Lot # 2613: 1968-1974 Basketball Hall of Fame Bookmarks Near-Complete Set (49/53) Including 13 Signed Cards and George Mikan PSA EX 5

Presented is a near-complete set of forty-nine different (out of fifty-three) 1968-1974 Basketball Hall of Fame Bookmarks, highlighted by thirteen signed examples and a PSA EX 5 George Mikan. First issued in 1968 as a set of forty-six rectangular (2-7/8 x 6-3/8 inches) blue-and-white bookmarks, seven subsequent inductees to the Hall of Fame were added from 1969 to 1974. These rare short-printed additions are printed on a slightly thinner paper stock and have hand-cut top or bottom edges, indicating that they may have been produced on two-card panels. This near-complete set includes three of the seven short-prints, missing Carnevale, Davies, B. Russell, and Saperstein for completion. Included is a duplicate of Hickox. The condition of the thirty-seven unsigned bookmarks ranges from Ex to Nr/Mt-Mt (averaging Ex-Mt+), with a few slightly lesser. Unsigned Key: Mikan (EX 5). Signed Cards (13): Cousy SP (personalized, Gd+), Dehnert (personalized, Ex), Foster (Vg-Ex), Hinkle (Vg-Ex), Hobson (personalized, trimmed top edge, otherwise Vg-Ex+), Kurland (Pr, with missing corner), Macauley (trimmed bottom edge, otherwise Gd), Pettit SP (Gd+), Phillip (Ex), Schayes SP (personalized, Vg+), Thompson (Pr-Fr due to tape and small spot of paper loss on reverse), Tobey (personalized, Ex), and Wooden (personalized, trimmed bottom edge, otherwise Vg-Ex). An outstanding opportunity to acquire a mid- to high-grade near-complete set of this unusual Hall of Fame basketball issue. Total: 50 bookmarks (near set of 49 plus one duplicate). Auction LOA from James Spence/JSA.