Sal Barry

Recently, I completed my 1990-91 Panini hockey sticker set.
For some reason, I never got around to getting the last two I needed, Patrick Roy and Andy Moog, until now.

I used to buy Panini stickers diligently “back in the day”. They were easy to find, as most drug, convenience and grocery stores carried them. They were also very affordable; a pack of six stickers cost about a quarter or thirty cents. Finally, the sticker sets were larger than most hockey card sets–and all teams got “equal treatment”. Meaning, if there were 16 Blackhawks stickers, then there were 16 Nordiques stickers–and 16 stickers for every other team too.

I think I learned more about hockey during my first few years of fandom by collecting stickers–a lot of players were featured, and many times other aspects of the game (rules, signals, all-stars, stadiums, uniforms) were covered.

For these reasons, the Panini sticker albums were always a treat to collect. You could even trade with (or buy from) Panini the few stickers you needed to finish your set. I’m not sure why I didn’t just pick these two up for ten cents each back then. I probably forgot all about needing these two when the 1991-92 set came out.

This week, I plan on adding several articles about hockey stickers. Check back every day this week, as I have three sticker-related articles in the queue, ready for your enjoyment. First up is an article about where my hockey memorabilia collecting all began.

This past Saturday, I went to the twice-yearly Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectors Convention. The show is held in March and November. Back in November, I purchased the one card I needed to complete my 1970-71 Topps Hockey Set. This time around, I had similar luck. Here’s some of the cards I picked up:

This 1969-70 Topps checklist is unmarked, and completes my set.

1969-70 Henri Richard – this was an upgrade, as the one I already have has a bad wax stain on the front. Now, my set is EX/NrMt overall.

I purchased this 1953-54 Parkhurst Leonard “Red” Kelly card for $10. I thought that seemed steep at first, since the card has three major creases. But then I remembered that this card is 55 years old! Suddenly, ten bucks didn’t seem like much for it.

That said, $15 for a 1951-52 Parkhurst Gus Bodnar card seemed like a pretty sweet deal, even though it is creased across the front.

I plan on getting this 1978-79 Topps Dale Tallon card signed at the upcoming Chicago Blackhawks convention in July.

Likewise, I will send this 1976-77 Topps card to Fred Stanfield to get autographed–I have had success with him in the past

Other highlights include:

• Several Chris Chelios cards (I try and collect all of his cards)
• A complete set of 1996-97 Leaf Hockey for $8
• 1990-91 OHL complete set, 1990-91 WHL complete set and 1990-91 QMJHL complete set –all three for $10
• Mario Lemieux “Bun Candy” 3-card set for $3
• A Penguins puck–with the oldschool “scarf” logo–for $5
• Numerous 2006-07 O-Pee-Chee inserts for 50 cents to a buck each.
• Signed photos of Pat Lafontaine, Jari Kurri, Brian Hayward, Rick Tocchet and Bernie Parent–all for $5 each! (links are to scans)When I went to this show, I was just so in the zone. I was on my feet for seven hours straight–I did not break for lunch, nor did I have to use the restroom. I was thorough and methodical in my perusing of the dealer tables. I think I did pretty good, too. Some of the stuff I bought was impulse buys, like 3 issues of the old “Legends” magazine for $5 total, or the autographed photos. I set out to complete my 69-70 set and pick up a few “old as dirt” 1950s cards. I accomplished both of those goals, and got some other cool stuff too.

  Now, I just gotta sit down and put everything away…