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A note for those who collect 1990's Quebec Pee Wee Cards
MinorLeaguer
Posts: 497 ✭✭✭
Just sharing some info: Since 2 stars in the Stanley Cup Final this year have their first-cards from the Quebec Pee Wee tournaments of the 1990's (Hossa and Bergeron), be wary that before buying/selling one, you should always check the back of the card to confirm it does NOT have a "Danone" logo. Unfortunately starting about 2010, the stars that made it to the NHL from these pee-wee tournament sets had their cards reprinted by Danone (Canada's brand name for the US's Danon Yogurt) and many sellers and buyers don't realize they are selling/buying a reprint as many ebay auctions are selling reprints as originals due to not knowing about the reprints and not due to malice. Danone is continuing to reprint these cards in Canada but have thankfully been wiser in making it more obvious on the front instead of only on the back. The cards from the ealry to mid 90's like Lecavalier, Simon Gagne and Hossa need to have the back checked as the fronts on the reprints are exactly the same. For the later 90's, that contain stars like Bergeron, Ryan Callahan, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, etc. many of these years, the originals have no white border and the colors go to the edge of the card while the reprints have white borders. I believe in 2013 Danone added little stars inside the white border on the reprints (look kinda like 1985/86 Merchante basketball borders). So I suggest you always ask for a scan of the back or ask for confirmation of no Danone logo on the backs to save yourself a headache. Thankfully, these are not high priced cards (e.g. a 1993 Hossa BGS 8.5 went for $40 on eBay recently) but they are kind of cool and a must if you like to collect hockey stars' first-cards. Feel free to PM with any questions.
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PSA Face palm. Someone thinks they bought a 1998 Quebec Pee Wee Bergeron slabbed by PSA on ebay for $99 recently, but its the 2010 Danone reprint. See the reprint with the Danone logo on the back (and white borders on the front that the 1998 originals did not have) and compare to the original without the "Danone" logo and no border on the front. Some images below to help explain the story. In summary, always look on the back for a Danone logo to confirm its a reprint. The originals are tough to find. The reprints are plentiful.
2010 reprint:
1998 Original:
In 2010 and 2011 Danone issued reprints of the 1990's pee wee tournament cards of the participants that made it to the NHL:
2011 checklist:
2010 packs:
2010 reprint checklist:
Thanks for sharing this info. I have a couple of the Bergeron that I have to check now.
Thank you!
I've see a couple different variations of the Connor McDavid Pee Wee card out there. Do you have more comparison info on that one?
One has a matte gold color stripe across the bottom, and the other has a bottom stripe that has sort of a shiny refractor gold and green splotchy camo look to it. I've seen both versions inside BGS slabs.
Here is a link to the gold stripe one, graded by BGS:
https://goldinauctions.com/2009_Little_Caesars__Quebec_Pee_Wee_Tournament___9-LOT60708.aspx
The other one looks like this:
https://www.facebook.com/dinochouinard/photos/a.219891725086233/220589698349769/
I've seen both versions of the McDavid too. But I am more of an 70s/80s/90s collector so never followed the pee-wee McDavid closely, so I am not an authority on it, Likely either they made a base and "tiffany/premium" style, or one is a reprint. Try and find someone selling a complete set from that year and that should let you know exactly what to look for in an original (unless they made sets in both versions). From my pee-wee tournament leisurely ebay searches over the years, the matte yellow version was always around earlier in the 2010's and only about 2-3 years ago did I start to see shiny gold/green style you mentioned on ebay. Take with a grain of salt, but that makes me think the shiny one would be a reprint.
Thank you, I do appreciate the reply.
FWIW, several years ago I picked up a couple of each of them. So, the gold/green shiny bottom border ones were available back more like at least 5 to 6 years ago when I started looking for them. Doesn't mean they are or are not from 2009 though. Still trying to confirm that one
Thanks again for posting this. I have 2 Bergeron and had the Danone on one. Thankfully my signed copy is the original!
Sweet!
2012 reprint checklist as well:
Oh man, I'm the rube that bought said Bergeron reprint. I did a little research before I bought it but couldn't find a whole lot of info on the set. It being a reprint didn't even occur to me. PSA validated it, so I figured that's what it is; that's kinda the whole point of PSA isn't it? I've opened a ticket with PSA to get the card fixed. The card may be worth less now, but I think it's important that it's accurate.
On a side note, does anyone have a full checklist of the original 1998 set, or know where to find one? I'd like to update the tcdb.com database. I've already done some damage there submitting some incorrect pictures, but I'll try to fix them.
Sorry to herar that. Beckett.com has all the checklists of the original Tournament sets from 1992 and up. Each original set has like 2000 cards each.