Vintage Pack

I do not know a lot about basketball cards.  I do know that I like to pick a few up from time to time, and that the vintage cards from the 1960s and 1970s are pretty sweet looking.  My smaller collection of basketball cards mostly includes former NC State players and a few old St. Louis Hawks.  The NC State players are mostly players I have watched since moving to North Carolina in 2005.  The Hawks are just more of a curiosity.

I recently had the chance to pick up two really inexpensive 1970s cards of two former NC State players.  Both were members of the 1974 National Championship team, which was notable because they ended UCLA's run. 

As a side note, the NC State player wearing 42 in the video is long time Orioles pitcher Tim Stoddard.  He is the only player to have won an NCAA Championship in basketball and a World Series ring (1983 Orioles).  

Both cards are 1976 Topps.  I love the appearance of these old 1970s basketball cards.  The better of the two cards is Hall of Famer David Thompson.  There have been plenty of good players at NC State over the years, but he's the gold standard.  

These are larger than the standard card.  As a baseball card collector, they are similar in size to the old Exhibits postcards.  I like the designs on the front of the card, but the backs are nice too.  

There are a lot of standard elements here for a card of this era that I often miss on modern cards.  The cartoon at the bottom of the card, and the dark background with the bright colored bright are two of the better features.  I also really like that Topps put the college stats at the top of the card.  It's a nice touch.  

My other card is from Tom Burleson who was the center on the 1974 team.  Great college player.  He was not a standout NBA player, but he supposedly had some injuries along the way.  This is the front of the card.  Love the uniforms.  

This is from early in his career, so the back of the card numbers from the NBA look good.  You can also see his college numbers, which were excellent.  

Burleson's numbers declined for the next few years until he retired after the 1980-1981 season.  As legend online goes, he was involved in a fight and was injured.  There is no actual account of the fight anywhere online.  It repeated enough places that I am certain that it is true to some degree.