59% of a 1972-73 OPC set

Yesterday, I wrote about my intention to build the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Hockey set.

So, after declining that dealer’s offer for a set, sans-stars, I began my hunt for singles. Many were between 50 cents and $2. I also found 16 different W.H.A. cards for roughly $3 to $5 each (some were more, for obvious reasons).

I found 138 cards, giving me a total of 203 cards, which is 59% of the 340-card set.

Here are my favorite 10 cards from my set so far:

#137 – Tony Esposito (Chicago Blackhawks): Most dealers want $20 for this card. I found this one for $5.

#190- 2nd Series Check List: Yes, it is marked. But it was also only $5. This will do me good until I find a suitable replacement for not too much money.

#59 Guy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens): A light crease (left of Guy’s head) resulted in a cost of only $10.

#129 – Bobby Orr (Boston Bruins): Probably the most expensive card in the set. But don’t worry–I paid less than low book for it 🙂

#58 – Bobby Orr on the Offensive (NHL Action): The other pricey Orr card.

#92 – Jacques Plante (Toronto Maple Leafs): His last card as an NHLer. Plante would retire for a year and then play one season in the W.H.A.

#340 – Gerry Cheevers (Cleveland Crusaders): The other pricey W.H.A. card in this set. I think this card may be either trimmed or a mis-cut, as it is 1/8″ of an inch shorter than my other cards in this set. But I could not pass it up for $10.

#76 – Phil Esposito Standing in the “Slot” (NHL Action): Brother vs. brother for the profit of another!

#253 – The Stanley Cup Trophy: Or “Le Coupe de Stanley” as it is known in Quebec.

Card #336 – Bobby Hull (Winnipeg Jets):  I love this card. Yes, you heard me. I LOVE this card, and I am not afraid to admit it. It is the most expensive W.H.A. card in the set, and it features a Chicago legend sporting an airbrushed jersey for a “rebel” team. So freakin’ cool.

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Set: Build or Buy?

Have you ever been on the fence as to whether you should buy a complete set or build it yourself? For sets from the 1980s and 1990s, it’s a no-brainer–buying a complete set will save you time and money.

But with older cards, it is not that simple. Complete sets of older cards are harder to find–and when you do find them, the dealer usually wants a premium because of the effort he has (supposedly) saved you.

Over the past few years, I’ve been causally picking away at the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Hockey set, accumulating 65 of the 340 cards. Most cost me $1, some a few more, but overall I did not invest much time or money.

In other words, I could still go either way. Or so I thought.

At the card show on March 16-18, an interesting opportunity presented itself. A dealer had a near-complete set of 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee cards–all near-mint or better. Really a top-notch set.

The drawback? All the big guns were missing. The dealer had acquired a collection, but the original owner put all the best cards in screw-down holders, and they were not included in the collection when the dealer bought it.

So, it was a near-complete set lacking Bobby Orr (both cards), Ken Dryden (both cards), Bobby Clarke, Guy Lafleur, Jacques Plante and all the other guys in the $40-and-up price range. (He did have the Bobby Hull WHA card, though).

Keep in mind that the Beckett value for this set is between $900 to $1,500.

What did you think the dealer wanted?

I probably would not find a set this close to complete or in this perfect of condition ever again.

But so what? All the best cards (except Hull) were missing. I’d still have to hunt down some cards–and they were the expensive ones.

The dealer wanted $1,000 for the near-complete set. Even if I talked him down to $800, I’d be paying a lot of money for a set that would still require lots of money to complete.

At that point, I decided that I would try and build this set myself.

1957-58 Topps #11 – Vic Stasiuk

This card of Boston Bruins winger Vic Stasiuk is the 16th addition to my 1957-58 Topps Hockey set build. The centering is less-than-stellar, and it has a light crease on the front.

There’s no crease on the back, but the centering here is even less than less-than-stellar. Even less.

The upside is that this card cost me $2.25. Less than three bucks to fill a hole in a 55-year old set is fine by me.

Set completion as of 3-27-2012
16 out of 66 cards = 24.2%

Bargain Box Bonanza

I try to avoid the bargain boxes at card shows. You might spend an hour looking through five monster boxes, and only find one card you want.

But this past weekend, I went to a 3-day card show. Going all 3 days–instead of just 1 like I normally do–gave me the luxury of time. So I hit all the dime, quarter–and even dollar–boxes at this show. And I found some pretty good cards.

 2005-06 MVP Dion Phaneuf rookie card = 25 cents

Two (2) 2005-06 MVP Brent Seabrook rookie cards = 10 cents each

1984-85 Topps Pat Lafontaine rookie card = $1.00
Yes, it’s nowhere near the value of his OPC RC, but I couldn’t pass this up for a buck.

Two (2) 1990-91 Upper Deck Jeremy Roenick rookie cards = 10 cents each
It actually makes me sad to find this card for a dime. I remember when this was one of the top draws at a card show in Chicago, circa 1990.

1990-91 OPC Premier Jeremy Roenick rookie card = $1.00
OK, so maybe I’m still hoarding Roenick RCs after all these years.

2010-11 Black Diamond Dana Tyrell rookie card (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents
Some guy had several Double and Triple Diamonds in his quarter boxes.

 2010-11 Black Diamond T.J. Brodie rookie card (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents

2010-11 Black Diamond Alex Plante rookie card (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents

2010-11 Black Diamond Carey Price (Double Diamond) = 25 cents

Two (2) 2010-11 Black Diamond Mark Messier (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents each

2005-06 Parkhurst Ryan Suter rookie card = 10 cents

2001-02 Upper Deck Vintage Martin Erat rookie card = 10 cents
Another dime, another Predator RC.

Two (2) 1991 Stadium Club Members Only Patrick Roy = 10 cents each

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Lou Nanne rookie card = $1.00
I need so many cards from this set, so a non–common for a buck is a find.

1974-75 John Davidson rookie card = 25 cents
An RC of JD. I hope to get this signed one day.

1991-92 Arena Draft Picks Fat Balloon…er, I mean Pat Falloon = 10 cents

Nine (9) different 1997-98 Upper Deck 3-Star Selects = Ray Bouqrque (pictured) was 25 cents; the rest were 10 cents each.

1997-98 Score Check-It Bryan Berard = 10 cents
This completes my “Check-It” Insert Set. Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

46 assorted 1980s Topps Logo Stickers = 10 cents each
Why did I buy all these logo stickers? I’m not sure. I think I still find them cool after all these years.

Ten (10) 1989-90 Topps Wayne Gretzky cards = 10 cents each
Ten cards of The Great One for one dollar. How could I say no?

Not a bad bunch of cards for $12.65. These were the highlights of the “cheap thrills.” Stay tuned to see more of the high-end cards I purchased.

1963-64 Parkhurst #52 – Norm Ullman

The second 1963-64 Parkie I bought at last weekend’s show was card number 52, Norm Ullman. This card is in near-perfect shape with sharp corners and perfect gloss. It is a bit off centered, but lack of centering is just part of the charm (as 1967ers would say).

As usual, the back of the card is the usual brown color (were these even printed on light stock?). This one has no stains or flaws I could find, other than the centering. I paid a few dollars under “high book” value for this one, but I think in the end I got a really great specimen for my set.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 48% Complete

1957-58 Topps #44 – Bill McNeil

In October of 2010, I started my attempt to build the 1957-58 Topps Hockey set. I was off to a good start, accumulating 14 cards from October to December.

But in 2011, I only managed to pick up one measly card from this set.

So at this weekend’s card show, I decided to make this set one of my priorities. Here is card #44 from the 66-card set. This also happens to be Bill McNeill’s rookie card, for what it’s worth.

The only real flaw on this card is that it has some “white spots” at the bottom edge of the back–where the red ink meets the border. However, after I took this scan, I was able to gently “brush off” the white spots–it seems like “White Out” or some other similar correction fluid. I was able to gently scratch it off without harming the card.

Set completion as of 3-19-2012
15 out of 66 cards = 22.7%

1963-64 Parkhurst #30 – King Clancy

Since mid-2008 I have been passive-aggressively building the 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set. Sometimes I “passively” bid on a few cards on eBay, while other times I will “aggressively” seek them out at card shows. This weekend was the latter. I went to a card show  and had some great luck finding Parkhurst cards I wanted for a decent price.

Here we have Hall of Fame player and coach King Clancy. He played in the NHL from 1921 to 1937, and later was a coach or assistant coach for 15 seasons.

Oh so close to halfway completing this set.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 47% Complete

Hockey Photo Purchases

Last week, I bought 30 different of 8″ x 10″ hockey photographs from AU Sports, one of my favorite card shops.

Many of these photos were taken at old Chicago Stadium, and most of them are from the 1980s and early 1990s, so these rate pretty high in the nostalgia factor for me.

Mike Liut (Hartford Whalers) – Taken at Chicago Stadium

Sylvain Turgeon (Hartford Whalers) – I used to watch quite a few Whalers games on TV back in the early 1990s, as SportsChannel would show Hartford games quite regularly.

Mike Bossy (New York Islanders) – Bossy retired by the time I got into hockey.

Denis Potvin (New York Islanders) –  Potvin had retired and was a studio analyst for SportsChannel when I started watching hockey. I remember him infamously guessing that the Chicago Blackhawks would get eliminated in the first round of the 1989 playoffs, when in fact they made it all the way to the Conference Finals.

Billy Smith (New York Islanders) –  The first game I ever went to was the Blackhawks against the Islanders.

Billy Smith (again) – I’m not sure when either of these photos of Smith were taken. I can tell that these are from old Chicago Stadium, as it was one of the last arenas to put advertisements on the boards.

Martin Brodeur – Wow! What a great overhead photograph–making the save just in time. I’m not sure where or when this was taken

Marcel Dionne (New York Rangers) – A nice close-up of the Hall of Fame player at the end of his career.

Bob Brooke (New York Rangers) – Brooke played for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team.

Rick Vaive (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Taken at Chicago Stadium, and most likely during the 1984-85 season. Vaive was infamously stripped of the “C” when he missed a practice during the 1985-86 season.

Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Wearing the “conceited swan” logo, this is probably from 1996-97.

Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Wearing the Penguins’ jersey that looks like the Rangers’ jersey.
Dan Quinn (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Pat Lafontaine (New York Islanders)
Larry Robinson (Los Angeles Kings) and Denis Savard (Chicago Blackhawks) – Taken at Chicago Stadium during the 1989-90 season. I went to this game.
Kelly Hrudey (Los Angeles Kings) – Taken at the Chicago Stadium during the 1989-90 season.
Mario Gosselin (Los Angeles Kings) – Taken at Chicago Stadium during the 1989-90 season.
Steve Duchesne (Los Angeles Kings) – Yet another photo from Chicago Stadium.
Dave “Tiger” Williams – Sportin’ the oldschool Kings jersey.
Pelle Lindbergh (Philadelphia Flyers) – As most of you know, Lindbergh died in a car crash prior to the 1985-86 season
Byron Dafoe (Boston Bruins) – A nice photo of “Lord Byron’s” goalie mask.
Dennis Hextall (Detroit Red Wings) – This is the oldest photo in the lot. I knew this guy looked familiar–I got an autographed card of his last year.
Brad Park (Detroit Red Wings) – Near the end of his NHL career.
Brad Park (again) – Rockin’ the playoff beard.
Joey Kocur (Detroit Red Wings) – One of many tough guys who played for the Red Wings in the 1980s and 1990s.
1991 Canada Cup – I think this was taken at Chicago Stadium in September of 1991. It was an exhibition game between the U.S. and Canada. I recognize Chris Chelios at the right. I think that’s Steve Thomas in the Canada jersey, but he was not on their final roster. He could have played for them but got cut before the tourney started. I’m also not sure who the guy in the middle is. Does anyone recognize the players at the left and center in this picture?
Kelly Buchburger (Edmonton Oilers) – Taken at Chicago Stadium.
Frank Mrazek (Red Deer Rebels) – This was actually a giveaway-type item and not a glossy photo. Mrazek was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1997, but ended up playing in Europe. He is currently playing in Germany.
Ryan Walter (Montreal Canadiens) and Dave Tippett (Hartford Whalers)
Dave Manson (Chicago Blackhawks) – Manson (right) watches a scuffle between a teammate and Joe Paterson of the Los Angeles Kings.
Mike Vernon (Calgary Flames) – An exciting pile-up in the crease. Also in the photo are Dana Murzyn, Brad McCrimmon and Ric Natress of the Flames and Bob McGill of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Wanted: Canadian NHCD set; For Trade: US NHCD sets

Attention Canadian Collectors
I need a complete set of the Canadian National Hockey Card Day set, including the Crosby card, two checklists and a wrapper. I will gladly send you the American NHCD set in exchange (1-15 plus the Tim Thomas card plus 2 checklists plus a wrapper).

Also, I was able to purchase 20 additional packs of NHCD and 5 more Tim Thomas cards, and have almost completed 6 more sets. If anyone (Canadian or American) would like to trade for a set–or purchase one outright for just my cost on the set ($10 plus shipping) let me know.

Attention American Collectors
I need the following US NHCD Cards to make complete sets:

3- Henrik Lundqvist x2
4 – Pekka Rinne x 3 2
5 – Jaromir Jagr x 4
6 – Zdeno Chara
7 – Ryan Kesler x 6 4
12 – Willie O’Ree x3
Also looking for extras of Patrick Kane

I have the following for trade:

1 – Gabriel Landeskog
2 – Alex Ovechkin
9 – Ryan Miller
10 – Zach Parise
11 – Andy Miele
13 – Mike Modano
14 – Brett Hull
16 – Tim Thomas

If anyone can help me out–either with a Canadian NHCD set, or some of the US NHCD cards I need to make complete sets–please email me at sjbATpuckjunkDOTcom

And if you didn’t see my (week late) recap of NHCD in America, check it out here.