Basketball player sets

bri2327

I dont recall reading any threads on basketball player registries and wanted to get some talk going since I recently started player sets for all the members of the early '70's NY Knicks championships teams.

The players I just started sets for are Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, and Earl Monroe.

It seemed like a nice way to get started since they are such small sets, relatively inexpensive, and all feature HOF players and teammates from the same Knick championship teams.

I will also most likely begin a Dr. J set sometime in the near future but I want to hold off till I can pick up a nice PSA 9 RC.

Anyone else collect any of these guys ?

How bout any other vintage HOF basketball player registry sets ?

Id love to hear what others collect. Lets hear some thoughts !

GDM67

I've considered doing a Connie Hawkins set. I still may.

Individual sets for the members of the Pistons Bad Boy teams are also something I may go for, somewhere down the line a bit.

bri2327

Hawkins would be a cool set of a great player. Im sure you can pick up most of his cards pretty reasonably in high grade too.

Do you currently have any Connie graded cards ?

The " bad boys " cards will most likely have to be from alot of self submissions, as aside from the '86 fleer there probably arent alot of cards graded.

GDM67

You're right about the Pistons cards. Not a lot of general interest in '78-9 James Edwards or '81-2 Vinnie Johnson cards. I will face the same issues if I ever try to finish my All Time Redskins set for some of the later cards.

And to answer your question, no. I actually don't own any PSA graded Basketball cards, at all. Just something I haven't gotten around to starting on. I have a decent amount of raw singles and a couple of sets from the 70's era, but I haven't taken a close look to see what might be gradeable at some point in the future.

Anyone collecting Football and Baseball from the 60's must be deeply envied by hoops fans who like that same period. Far too many years went by with no cards of a whole amazing generation of players.

bri2327

You are correct about the 50's and 60's. Its a shame that more cards arent out there of the great players of that generation.

Like you I only had a couple of sets from the mid/late 70's until recently when I started the Knicks player sets.

Between the 5 guys I mentioned there are only 35 or 40 cards, so I intend on either custom making a display/frame or buying one that acomodates that many cards so I can show off all the regular issue cards of all the Knick greats in one shot.

It is one nice advantage over collecting baseball, where it is so tough to display when you are talking 30 cards for just one year, or dozens up to hundreds of a single player.

Out of curiousity, what brought you to being a Skins fan and a Pistons fan ? Are you from either region or just happened to become a fan of both teams through other avenues ?

GDM67

The Redskins thing is a family tradition. I have a couple of Aunts who lived in DC and environs in the 60's and 70's. I was really avid from '76 to '93, but the mass exodus and the mind numbing Norv Era really put a major crimp in things. I've only started to sort of wander back to the fold in the last few years.

The Pistons thing is mainly confined to that short era when they were all together ('86-7 to '92-3 or so.) I had liked other teams before (I always favored the Sixers when Julius was there), but there was something about the close knit nature of those Detroit teams, and the fact that I really despised their main rivals, the Celtics and Bulls, that endeared them to me. I had never understood that Us Against The World mentality the Raiders had until then. If you're on board with a team like that, it can be heady stuff.

Just to complete the whole nutty tableaux, I root for Atlanta in Baseball, and have since they were rather wretched (i.e., 1979.)

ArnyVee

Player sets are great! I'm a big fan of them and will almost stick to them exclusively from now on (aside from the occasional smaller sets here and there).

As far as basketball goes, I've only started and worked on the Magic Johnson player set. Although, I'll be working on the rest of the "Showtime" Laker players (Kareem, Worthy, Scott, Cooper, etc) and possibly their coach (Riley) after I finish the Magic set(s).

Good luck on your Knicks teams bri!

NickM

I just started a Frazier set, and DeBusschere is going up today (I wait until I have at least 3 cards of a player before starting a player set). I also have Kareem, Shaq, Archibald, Issel, and Calvin Murphy on the registry.

Finding the late 70s/early 80s Topps and '87 and '88 Fleer cards graded is not that hard - 4SC has them up all the time - often 1/4 to 1/2 of the set available at one time.

Nick

aro13

I am surprised there are no New York Knicks teams sets on the registry. I know there was talk of an all-time Knicks team set but so far it has not yet been added.

I collect most of the all-time team sets and the Hall of Fame sets but player sets are just too much for me. I have most of Larry Bird's cards while he was active but I will not get them graded.

gregmo32

Player sets are a nonstop challenge. I have been working on a Magic Johnson set for a while and have really enjoyed the experience. Part of the fun of it is that you cannot just buy a few vending cases and take care of the set. You have to be constantly digging for the missing pieces from a variety of sources.

ArnyVee

Greg, I forgot to mention it, but I have a few of the 1990 College Magic Johnson cards in PSA 9 and one PSA 10 in my eBay store (Link in my sig below). Check it out and let me know if you need any and I'll make you a deal.

bri2327

Well in just under a month Ive managed to get a good start on my player sets of the HOF Knicks from their 70's teams...Bradley, DeBusschere, Monroe, Frazier, and Reed.

These sets are alot of fun so far and wont be too difficult to assemble. I really love the oversized cards in particular.

Here are the scans I finally got around to working on. My scanner is really on the outs, so the cards look alot nicer than they appear here...

GDM67

The 76-7 Pearl is one of the coolest cards in a mega-cool set.

bri2327

Yeah I am really digging the '76 cards. These are the first of that issue I have ever owned.

I may have to pick up a complete raw set soon !

Have you started picking up any of those Piston cards yet ?

GDM67

Nah, still concentrating on my two main sets, although I did recently pick up some Smoltz stuff from the 4SC store, which I should be getting in a week or so.

GDM67

Okay, I'm in...

VinScully

Just wait until my Harold Miner master set hits. Sure, it'll probably take the collecting world by storm and I'll have to spend all my time fending off other eager builders in the registry, but that's ok, Harold deserves it.

bri2327

Nice pickups GDM.

I always liked the 87 fleer better than the 86.

GDM67

Agreed. 87-8 is the best looking of that era's hoops sets.

SlangNRox

I have the #1 Chris Webber set registry. Theres still a lot of cards that I need, but it is something else to search for on ebay while I get my other cards. I have yet to submit a card to PSA, and I doubt I'd ever be able to complete the set registry if i dont submit cards myself

GDM67

That's a nice looking set. I love CWebb, and have for a long time

SlangNRox

<< <i>That's a nice looking set. I love CWebb, and have for a long time >>



Thanks. I still have a lot of cards to scan in.


I also like the 87 Fleer set. That Dumars is a beauty.

GOODLIEU

I am big time into the early Knick teams and Vintage Basketball in general. I have two player sets Pete Maravich and Dr J as I was truly amazed by their extraordinary talents. I am looking to upgrade my Dr J/Pistol Pete Rookie cards to PSA 9's in the near future and most likely will try and secure one of them at the National in Clevland this summer. The Dr J card will also improve my 1972 Topps set as well as the player set. Anyway good luck with your quest for those vintage Knicks cards.

GDM67

Coach Horn and Buddha rookies for my Collector's Showcase Bad Boys set.