The King’s New Clothes

1988-89 Topps #120 – Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky 1988-89 Topps Hockey CardWayne Gretzky lucked out on two counts after his trade to the Los Angeles Kings. First off, while Gretzky was sent to the team with arguably the worst uniforms at the time, he never had to wear them. Up until then, the Kings wore those god-awful purple and yellow uniforms. After “The Trade,” the team changed their uniforms to that stylish silver and black getup we all loved in the 1990s. No giant “Imperial Margarine crown” for Wayne.

The other lucky break for The Great One was that he was exempted from the time-honored tradition of the “airbrushed” hockey card. Continue reading “The King’s New Clothes”

Miracle on Cardboard

1980 Kellogg’s Olympic Stick’r Trading Cards

1980 US Olympic Team Hockey CardKellogg’s–the makers of cereals such as Corn Flakes–issued a set of smaller-sized, Olympic-themed trading cards. The cards could be peeled away from their cardboard backing and “stuck” to a flat surface-hence calling it a “stick’r trading card”. Released in 1980, these were most likely packed in boxes of cereal. One such card deals with our favorite sport: ice hockey! Here we see some sweet but random hockey action on the front. I’m not sure what teams these are, as the logos have been airbrushed off of the jerseys, but I guess we could assume that the players in white are from Team USA. Adoring the lower left corner of this card is a large and distracting Winter Olympics logo. Continue reading “Miracle on Cardboard”

Face Time

1981-82 O-Pee-Chee #317 – Dave Farrish

Dave Farrish OPC Hockey CardI wonder why O-Pee-Chee even bothered including a card of Dave Farrish in their 1981-82 set if this was the best photo they had. Sure, the defenseman played 74 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the previous season…but he barely appears on his own card. You only catch a glimpse of his visage as he slightly leans over the boards of the penalty box, wistfully gazing upwards at the O-Pee-Chee logo floating above. Continue reading “Face Time”

A Tale of Two Teds

1975-76 Topps card #244 – Ted Irvine

Ted Irvine Topps Hockey CardWhat’s wrong with this picture?

Obviously, this card has been painted over, to change the player’s uniform to that of the St. Louis Blues, mid-1970s. Whenever Topps (or O-Pee-Chee) spent time retouching a player photo, the final result ended up looking like a painting with a superimposed floating head.

The problem here is the floating head belongs to Ted Harris and not Ted Irvine. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Teds”

Super Soviet Sticker

1979 Panini Hockey Stickers #140 – Vladislav Tretiak

Vladislav Tretiak Panini Hockey StickerAny Canadian over 40 years of age no doubt remembers the 1972 Summit Series, which pitted Canada’s best players against the best players from the Soviet Union. It was a grueling, eight game series – the Canadian Team barely coming out ahead, winning one more game than their opponents. One big reason that the series was so close was because of the amazing play of the Soviet goaltender, Vladislav Tretiak. Continue reading “Super Soviet Sticker”

Card of the Week: Under Unger

1973-74 Topps card #15 – Gary Unger

Gary Unger 1973-74 Topps Hockey cardHere is proof that not all hockey cards from the 1970s had boring photography. While the 1973-74 Topps set was rife with static portraits and blurry game-action photos, this card is one of those rare, wonderful exceptions. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Under Unger”

My Quest to Own a Tony O Rookie Card

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee #138: Tony Esposito

Tony Esposito rookie cardOne thing that most of us know by now is, you can’t try to be cool – you either are or you aren’t…although many of us still try to be. Four decades ago, hockey cards didn’t “try” to be cool – they just were.

Take for instance this rookie card of Hall of Fame goaltender Tony Esposito, and you will see what I mean. Continue reading “My Quest to Own a Tony O Rookie Card”