Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
While a lot of hockey cards were made during the 1990-91 season, the 1991-92 season was like a movie sequel: bigger and bolder, with more of everything. More cards? Check. Larger sets? That too. Extra inserts? You bet! The amount of sets made, and cards to collect, nearly doubled, with companies releasing two or three … Continue reading “Every 1991-92 Hockey Card Set Ranked”
While sorting through a box of old hockey memorabilia, I came across this “custom card” that I made many years ago of Irwin the Penguin. Of course, you have no idea who Irwin the Penguin is, so allow me to explain. Back when we were kids, Irwin was my sister’s favorite stuffed animal. One day … Continue reading “Custom Hockey Card: Irwin the Penguin”
Teemu Selanne has a stellar hockey career. He scored 1,457 points in 1,451 games, won the Stanley Cup and had his number retired by the Anaheim Ducks. When he becomes eligible, he will undoubtedly be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. But despite all the goals, assists, awards and other accolades, The Finnish Flash could not get … Continue reading “Teemu Selanne’s Worst Hockey Card”
Three mistakes were made in the 1990-91 Bowman Hockey set, produced by Topps in the fall of 1990. Only one of the errors was corrected, though.
Upper Deck announced some changes yesterday to their e-Pack platform as a means to reduce the potential glut of insert and parallel hockey cards available on the secondary market. In a nutshell, physical insert and parallel cards obtained through e-Pack can now be combined to make an even more-limited parallel of the same card. This is … Continue reading “Will More Parallels Save e-Pack Hockey?”
Happy New Year! With the holidays and other obligations requiring my focus over the past few weeks, I needed to take a little break from Puck Junk and turn my attention elsewhere. But now I am back on track and ready to start writing about hockey goodness once again in 2017. Before we get on with … Continue reading “Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2016”
Hockey can work very well as the basis for a scary story. The game is played on ice — a cold, unforgiving environment that seems so alien when compared to a green baseball field. Hockey players wield sticks, wear masks, hit each other and fight. It is a violent, sometimes bloody sport; even more so 40 … Continue reading “Three Spooky Hockey Stories”
Upper Deck issued its new Artifacts Hockey set at the start of this season, making it one of the earliest releases for 2016-17. A box costs around $85 to $90 online and has eight packs. Each pack has four cards. The box states that you can get “3 Autograph, Memorabilia or All New Aurum Cards & 4 Serial Numbered … Continue reading “Box Break: 2016-17 Artifacts Hockey”
A few weeks ago, Puck Junk got some internet buzz with our Best of the Worst article about this year’s Upper Deck Series Two. That caught the busy eyes of our cardboard muses at Upper Deck, who enjoyed the light-hearted ribbing we gave them. We asked if we could interview one of their photo editors, … Continue reading “An Interview with Hockey Card Photo Editor Austin Castillo”
From 1985-86 to 1990-91, both Topps and O-Pee-Chee printed special trading cards on the bottom of the boxes of hockey cards. If you think about it, these “box bottoms,” as they are usually called, are like the short prints of the vintage era because you only got four per box. You either had to buy … Continue reading “Review: 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Box Bottoms”