Quote:
Originally Posted by D. Bergin
The Star Company cards were distributed very poorly. They were considered a novelty back then because there were not sold in Wax Packs. They were essentially sold like Minor League team sets at the time. There were like 10 hobby dealers in the entire country that controlled the entire press run.
The Fleer cards were considered the first nationally and traditionally distributed basketball set since the early 80's Topps sets.
That's not even going into the serious questions about Star Co. repros and possible multiple uses of the printing plates, or if anybody really has a great handle on telling the 1st printing stuff from the later printing stuff.
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Nice thought, but perhaps not entirely accurate. There may have been a handful, even "10", so-called master distributors, basically meaning they ordered large numbers of sets and sold directly to other dealers, but the fact remains, if you went to a card shop that carried basketball cards (some had mainly baseball), or you went to decent card shows, and you wanted new cards of NBA players in the mid-80s, you bought the Star cards.
Granted, there weren't a ton of people interested in basketball cards back then, but those of us that were sought out the run of Star cards. These were the
nationally available, licensed cards. Many agree that the distribution method, i.e. mystery pack vs. team bag, is irrelevant. Its that simple for me.
Buy the latest October, 2022 Beckett basketball and you will have all the info you need on Star production. Here's a picture, I recommend it.