Thanks to Chris and the Joy of a Completed Set!

After all of these years (nearly 7...) I am still humbled by how cool collectors are out there and how willing they are to help each other out. I received a message about this card a little while back and after exchanging some info, it arrived in the mail just a few days later. 

1980-81 OPC #385 Richard Sevigny Rookie 

 Here is what the front of the card looks like.

Here is the back side.
Richard clearly was no Ken Dryden in terms of stature or ability but he still stood between me and a completed 80-81 OPC set. While I already had the Topps set complete, there were so many cool and important cards in the OPC set that I felt it was worth chasing. This card was the final card I needed to complete my 80-81 OPC set. The set I have which I will share at a later date is in very nice shape and to have my final card be a relatively low value card in great shape is a nice end to a project that started in some ways when I first bought my Pierre Hamel card and ended on a trade with a fellow collector some 25-26 years later.

Chris was so kind to also include some great Colorado Rockies team sets from the 70's as well which I will share at a later date. Thank you very much for this, I will be sending you an email in the next couple days which some card ideas to thank you and hopefully make you are happy as I was opening my package.

My First Vintage Card Ever

As some of my long time readers know and new ones will learn, my first ever hockey cards came from a pack of 1990-91 Pro Set. More specifically, this card is my first card I ever got since it was at the top of the pack. What most of you probably don't know if for the first few months I was collecting I got a few packs here and there every couple of weeks but the bug really didn't set in until the season was underway and I was buying packs for myself. My step-father was beginning to get into collecting too and was buying the odd pack and single and we would swap and compare and I fell in love with the 90-91 Upper Deck Low Series and worked towards completing that set.

Every now and again I would go into an actual card shop instead of a convenience store and really get a chance to see some cards. Most in the display cases were cards from the 80's and many had price tags that weren't paper route friendly. However, one night I remember my step-father and I were out driving someone and he had heard some convenience store had a few singles in it and asked me to go in and take a look. At this stage my collection was all 1990's stuff and was pretty small in size, maybe a couple hundred cards at most and he didn't have any more than I did either. So I went inside and in a glass display case right by the potato chips and junk food were some cards. I honestly couldn't tell you which ones were in that case given it was 25+ years ago, but I did see one card that was very affordable and just spoke to me for some reason:

1980-81 OPC Pierre Hamel RC

It was one of the oldest cards in the case and I just thought it looked pretty cool. The price was 75 cents and having had more than enough change in my pocket it was a transaction I was pleased to make.

 Here is the back of the card and as you can see, Pierre wasn't exactly Ken Dryden. The card itself isn't even in that great of shape, but it was in one of  those card saver card holders and I was just happy to own an "old" card.  (As an aside, I actually have been trying to finish this set over the past couple years and am down to just one card!! I will share the set whenever I manage to get it. I decided to include this Hamel in my set which makes it a little more fun and personal.)

I would buy the card and come back outside and tell my step-dad there were some things inside so he came in and I can't remember if he bought anything or not. I would look at this card 100's of times over the coming days and eventually add many more older/vintage cards. Many of my friends would focus on trying to grab a Lindros RC etc but I will give the 11 year old version of me credit, I balanced my spending between pre-90 and post-90 cards which to be honest is probably how I still collect today.

While the internet has softened the value of the cards from the 80's and no one is retiring off their collections, I do love the design of many of these sets and the memories I have from collecting them. I specifically remember my step-dad and I going splits on a Rack Box of 1982-83 OPC. The box cost us $500 at the time which was a lot for a 12 year old to come up with half of but I did and enjoyed breaking that box. We each got a full set and I was allowed to keep all the doubles which I still have to this day and all are in near-mint condition or better (except the miscuts). Of course in hindsight the smart move would have been to never open the stuff but it was fun and it's an important set for that reason.

Anyway, this was one of those posts for my kids to read down the line and thank you for stopping by and sharing in my memory.

Do you have any recollection of your first vintage cards or did you happen to just collect when it was the "good old days"?

1980-81 OPC Wayne Gretzky

I have mentioned in a previous post my admiration for the 80-81 Gretzky card. That was my first ever 80-81 Gretzky and not long after that I landed a second one as part of a complete 80-81 Topps set. So it would only make sense that someday I would land the OPC version right? Lucky for me this past spring my LCS landed a boat load of Gretzkys including his rookie and a few others. I sadly couldn't leave with the Gretzky which was easily in EX-MT condition with a $450 dollar price tag on it but I did manage to get his OPC 2nd year card for a very nice price which was in even better shape than the rookie.

80-81 OPC Wayne Gretzky

Classic photo!

Here is the back, avec texte francais. Currently the card books for $80 which I think is a travesty, but value is determined by whatever collectors will pay and obviously this isn't as desirable as his rookie or even other cards in the set. Still a drop off of 90% from rookie to second year card is pretty steep when you compare it with player cards. For example, Ray Bourque drop from an $80 RC to a $40 2nd year which is a 50% drop; Paul Coffey starts at 50 for a rookie and 12 for a 2nd year card in a very unpopular set. Paul's drop off is only 76% despite those factors. Messier is along the same path with a rookie booking for $100 and a second year at $25. I think the Bourque drop off is less because he is the first card in the set and they typically are higher because condition is sometimes a factor with first and last cards. If you used a Messier or Coffey model you would expect the Gretzky second year card to book closer to $200, but I guess supply and demand doesn't always follow patterns and trends. Personally I love looking at values and trends and this is one that I always found very interesting.

I do regret not trying work out a trade/pay deal for that rookie but I suppose there are many more of those rookies out there and I will someday land one of each (Topps and OPC) and it will be a very sweet day when that happens! 

Loot thanks to my Raphael Diaz - Three HOF Rookies and a HOF Auto

This post is going to be focused on some AMAZING cards that I landed thanks to the sale of my Raphael Diaz and my Clarkson Spectrum card. I actually didn't need the full value of those two cards to buy all these but the left over money will be put towards some new season wax when I find a product I want to dive into.

So, here is what I was able to score:

80-81 OPC Ray Bourque Rookie

 One of my regrets as a collector was trading away my Ray Bourque rookie as a kid. I traded it along with a Roy OPC rookie for the complete 87-88 OPC set. At the time it was a fair trade according to BV, but as we all know the late 80's sets plunged in value and can be had for less that half what they used to cost. Luckily the same can be said for some ungraded rookies too so that is what happened here. I landed an amazing Bourque rookie which I think is nicer than my old one. The card is off-center and the bottom is slightly rough cut but that is all. The top is an optical illusion from the screwdown holder. I love this card and I landed it for a great price.

80-81 OPC Mike Gartner Rookie

 I didn't have one of these growing up, but I did pick one up as part of my Topps set. However, like the Bourque a great deal was waiting for me online and I snatched it up for less than the price of a pack of Artifacts. The bottom right corner has a tiny bit of wear but that is the only blemish on this great card.

94-95 BAP Martin Brodeur Auto

 My only Brodeur auto to this point was a TTM request success. I do regret not sending his rookie, however I will have to settle for his Rookie Auto! This is the first auto that Brodeur has issued via a licensed agreement so I am calling this an Auto rookie. Ok, that is a serious stretch, but this is my first certified Brodeur auto and I grew up always wanting this card. Ugly as hell with cool gold sharpie. These were the days when sticker technology was years away from being used.

89 UD Randy Johnson Rookie

What a baseball card? What is this doing here. Oh wait, I have always wanted one of these and I was able to pull the trigger finally after no success finding someone who would trade me one. I put out a request a few years stating that I would trade for one but since I didn't mention I would have trade at about 3x's its BV I guess no one felt it was worth their time. Anyway, it is graded which I really don't care about either way and it is all mine. My favourite pitcher of all time will certainly be appreciated and I do like the look of the 89 UD set. Maybe I will try and get the whole thing some day.

So there you go, a four pack of HOF'ers and I know Brodeur and Johnson aren't there yet, it is safe to say they will be!

Back Checking Gordie Howe

There are two perspectives in which you can look at a hockey set. The set is a look at the season past, much like the recent releases of Score or the set is a look at the upcoming season and what players you can expect in the NHL during the year of release. Regardless of the perspective, the stats are always from the season previous and usually (at least since 1990, if you played the year before you had a card the following year).

Well here is Gordie Howe's last card. I just recently picked it up and really landed it for a relative steal of a deal considering its condition and the fact I needed it for my set. This card is sharp. I scanned the front and stole a pic of the back because my scan didn't turn out so well and I am too lazy! 

Here is the iconic front.

Here is the back, and I would like you to notice the stats. This card isn't showing Gordie Howe's final season. This is showing his last WHA season, but for Gordie Howe fans, we all know he had 41 points in his final NHL season in 79-80. That means, depending on your perspective, there should likely have been a card made of him in 80-81. However, there wasn't and the above card is the last from his active playing days. 

What makes things even stranger, is this:

 

These posters were released 1 per pack as part of the 80-81 Topps release. Notice anyone in the first row 4th from the left? Yep that is Gordie. 

So even though he wasn't part of the original release, he did end up in the set as an insert. Too bad though, because it would have been pretty cool to have seen what that card might have looked like. But then again, there is something cool about Gordie's last card appearing in the same set as Wayne's first card.

Recent Pick Up - Mark Messier (Sorry Brett and Michael)

I have learned over the last few months that Vancouver fans are not fans of Messier which surprised me a little bit because Messier WAS a Canuck. Being a Devils fan, of course it is no surprise I am not a huge Messier fan because Messier was ALSO a Ranger (of Ragger as some Devils fans fall them). Messier was famous for calling the Game 7 victory in the '94 playoffs which sent them to the Stanley Cup final and it seems after that day he was heralded as one of the greatest leaders of all-time! I find this a little surprising because on that '94 team, Messier wasn't the only player wearing a letter in the dressing room. Leetch, Lowe, Graves and Larmer were all wearing A's on their jerseys and none of them were slouches in the leadership department. However, it seems that Messier ends up with all the credit.

Messier was also an Oiler and a pretty decent Oiler and that alone is why I felt the need to try and land a Messier rookie.

Ever since Mike joined Jon at my LCS things have been getting more card oriented and there have been some pretty decent cards that have made their way into my collection as a result.

One card that has been there for a few months was a Messier rookie. Messier only has one rookie and that is from the 80/81 OPC Set. As a result, Messier rookies are a little more valuable in terms of BV than Bourque rookies because of that fact.

I remember looking at the Messier rookie and thinking the price was a little high for my taste and I just put it back on the shelf. Time would go by and each time I would see it on the shelf. Finally I was curious and did some research into what they were selling for online. Messier rookies aren't exactly available by the dozens but even poor quality ones were selling for 30+ bucks so I thought more about the price tag on the card in the shop was fair.

So I go in one day with some cash in my pocket and an agenda to try and shave 20-30% off the asking price.

After a little humming and hawing, Mike was more than willing to sell it at a discounted price and in the end I believe we both felt the deal was good!

So here is my first and only Messier Rookie!

Front Side
The card is in "tough" shape but not rough shape. Some corner rounding is present, slightly diamond cut, definitely off-centered and there are two light creases. Other than that, this baby is MINT! Ok, maybe not, but I was really happy with the purchase price and the card is still pretty easy on the eyes.

The Back Side

One of the creases on the front does go to the back and seen below the comic. The back is a beautiful yellow and green colour and the card shows well from behind.

Even though I am not a huge Messier fan, I am happy to have this card. Are there any players out there you don't like but found yourself needing or wanting their rookie card?

Card of the week - Brad McCrimmon

Wow, it seems like when the hockey world has been rocked, things just get worse. This week's recent tragedy truly is one of the biggest in my memory and certainly is heart-wrenching. I do send out my condolences to all those affected by this horrible event.

This week's card is Brad McCrimmon's 80-81 OPC Rookie Card.

Front Side

Back Side

This is the ONLY rookie card for Brad McCrimmon and the 80-81 OPC set certainly has its fair share of star rookies. I have always liked the back side of these cards more than the front, and really I can't explain why. The front design is nice and simple, but for some reason I have always like the combination of Packers colours on the back and have felt these cards have some of the best back of all the 80's sets.

How I received the card: Bought from card shop in early 90's for a couple bucks

Beckett Value: 0.75 - $2.00

In more positive news, there is another swap meet happening tomorrow and I hope to find a few more gems. Now that I know cards occasionally make there way to these things, I am going with the focus of landing some autos and maybe a few rookies. I will share what I find either way!

Ebay Deal - "authentic one of a kind Wayne Gretzky rookie card"

When I saw this on ebay today, I just couldn't resist posting about it!

There are SOOOO many things wrong with this ad that I can only call shenanigans. I can't imagine there is anyone on the planet that would believe this ad. If there is someone, I hope they don't pay this clown $50 000 for a card that has 4 corners cut and is really worthless. Even if the card was in NrMt condition it is likely only worth 20 bucks.

Most collectors know this card is from the 80-81 OPC Set and secondly it is a team leader card and not even the base version of Gretzky. Should this card sell, I might be tempted to cut the corners off my swapmeet Wayne and call it an "authentic one of a kind Wayne Gretzky rookie card".