BAM! A Linden card, finally

As I have mentioned before, sometimes people's passions are contagious and I end up trying to land a card into my collection that I might not have ever considered before. Other times, I happen to like the player and I just haven't had the chance to chase one of their cards yet. Linden is a combination of the two for me. In the early 90's I really respected him as a player and I would always keep an eye on how well he was doing on the west coast. There was even a time where I wanted to include Linden as a possible baby name for what would be my first born (son).  My wife wasn't a Linden fan (both name and player) so needless to say that won't be used at any point in our current naming process.

Back to Trevor, at some point he was traded to the east coast where he would bounce around a little between NY, Montreal and Wash. It was a dark time in my opinion and I sorta lost track of him from 97-02. When he returned to Vancouver, I began watching him again, but of course time wasn't on his side at this point and even though he was productive, he wasn't the same game changer he once was.

Nevertheless, my collection which is loaded in 89-90 Linden rookies, didn't contain a single autograph. I have watched countless auctions and it turns out that his autos rarely can be found on the cheap (Brett I know your pain now) and his low numbered ones run for prices that can sometimes challenge Crosby and Lemieux cards. Patience is a virtue and I was rewarded finally with this one for 99 cents plus shipping.

True it is a typical modern BAP signature card with a sticker, I still like it because the auto is front and centre and looks pretty sharp. Sometimes I see he will sign his number with the auto, but that wasn't the case here.

Happy to land this one and who knows, maybe a second will come some day.

#5 - Value Vintage Sets - 89/90 OPC

When I was shopping online last month, I wanted to make my funds stretch as far as they could. Certainly my card collection is far from complete and there were a few holes I wanted to start filling. Most collectors in my age and financial demographic probably have the early 90's nailed down to the extreme and then some sets here and there depending on interests etc.

Well I decided that I needed more vintage sets and I went and got myself a couple for under a 100 bucks total. I based my choices on the best value and substance in the sets. Then I thought it would make a good serial on my blog so I am going to share what I think are the top 5 Value sets from 1970-1989.

Number 5 on my list is the 89-90 OPC Set.

Why you ask? Here are some of the redeeming qualities:

330 Cards

Sets can be had for under the BV of 20 bucks

Great Hall of Fame players and rookies in the set

Design is simple and attractive

You can afford to build the set from packs if you wish (boxes of 36 packs under $40)

The OPC set also has some rookies that can't be found in the Topps version (Fleury, Corson, Tugnett etc.)

Card design:

Here is what the front of the cards look like.

The front looks clean with blue trim on the top and bottom (which is prone to chipping) and a "marble-ized" sides which tend to be a little off centre (my scans ended up all looking off-centre as I used a camera).

Backside of the cards

The back shows both season and playoff stats along with player vitals. Again like the front, the cards look clean and simple.

Key card:

Without a doubt is the Joe Sakic RC.

Joe front side
Joe backside

The BV for the set is 10-20 dollars with the Sakic rookie listing at 5-12 dollars which is a significant percentage of the set.

Other notable cards:

There are plenty of other cool cards in the set including early career cards of Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Brendan Shanahan, Adam Oates, Brett Hull etc.

Hull 2nd year card.

The rookies:

The set contains a fair number of Hall of Fame and star rookies (59 Rookie Cards in total). The rookies include Theo Fleury, Brian Leetch, Joe Sakic, Craig Janney, Derek King, Tony Granato, Ron Tugnutt just to name a few.

Linden RC

Fleury RC

This set is no where near the greatest ever created but there are many intangibles which make this set a great value. The rookies, the stars, the design of the cards and the fact that they can all be yours for much less than a box of 11-12 Victory Hockey all suggest it is jam-packed with value.

I added this set to my collection in the early 90's. I probably bought 2 boxes with of 89-90 OPC and have two complete sets as a result. Certainly the smart way would be to pick up a set at a show or card shop to avoid those pesky shipping charges. Either way, it certainly can be had on the cheap and I think is a must for any hockey card collector.

Do you agree it is a good value? Let me know!