Favourite Hockey sets to collect

aro13

I have noticed quite a few more hockey posts than normal so I was curious as to what hockey collectors thought.

My favourite set by decade

1910's C56 - first ever mainstream set
1920's V145-1's not a big selection
1930's V129 - very tough to get especially in mid-grades
1950's 1951-52 Parkhurst - just because it came first and the first vintage set I decided to collect
1960's 1963-64 Parkhurst - the flags in the background are great especially the Gordie Howe card
1970's 1973-74 OPC - first set I remember buying wax packs at variety stores
1980's 1984-85 OPC - great selection of rookies and I always liked the picture selection

Most Popular
1910's C56 - but a tough call
1920's V145-1's
1930's 1933 Ice Kings always seem to be in demand and have a great player selection
1950's 1954-55 Topps
1960's 1964-65 Topps Tall Boys - were really popular about 15 years ago than fell out of favour and with grading have returned to prominence
1970's 1971-72 OPC -
1980's 1984-85 OPC

jackstraw

i like all the pre 50's sets and have never collected one. any non-hockey fan building a sports kings set will find out how quickly the ace bailey is. if i was to collect one from that era i think i would go with the 30's o pee chee set.
50's -- 1955 parkhurst
60's -- 1965 topps
70's -- 1979 o pee chee (and not cause of the gretzky, i love the design)
80's -- 1981 o pee chee (tons of rookies,action shots although all from washington?,and my favorite card the andy moog rookie)
90's -- 1990 topps (don't ask why but i like the set)

got to have this card!!!!!!!!!!

NHLfightguy

My 2 favorite sets i'm going to collect in psa 9 if i ever see any on ebay are 79 topps (love blue bordes and 72 topps with brown borders). I think the last time I checked there has not been a psa 10 from 1979....Aro I haven't seen much of pre 1980's hockey cards, are there any good fight action shots cards......

B93

I'm not too familiar with sets before the 50's:

50's --- 1954 Topps, one of the all time best in any sport. I know 1951 is a classic but I like the artwork of 1952 & 1953 better.

60's --- there's alot of 60's sets that I think are great but 1964 Tallboy is my favorite. I love this set in football as well. I also like 1960 Topps (All Time Great cards), 1961 Topps (1st hockey checklist, Ratelle & Gilbert RCs and great action cards), 1961 Parkhurst (great color/design) and 1968 OPC (great design).

70's --- tossup between 1970 & 1971 OPC. Both have great HOF RCs and desgn.

Simon

RedHeart54

1950s- 1954 Topps. The design and coloring make for a stunning set. The Gordie Howe is, in my opinion, the best of all Howes. The 1955 Parkhurst is a killer too. I'm fortunate to have a Beliveau. That Richard is a beaut.

1960s- 1963 Parkhurst. Again, the Howe makes the set.

1970s- Must also go with '79s just because they are so nice when found in mint condition. The '75 set has a great selection of haircuts, though.

1980s- My absolute favorite is 1985 OPC. It's a clean and simple design, has a lot of stars, and Mario. A close second is 1986 OPC. Very colorful, Roy rookie, etc.

1990s- Though there are so many, I guess 1990 Upper Deck remains with me. That set established the hockey card market for good. It's an attractive set, no doubt.

2000s- Couldn't begin to make a guess. They all look alike to me.

Hockeybonkers99

mostly 80's stuff, being 29 y=years old , thats were my memories are..

working on 87-88 and 88-89 OPC Psa sets now..

I can see it commin, commons will be the pain in the arse.

yawie99

I'm only collecting three of these sets, but would probably collect the others too if I could afford everything I wanted.

1910's: C56
1920's: V145-1, followed by '24-25 Champs Cigarettes
1930's: '33-34 OPC, followed by '33-34 Ice Kings
1950's: '53-54 Parkhurst, followed by '58-59 Topps
1960's: '68-69 OPC, followed by '63-64 Topps
1970's: '72-73 OPC
1980's: '81-82 OPC

jackstraw

hockeybonkers,
send me a list i have tons of 87 opc and 88 opc. i also have a psa 9 mcsorley rookie.

john

Hockeybonkers99

did

murcerfan

'36 opc series d
'33 Ice Kings
'33 Puck Gum
'54 Topps

Aro, do you set-up in Toronto ?

aro13

murcerfan - check your pm's. I sent you a couple.

jackstraw

aro
have you been to aj's store?do you go for autographs ever?

aro13

jackstraw - Yes, I have been to aj (harvey's) store a few times. I collect autographs of Hall of Famers, and am working on a Team Canada 72 Photo autographed and a Team Canada 76 shirt autographed. I usually pick up the autographs at the Expo or at the Boston Wives Charity Carnival in Boston. The Expo usually has a decent selection of autograph guests but I wish they would add more.

goodriddance189

<< <i>Aro I haven't seen much of pre 1980's hockey cards, are there any good fight action shots cards...... >>



the 1973 opc Phil Roberto was the last card to show an actual fight on the front (although the 1990 UD Neil Wilkinson shows a tussle on the back)

goodriddance189

i havent gotten into prewar stuff much, but ive always taken a liking to the c55 set and the 1939 OPC 5 by 7 issue

1950s- the 1951 Laval Dairy QMJHL Minor League set, with pre rookies of Jacques Plante and Jean Beliveau (absolutely impossible to find in high grades, due to it being the #1 card in the set). i also like the 1955 Parkhurst set, with the Plante rookie, in action cards, and the Old Time Greats subset. this set seems a helluva lot harder to find in PSA 8 condition than other years.

1960s- 1962 Topps.....i love the teal borders

1970s- the 1979 Topps set, by a country mile. its the only vintage set im trying to assemble in PSA 8+ form. i used to be #1 on the registry, but recently i got blown out of the water by a guy who added a set thats over 80% complete.

1980s- i like every set from this decade, save for maybe the 1987 set. if i had to choose one set, id probably go with the 1980 OPC due to the strong rookie crop and cool design (although the 1984 set is a close second)

1990s- 1990 Upper Deck set. who cares if they printed enough to block out the sun, these cards are awesome. great action shots, the first super premium set, strongest rookie card class in recent memory. im working on acquiring as many PSA 9s or 10s as i can (currently #1 on the registry), especially since theyre so cheap.

2000s- the 2000-01 Topps Heritage set. gotta give props to Topps for using the classic 1954 design, and they made em look authentic too

JrMacdaddy

1954-55 Topps
1966-67 Topps (although I'm working on the 68-69 OPC set)
72-73 OPC
85-86 OPC
90+ Not a thing

How about your least favorite set from each decade.

1951-52 Parkhurst - I understand the allure but those cards are butt ugly
1960-61 Parkhurst - Hum drum design
1978-79 Boring corner design
1988-89 The tack has got to go
1990+ Everything

ranch

Here is my list

1) 1951-52 Parkhurst (Howe RC, Richard RC, Sawchuk RC)
2) 1933-34 O-Pee-Chee V304A (Morenz, Clancy, Shore RC)
3) 1933-34 V357 Ice Kings (Another great HOF legend set)
4) 1955-56 Parkhurst (Richard, Plante RC, the best goalie card of all-time)
5) 1966-67 Topps (Very attractive set, Orr RC)
6) 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee (Dryden RC, Lafleur RC, Checklist card alone is worth around $500!)

goodriddance189

<< <i>How about your least favorite set from each decade. >>



50s- 1952 Parkhurst. in most of the cards ive seen, the sepia color printing doesnt match up with the photo, creating a disgusting 3-d/blurry misfocused effect
60s- 1965 Topps. bland design
70s- 1972 Topps/OPC. im not a fashion design major, i know little about clashing colors, and apparently niether did the designers in '72
80s- 1980 topps. the scratch off gimmick doesnt work. period. the scratched cards are worthless, and the unscratched cards are ugly

chrisrenaud

1954 Topps
1963 Parkhurst
2001-02 Upper Deck Premier Collection

bengineno9

Bonkers99,

It would be nice to have some competition with my 1988-89 OPC set.
A year ago i bought 5 raw sets from a seller and have had great luck with getting 9's and even a few 10's back on my submissions.

I still got a lot of MINT cards left over. Send me an email and i could help you out.

Ben

Bengineno9@aol.com

TurbosHockey

Well I am in the midst of the 1971-72 set which I think is the nicest by far for the 70's

Also collecting:
80-81 OPC
90-91 OPC Premier
85-86 OPC
1972 Team Canada.

tripoli

I think the 1969 OPC set is one of the all time nicest...and not just because I am the only one to finish off the set. I had numerous high quality cards from my original set that I collected when I was 7 or 8 years old, including some cards that ended up PSA 8's.....very tough in the low series. 1969 featured many hall of famers, some key rookies and a beautiful design. Many cards feature full portraits (Esposito #30), the colour and focus are great are most cards. It is a very tough set to finish although many high quality examples exist from 2nd series vending material. The true challenge is the low series cards that are almost impossible to find in NRMT-MT raw....if you know of any one that has some 1969 OPC , I am always interested. I would list some scans but my files are all too big.


Dan

Yzerman19C

Dan

I noticed you added the 1/1 1969 PSA 8 Parent to your set. Did you have that graded yourself or did you buy it graded

Randy

tripoli

I bought it graded from one of my dealers, he gave me first crack at it. I do have two PSA 7's and a PSA 6 of Parent #89, a particularly tough card to find due to condition issues. That's why the POP Report statistics can be misleading, as I own 4 of the 12 graded examples of this card...and I'm not even a Flyers fan!

Teemu

Hello fellow vintage hockey collectors. I have been reading the message boards for over a year and have not really participated. I apologize. I think its time. My favorite hockey set, easy, all of them. I seem to have a sickness in that I want to collect all of them. I myself believe its a good sickness. (although my wife thinks I'm crazy)

As for my favorites, I have always loved the 54 Topps and 51 Parkhurst sets. I just recently decided to jump into the 1910-12 Imperial Tobacco sets. I saw them at the Pittsburgh show a couple weeks ago and I think I'm hooked.

I hope to see more and more hockey posts as I'll jump in.

Tom

yawie99

It's defnitely time, Teemu-Tom. Glad to see you here and to hear that you're jumping into the early tobacco issues. Hope to see more of you around here.