In 1986, Converse had some of the biggest names in basketball wearing their shoes, and it shows. They dominated. Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, Mark Aguirre, Bernard King and Larry Bird all sported Converse.

I particularly love advertising from back then. In one of my favourites, Converse called on people to “Choose your weapon”, a tag line that made the viewer pick a side in the ongoing rivalry of the two biggest stars at the time, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. By your choice of colour, you’ve chosen who you support!

For this stamp, I imagined the players or a fan entering the stadium and getting scanned by the “Weapon detector.” Back then, it could have been a fun activation for a kid. The transcript below was a back to back rhyme-off that featured all of the players mentioned above, each trying to one-up each other.

Magic Johnson
The Converse Weapon, that's the shoe
Lets Magic do what he was born to do.

Isiah Thomas
Maybe so, but that's not all
They let Isiah play like he's ten feet tall.

Kevin McHale
For the kind of moves that never fail
The Weapon's the choice of Kevin McHale.

Mark Aguirre
The same is true for Mark Aguirre
When I wear Weapons I'm on fire.

Bernard King
What can the Weapons do for King?
Well I can do just about anything

Larry Bird
You already know what they did for me
(what?) I walked away with the MVP.

The announcer in that cool deep voice.
The Converse Weapon: The number one weapon in the NBA.