BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 47: TEAM SET GET

I SNAGGED A CARD FOR THE VINTAGE BRAVES TEAM SET, SO IT'S TIME TO GET ONE FOR THE VINTAGE HAWKS TEAM SET. AND A BONUS MISCUT CARD AS WELL! ONE THAT FINISHES A TEAM SET, HUZZAH!

1975-76 TOPPS DWIGHT JONES

1975-76 TOPPS BASKETBALL IS SUPER COOL FOR TWO REASONS: IT'S THE LAST SET WITH ABA PLAYERS. IT ALSO WAS THE BIGGEST MAINSTREAM BASKETBALL SET AT 330 CARDS UNTIL 1989-90 HOOPS TOPPED IT WITH 353. A BIG SET MEANS TEAMS CAN NOT ONLY GET CARDS FOR THEIR ENTIRE STARTING LINEUP BUT ALSO HAVE A FEW BENCH PLAYERS IN THERE. ADD TEAM CARDS AND LEAGUE LEADERS AND YOU GET A NICELY SIZED TEAM SET! DWIGHT HERE WAS THE LAST CARD NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE HAWKS SET AND I SNAPPED UP THIS WONDERFULLY MISCUT CARD THE MOMENT I SAW IT. IT'S WILD HOW MISCUTS HAVE TRANSITIONED FROM BEING THE CARD YOU USED ON YOUR BIKE SPOKES OR JUST PLAIN TRASHED TO BEING HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER AMONG THE COLLECTOR SICKOS CROWD. THESE USED TO BE WORTHLESS AND NOW THEY'RE GETTING SNAPPED UP AT A PREMIUM LEFT AND RIGHT!

DWIGHT WAS THE FIRST ROUND PICK FOR THE HAWKS IN 1973 AND HAD A PRETTY DANG GOOD CAREER. HE WAS ONE OF ONLY THREE PLAYERS FROM THAT DRAFT TO PLAY TEN OR MORE YEARS IN THE NBA ALONG WITH KERMIT WASHINGTON AND CALDWELL JONES. HE WAS NOT THE BEST PLAYER PICKED BY THE HAWKS IN THAT DRAFT AS ATLANTA TOOK DAVE WINFIELD IN THE FIFTH ROUND. DWIGHT PLAYED CENTER THREE YEARS IN ATLANTA BEFORE GETTING TRADED TO HOUSTON. HE NEVER TORE UP THE LEAGUE BUT WAS A SOLID CENTER AND GOT TO PLAY IN THE NBA FINALS WITH THE LAKERS IN 1983. SINCE WE GOT THE TEAM SET COMPLETED, YOU KNOW I GOTTA SHOW IT OFF

KINDA INTERESTING HOW HALF THE TEAM GOT ACTION SHOTS WITH THE 70S BLACK VOID BACKGROUND AND THE OTHER HALF GOT MUGSHOTS WITH HARD SHADOWS IN FRONT OF A BLANK WALL. THE TEAM SET HAS CARDS FOR TEN PLAYERS AND THE TEAM PHOTO SHOWS ELEVEN. OF COURSE THIS MADE ME WONDER WHO IN THE TEAM PHOTO DIDN'T GET A CARD. SO I CHECKED BASKETBALL-REFERENCE AND THEY  LIST THIRTEEN PLAYERS FOR 1974-75! MORE MYSTERY! TURNS OUT THE GUY WITH NO CARD IS NUMBER 33 IN THE MIDDLE, JOHN WETZEL, WHO HAS HAWKS CARDS IN OTHER TOPPS SETS AND WAS ALREADY WITH THE SUNS BY THE TIME THIS SET CAME OUT. THE TWO COMPLETELY MISSING FROM THE TEAM PHOTO WERE CLYDE LEE, WHO GOT TRADED TO PHILLADELPHIA AND JIM WASHINGTON, WHO WAS SWAPPED TO BUFFALO. BOTH PLAYERS GOT CARDS IN 75-76 TOPPS WITH THEIR NEW TEAMS SO THERE IS COMPLETE 74-75 HAWKS CARDBOARD REPRESENTATION. THIS LEADS TO ANOTHER QUESTION: WHO'S THE GUY MAKING A CAMEO ON DWIGHT'S CARD? AFTER LOOKING UP WHAT PLAYERS THAT MADE THEIR DEBUT IN 1965 WERE STILL ACTIVE IN 1975 AND CROSS REFERENCING THAT TO THE RED AND BLUE TEAM STRIPES IN TEH CORNER I DEDUCED IT WAS CARD #9, JERRY SLOAN. BIG THANKS TO GRITZ ON TWITTER FOR HONING MY CARD DETECTORIST SKILLS WITH HIS 'WHO'S BEHIND DON MOSSI' TWEETS