So I Finally Decided To "Check Out My Cards"

I didn't just join the hobby and I haven't been living under a rock. Fact of the matter is, I live in Canada and I don't like buying credit before a purchase. Those two sticking points prevented me from using COMC for all these years. I have had an account for a very long time and did nothing with it. When I wanted new cards, I would trade, use Hobby Insider, LCS, Twitter or eBay and that always seemed to cover my needs. However, I have a number of partially finished sets and for my birthday I got a little coin so I decided what the heck, lets check this out!


Based on the amount of money I was given, I set up two goals. I wanted to finish my 77-78 Topps and my 79-80 Topps sets. I needed 18 cards for the '77 set and 9 for the complete '79 set. Thankfully there were plenty of options for nearly ALL the cards I needed and I could look at scan after scan and get the quality of card I wanted. In my case the both sets I wanted them to be as close to mint as I could find. I do say nearly all because there was one card I needed and there was only one available and man oh man did they price it that way too. All the cards I needed I got for very great prices except one 79-80 Topps Stan Mikita. The card was clearly an ungraded NrMt-Mt for sure and would probably book in the 2-3 dollar range given the quality. The ask, 15 dollars!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I wanted to finish these sets and when you factor in all the cards I needed, this was a huge barrier. I went on eBay and there were none too. What to do??

Thankfully I had a number of other cards from this buyer in my basket and they allowed you to make an offer. I made one and they countered and finally they accepted and left me with room to go beyond my goal which was nice. I also picked up another card which I will share in a different post.

Here is a look at some of the cards I needed.

When the cards arrived, they were in great condition much like their scans indicated and while I didn't pay for any extra packaging the cards were well packaged and exactly as expected. In all it was an amazing success and I definitely would consider using check out my cards again. My next two posts will be about my completed sets!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the next two posts!

1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky RC

Oh boy, I figure it is about time to share this one. I have actually had it for about a year and a half but with my time away and stuff I have finally got around to scanning and sharing this. The unfortunate part is this card is slabbed so scanning it wasn't as successful as I hope and I didn't really feel like playing around with the camera today. So please keep that in mind as you proceed through this post.

1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky RC

To say I have wanted this card my whole life would be a bit of hyperbole as I have only been collecting since 1990. However, I have wanted this card ever since then so that pretty much feels like my entire life. Having a pretty tight budget meant that I couldn't drop 2000+ on a PSA 9 or 10 but at the same time I felt life is short why not at least get a decent one for a decent price and then worry about a better one for my OPC set later. As it stands I am not done my Topps set and even with this card I am still about a dozen (give or take) away from the set. While my set is an average of Ex-Mt or better I was willing to let a little go when it came to the Great One.

The card itself is stunning in person. Don't let the grading fool you at first glance it looks like a 7. However, it is truly a 4 and it's flaws are visible if you take a few moments to scan around and tilt the card. You can see corner wear on the upper right and bottom left.Tilt the card and you will see the upper left is a tiny bit soft. On the back by the 1978-79 there is a tiny hairline crease that sometimes takes me a while to find depending on the light etc. Also a tiny bit of browning on the edge of the card make it truly a 4 I suspect. Enough of the bad, this card is all great to me and it a very very fun addition to a collection I always felt needed at least one Gretzky RC.

Here is the back side, the scanning didn't turn out as well as the front but I wanted to share it anyway.


I bought this card knowing it was a PSA 4 and would have its flaws. Given how difficult they are to spot I felt it was an amazing purchase and am so pleased to have it in my collection. I honestly don't ever see myself getting rid of it ever, even if I added more Gretzkys to my collection. My end goal is to have a nice one in the 7 range in both Topps and OPC to go along with my autograph and game used Great Ones.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing one of the most important cards in my collection. Are there any cards in your collection that you would say are keystone cards which you had to have or knew needed to be apart of the collection?

Back Checking - 79-80 OPC/Topps Bob Sauve

So as most hockey and baseball collectors know, Topps and OPC for the most part have been siblings in the card world. Depending on the sport, one is more desirable than the other and Topps was the American thing to do and OPC was the Canadian. With OPC when it comes to hockey, you usually had a larger set, you traditionally got a dose of French with your card and the card stock was lighter in colour and the cards were often poorly cut.

In 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky's rookie year, both sets had some similarities and differences based on a few factors but in all the first 264 cards in the set were mostly the same. To accommodate the new franchises, Topps made a single card and OPC made several introducing fans to the team's logo and players in the set.

While skimming through my Topps and OPC sets I found a neat difference by accident. Check it out!

1979-80 Topps Bob Sauve

Here is the front of the Sauve card in Topps form. As you can see, the card is cleanly cut and the blue is very bright and other colours are clearly define as well . IF we were just looking at the front of the card, Topps always wins hands down.

1979-80 OPC Bob Sauve

The OPC offering isn't as easy on the eyes. The colours are more faded/muted and this card features a pretty typical off-centre cut that OPC was notorious for especially in the late 70's and early 80's.


1979-80 Topps Bob Sauve

Here is the back side to the Topps card, darker card stock than the OPC version below but what I want to draw your attention to is the comic. I guess instead of having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, Bob kept his on the posts but made a habit of cutting them off! As a math teacher getting ready to go back to work next week, there have been countless times I have had students measure "angels" when attempting trigonometry and I always make a point on how to correctly spell angles but sadly it still is often spelled incorrectly. Apparently this artist on this card had the same issues as some of my past students.

1979-80 OPC Bob Sauve

What I find cool about the OPC version is when they went to translate to French or potentially immediately following the Topps release they fixed the spelling on "angles" and it appears correct on this card. From what I can tell, I don't think they ever changed it on the Topps version so it would technically be an UER because from what I can tell the Beckett Hockey doesn't have it even listed as an error so for there to be two versions is pretty unlikely.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, it has been ages since I did a back checking post so hopefully you enjoyed its resurrection!

One of the finest pieces of art in my humble opinion...

In case you can't tell, this is a reprint of a Gretzky OPC rookie and even then, it isn't an amazing quality reproduction. I have seen reprints with the printer's mark on the left shoulder which has me scared about ever buying a non-graded OPC version Gretzky. However, I bought this for 3 bucks and I am glad I did because it is as close as I am going to get for a little while but I can still enjoy it for what it is....art.

I am very very tempted to get this scanned at a very high resolution (or find a high res one) and make a poster for my classroom. It is such an amazing looking card that I do consider it art. Would I like the set as much if Gretzky wasn't in it? Probably not. But this is how things turned out so I will enjoy them as they are and in my books, this is one of the top 10 cards ever made in sports and definitely one of the best in hockey.

Here is the back of the card, mistake and all. Took OPC a few years as 67ers pointed out for OPC to change his WHA games to 80 instead of 60.

Just a fun post about hockey art, hope to share the real thing Topps or OPC some day.

Big Thanks to Duff over at the Hockey Card Geek

A couple months ago I was contacted by a reader asking if I was interested in an Alex Delvecchio auto. The simple answer is ALWAYS yes. It was a Champs mini auto so not having one I said sure what do you want, but rather than deal or trade Duff just sent the auto long with a load of different buddies for the long journey up to Canada. I must say I was very impressed with my special package and I hope the one coming your way Duff is equally delightful!

11-12 UD Parkhurst Alex Delvecchio Mini Auto

Just a cool and classy card with Alex's simple but elegant auto. Without a doubt my favourite card from the batch.

70-71 Topps Alex Delvecchio #64

While I already have one it doesn't diminish the appreciation I have for it. I don't have the set so this could be my first of many in the 70-71 Topps set which is a very undervalued and under-appreciated set!

73-74 Topps Alex Delvecchio #141

Needed this card and love it more for the back side than the front. I have never bought this card before because whenever I see it online it is usually 3-4 bucks min to get it to my house and at most this is a dollar card. But Duff sent it to me for free with a bonus:

Check out the stainage!!! This is my first Alex Delvecchio card with a wax stain! I wish that UD would throw that into some of their modern OPC packs. Forget blank backs and bring back wax stains.

79-80 Topps Wayne Cashman #85

After putting a huge dent in this due to some help from the LCS and their mystery boxes plus a trade with Sal from puckjunk.com I am now less than 15 cards from a complete set and Cashman makes me one closer. 

Maybe the biggest surprise are the 25 cards Duff sent me from my 98-99 Topps want list. This was a set I started thanks to a cheap retail wax box I bought of this stuff a year or two ago. I never posted it because I just never had the time to and I figured no one would be interested. I must say I do like the set lots and here are two of my favourites from the 25 he sent.

Nice action shot of Randy weighing out his options. The Devils would like to forget 96-99 but the 99-2000 season was really special and Randy has two rings for all his efforts with the Devils.

I always forget Trevor spent some time on the Island. I hated these jerseys nearly as much as I hated their Captain Highliner ones.

 

Here is what the back sides of the 98-99 Topps set look like in case you didn't know. Really, I am a huge fan of the backs. You get a second photo that is different from the front. Career stats and they include PLAYOFFS! Also some vital information and a small write-up. This is what a trading card should look like in my opinion and Topps did a solid job at it. The copper border isn't horrible either, in all a solid set with a few neat cards and inserts.