1957-58 Topps “Mr. Goalie” Rookie Card

1957-58 Topps #20 - Glenn HallI took one gigantic leap forward in building my 1957-58 Topps set on Friday, when I picked up a rookie card of Hall of Fame goaltender Glenn Hall.

If anyone earned the right to be called “Mr. Goalie” it is him. Among other things, Hall played in 502 consecutive games, won the Calder Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, the Stanley Cup 3 times, the Vezina Trophy 3 times and invented the butterfly style. See Wikipedia for the full list of accomplishments, which were nothing short of remarkable.

And rookie cards of remarkable players tend to be expensive–especially when from an older set. A near mint-copy of this card has a high book value of $400.

For me, buying vintage cards is always a delicate balance of lowering my standards far enough that the card is “in my range,” but not so low that I will regret the purchase later.

This card is far from perfect, but it is not horrible. The corners all have some “rounding” to them, and there’s a “dimple” above Hall’s outstretched arm.

1957-58 Topps #20 - Glenn Hall (back)The centering is not perfect, but that just adds to the “character,” right? And there is a tiny bit of paper loss towards the bottom (I did not notice that until I scanned the card).

I ended up paying $85 for this Glenn Hall rookie card. If this is the only copy of this card that I ever own, I’ll still be happy with it.

Set completion as of 7-2-2012
20 out of 66 cards = 31.8%

 

1957-58 Topps #60 – Andy Bathgate

This card of Andy Bathgate is the 19th card for my 1957-58 Topps Hockey set. It is in rough shape–some wear on the front and a few corner creases–but I didn’t pay a heck of a lot for it. A near-mint copy of this card books for $40. For $8, I figured that this one was good enough to bring me one step closer.

Set completion as of 4-20-2012
19 out of 66 cards = 28.7%

1957-58 Topps #11 – Vic Stasiuk

This card of Boston Bruins winger Vic Stasiuk is the 16th addition to my 1957-58 Topps Hockey set build. The centering is less-than-stellar, and it has a light crease on the front.

There’s no crease on the back, but the centering here is even less than less-than-stellar. Even less.

The upside is that this card cost me $2.25. Less than three bucks to fill a hole in a 55-year old set is fine by me.

Set completion as of 3-27-2012
16 out of 66 cards = 24.2%

1957-58 Topps #44 – Bill McNeil

In October of 2010, I started my attempt to build the 1957-58 Topps Hockey set. I was off to a good start, accumulating 14 cards from October to December.

But in 2011, I only managed to pick up one measly card from this set.

So at this weekend’s card show, I decided to make this set one of my priorities. Here is card #44 from the 66-card set. This also happens to be Bill McNeill’s rookie card, for what it’s worth.

The only real flaw on this card is that it has some “white spots” at the bottom edge of the back–where the red ink meets the border. However, after I took this scan, I was able to gently “brush off” the white spots–it seems like “White Out” or some other similar correction fluid. I was able to gently scratch it off without harming the card.

Set completion as of 3-19-2012
15 out of 66 cards = 22.7%

1957-58 Topps #6 – Larry Regan

I bought a lot of vintage hockey cards at the show last weekend. It’s been almost a full year since I last added a card to my 1957-58 Topps set. Larry Regan is my 14th card, bringing me one step closer to completing this 66-card set.

The front has a light crease and the corners are soft.

But the price? A whopping three-and-a-half bucks.

Set completion as of 11-25-2011:
14 out of 66 cards = 21.2%

1957-58 Topps #38 – Al Arbour

My 13th card for the 1957-58 Topps Hockey set that I am building.

Unlike the Fern Flaman card I also got recently, this Al Arbour card is not in the greatest shape. It has some creases and wear–“character,” you could say. Much like Arbour himself.

This only cost $5, so I don’t feel too bad about getting such an imperfect card.

Set completion as of 12-2-2010:
13 out of 66 cards = 19.7%