Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Most hockey card photography from the late 1960s and early 1970s consisted of either portraits or posed shots. By the mid-70s, Topps and O-Pee-Chee started to use game action photography. And nothing says ACTION like two hockey players fighting. Phil Roberto, of the St. Louis Blues, is shown here fighting New York Islanders’ goaltender Billy Smith while two linesmen attempt to break them up. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Fight Card”
Bigger is better, or so they usually say. The O-Pee-Chee Super Photos set, released in 1981, features cards that are 5″ wide by 7″ tall – four times the size of a standard hockey card. Twenty four portrait-type photographs comprise the set. As cool as these jumbo cards are, the bland, almost blank backs, leave something to be desired. Continue reading “Review: 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Super Photos”
Action speaks louder than words. Upper Deck took that meaning to heart when they started making hockey cards in 1990. This card you see here, of Los Angeles Kings backup goaltender Mario Gosselin, was one of many cards that demonstrated that Upper Deck was serious about becoming the best hockey card company out there, with their blend of high-quality products and exciting action photography. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Great Save, Great Shot”
McFarlane Toys has announced that they will release three hockey 2-packs that will be sold exclusively at Lowblaws stores in Canada. These will go on sale on December 26, 2007–a.k.a. “Boxing Day”.
Each pack contains previously-released figures, giving fans a second chance on a favorite player they might have missed. The 2-packs are:
— Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) vs. Roberto Loungo (Vancouver Canucks)
— Sakiu Koivu (Montreal Canadiens) vs. Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
— Bryan McCabe (Toronto Maple Leafs) vs. Jason Spezza (Ottawa Senators)
Since these are being sold only in Canada, they tend to focus on Canadian-based players, with the exception of Martin Brodeur–who has been the best goalie in the NHL for a while, as well as Team Canada’s goalie in the Olympics and such. Brodeur has not been available since 2004, so this is a good chance for fans to get a figure of him now.
You can see the full article on the Spawn.com website here.
I recently purchased another box of 2007-2008 Upper Deck MVP Hockey cards Here is the box breakdown. You get 24 packs in a box.
– 165 base cards
– 12 MVP Rookies
Inserts
– 4 Monumental Moments
– 4 New World Order
– 2 Game Faces
– 2 Hart Candidates
– 2 Gold Scripts
– 1 One-on-One dual jersey card (Doug Weight / Michael Handzus)
– 1 Rookie Redemption card (good for 3 RCs)
Last month, I purchased my first box, and posted a box breakdown here.
After two boxes, I have 299 out of 300 cards for the base set, and 24 of the 50 short-printed rookie cards.
Again, I hope to post a review of this set once I have all the cards 1-350.
Today, I went to a card show here in Chicago, and tracked down the last card I needed to complete my 1970-71 Topps Hockey card set…
Look, boys and girls–it’s Bobby Orr! Now my set is complete!
Many people, when building a set, put off buying the most expensive card until the end, hoping to find a deal. I think I did pretty good on this card. It currently “books” at $75, but I got it for $20. No, it is not a “Gem Mint PSA 10+++” grade or whatever…it is “raw”, it has a dinged corner. It is not perfect, as is the case with so many old hockey cards. But it still looks awesome, and for $20 how could I go wrong?
One thing I love about card shows is that you can see so much in one place. As much as I love buying things online, sometimes it is nice to just go out and get something on the spot, without any bidding or waiting…or shipping charges. Plus, you can always negotiate the price.
The 1985-86 New Jersey Devils postcard set was very small, consisting of only ten cards. Allegedly, only 3,000 sets were produced. While I am not sure if this is true or not, I don’t think the demand for this set is going to raise its value anytime soon – you can probably find it in the $10-15 range. Continue reading “Review: 1985-86 New Jersey Devils postcard set”
On November 3, 2007, longtime hockey coach Al Arbour came out of retirement to step behind the bench for the New York Islanders for just one more game. This game – a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins – brought his total number of games coached for the Islanders from 1,499 to an even 1,500. And at 75 years of age, Arbour is now the oldest man to have coached in an official NHL game.
Arbour holds another interesting notoriety, though. He is the last NHL player to take to the ice while wearing eyeglasses. Continue reading “Bespectacled Blueliner”
The 1991-92 Parkhurst Hockey set was manufactured by now-defunct trading card company Pro Set, who was the first company to lease the Parkhurst name. Parkhurst made hockey cards from 1951 until 1964. Pro Set’s big idea was to use the name to brand another set of their own hockey cards, hoping that its nostalgic ties would help it stand out in an increasingly crowded hockey card market. Continue reading “Review: 1991-92 Parkhurst Hockey”
In 1993, trading card manufacturer Donruss released its first set of hockey cards. Until then, the company had focused mainly on baseball cards. One of the coolest things about Donruss baseball cards was a yearly insert set called “Diamond Kings”, which featured paintings of the best players in Major League Baseball – usually one player per team. These paintings, by renowned sports artist Dick Perez, were the true highlight of the Donruss baseball card series.
Fortunately, Donruss commissioned Perez to do a series of 10 cards in their inaugural hockey set, known as “Ice Kings”. The set contained ten of the best players at that time. Of course, most of these players would be considered the best players of all time – including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Patrick Roy. Featuring striking portraits, this insert set is a worthwhile addition to any hockey card collection. Continue reading “Review: 1993-94 Donruss Ice Kings”