Ticket Stubs: The Hobby’s Hottest Collectible

How the pandemic and professional grading have made ticket stub collecting more popular than ever.

While trading cards may always be number one among sports memorabilia enthusiasts, ticket stub collecting has gradually heated up over the past two years. It has done so for two reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic and grading companies have both made collecting physical ticket stubs more popular than ever. However, digital ticketing may erode some of that enthusiasm – but maybe not for long.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first caused shutdowns and “shelter at home” orders in March 2020, many people started at-home hobbies. Some discovered, or rediscovered, sports card collecting, causing cards to surge in popularity and price over the past two years. Then, ticket stubs experienced its own uptick in interest.

“The pandemic got more people to look at their ticket stubs and see if they could sell them on eBay,” said Paul White, who has collected ticket stubs for 30 years. “People wanted to see if their ticket stubs are worth something, and to some people, they are. I’ve actually found more ticket stubs on eBay since the pandemic, which has been a benefit.” Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog. 

How to Organize Your Ticket Stub and Pocket Schedule Collection

I loved saving the ticket stubs from the Chicago Blackhawks hockey games I went to when I was a kid. Each time I went to a game, I was sure to bring my stub to school the next day to show off to my friends and prove that I was there.

Sometimes the games were important – all-star or playoff games – and sometimes it was just a Tuesday night regular season game. Regardless, it was cool to just go and then have that small, visual reminder that I could look back at.

Over the years, I have also saved pocket schedules, rosters, lineup cards, score cards and any other piece of game or team-related memorabilia I could find. I even saved concert ticket and movie ticket stubs. After a while, all of that started to add up, so I had to get it organized. BCW makes many different sizes of pocket pages that will fit almost any “non-card” collectible you may have. Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog. 

Where were you 20 years ago?

Twenty years ago to this day – December 27, 1991 – I was probably at this game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Winnipeg Jets.

I say probably because I have no recollection of going to this game.

And yet, I have this ticket stub.

My Aunt had season tickets to the Chicago Blackhawks from 1989-90 to 1991-92. I was a lucky kid who got to go to a lot of games during that 3-year span.

I guess when you go to enough games, you are bound to forget a few.

There are so many hockey games that I’ll never forget: my first game (Hawks vs. Islanders) and second game (Hawks vs. Flames) are permanently etched in my memory.

I’ll never forget the standing ovation that Denis Savard got when he played his first game at Chicago Stadium as a member of the Canadiens.

I still remember the shockwaves that went through me when I witnessed a Doug Wilson slapshot rip the stick out of Darren Puppa’s hand.

I still hear those two drunk guys bellowing “GUYYYYY LAFLEURRRRRR” every time Lafleur took to the ice in a game against the Nordiques.

But this game against Winnipeg? I got nothing.

Apparently, Brian Noonan of the Blackhawks got a hat trick. Hat tricks are pretty memorable events, so why don’t I recall this one?

Mike Peluso fought Mike Hartman. I loved hockey fights as a kid, but it probably wasn’t the fight to end all fights.

Oh, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

That’s probably why I forgot going to this game. Ties suck.

1991 All-Star Game & Heroes of Hockey Tickets

Click to see larger.

Above are my tickets stubs from the 1991 NHL All-Star Game (left) and 1991 Heroes of Hockey and Skills Competition (right–otherwise known as “All-Star Friday.”

My Aunt and Uncle had seasons tickets to the Blackhawks games. They took me to a lot of games when I was a kid, and probably were going to take me to the game anyway. But my Grandmother paid them for my tickets to the game and skills competition as an early birthday present.

For some reason, our seats at the All-Star Game were better than our usual seats. Normally, we were in Mezzanine Row H, but for this weekend we were in Row D–4 rows closer than usual. Heck, we sat closer than Gordie Howe, who was in our section but about 5 or 6 rows back from us. Continue reading “1991 All-Star Game & Heroes of Hockey Tickets”

1990 Indianapolis Ice ticket stub

I didn’t have the time today to do a full write-up, but came across this old ticket stub from 1990 while filing away some team schedules my new friend Bill gave me (thanks, Bill). The stub in question is from a team called the Indianapolis Ice, who for the majority of their existence were the top minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The wavy pink lines make this ticket stub hard to read, so go ahead and click on it to see it more legibly. You’ll notice that it reads Indianapolis Ice vs. Bad Guys..Just lovely. That always made me laugh. So politically un-correct. Not “vs. Opponents” or “vs. TBA”, but against the BAD GUYS!!!

Unfortunately, I did not attend this game. My Mom and Aunt Gayle went to Indianapolis, and my Mom gave me her stub (as well as a few other Indy Ice things). Since this was from a playoff game, the tickets were printed before the opponent–and the date–were known. That makes figuring out the day of this game rather difficult.

The ticket says 1990 Playoff Game I. Since “I” is the 9th letter of the alphabet (last time I checked), that would mean that this game was most likely against the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, since that is the team that they played in Round Two.

During the playoffs, goaltending duties for the Ice were mostly left to Jimmy Waite, with Darren Pang chipping in here and there a few games. The leading playoff scorers for the Ice were Mike Eagles and Mike Stapleton. The Ice won Round One 4-1 over the Peoria Rivermen, and won Round Two 4-1 against Salt Lake. In the third and final round, the Ice swept the Muskegon Lumberjacks 4-0 to win their first and only Turner Cup Championship.