Collecting Game-used: Grab vintage NBA when -- if -- you can

Collecting game-used memorabilia is dramatically different in the vintage years vs. today in many ways -- styles, materials, documentation, amount of use and, most importantly, availability.

For some sports, it's still definitely out there and available regularly -- you just have to flip through a modern auction catalog to see gamers from plenty of MLB legends, NFL stars, NHL notables and NBA greats. However, that volume dramatically changes from sport to sport and from era to era. Vintage NBA? It's just not as plentiful -- and I'm no expert here for this sport, just a casual collector who does homework -- and sometimes you have to bite the bullet and grab an item if it presents itself. Why? Because you never know if you'll ever see anything like it ever again ... even if you can't 110-percent know that it's legit. (You just have to do your homework and do it if you're confident in the piece.)

That happened to me recently with one vintage-era item from the player you see above, John Johnson. I added a piece with a few features that checked out and I believe my new addition very likely to be legit --- but I'll never know for sure.

You can keep reading to see the details ... and see this month's item.

THE BASICS ...
The item: John Johnson circa 1977-82 Seattle Supersonics game-used warm-up pants
Watch it in action: Not this time ... not even easy to photograph, either.

The matchup: Not applicable -- but they may have been used multiple seasons and in NBA Finals.
The result: Not applicable.

What's Buzz-worthy: I collect this former NBA All-Star and world championship team player for the Seattle Supersonics in 1979 when I can. Cardboard is not as challenging (though some oddball needs never go away), but game-used? In years of looking from time to time I've only ever seen a single game-used jersey -- one where his nameplate was covered by somebody else after he was traded by a different team -- a pair of shorts I passed on when I shouldn't have (and didn't bother researching), a pair of game-used shoes I simply missed out on and these game-used warm-up pants. (Oh, and his championship ring ... it sold for $45,600 via Heritage in 2017 ... just a smidge out of my budget.) These warmup pants recently presented themselves for about the price of a typical non-flagship wax box and while there is a missing tag -- typically a bummer or a bad sign -- a few other things checked out making them worth my time. First, this style of warm-up was introduced around the 1977-78 season, when he joined the team, and was used for the rest of his career, which ended in 1982. Second, the Sand-Knit tag is appropriate for his era and the company's name changed in the mid-1980s. Those things helped eliminate the slim possibility of these heavy-fabric tearaway pants being some type of throwback style item worn by the only other players to wear No. 27 for the team, Elmore Spencer (1997) and Johan Petro (2006-08). I'm no ins-and-outs expert for oldschool gamers -- this is just some basic research. You can see a 1977-78 team poster where the style is matched (right and below in gallery) and the numbers are visible on both their warmup jackets and pants. I also managed to find a photo of the team from one of its back-to-back NBA Finals appearances where Johnson is seen on the bench before a game also wearing this style. Are these photos of this exact pair of pants? Maybe, maybe not ... I'd never be able to know unless the defunct team's equipment records were saved, documented or published somewhere. (I doubt that -- but records do come in handy and can be found if you collect, say, game-used baseball bats.) It's quite possible that warmups were worn with one or two sets all season long or for more than one year. ... A jersey would be my ideal item, but I'm realistic enough to know that the odds of one ever arriving on the market without some crazier price out of my range probably isn't happening -- so that's why I grabbed this. Even it being available surprised me as big-name players' gamers are also far easier to find than "common" or veteran guys, because the superstars are more likely to have been saved, not have been recycled for other players to use (yes, that's an issue in the past) and are more valuable, making them more likely to hit the auction block. Documented pieces are far easier to find now -- this one had no paper trail -- but it did come from the Seattle area. With vintage NBA, your best bet is to grab stuff while you can ... unless it's something that looks too good to be true for the price.

>> See all past Collecting Game-used stories from Buzz right here

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