Vintage basketball card collectors have been pushing up values of Julius Erving’s rookie card of late. And for good reason, Erving’s 1972 Topps rookie card is a hobby legend, one of the most valuable basketball cards of all time.
Erving led a storied career, first with the Squires and Nets of the ABA, while finishing up his career with the Philadelphia 76ers.
While Erving tends to get overshadowed by some of the bigger name stars from the era such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, his rookie card has found renewed interest.
In this piece, we’ll review the career of Dr. J, while examining his 1972 Topps rookie card, including the existing population, current values and investment potential.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the December 1995 edition of The Vintage and Classic Baseball Collector (VCBC) magazine. We have received approval from the prior owners of VCBC magazine to republish this article in digital format. We are thrilled to be able to re-circulate the fine works of VCBC magazine for today's vintage collectors.
Instead, as a sequel, Goudey produced cards that were quite different from the offerings of the two previous years. While they are not as sought after as cards from the other two sets, 1935 Goudeys nonetheless have an appeal of their own.
The set is known by several names. The fronts of the cards are divided into quarters, each of which includes a picture of a player. So, the cards are sometimes referred to as “4-in-l’s.”
The backs of the cards have no biography; they show a section of a large picture. When 6, or in some cases 12 particular cards are placed together in a proper order, the backs form a complete large picture, of either an individual player or a team. Hence, 1935 Goudeys are also called the “Goudey Puzzle Set”.
In addition, the set is sometimes referred to by its American Card Catalog number, R321.
The 1935 Goudeys are, for many collectors, fun to collect and interesting to study. In more ways than one the set IS a puzzle. The set was checklisted several years ago, but there always seem to be new and different ways of looking at the 1935 Goudeys. This article is a combination of old knowledge and new thoughts about the cards.
Of course this is just an exercise, and nothing in this article should be construed as fact; we are mostly having some fun with numbers to see what the possibilities are.
Do you have a T206 Wagner card? Get in touch with me at chris@allvintagecards.com — I’d love to see it!
I get a lot of questions regarding the authenticity of Michael Jordan rookie cards, but I also get a lot of questions on what grade a card will receive from PSA.
If you’re new to card grading or just looking for a quick visual representation for Jordan rookie cards (or even any card for that matter), this should be a good resource.
