1983-84 O-Pee-Chee card #169 – Steve Christoff
This must have been confusing to the card-collecting kids of 1983. There was no internet or Wikipedia to explain why Steve Christoff’s uniform was painted to look like he is with Minnesota, when in fact he was “Now with Los Angeles.”
The answer: bad timing.
After winning a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic Team in 1980, Christoff went on to play 3 seasons with the Minnesota North Stars. Despite being a popular player and a decent scorer (110 points in 145 games), the North Stars traded Christoff to the Calgary Flames in June 1982.
At the end of his one season with the Flames, Christoff was traded back to the North Stars. Well, at least for the summer. Wanting to be accurate, O-Pee-Chee went through the trouble to have Christoff’s Flames jersey painted over to look like a North Stars jersey. Of course, they could have used a photo from 2 seasons ago, when he was really wearing a North Stars jersey. That would have looked a bit more realistic, don’t you think?
Unfortunately for Christoff , and the guy who lovingly painted this photo, the North Stars sent Christoff packing again – this time to the Kings – right before the 1983-84 season began. Not having enough time to re-re-paint Christoff’s jersey, the card company swapped in a Kings logo at the top and added the expository type.
Sometimes, I wonder why they even bothered. O-Pee-Chee’s intentions were good, but their execution was always ridiculous.
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