Monday, August 6, 2018

A Bill Russell Basketball Tax Refund Pickup: 1961-62 Fleer # 38, BVG 4!

Here's one of the centerpieces if not the centerpiece of my relatively thin collection of vintage basketball cards. I snagged it from work with tax refund money which tells you how long ago the purchase was. It's finally been scanned in and I'm still happy I chose this particular card over the In Action card from the same set of the same player as I was debating buying that originally.


My first Bill Russell! Russell only has three playing-era standard issue cards so the pickings are slim in terms of adding him to any collection. I think BVG actually slightly under-graded the card but they are very tough on centering in regards to vintage. The old Celtics' mascot above Bill's head is a cool touch and I absolutely love this bad boy. It's a wonderful addition to the Vintage PC.


Here is the back of Bill.

11 comments:

  1. Love, love, love this card. I have the 'in action' Russell out of this set but while the front is nice the back has glue damage which makes me sad. Congrats on a classic pickup!

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    1. It's still a Russell commish! Can't go wrong with any playing-era Bill. And thanks sir!

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  2. I don't think I've ever seen that Celtics logo. Beautiful use of your tax return.

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    1. Thanks Fuji! This isn't even the best thing I purchased with those funds. Those cards are still at PSA....

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  3. That my friend is a great card. Congrats

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  4. That is a great card and a really nice looking set. Upper Deck has used the design on some of their recent retro inserts.

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    1. Thanks Corky! A perfect set to throw back to any time.

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  5. Oh man do I love this purchase! This is one of my "someday" cards, although given the opportunity, I'm gonna go with his '61 In Action, as that might be my favorite basketball card of all time.

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    1. Thanks Jon! I was very close to going with the IA (it was a BVG 3.5 if memory serves) but the price difference was manageable enough and I couldn't resist the regular Russell.

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