Clemente’s Corner: Oddball Collectibles Highlight the Fall 2024 Toronto Expo
The National Sports Collectors Convention may be the show everyone wants to attend each summer, but the Toronto Sport Card Expo is the show I need to fly to each fall.
The four-day show, which concluded this past weekend, is Canada’s biggest card and memorabilia show – and one that I have made a point to attend each November.
Held twice a year (there is also a spring edition), this fall’s get-together was packed with collectors and featured sports cards and memorabilia from the past and present. The show, however, is known for its hockey cards.
While I did buy cards for my collection, I also spent hours looking through bins rummaging for oddball hockey collectables that are the norm at Canadian shows.
Here are some cool items I saw at the show (all dating back to the 1990s) and their backstory:
Canada Cup Poster
Labatt, the Canadian brewing company, and Zurich Canada, an insurance company, teamed up to sponsor posters in time for the Canada Cup, an invitational international hockey tournament held five times between 1976 and 1991.
The poster – featuring the six-team tournament schedule on one side and the Canadian flag on the reverse – was aimed at promoting the tournament (eventually won by Canada over the U.S.). It also prominently features Wayne Gretzky, who finished the tournament that year as top scorer with 12 points.
This 1994 McDonald’s giveaway featured the great Brett Hull and merged hockey and sci-fi with comic books. The limited-edition item featured three comic books and was produced by the Patrick Company in St. Louis.
Each issue cost 99 cents with purchases of Value Meals at McDonald’s restaurants across the Midwest with art from Bill Vann. Decades later, the comic book is a relic of its time and a tribute to the Hall of Famer. In fact, not too many players can claim to have been immortalized in a comic book.
Wow! I hadn’t seen one of these in years. It brought back so many memories of going to New York Rangers games in the 1990s and immersing myself in its pages between periods and once I returned home. Paper seems so quaint now that everything is digital.
“Goal” was the thing to buy (along with a soda and hot dog). It was loaded with feature stories, a poster and scorecard. It served as the official magazine of the NHL. Prior to the 1973-74 season it was known simply as “National Hockey League Magazine.” It was used as the default program when a home team did not issue their own branded publication.
Jello-o “Sharp Shooters” Trading Cards
The 1994-95 season saw the food issue of Kraft cards printed on Jello-o packages. Featuring two cards with each box, the “Sharp Shooters” set featured some of the time’s best players, including Eric Lindros, Alexander Mogilny, Mark Messier and Jeremy Roenick. I so wish food releases would become a thing again.
The 16-card set isn’t too difficult to find online, but I had never seen them in person before. That’s exactly the reason why hockey fans throughout the world need to experience the Expo at least once in their lives.
Clemente Lisi is a lifelong Rangers fan who first started collecting cards in 1986. He collects both vintage and modern with a focus on rookie cards. Follow him on X/Twitter @ClementeLisi.
Clemente Lisi is a lifelong Rangers fan who first started collecting cards in 1986. He collects both vintage and modern with a focus on rookie cards. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.
View all posts by Clemente Lisi
3 thoughts on “Clemente’s Corner: Oddball Collectibles Highlight the Fall 2024 Toronto Expo”
I had those Hull comics. STL area McDs had a whole promotion. The “Brett Hull Hat Trick Triple Cheeseburger” was the food item. They also had a tie-in with the Blues to produce a 50 or 60 card set of the best players in Blues history around the same time. Oh, the good old days…
Oddball cards – and team issue cards – are some of my favourites. Anyone with enough money can buy a Young Gun of their favourite player anytime they want, but sourcing and buying oddball and regional cards is what keeps collecting fun for me.
I had those Hull comics. STL area McDs had a whole promotion. The “Brett Hull Hat Trick Triple Cheeseburger” was the food item. They also had a tie-in with the Blues to produce a 50 or 60 card set of the best players in Blues history around the same time. Oh, the good old days…
What a wild assortment of 90s fun. The Expo is more than cards. Thanks for focusing on other things at the show.
Oddball cards – and team issue cards – are some of my favourites. Anyone with enough money can buy a Young Gun of their favourite player anytime they want, but sourcing and buying oddball and regional cards is what keeps collecting fun for me.