And if so, why?
Ever since I started collecting hockey cards in early 1989, I always saved a wrapper or two from each set. And in the beginning, it’s easy to understand why.
Just look at that wrapper – with its exciting artwork and bright, eye-catching colors. The wrapper did the heavy lifting of convincing someone to spend 50 cents for 12 cards. It seems just wrong to throw something away after it did such an admirable job of separating me from my money.
I’d also save wrappers from the non-sports sets that I collected around that time – especially if there were multiple variations.
It’s no secret that I love the design of old wax packs. Heck, I even made some hockey t-shirts that were inspired by hockey wrappers of the 1970s and 1980s – and even one from the 1990s.
When other companies like Score and Upper Deck started making hockey cards, of course I saved wrappers from those sets, too. And when I’m at a card show, if I spot a nice vintage wrapper, I buy it if it is affordable.
But over the years, sports cards wrappers became less…fun.
Designing something cool got eroded by companies opting to use a big logo and, eventually, a logo and a player photo.
I guess that’s ok, but not very creative. By the mid-1990s, sports cards really sold themselves. It would not matter if the words “HOCKEY CARDS” were stamped on a shiny, colorful, foil wrapper – or on a plain brown paper bag.
I still save wrappers, but every now and then, I ask myself why. I could tell you what a 1977-78 Topps Hockey wrapper looks like from memory but could not tell you what a 2017-18 Upper Deck Series One Hockey wrapper looks like.
Maybe it has Sidney Crosby on it?
Or was it Alex Ovechkin?
Or maybe Connor McDavid?
Actually, the correct answer is Auston Matthews – though McDavid was on the Series Two wrappers.
I’m not sure what compels me to save wrappers. Usually, I like to have at least one wrapper with a complete set of cards when I put it in pages. And if there are variations of those wrappers – such as hobby packs, retail packs, and/or fat packs – then I try to save those variations as well.
Even if it is a set that I’m not building, I will still save the wrapper if I get a pack. This is especially true when I open expensive cards like Premier or Black Diamond.
Some of these cards cost $200 or more for a single pack – and when you open a pack like that, you want to keep the wrapper as proof that you opened it, right? Kind of like how a ticket stub proves that you went to a concert or a hockey game…back when ticket stubs were a thing.
When I’m really on top of things, I put wrappers into two or four-pocket pages, with an index card labeling details about the wrapper – like if it is a retail or hobby pack, a bonus pack, or some other helpful information. Otherwise, they just languish in a shoe box until I get around to them.
So now I ask you, do you save wrappers from the cards you open? And how do you store them? Do you seek out and collect older wrappers? Leave a reply, or hit me up on social media @puckjunk, and let me know.
Note: This article is an updated version of an editorial that originally appeared in Volume 4 – Issue 36 of the Puck Junk Newsletter. For stories like these, plus news and updates about hockey cards and collectibles, subscribe to the newsletter here.
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