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May 8, 2020 VOLUME 49 • NO. 10 US $4.99 • CAN $6.99 sportscollectorsdigest.com Card Collecting by Joe Dynlacht Collector creates ABA card set Limited-edition set pays homage to players of the inaugural season and benefi ts players in fi nancial need

hether you collect baseball, LIVING THE DREAM WHILE TRYING TO football, hockey or HELP OTHERS Wcards, the thought of creating Many SCD readers who collect memora- your own card set has danced through your bilia, cards and autographs associated with the mind. Just admit it! But then, reality sets in ABA may recognize Scott’s name. He is the as you wonder how you would actually pull CEO of the Dropping Dimes Foundation, a off this feat. Maybe you fancy that you can do charity he co-founded in 2014 with Dr. John a better job at populating the backs of cards Abrams to raise money to provide assistance with text and stats than Company X, Y or Z. to members of the ABA family who are Maybe you have artistic tendencies and can experiencing fi nancial or medical hardships. design some gorgeous card fronts. Maybe you Abrams and Tarter recognized that many for- have access to the machinery and expertise to mer ABA players, as well as team and league print the card sheets, and cut, collate and box personnel and their families, were in need of them for delivery. And maybe you have the assistance to meet day-to-day needs because connections to players so you can include an they do not receive an NBA pension, nor were autographed card in your set. You know it will they eligible to receive any other benefi ts take an investment of time and money. But from the NBA. Only four ABA teams were if you can’t pull off most of the other things absorbed by the NBA after the ABA merged I’ve mentioned (or are not motivated to get the into the NBA just before the 1976-77 season help that you’d need), then more likely than – the , , New not, the dream of producing your own card set York (now Brooklyn) Nets and the Denver will simply die on the vine. Nuggets. Most ABA players did not receive However, Scott Tarter had some extra pension benefi ts from the NBA after the motivation to make a set memo- merger because they either never played in the rializing the inaugural year of the American NBA or didn’t play in the league long enough. Basketball Association (ABA). He decided Thus, the Dropping Dimes Foundation was a few years ago that even though the venture created to raise money to provide support to would take a village, he’d hunker down and ABA players and families experiencing hard- try to put the pieces into place. ship during their later years in life.

30 / May 8, 2020 www.sportscollectorsdigest.com and presented the 50th anniversary ABA reunion celebration in , an event that turned out to be its biggest fundraiser to date. One hun- dred fi fteen former ABA players plus many former coaches, media and team staff members were in attendance. Players signed autographs on special commemorative pennants and (red, white and blue, of course) during an afternoon fan- fest at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse, and then attended a dinner and Q&A session that night at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, an entertaining event moderated by sportscaster and Dropping Dimes Advisory Board member Bob Costas. While the reunion was a great success, the foundation’s board (Tarter, Abrams, and fi lm producer Ted Green, who produced the highly acclaimed and ABA-related PBS documentaries “Undefeated – the Roger Brown Story” and Bobby “Slick Leonard – Heart of a Hoosier”) is always on the lookout for ad- ditional sources of revenue to fund much-needed assistance efforts. The idea of creating and selling a high-quality ABA card set to raise awareness of the ABA and to raise additional funds for the foundation had been percolating in Tarter’s head for some time, even before the reunion took place. However, he and his fellow board members did not want to use precious donated funds to take any risk on producing trading cards, so it needed a separate effort. Tarter was up for it but recalls, “I knew it would take several years to get the project off the ground and completed.” Garlich Printing of St. Louis was hired to print and package the cards. Garlich employees He knew he’d need to secure the services of at least randomly insert fi rst-year player autograph cards into separate envelopes that are included a graphic designer, an artist and an experienced within the sets. printer. He also knew the venture could only be made possible with a substantial personal investment According to Tarter, when the Dropping Dimes Founda- of both money and time. It would involve a lot of traveling. But tion would go out to meet with former ABA players in need of he would also make a lot of new friends and hear some amazing assistance, “our calling card quickly became to also provide a fi rst-hand stories from many ABA players. blown-up canvas version of the player’s ABA trading card. But we started to realize we were helping a lot of guys who never THE BRAINSTORMING BEGINS had their own card, and this started happening more frequently. Once Tarter decided to move forward with his idea of creat- I thought that it’s a shame nobody ever made cards of these guys ing a card set, the conceptualizing began. He wanted to be cre- from such a legendary league, especially the pioneers. They ative, but he also realized that he’d have no choice but to design deserve that.” the cards as unique artistic renderings in order to avoid potential Even when fi rst started producing trading cards of photographic copyright issues. He would also need to design ABA players in 1971, it only made cards of about fi ve or six around any potential trademark issues. players per team. As a result, most of the guys who played in a Tarter felt that for the players’ sake and the sake of history, league that only lasted from 1967 to 1976 never had their own every fi rst-year ABA player should have a card (a concept that card. No cards at all were done during the fi rst four years of no card company during the ABA era had ever embraced). the ABA’s existence. So most of the ABA’s early pioneers never Also, the set should involve high-quality card stock and print- had a card. As the memories of that magical and historically im- ing, and come in a heavy-duty box worthy of housing a special portant league start to fade, opportunities to uncover important limited collector’s edition card set. And he wanted to make sure facts about the players and the league, and to acknowledge the every living ABA player would receive his own complimentary critical contributions these legends made to pro basketball while “player-only” set that would not be re-produced commercially many are still living, are also diminishing. or sold to the general public. He founded a company to do the In April of 2018, the Dropping Dimes Foundation organized job and named it Lana Sports (after his deceased “wonderfully www.sportscollectorsdigest.com May 8, 2020 / Sports Collectors Digest 31 Scott Tarter lays out cards for former ABA players to sign. Left to right: (), Grant Simmons (Denver Rockets) and Julian Hammond (Denver Rockets).

Artist Shane Young of Indianapolis painted this picture of for the Dropping Dimes Foundation auction at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the ABA in April 2018. Lana Sports hired Young to do the unique artistic renderings of every fi rst-year ABA player for their inaugural set of “Lively League” trading cards.

32 Sports Collectors Digest / May 8, 2020 www.sportscollectorsdigest.com The limited-edition cards are housed in sturdy and colorful collector boxes numbered from 1 to 750. eccentric” mother). Then he committed to taking the novel ap- proach of featuring every fi rst-year player who played during the inaugural (“rookie”) ABA season of 1967-68; this would require a tremendous time commitment for researching player stats and facts, and a fi nancial commitment in terms of production costs. A total of 159 men met the criterion of seeing playing time during the fi rst ABA season, but the set grew to 160 cards with the inclusion of Les Powell, a player who was drafted out of Utah State to play that year but never had a chance to suit up. Powell was drafted and signed by the Anaheim Amigos in 1967 but was drafted by Uncle Sam the day he signed his playing contract. Sadly, Powell was killed in action in Vietnam before he could log a single minute of game action. The back of each card in the set (except for Powell’s) contains interesting and little-known facts about every player, along with his statistics from the fi rst ABA season. Powell’s card includes “fantasy stats,” based on projections that assume he had played that entire season. On the front of Powell’s card is a depiction of his Purple Heart medal, and on the back are depictions of his U.S. and Vietnamese service medals. Tarter wanted the set to be accepted by the hobby as com- A graphic collage of the fi rst-year ABA teams that adorns the inside of the box top that houses the card set. prising the “true rookie cards” of all fi rst-year ABA players, and as an authentic collectible trading card set just like any other. ALL PHOTOS: SCOTT TARTER So, the cards would need to be of high quality, and included with each set would also be fi ve parallel cards numbered to also participate in the 50th ABA Reunion celebration, donating 50 or less, and an especially rare autographed card signed by a beautiful “Dr. J” Julius Erving painting for auction during the a player who made his debut during the 1967-68 ABA season. reunion dinner. Tarter worked with Young for many evenings Moreover, he wanted some boxes to contain an ultra-rare auto- around his day job as an attorney during the fi rst 18 months of graphed of the ABA’s all-time leading scorer, Hall the project, directing him on the layout and design aspects for of Famer . the artistic renderings, familiarizing him with the players, and making sure the artistic renderings paid homage to the era, but MAKIN’ SOME CARDS were created to avoid potential trademark and copyright issues. In addition to determining the composition of the set, creat- Although Young was able to reference several photographs ing the design of the cards (including parallels and autographed of each player taken during their playing days (located and pro- cards) and box, and researching player information and stats, vided to him by Tarter), he was instructed to draw each player Tarter had to fi nd a graphic designer and a talented artist. For- using his own unique pose and style. Importantly, the render- tunately, he made some great connections. Shane Young, a local ings would not be based on any particular existing photo. This Indianapolis artist, was engaged to hand-sketch and color all led to somewhat of a caricature-like style for some of the player 159 fi rst-year ABA players and Les Powell. Young would later renderings, but Tarter liked the fact that some important vintage www.sportscollectorsdigest.com May 8, 2020 / Sports Collectors Digest 33 trading card sets (like some of the baseball sets of the FINISHING TOUCHES 1930s) included player caricatures or drawings, and he also Several additional production decisions had to be made, such knew many ABA programs and league promotions involved ar- as whether to go with thinner card stock to save money, or thicker tistic renderings of players that were “let’s just say…..somewhat stock that is more common with standard issue trading cards. less than life-like.” He recognized the “quirkiness” of the ABA, Tarter opted for the standard thicker stock, and also opted to use and he wanted the set to pay homage to the 1960s and ‘70s high-quality matte laminate coating on the cards. He enlisted the when the league was in it’s heyday. expertise of Garlich Printing located just outside of St. Louis to Tarter designed his own “Lively League” logo, and avoided do the critical printing, sheet cutting, set assembly and pack- using trademarked team names by simply using the city and aging, and random third-party insertion of parallel cards and state of the team, as well as the team colors. Tarter reckons he autographed cards. “Garlich Printing was chosen because of the had personal meetings or telephone discussions with around experience they had with producing high-quality trading cards, 80 percent of the living fi rst-year ABA players, and received including cards produced for MLB promotions,” said Tarter. overwhelming support from all the players for production of After the cards were printed, Tarter visited with all of the play- the cards. Many of the players offered to provide testimonials ers who had agreed to provide autographs, so he could personally or to help support sales of the card sets, as they knew it was witness the signings (each set contains a certifi cate signed by for a good cause. But Tarter provided even more incentive by Tarter that certifi es each autograph was obtained directly from promising each living player a free set of cards made exclusive- the player by Lana Sports). In order to pull that off, Tarter made ly for fi rst-year ABA players. Those sets are specially marked several trips (with new Sharpies in hand) to the and “Exclusive Player Set – Not for Retail Sale” but do not contain San Diego areas, Denver, New York, Atlanta and several locations parallel or autographed cards since the players communicated to in Indiana and Kentucky. Said Tarter, “I fl ew or drove around the Tarter that those features weren’t important to them; they really country for 18 months getting in-person autographs from so many just wanted to have their own cards and the base cards of their different fi rst-year ABA players and it was such an incredible ex- colleagues from that fi rst year of the league. Any player who perience. I got to hear amazing fi rst-hand stories about their play- asked for extra cards of himself for family and friends (or fans) ing days. And most of them had never had a trading card before would be given extra cards as well. so they were so excited to see their card and to be remembered. The card backs are composed of the player’s name, personal The autographed cards in this set are so rare, given they’re the information and team, the Lively League logo, the player’s only cards in existence for most of these living legends, and even fi rst-year ABA stats and fascinating career facts (researched and in the case of players who had cards in later years, these are now written by Tarter). Tarter contacted basketballreference.com and the true rookie cards for those players as well.” received permission to use stats obtained from them, and he pro- When the cards were all printed and cut, and all on-card vided appropriate credit to them on the boxes housing the sets. autographs were obtained, Garlich provided the third-party He also researched newspaper accounts of the games, conducted packaging, card randomization and other aspects of produc- research on Arthur Hundhausen’s website remembertheaba. tion. The parallel card and autographed card randomization and com, pored over original game programs and stat sheets, and insertion was critical to Tarter as a collector himself. interviewed players, so that he could put together what he hoped “I didn’t want to be present when autographed and parallel would be one of the most comprehensive sources for fi rst-year cards were randomly inserted into the sets, so it was really im- ABA information. It remains his hope that the set will become a portant for me to put the randomization process into the hands resource in and of itself for basketball history buffs. of a qualifi ed third party. I purchased the fi rst set myself and I had absolutely no idea which autographed card would be inside

34 Sports Collectors Digest / May 8, 2020 www.sportscollectorsdigest.com Complete List of Autographed Cards The card shop owner, Andy Albert, himself a long-time supporter of the Dropping Dimes Foundation, served as a consultant during in Lana Sports’ Inaugural ABA set the production of the card set, and provided valuable information Jerry Harkness, Indiana Pacers on card specifi cations and design. Said Albert, “It was so much , fun helping Scott design (and advise him on some of the intrica- , Kentucky Colonels cies of) the set. He has taken this project on as a labor of love for Randy Stoll, Anaheim Amigos several years now, and to see it all completed is exciting for us Julian Hammond, Denver Rockets as a shop, and as a collector. Any collector of vintage basketball cards and/or ABA cards needs to own one of these sets…to say , Indiana Pacers they own a piece of ABA history. There was a lot of sweat equity , Kentucky Colonels placed into each and every base card, autograph, and parallel card Sam Smith, placed in every box. Scott and his team did an incredible job.” Louie Dampier, Kentucky Colonels (HOF) While Tarter is hoping to fi rst recoup the expenses for produc- Maurice McHartley, Dallas Chapparals ing and marketing the set, Lana Sports will donate profi ts to the Bobby Rascoe, Kentucky Colonels Dropping Dimes Foundation (www.droppingdimes.org), to help , Anaheim Amigos the organization continue to support former ABA players in need Grant Simmons, Denver Rockets of medical and/or fi nancial assistance. I asked Tarter if he was Steve Chubin, Anaheim Amigos planning to create a follow-up set, and quite understandably, he was undecided. “Putting this set together was an amazing experi- that set. I needed for other collectors to know they can trust the ence, and maybe in the future I’d consider producing a follow-up authenticity of the process.” set for subsequent ABA years, but it was a beast in terms of time What Tarter did do himself was carefully inspect each consumption, so I plan to take a breath and grab some pine for autograph for quality before gently placing each one into soft a while after this. However, Lana Sports will be making an an- sleeves and top-loaders and hand-delivering all of them to the nouncement soon about the availability of another iconic ABA printer. “As a fellow collector, I wanted each autographed product that vintage basketball fans are going to love.” So if you card to be in beautiful shape when opened. If an autograph are a vintage or ABA basketball fan, keep an eye out! was smudged even slightly, or a card even slightly damaged, it (Editor's note: In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Tarter didn’t go in the set. I really wanted the autographed cards to be would like to offer a special $50 discount to SCD readers; to handled by someone who cares a lot about condition and didn’t receive it, insert the discount code "ABA67" with the purchase mind the extra time and cost of placing each of those cards into at www.lanasports.com.) Q top-loaders for extra protection.” Only 750 limited-edition sets were produced for retail sale. By day, Joe Dynlacht is a Professor at the Indiana University The 160-card base set, along with fi ve parallel cards numbered School of Medicine, but he enjoys being an occasional freelance to 50 or less, and an autographed (166 cards total) contributor to SCD. Dr. Dynlacht may be contacted at are packaged in handsome, colorful and sturdy collector boxes, [email protected]. each individually numbered to 750. The original ABA Players Association logo adorns the outside of the box. Tarter says he did that to com- memorate the amazing brotherhood that “THE ORIGINAL SPORTS still exists among ABA players and the incredible player support he received for MEMORABILIA INSURANCE the production of the cards. The retail price of the limited-run set is $249. Word is just POLICY” starting to get out about the existence of the set so here’s a word to the wise: If you want Marketed by one, you better act fast! Finkelmeier Insurance Agency, Inc. Collectors interested in obtaining this novel and historically important The nation’s largest insurer of sports limited-edition set of ABA cards, and fans interested in commemorating the inaugu- memorabilia dealers and collectors. ral season of the ABA while supporting a great cause, can purchase the “Lively P.O. Box 210, Wapakoneta, OH 45895 League” (1967-1968) ABA Rookie Card 800-739-3314 • Phone: (419) 739-4000 Set directly at www.lanasports.com. In E-mail: sports@thefi a.com Indianapolis only, a local card shop “Indy www.thefi a.com Card Exchange,” is selling the sets retail. www.sportscollectorsdigest.com May 8, 2020 / Sports Collectors Digest 35