My Oddball Sets Article in Beckett Hockey #247

Beckett Hockey #247 March 2013Go get the March 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey (#247). I have a new article in it, entitled From Patches to Packaging, where I discuss interesting oddball hockey sets.

But I do more than that–I also talk about each set’s significance in a historical context, such as what was going on in the NHL and in the trading card industry at the time. Anyone can look in a price guide to know that there were 70 “Action Patches” released in 1992-93, but what’s the deal with the “prototype” patch? Or why was a certain team omitted from another set?

Hopefully, anyone who buys this month’s issue not only enjoys my article, but learns something from it too.

I won’t have an article in the April 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey, but I am currently working on my next piece for the May 2013 issue.

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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

6 thoughts on “My Oddball Sets Article in Beckett Hockey #247”

  1. I actually had the hockey tags! I remember them from when I was really young and then I was at the Ottawa airport and I saw them in a vending machine and I bought one “egg” with a couple in them. I used them on my school keys for years before they eventually broke off.

    Another great article Sal!

    1. Dave,

      That is a cool story. I was not sure how these were originally sold, but hearing that they came out of a vending machine makes sense. Do you recall how much the tags cost? Or, do you remember if you got the whole team (7 tags) or just a few random ones?

      I don’t remember seeing these at shows in the 1990s–or in any price guide annual–but in the early 2000s Souhaits Renaissance went out of business. I think they liquidated their remaining “stock” of these keychains. Or maybe they had a bunch that they couldn’t sell commercially. Somehow, a lot of these got into the secondary market, as you can get a whole set for around $40 these days.

  2. Sal – Congrats on the article. It looks interesting and I’ll be sure to read it. In my opinion, educational articles such as this is one of the things missing from the Beckett magazine over the past number of years. The focus is too much on the price guide part of the magazine (and the accuracy of this is often questioned). Too little effort is being put into quality articles and making this a magazine that someone would want to purchase every month.
    The front cover mentions the NHL lockout conclusion. More importantly from a collector/buyer perspective, I’d like to see someone do an article how the recent USPS rate increases have affected sports card collecting/trading.

    1. The new USPS rates are murder when it comes to sending packages TO Canada.

      A 3-ounce package to Canada used to cost around $3.10 to ship. Now it costs $6

      I sent out a 6-ounce package yesterday to Canada and it cost me $8.55.

      This is going to affect any trading I do with Canadians.

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