The continuing story of the Cards That Never Were.

Jacques Plante, one of the greatest goalies to ever strap on the pads, played 18 years and 837 games in the NHL. The last 8 of those games with the Boston Bruins at the end of the '72/73 season.

Neither OPC nor Topps decided to make a card of Jacques in their '73/74 sets. So I did.
Three hours later, and my eyes are bleeding, but there it is. Jacques went 7-1 for Boston with a 2.00 GAA. After the season he jumped ship to the WHA to play one last season before retiring.

Card Show Pick Ups - Part Two

On to some of the purchases I made. Factory sets. I know, I know, a set builder buying factory sets. Complete. In a box. No packs. No trading. Blasphemy!
Well, I couldn't help myself. Early '92 was when I had stopped collecting. I'd had enough. I closed my shop and walked (ran?) away from the hobby. For 15 years.
As a result, I never finished my '91 OPC hockey set... and of course never started my '92 set.

And at $10 for the pair, I couldn't resist. He wanted $15, I offered $10, and he accepted. We chatted a bit, he remarked about how great these were for the kids and somone was going to be very happy when I got home. Uh.... kids? Yeah. Yeah, these are for the kids... yeah.... gotta go now....

These of course will not stay as factory sets for long. They'll end up in binders alongside the rest of my OPC sets.

Now one area of the show that I was most unhappy with was wax. It seems like very few dealers wanted to bring any, and those that did got together the night before to discuss pricing. When every dealer has the same price, I call B.S.
Not only that, but the prices weren't show prices either. They were full retail. And if I'm going to pay full retail on wax, it ain't going to be from anybody at a show. I'll buy from my local card shop. Makes sense, yes?

As it happened, my LCS was there, and while I didn't spend too much time looking at his stuff (that's what his store is for) I of course spent a little $$$ at his table.
I grabbed one of these for $20.

Can anybody guess what it is???

Settle down, there's no contest here, move along.... It's a box of 99/00 McDonalds hockey packs. 100 of 'em.

Should be an interesting break. Next up, part three or part last, the singles......

Bargain Hunting Parts 4 and 5 - Great White North Edition

It was time to add some hockey to my bargain hunting excursion. Remember the rules? Under $5 basically. Free shipping if possible. I found two lots that I snapped up pretty quickly.

The first included this 1970-71 OPC Serge Savard - Hall Of Fame 1986
a 1971-72 OPC Brad Park Hall Of Fame 1988 - (Brad has a wrinkle on the front that stabs him right into his hip)

a 1971-72 OPC Yvan Cournoyer All Star with a crease just under "Right Wing"

a 1971-72 OPC Serge Savard - crease free, but with a soft lower corner.

a 1971-72 Topps Frank Mahovlich - Hall Of Fame 1981 - Frank was traded from Detroit to Montreal. Detroit wears red and white, Montreal wears red and white. Airbrush the logo and no one will ever know, right?

a 1971-72 Topps Gordie The Best Hockey Player That Ever Lived Howe. - Hall Of Fame 1972 - Gordie has a small wrinkle on the back of his card.

Have you been able to tell the difference between the 71-72 OPC and the 71-72 Topps?

No? That's because the only difference is on the backs. Silly.

Here we see the Topps Gordie As Close To God As You Can Get Howe...

and here's the back of the OPC Savard

Easy now, right? BTW, any tape you see is on the top loader, not the card itself. I hate, HATE peaople who put tape on top loaders. There is a special place in hell for people who put tape on top loaders.

If you've traded with me, you probably know that I recycle when I can. Bubble envelopes, top loaders, cases, etc... this is where all my top loaders that people send me with tape on them go. Yes. To you. Sorry. It's either that or throw them out.

That concludes Bargain Hunt 1 and a rant. All for $3.25

This next batch I got was all 1972-73 Topps Hockey. In beautiful condition. I should get these graded. Right after my lobotomy.


Yvan Cournoyer - Hall OF Fame 1982 -"The Road Runner" why don't current players have cool nicknames?

Yvan Cournoyer in action All Star card

Jacques Lemaire - Hall Of Fame 1984 -complete with printers dots and top loader tape.

Terry Harper - Terry was part of two huge trades, where the team trading Terry absolutely raped the other team.

Paul Henderson

What the HELL?!?! A Maple Leaf? How did a Maple Leaf get on this blog?!?! Well, it's Paul Henderson. A National Hero. That's how. If you don't know why Paul Henderson is a National Hero, then a Google you will go.

This lot was $3. I love this. I'm changing the way I collect because of this. We'll see how long it lasts.