Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
A few weeks back, I opined that checklist cards in this day and age are pretty much useless and should be discontinued. I put a poll out on X/Twitter asking collectors if they like checklist cards.
As you can see from the poll results above, 50.7% of respondents still like checklists, while 49.3% do not like checklists.
There are two takeaways here:
In a record-setting auction that ended Sunday, February 25, a full case of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey cards sold at Heritage Auctions for $3.72 MILLION DOLLARS.
The winning bid, which was placed Saturday night, was for $3.1 million. The “buyer’s premium” that gets tacked on to the winning bid price was $620,000, bringing the grand total to $3.72M.
What I want to know is, what would someone do with an entire case of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey cards?
Continue reading “What Would You Do With a Full Case of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Cards?”
It’s a mad, mad world we hockey card collectors are living in right now. Earlier this month, the hobby got turned on it’s head – again! – thanks, in large part, to the hype surrounding Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard.
Upper Deck released its 2023-24 O-Pee-Chee Hockey set on February 7. Traditionally, OPC is issued at the start of the season and does not include any of the “big name” rookies, who would normally get OPC cards later in the year as a part of an update set.
But this year, OPC was released mid-season. That means that Upper Deck could include Connor Bedard in the ’23-24 OPC set – and boy, did they ever!
Continue reading “Connor Bedard’s O-Pee-Chee Rookie Cards are Hot!”
After I launched the Puck Junk Newsletter last summer, a reader commented about the sheer number of hockey cards coming out over the next few months.
That got me wondering: are there too many hockey sets being released at once? In other words, is this too much of a good thing?
Once upon a time, it was possible to collect every hockey card released during the season – especially when there were only two major sets available. But nowadays, it is impossible to collect every hockey card out there, especially when you consider all the parallels, autographs, jersey cards, and one-of-one cards.
Since it is impossible to collect everything, many card collectors focus on player collecting – that is, collecting just the cards of their favorite players.
Like an à la carte menu at a restaurant, which lets you order smaller portions of certain foods without the side dishes, player collecting allows you to sample every, base, parallel and insert set out there.
Continue reading “Player Collecting: The à La Carte of Card Collecting”
When I went to the Sport Card Expo in Toronto back in November, one of the things I wanted to buy was an Auston Matthews Young Guns rookie card. In fact, there were a few different rookie cards of current stars that I was looking for.
The problem was, they were all more than I wanted to pay. Much of the new stuff was graded. And even ungraded copies of cards that I wanted were in the neighborhood of $500 or more.
That’s when I reminded myself of one of my long-standing card collecting strategies: know when to pivot your collecting focus, because you won’t know what you might find.
Happy New Year, Puck Junk readers! As 2023 was winding down, I started thinking about what kind of New Year’s “Collecting” Resolution I wanted to make for 2024.
Sure, we may want to exercise more, eat better foods, or read more books in the new year. But as collectors, we also make resolutions when it comes to collecting.
Usually, these resolutions usually involve better organizing our collection. Hey – the struggle is real.
In the past, I’ve made New Year’s “Collecting” Resolutions to get rid of duplicate cards, complete sets, or to get myself a “Holy Grail” card sometime during the year. And I’ve done all of those in 2023.
So, I need to give myself an entirely new “Collecting” Resolution for 2024.
Continue reading “What Is Your Collecting Resolution for 2024?”
After almost four years of writing for Puck Junk, I’m officially announcing that I’ll be taking some time away. This will be my last column. It could be my last one forever. I’m not sure.
That doesn’t mean I’m not going to go out with a bang. In this week’s column, I’ll dig into one of my favorite fan moments, an intriguing contract extension, and a few other takes.
I’ll close with some thoughts about my last few years writing for Puck Junk. It’s been a ride. Let’s get down to it.
Last week was a great week for milestones and great plays. Four out of five of this week’s takes are from those two categories. The last take is rather sad; it’s about Ben Bishop and an injury that will cost him the rest of his playing career.
I won’t keep everyone down in the dumps for too long. It’s the holiday season and there is still a lot of hockey to be played.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Ben Bishop’s Career Has Come to an End”