Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
After producing no hockey card sets during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons, Topps hockey cards made a comeback in 1984-85. That year, the company released a small, 165-card set. Considering that Topps’ annual baseball set had 792 cards, while their football set had 396 cards, putting out a hockey set with only 165 cards was a very … Continue reading “Review: 1984-85 Topps Hockey”
Chris Pronger has accomplished everything you would expect from an elite NHL defenseman. He’s won the Stanley Cup, the Norris Trophy and the Hart Trophy. He was the captain of three different NHL teams, was on the cover of two different video games and lead the league in plus/minus two times, for what it’s worth. Pronger … Continue reading “Career in Cards: Chris Pronger”
Mario is the big five-oh! All-time great Mario Lemieux is 50 years old today. Despite numerous ailments and injuries, plus a three-year retirement, Lemieux had one of the most remarkable NHL careers. He won six scoring titles, was league MVP three times, played in 10 NHL All-Star Games, was a First Team All-Star five times and … Continue reading “Career in Cards: Mario Lemieux”
Chicago Blackhawks’ General Manager Stan Bowman has had a busy summer, attempting to get the team under the salary cap before the start of the 2015-16 season. Some popular players were offloaded to create cap space: first, rising star Brandon Saad, followed by All-Star winger Patrick Sharp. These trades won’t be fondly remembered by ‘Hawks … Continue reading “The 5 Worst Trades in Blackhawks History”
Jaromir Jagr’s 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier rookie card was one of the most sought-after hockey cards of the season. As far as Jagr RCs went, this was the one to have that year, especially in the United States, where we had to pay through the nose to get OPC Premier cards. Seriously. Full sets were selling … Continue reading “Deja Vu Tuesday: Jaromir Jagr”
I am not really a collector of pucks, even though you think I was, considering that this blog is called Puck Junk. Pucks are an iconic and necessary part of hockey. But pucks are also hard to collect. They are heavy and take up a lot of space. Numerous pucks are made each season — … Continue reading “Vintage Puck Haul”
Martin Brodeur announced his retirement yesterday, ending a remarkable NHL career. During the past two-plus decades, Brodeur won many awards and set a lot of records. He also had a diverse array of hockey cards over the past 25 years. When Brodeur was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 1990, trading cards were just … Continue reading “Career in Cards: Martin Brodeur”
One of the ugliest hockey card sets ever made You would think that it would be impossible for me — a die hard hockey card collector — to hate a set of hockey cards. But there is one set that still makes me mad every time I think about it: the 1980-81 Topps Hockey set. … Continue reading “Review: 1980-81 Topps Hockey”
1991-92 Ultimate Draft Picks #48 – Kerry Toporowski We all love to make fun of crummy hockey cards, from the awful “updated” photos from the 1970s and 1980s, to the cheesy pictures from the 1990s and 2000s. But the worst disservice to both the player and the fans is when the card doesn’t even show … Continue reading “Card of the Week: Kerry Toporowski”
This card hints at what Chris Chelios’ 1990-91 Upper Deck Update card could have looked like. You might recall that Chelios’ card in the regular set (#174) pictures him with the Montreal Canadiens. The card in the Update set (#422) shows Chelios in a white Blackhawks jersey. So, where did this card come from?