1968-69 OPC Hockey

JrMacdaddy · October 30, 2003 7:06AM

I just moved into the #3 All-Time spot for this set (of course only 4 sets have been registered and I'm only at 9.26% complete).

Does anyone out there collect this set? I know I'm in trouble when a recent common in a 7 went for over $100.

This is going to take a while.

Don Awrey

tripoli · October 30, 2003 7:30AM

Very difficult set to collect because of centering problems. I'm only trying to collect the Allstar and TW cards but I find myself buying more and more, although my primary set remains 1969 OPC. Also, very low
pop numbers and not many PSA 9's. The Mint 9's will attract huge prices but even the seller will agree
that the Awrey card exceeded price expectations.

JrMacdaddy · October 30, 2003 7:42AM

I've noticed very low pop's on several cards. I think there is one 7 and one 8 of the Awrey.

goodriddance189 · October 30, 2003 7:44AM

i follow 1960s hockey regularly, and this set (along with the 1966 Topps set) seems to be the hardest to find in high PSA 8+ grade. whether due to a lack of cards being submitted, or a lack of high grade cards to submit, they rarely come up for auction. print spots and brutal centering seem to plague this issue. for the record, stars in PSA 8 usually fetch similar prices to other years from the 1960s (i picked up a Plante and a Henri Richard for around $50 ea.), especially ones who have high pops. the Awrey 7 was a misnomer i believe, but the buyer seems to be really interested in the set based on his feedback.

grilloj39 · October 30, 2003 8:51AM

I collect this set somewhat...my first priorities are to finish a second ice kings set (for my son), and a complete c56 and c55 imperial sets as well. The 68-69 OPC are beautiful looking cards. I love the complete bruins team and canadiens team as well. I will complete this set after my icekings, and tobacco sets are complete. All my sets are mixed GAI and PSA graded.

I love the fact that there are several of us vintage hockey collectors on this board.

JG

aro13 · October 30, 2003 9:27AM

grilloj - What kind of shape is your card #72 Syd Howe in and do you have two of that card?

grilloj39 · October 30, 2003 9:40AM

aro...most of my cards are in the 1-2 range, I do have some 3 - 5.5s, but they are commons. I have only 1 syd howe. As a I building my second set, the only stars I have are Dit Clapper and Babe Siebert, the rest are commons. My Morenz is definitely a 1. I mostly buy low grade (1-4) to fit my budget. Keeps me on good terms with the wife.

yawie99 · October 30, 2003 10:33AM

I was collecting it for awhile, but threw in the towel about 15 percent or so into it. I love the design and may take it up again one day, but for now I'd rather work on my other sets. Plus I was getting frustrated by the fact that a lot of 8's from this set look like dump due to bad diamond cuts. I can accept 65-35 8's, but I really hate 8's that slant from 55-45 at one end to 42-58 at the other end.

Anyway, I wouldn't be discouraged by the price realized on the Awrey. doogie6972 is a big Boston collector and I guess he really wants a '68-69 Bruins team set. Also the two guys at the top, Joe and Jamie, seem to be pretty competitive when it comes to cards they both need, which obviously will fetch a lot more than cards they don't. They're both good guys, though, and you may want to e-mail them to see if they have any cards available.

Finally, just be patient. This is the kind of set - at least it was when I was working on it - in which almost every 8 is a low-pop card because so few have been submitted. Finding high-grade raw examples is tough, but not impossible, and I think the pops will rise over time once large submitters see that there is a decent market for these.

One more thing: I had decent luck with some '68-69 OPC cards I bought from the eBay seller aarons - including landing a 9 on a Rod Gilbert - and, if you don't mind paying retail, Gerry Chartrand has some pretty nice cards from this set. I bought some raw cards from him, a good percentage of which came back 8's, and he also sold me some PSA 8 commons that he had submitted for like $25-30 a pop depending on the player. I also picked up a few 8's from Peter Lalos for about the same price.

JrMacdaddy · October 30, 2003 12:45PM

Yawie,

I've e-mailed you about this set and purchased some from Gerry Chartrand based on your advise. They are some of the nicest raw cards I've ever purchased from this year. As you say, the retail price is kind of a bummer (not to mention additional costs of grading).

I've also purchased some from DSL, Joester and Peter Laos via ebay. I've also had some luck contacting Jamie through the registry.

Goodriddance, you're correct about the star cards. They are very affordable in 7 and 8. I paid $75 for the Plante card in 8 and then saw an auction on ebay end a few weeks later in the $50 range. That must have been you.

This is by far my favorite OPC set (as I haven't started on any of the Pre-war sets) with the 72-73 a distant second.

Jr.

yawie99 · October 30, 2003 1:06PM

Yeah, I just realized that I had probably told you all that info when you bought a few cards off of me a few months ago. Anyway, glad the cards from Gerry lived up to the billing I gave them. He was also real good about letting me return a card that had a light wrinkle on back or some sort of flaw like that. I'm thinking about picking up some of his '72-73 OPC WHA cards, but am trying to abstain from starting anything else until I reach 100 percent on the sets I'm working on now.

goodriddance189 · October 30, 2003 1:40PM

i bought my Plante from 4playsportscard in june i think. he has been my major supplier of Plante cards in the past several months.

TurbosHockey · October 30, 2003 8:47PM

It is nice to see finally see some Chatter about older hockey again. I wanted to start to collect the 68-69 OPC but have decided not too at this time. Since it was OPC's first major set in a long time alot of colectors are sitting on them and have yet to disocover either Ebay or PSA for that matter. For the time being I will try to concentrate on my current set which is the 1971-72 OPC. I am at 45% complete number 2 on the Registry behind good old Randy.

Cheers and Good Luck

tripoli · October 31, 2003 12:56AM

A little off topic, but if you are collecting 1969 OPC hockey, which IMHO, is a much nicer set than 1968, I do have numerous PSA graded and raw extras. Feel free to drop me a line at
danb@bcaa.bc.ca

Dan (tripoli)

predsfan · October 31, 2003 8:30AM

Great to see a thread on one of my favorite hockey sets. I am James68 with the second rated 1968 OPC set. Just a brutal set to try and get centered cards. Love the design. The Bernie Parent rookie is an extremely hard card to get in high grade. Also there is only 1 Bobby Orr #2 in PSA 8 and you have to know people would send in high grade cards from his second year. I have a few PSA 8 doubles if anyone interested that I will list soon on ebay if not contacted.

One of my favorite cards is the Frank Mahovlich card where it looks like they just pasted on his head. You have to like a classic card like that.

yawie99 · October 31, 2003 12:02PM

Hey, Jamie, glad to see you here. Even more glad to see your Preds stand up to the Evil Empire last night.

predsfan · October 31, 2003 8:33PM

Steve- One of the best games I've seen in my time in Nashville. Nine! fights. The Dead Wings absolutely lost their cool and the game blew up on them. The strange part is the Preds two toughest players were not dressed. In the post game press conference a reporter asked the mild mannered Barry Trotz if he expected more when they played next Sat. and he replied "Bring it on". I guess they are going for a new identity. I hope winning is part of it.

I tried to attack a picture of the Mahovlich card but they are telling me the file is too big.

Jamie

TurbosHockey · October 31, 2003 10:48PM

Hey Predsfan. So how is TooToo looking? Did he win his fight?

predsfan · November 1, 2003 3:30AM

Tootoo is looking good. He is playing the same in your face style that he played in Junior. He tries and often succeeds in leveling someone per shift. He has drawn a lot of retaliltory penalties. Against Detroit he leveled Fisher in the corner which led to a turnover and the first Pred goal. He didn't get a point but made the play happen. He is holding his own in fights against much bigger older players. I look for him to get even better after he plays half a season. The Predators signed some bigger players to in Trotz' words "Clean up some of the messes he makes". He is becoming a fan favorite for sure.

Hockeybonkers99 · November 1, 2003 5:00AM

patience is the key...

B93 · November 1, 2003 10:23AM

I collect vintage hockey, mostly early 60's. I have started to collect a raw 68/69 set. While centering is an issue with this set alot of the cards that I have seen also have bleeding of red from the red back of the card to the white borders on front. Does minor bleeding of red downgrade PSA grades ? Also with this set it seems that edges of most of the cards are cut pretty sharply unlike later OPC years with rough cuts. Was a different technique used to cut 68/69 cards vs later years ?
Thanks,
Simon

tripoli · November 2, 2003 3:54AM

I know the bleeding issue is a problem for certain high series cards in the 1969 OPC Hockey...but unless it's really bad, there are still tons of Mint 9's with a very slight bleed on the white borders..

1968-69 OPC Hockey

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