Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
The 2020-21 Topps Hockey Sticker Collection is not for the timid. At $1.00 per five-sticker pack — or $1.39 for those in Canada — it is going to easily cost over $100 to put the 666-sticker set together. It will take you 134 packs to build a set, and that’s assuming that you don’t get any doubles. However, getting doubles seems to be the name of the game when putting together this year’s Topps Hockey Sticker set.
Continue reading “2020-21 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #2”
I enjoyed the 2019-20 Topps Hockey Sticker Collection enough that I decided to collect the 2020-21 set. What really pushed me to collect this year’s set, though, was that certain stickers were designed to look like old Topps hockey cards. Nostalgia is a powerful drug — powerful enough for me to purchase four boxes of 2020-21 Topps Hockey Stickers. Over the next few days, I will post about what stickers I got, including how many were duplicates and how close it brought me to completing the 666-sticker set.
Yes, you read that right. There are 666 stickers in the set. 666 is also the Number of the Beast (according to Iron Maiden), and this sticker set is truly a BEAST to complete.
2020-21 Topps Hockey Sticker packs contain five stickers — four regular stickers and one shiny foil sticker — and cost $1 in the U.S. and $1.39 in Canada. A full box has 50 packs for a total of 250 stickers. Packs are made of foil and are “crimped” at the top and bottom like a pack of Topps cards. This is unlike Panini sticker packs, which were two pieces of paper glued together. And unlike Panini stickers of years past, Topps Hockey stickers are affixed to cardboard backings (instead of paper), making them more “card like.” To house the collection, Topps also issued an 80-page album, which costs $2 in the U.S. and $2.79 in Canada.
Since I knew I was going to try to complete this set from the get-go, I decided to buy four 50-pack boxes, all from the same retailer. Here are the results of my first box.
Continue reading “2020-21 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #1”
This is my third and final box of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers. With each box containing 250 stickers, my hope was that I would get pretty close to having a complete 630-sticker set. The first box gave me over 39% of the set, while the second box put me at 62%. While I know that I am not going to get every sticker that I need, my hope is that I am at a respectable enough number that I could finish the set off in a few trades.
Continue reading “2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #3”
If you want to build a set of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers, you’re going to need to buy many packs. Considering that you get five stickers per pack and there are 630 stickers in the set, you would need to purchase at least 126 packs, or about 2-1/2 boxes. I purchased three boxes — each has 50 packs — and posted the results of the first box last week.
Opening packs of stickers is not for the “hit chasers,” as there are no hits to speak of. Really, a good box is one that has few doubles in its collation; a great box is one that has very few doubles from the previous box. Hopefully, this box is a “hit” by not giving me most of the stickers that I got in my previous box. So, without further ado, here are the results of my second box break of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers:
Continue reading “2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #2”
I bought three boxes of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers way back in January, but a lot of stuff happened in my life that kept me from opening and sorting through them. When the NHL restarted its season in late July, I finally had the time and the motivation to open my sticker boxes to try and build a set.
The 2019-20 season is the first time in a long time that Topps made any sort of tangible hockey collectible; the company last made hockey cards for the 2003-04 season. Topps also made sticker albums way back during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons. Over the past three decades, Panini was the preeminent manufacturer of hockey stickers until Topps got the license for the 2019-20 season.
2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers cost about $1 per pack and contain five stickers: four regular stickers and one shiny “foil” sticker. Boxes contain $50 packs and can be bought from the Topps Online Shop. However, you can find boxes in the $30-$40 range on Ebay and from various online card retailers.
Interestingly, the stickers come in foil wrappers that are “crimped” at the top and bottom, just like how sports trading cards are packaged today.
There are 630 stickers in the 2019-20 Topps Hockey Sticker collection, so you would need three boxes to hope to make a complete set. Here is what I got in my first box.
Continue reading “2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #1”
It’s been a little over a week, but the Puck Junk Podcast is back and at least as good as the last time! In this episode, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about the upcoming restart of the NHL season, as well as the NHL Awards nominees. Then they take an in-depth look at the 1992-93 Bowman Hockey card set that is often overlooked because it was relatively underproduced. Plus, those gosh darn gold-foil single prints make it a pain to complete. This episode weighs in at 1 hour 40 minutes of hockey goodness.
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Game Dated Moments for Week 40 (Upper Deck Blog)
President’s Choice “Journey” cards (President’s Choice Trading Cards)
Every 1992-93 Hockey Card Set Ranked (Puck Junk)
1993-94 Topps Stadium Club All-Star insert cards (Puck Junk)
1992-93 Bowman Hockey checklist (Trading Card DB)
1992-93 Bowman Hockey card images:
#74 – Patrick Roy
FYI, this set uses the same design as 1992 Bowman Baseball.
#74 – Patrick Roy (back)
Click the image to see the “potato sack texture.”
#329 – Vincent Damphousse
#329 – Vincent Damphousse (back)
#11 – Garry Galley.
With special guest Wayne Gretzky
#162 – P-Dork!!!!
#302 – Jaromir Jagr
#32 – Guy Hebert RC
Hands-down the best rookie card in the set.
#356 – Dan Lambert
Rockin’ the rec specs!
Not listed on your checklist: #442 – Eric Lindros
#207 – Wayne Gretzky All-Star (Gold Foil)
#207 – Wayne Gretzky All-Star (Gold Foil) (back)
Even the foil All-Star cards got the “potato sack” treatment.
#241 – Kevin Stevens All-Star (Gold Foil)
#440 – Mario Lemieux Conn Smythe Trophy (Gold Foil)
#440 – Mario Lemieux Conn Smythe Trophy (Gold Foil) (back)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
This week, Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss the controversial topic of hockey trading cards with protective film on them. From the mid-1990s until the early 2000s, card companies would put protective film on premium cards to protect them from getting scratched. Collectors were split into two camps on this: some removed the film from the cards, while others believed that doing so would actually reduce the value of the cards on the secondary market. Sal and Tim also talk about the new hockey card releases this week, the potential return of the NHL — and Nordiques jerseys!
Show Notes and Links:
NHL considering 8-9 sites for season restart (NHL.com)
Avalanche may wear Nordiques jerseys next season (NHL.com)
NHL players who wore number 66 (Hockey-Reference.com)
President’s Choice Trading Cards “Equipped” cards (PCTC website)
Upper Deck Game Dated Moments cards for Week 32 (UD website)
And since we brought up 1980-81 Topps Hockey cards, here is a review of that set (Puck Junk)
Images of cards with protective film still on them:
1994-95 Topps Finest #34 – Chris Chelios
1994-95 Donruss – Masked Marvels inserts #1 – Ed Belfour
1995-96 Topps Finest #121 – Chris Chelios
Notice the discoloration (“greening”) on his face
1996-97 Select Certified #27 – Chris Chelios
1996-97 Leaf Preferred – Steel Inserts #7 – Chris Chelios
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
It’s the 50th anniversary of Bobby Orr’s most memorable goal — the one where he’s flying through the air and celebrating after clinching a Stanley Cup victory — and that got me thinking. Bobby Orr, the greatest defenseman to ever play the great game of hockey, never had a decent hockey card when he played for the Chicago Black Hawks. All of his card from 1976-77 and 1977-78 use photos that have been crudely repainted, while his final card from 1978-79 used a photo of Orr in a Team Canada uniform.
That always bothered me. So, I decided to give Orr a final card that is more fitting for a player of his magnitude. Continue reading “Custom Card: 1978-79 Topps Bobby Orr”
In today’s episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish take a look back at the 1973-74 Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey card sets. They also get caught up in all the hockey happenings in the news. This episode is 1 hour and 35 minutes of pure hockey goodness!
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Video: Sal’s appearance on Pittsburgh Hockey Now (Puck Junk)
Jessica’s “Genuine Heroes” trading card (Twitter)
Kris Versteeg retires — again! (ESPN)
1973-74 Topps Hockey checklist (Trading Card DB)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee checklist (Trading Card DB)
The story of Dale Tallon wearing #9 for the Blackhawks (Puck Junk)
Here’s Sidney Crosby with a dog:
1973-74 Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey card images:
1973-74 Topps #162 – Billy Smith
1973-74 Topps #81 – Bill Barber
1973-74 Topps #149 – Dave Schultz (RC)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #237Larry Robinson (RC)
1973-74 Topps #119 – Doug Favell
1973-74 Topps #129 – Dale Tallon
1973-74 Topps #32 – Dan Maloney
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #3 – Phil Roberto
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #124 – Steve Durbano (RC)
1973-74 Topps #173 – Jean Ratelle
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #91 – Joe Watson
1973-74 Topps #31 – Wayne Stephenson
1973-74 Topps #85 – Dave Keon
1973-74 Topps #83 – Brian “Spinner” Spencer
(I accidentally called him “Dave” in the episode)
1973-74 Topps #10 – Ken Dryden
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #121 – Mike Robitaille
…and the cartoon on the back. (More about that story here.)
1973-74 Topps #100 – Montreal Canadiens
1973-74 Topps #182 – Derek Sanderson
1973-74 Topps #15 – Gary Unger
1973-74 Topps Insert Stickers – Bruins logo / Penguins flag
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
Hockey card collecting was on a precipice during the 1989-90 season. It hadn’t yet taken the plunge into the abyss of overproduction, inflated prices and rookie cards of practically anyone who got within 10 feet of an NHL uniform — succinctly known as the “Junk Wax Era.” Hockey cards were rapidly becoming more and more popular, accelerated by the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.
Yet, only two companies issued mainstream sets that season. The 198-card Topps set was sold in the U.S. and its near-identical, though slightly larger, cousin O-Pee-Chee sold a 330-card set in Canada.
But if you dig a little deeper, you will find that there were many other cards issued that year that stray from the beaten path — from team-issue cards to minor and junior league trading card sets, to cards printed on the side of food boxes.
Here is a look at the 15 best hockey cards from the 1989-90 season. Keep in mind that most of these cards aren’t particularly valuable, with most ranging from $2 to $5 each — and even that might be pushing it. Anyone with a love of hockey cards and hockey history should consider having these in their cardboard collection.