We’d like to take a step back and look at the top 10 most read articles at Vintage Hockey Cards Report over the past year. The site continues to grow and we’re moving into more articles about hockey history along with the traditional articles about hockey cards that started the site in the beginning. Still the most popular is an article on the Bobby Orr rookie card. The article was one of the first on the site and has always done well with Google.
1. 1966-67 Topps #35 – Bobby Orr Rookie Card
The last of the $3000 trifecta of hockey card collecting. Along with Gordie Howe’s 1951-52 Parkhurst rookie card and Bobby Hull’s 1958-59 Topps rookie card, the Bobby Orr rookie card is one of three cards from the 1950’s and 1960’s that is valued at $3000. Of course, Orr changed the way hockey was played. His style of defense was revolutionary. Records that Bobby set over 40 years ago still exist today. His was a career cut way to short by crippling knee injuries.
2. Guy Lafleur Rookie Card Worth More Than Marcel Dionne’s – But, Who Was Better?
At the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, Guy Lafleur was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens after playing junior hockey with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. Second overall, by the Detroit Red Wings, was Marcel Dionne, a standout with the St. Catherines Black Hawks of the OHA. The 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee Lafleur rookie card is worth more than Dionne’s RC from the same year. Yet, Dionne produced much more offense during his NHL career while playing on teams with much less support than what Lafleur had to work with.
3. 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee #289 – Mark Messier Rookie Card
Mark Messier is considered by many to be the greatest leader to play in the National Hockey League. In the beginning, he was all but written off after a less than stellar first pro season with the Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association. In 52 combined games in 1978-79, he scored just one goal. Yet, three years later, Messier was a 50 goal scorer in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. The Moose played 1,756 regular season NHL games and retired after the 2003-04 season after playing for the Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers.
4. 10 Must-Have Bobby Orr Hockey Cards
You can never go wrong writing a hockey card article about the great Bobby Orr. There’s just so many angles and so many hockey fans looking to read a little more about possibly the greatest defenseman to play the game. Collecting these ten hockey cards is not a poor man’s quest. Anything piece of cardboard with Bobby’s mug on it will not come without paying a price.
5. The Most Valuable Card in the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee Series
This is a bit of a trick article. The answer is a checklist. Back in the day, we’d throw these cards out almost immediately. In fact, it was a bit of a ripoff to get a checklist in a pack because it meant you got one less player card. I recall, not in this exact year, getting four checklists in one pack. I nearly demanded my quarter back!
As for the 1971-72 set, these are some of my favourite cards. I was too young at three years old to collect these first hand. However, by the mid-1970’s older kids were giving these away because they were old and having the latest cards was the thing back then. I’ve always loved the design and it’s one of the few, if not only, designs where I actually like the Topps design on the back over the O-Pee-Chee version.
6. Rogue Gretzky WHA Rookie Card A Hot Item
These cards with Wayne Gretzky on the front wearing an Indianapolis Racers jersey came out in the early 1990’s when the hobby was going gangbusters. It was a cool card so I bought one. I knew it was a fraud but it looked cool and it had Gretzky on the front. Over the years, I assume many were tossed because they were frauds and now the cards are a little scarce.
7. 1965-66 Coca-Cola Hockey Card Series
Mail order hockey cards – so 1960’s! The Coca-Cola cards were black and white and came in perforated strips of five. All the greats were there and having a strip of cards that haven’t been separated can be worth a pretty penny today.
8. 1951-52 Parkhurst Number 66 – Gordie Howe Rookie Card
The hobby had been on hiatus for over a decade when Parkhurst released their 1951-52 set. Almost all of the cards are considered rookie cards because there just wasn’t anything for years before. Gordie Howe was already an established superstar in the league when his rookie card was produced. The card is valued at $3000 but certainly fetches more in mint condition at the right auctions. The rookie card of Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard came out the same year and is valued at just half of the Howe card.
9. The High Price of a Complete Gordie Howe Collection
When a player collection starts with a $3000 card and that player plays longer than any other in history, the collection is going to be pretty extensive and pretty valuable. Howe’s final card during his playing career came as part of the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee set. Gordie was then a member of the Hartford Whalers and fresh off a mini-career in the World Hockey Association. Even that card cannot be had for much less than $50.
10. The 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee Don Cherry Rookie Card
He was a player of the game long before he was a coach. Yet, Don Cherry played most of his career in the minors and was never placed on the front of a hockey card. In 1974-75, O-Pee-Chee included coaches in their player set. For Cherry, and Scotty Bowman of the Montreal Canadiens, it was not only his rookie card but his only hockey card during his active career. Not many years later, Cherry shifted to head coach of the Colorado Rockies and then into the broadcast booth, where he somehow remains today.