets are a great way to piece together information about vintage sets. Well, kudos go out to jackies_and_jordans on Instagram for pointing out a great connection between the 1961 Fleer basketball uncut … Read more

The 1976 Topps Basketball and Hockey Free Goods Factory Sealed Boxes and Cases

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As a fan of vintage unopened sports cards, I’ve studied a lot of the products and have a goal to document them all on the Unopened Archive. Recently, the BBCEmporium listed for sale a pair of vintage unopened items that I had only ever heard actually existed; factory-sealed 1976 Topps basketball boxes. See, before 1990, … Read more

The Curiously Similar 1970 Topps Baseball and Basketball Checklists

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When you study cards as much as I do, you start noticing themes and similarities across the hobby, and I saw something really interesting the other day. Many of you know I’m a big fan of sports card checklists; well, it turns out that the 1970 Topps baseball 5th Series Checklist (#432) and the 1970 … Read more

Ranking The 19 1970s Topps Basketball Checklists 

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Some readers may know I collect checklists; you can see my bucket list here. I’ve also always felt that 1970s basketball was one of the most underappreciated post-war eras across the four major sports in our beloved hobby. So I thought I would combine these two passions and rank all 19 checklists Topps produced for … Read more