1957-58 Topps “Mr. Goalie” Rookie Card

1957-58 Topps #20 - Glenn HallI took one gigantic leap forward in building my 1957-58 Topps set on Friday, when I picked up a rookie card of Hall of Fame goaltender Glenn Hall.

If anyone earned the right to be called “Mr. Goalie” it is him. Among other things, Hall played in 502 consecutive games, won the Calder Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, the Stanley Cup 3 times, the Vezina Trophy 3 times and invented the butterfly style. See Wikipedia for the full list of accomplishments, which were nothing short of remarkable.

And rookie cards of remarkable players tend to be expensive–especially when from an older set. A near mint-copy of this card has a high book value of $400.

For me, buying vintage cards is always a delicate balance of lowering my standards far enough that the card is “in my range,” but not so low that I will regret the purchase later.

This card is far from perfect, but it is not horrible. The corners all have some “rounding” to them, and there’s a “dimple” above Hall’s outstretched arm.

1957-58 Topps #20 - Glenn Hall (back)The centering is not perfect, but that just adds to the “character,” right? And there is a tiny bit of paper loss towards the bottom (I did not notice that until I scanned the card).

I ended up paying $85 for this Glenn Hall rookie card. If this is the only copy of this card that I ever own, I’ll still be happy with it.

Set completion as of 7-2-2012
20 out of 66 cards = 31.8%

 

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Author: Sal Barry

Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk

7 thoughts on “1957-58 Topps “Mr. Goalie” Rookie Card”

  1. What a great addition. Sometimes the perfect cards do not look authentic – the bit of age makes them seem like they have a story. Good luck on your way to completing the set.

  2. There are a number of tough cards in that set. Four Hall-of-Fame rookies and the Howe and Sawchuk along with them. Congrats on knocking that one off!

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