The 1970s was one of the golden ages of trading card inserts and special items, despite the bad rap it got for nothing but stale bubble gum. That decade of sports card collecting was a cornucopia of stickers, patches, posters, and other items from the last days before trading cards were ruined by speculators and investors.
Today I have a gallery of images showing one of the neater items from the realm of ’70s card inserts — a set of 24 posters included in the Topps 1970-71 NBA trading card set. The posters measured 8×10 inches and featured some fantastic game action images from some of the era’s biggest stars.
The only real downside is that many of these images had team names and logos airbrushed off the jerseys, as was common practice at the time due to some rather byzantine licensing issues. There are exceptions, such as the 76ers and Knicks, but mostly you’ll see nothing more than jersey numbers for teams like the Bulls, Hawks, or Lakers.
Here’s a gallery of all 24 posters in no particular order, with a full listing below. Enjoy!
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#1. Walt Frazier, New York Knicks
#2. Joe Caldwell, Atlanta Hawks
#3. Willis Reed, New York Knicks
#4. Elvin Hayes, San Diego Rockets
#5. Jeff Mullins, San Francisco Warriors
#6. Oscar Robertson, Milwaukee Bucks
#7. Dave Bing, Detroit Pistons
#8. Jerry Sloan, Chicago Bulls
#9. Leroy Ellis, Portland Trail Blazers
#10. Hal Greer, Philadelphia 76ers
#11. Emmette Bryant, Buffalo Braves
#12. Bob Rule, Seattle SuperSonics
#13. Lew Alcindor, Milwaukee Bucks
#14. Chet Walker, Chicago Bulls
#15. Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers
#16. Billy Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers
#17. Wilt Chamberlain, Los Angeles Lakers
#18. John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
#19. Lou Hudson, Atlanta Hawks
#20. Earl Monroe, Baltimore Bullets
#21. Wes Unseld, Baltimore Bullets
#22. Connie Hawkins, Phoenix Suns
#23. Tom Van Arsdale, Cincinnati Royals
#24. Len Chappell, Cleveland Cavaliers
