Tall(er) Boys

Here's a card I saw while working at Irv Lerner's table during last year's National in Chicago:

Well, it wasn't this card. But you know what I mean.

This was included as an insert inside wax packs of 1969-70 Topps basketball. While those cards are called "tall boys" due to their size, these inserts were even taller and had to be folded in order to fit inside the packages. When unfolded, they stood 9 and 7/8 inches high and the standard 2 1/2 inches wide. They were also printed on thin paper rather than cardboard, so many of these have become rather brittle.

An arrow at the side indicated how tall the player was, and the taller players like Lew Alcindor and Wilt Chamberlain were drawn to meet that height. There were a total of 23 players who were subjected to the cartoon treatment; it is rumored that one more was planned but Bill Russell was pulled from production when he retired.