Topps entered the hockey card market for the 1954-55 National Hockey League season. From the start, Topps produced cards with players from the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks. Parkhurst featured players from the other three teams, Montreal, Toronto and Boston.
Topps disappeared for two seasons but was back for 1957-58. From that series until Parkhurst produced their last set in 1963-64, the two companies divided up the six team NHL in half. From 1964-65 to 1967-68, Topps held exclusive hold on the hockey card market. In 1968-69, O-Pee-Chee came on the scene.
The relationship between Topps and O-Pee-Chee was much different than that of Topps and Parkhurst. Each company featured players from all teams in the league and was more or less a mirror of the other. The difference was that Topps cards were sold in the United States and O-Pee-Chee was exclusive to Canada. There were some differences in design and the O-Pee-Chee cards were in English and French. The O-Pee-Chee sets tended to have more cards, as well.
Topps ran until 1981-82, took a two year break, returning for 1984-85. They continued to produce a hockey card series until 1989-90 and the ProSet era.
Eleven Topps hockey cards are valued at $500 or more by Beckett Hockey Monthly. Only five different players are featured on the front of these cards: Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Terry Sawchuk, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky. Two of the cards are part of the $3000 hockey card trifecta: the 1958-59 Bobby Hull rookie card and the 1966-67 Bobby Orr rookie card.
The top 11 Topps hockey cards of all-time:
1. 1958-59 #66 – Bobby Hull (RC) – $3000
2. 1966-67 #35 – Bobby Orr (RC) – $3000
3. 1954-55 #8 – Gordie Howe – $1800
4. 1954-55 #58 – Terry Sawchuk – $700
5. 1967-68 #92 – Bobby Orr – $700
6. 1959-60 #47 – Bobby Hull – $600
7. 1979-80 #18 – Wayne Gretzky (RC) – $550
8. 1957-58 #42 – Gordie Howe – $500
9. 1960-61 #58 – Bobby Hull – $500
10. 1958-59 #8 – Gordie Howe – $500
11. 1964-65 #89 – Gordie Howe – $500
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