This lot closes on June 26, 2021 at 10:00 PM EDT for initial bids.

The offered display box, and its 24 unopened 5¢ wax packs of 1961-62 Fleer basketball cards, are specialty items of wondrous importance. This box has the potential to include Rookie Cards of the biggest basketball stars including Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

These cards were introduced well in advance of Topps' long run of basketball products, and more than two decades before Fleer itself regained control of a new and vibrant card-market niche. Two aspects of these items make them particularly amazing. These cards were minimally distributed, as fan loyalty with regard to basketball was in the developmental stage. And, they were produced in just the smallest of quantities, with a correspondingly miniscule survival rate. The 24-Count, counter-sales box presented here measures 8" x 3-3/4" x 1-7/8" and is undoubtedly one of the finest of its type known to have endured. All of its packs have been incubated within, making the long passage to this day in their original packaging. The packs remain undisturbed in their box, which itself reflects a bare minimum of handling and is protected by securely sealed "Baseball Card Exchange" plastic wrapping (with BBCE descriptive label, Cert. #X0450). Unopened material from the 1961-62 Fleer issue, especially of this magnitude and quality, is virtually never found in the modern hobby.