deepbluejacket
Verified Trader,
Last month, I completed my collection of 1980s OPC sets by picking up the last on my list, 1980-81. I have long owned the Topps set, that of the notorious scratch off puck. And 1980 is before my time in terms of watching hockey, so way back in the day I didn't know who I was looking at. Do you know how many Nordiques had mustaches back then? All of them! But with OPC, that's not a problem as the name is on the front of the card. You know, like a normal company. Let's take a look!
Get to the Money!
Okay, okay, these are the two you want to look at. The Messier is a typical off center cut with meh corners and edges. The Bourque, however, is so ridiculously centered and sharp that it must have been cut from a sheet. So deduct value from it if you will, but it looks fantastic. There is a slight indentation running the length of the bottom of the card.
The Messier used to be the #1 card in this set, but I did a little bit of market research, and I think we can safely say there is a new driver at the front of this bus.
The Great One
Wayne Gretzky's 2nd year card is now the best selling card in the set, jumping quite a bit since the rookie card went bananas. Ungraded, it's landing in the $150-300 range. OPC is really tough to eyeball, so a big range is expected. The PSA 8s show in a similar range, going from as little as 600 up to 1200. Messier is in a tighter 400-600 range at the PSA 8 level. (My copy is obviously lower.)
I've always liked the All-Star card because it kind of looks like he's sucking on his glove. Gretzky appears 6 times in total - base, All-Star, Team Leader, Record Breaker, and two League Leaders (Points, Assists). Gretzky was not eligible for the Calder and famously lost the Art Ross in a tie-breaker because he had fewer goals than Marcel Dionne, even though he played fewer games.
Trivia question #1: Who is the Capital shadowing Gretzky?
USA! USA! USA!
The Olympic cards are FREAKING AWESOME. I have always loved these cards. The US won the gold in 1980 and a shocking number of players jumped straight into the NHL. This was not normal in 1980! Players on Olympic teams did not jump straight in - they often didn't make it at all. Jim Craig debuted with Atlanta, but the Bruins got him in the off-season, hence the airbrush job.
In total, there are 7 Olympic cards in the set. Trivia question #2: Name them.
Bonus trivia: No Canadian Olympian appears in the set as none made the jump straight in, but a few would make it into the 1981-82 set, including this future HOfer with more than 400 goals to his credit. Name him.
All-Star Oopsies
Neither of these players made the 2nd All-Star team. So why are they here? I honestly have no idea! The actual All-Stars are Ray Bourque, Larry Robinson, Borje Salming, and Jim Schoenfeld. Weirder to me, how did I never notice this before? I knew Ray Bourque was named to the All-Star team 17 years in a row, starting with his rookie season. But no card!
Dousing the Flames
Atlanta relocated to Calgary for the 1980-81 season. Topps basically went all head shot with the Flames players to get around the logo issue, but OPC just airbrushed it away. Why? Not sure. Doubt it was a legal thing, more of a somewhat failed attempt to stay current. The flaming A was purged from all Flames cards...but the editor forgot the players who were traded.
Good ol' Bobby Lalonde. All of 5'5"!
Penguins Shed the Blues
You might think the Greg Malone card features an old photograph - but it might not! The Penguins did something really weird, changing their jerseys from blue to black mid-season! This is the only Penguin in blue in the set.
Poor Doug Risebrough
OPC had a hard time identifying this poor guy. His rookie card features Bob Gainey, and this card appears to have an older shot of Serge Savard, before he was named captain.
What must Steve Payne do to catch your eye, Topps?
Only North Stars fans noticed Steve Payne was missing from the Topps set, which was really weird considering he led the team in goals with 42! OPC made up for it. I mean, seriously, Topps. What does a guy have to do? Topps was known for snubbing the Kings, Penguins and Blues (and all of the Canadian teams), but the North Stars were typically very well represented each year. The Capitals were also snubbed, but because most of the photos were taken in Washington, they were everywhere.
(Did I forget the Rockies? So did everyone else.)
Um....
"Now with..." is very common in 1980s OPC, but these cards are very unusual in that the players are already with the teams. So they're more like "Still with..."
And finally...
Airbrush Artistry
Oh yes, take it in. The famous Rick Vaive card where they airbrushed hair over his helmet...for some crazy reason. Now if he had hair like Don Murdoch, that wouldn't have been necessary.
Trivia answers to come after people try guessing. They're not too hard.
Mike
Get to the Money!
Okay, okay, these are the two you want to look at. The Messier is a typical off center cut with meh corners and edges. The Bourque, however, is so ridiculously centered and sharp that it must have been cut from a sheet. So deduct value from it if you will, but it looks fantastic. There is a slight indentation running the length of the bottom of the card.
The Messier used to be the #1 card in this set, but I did a little bit of market research, and I think we can safely say there is a new driver at the front of this bus.
The Great One
Wayne Gretzky's 2nd year card is now the best selling card in the set, jumping quite a bit since the rookie card went bananas. Ungraded, it's landing in the $150-300 range. OPC is really tough to eyeball, so a big range is expected. The PSA 8s show in a similar range, going from as little as 600 up to 1200. Messier is in a tighter 400-600 range at the PSA 8 level. (My copy is obviously lower.)
I've always liked the All-Star card because it kind of looks like he's sucking on his glove. Gretzky appears 6 times in total - base, All-Star, Team Leader, Record Breaker, and two League Leaders (Points, Assists). Gretzky was not eligible for the Calder and famously lost the Art Ross in a tie-breaker because he had fewer goals than Marcel Dionne, even though he played fewer games.
Trivia question #1: Who is the Capital shadowing Gretzky?
USA! USA! USA!
The Olympic cards are FREAKING AWESOME. I have always loved these cards. The US won the gold in 1980 and a shocking number of players jumped straight into the NHL. This was not normal in 1980! Players on Olympic teams did not jump straight in - they often didn't make it at all. Jim Craig debuted with Atlanta, but the Bruins got him in the off-season, hence the airbrush job.
In total, there are 7 Olympic cards in the set. Trivia question #2: Name them.
Bonus trivia: No Canadian Olympian appears in the set as none made the jump straight in, but a few would make it into the 1981-82 set, including this future HOfer with more than 400 goals to his credit. Name him.
All-Star Oopsies
Neither of these players made the 2nd All-Star team. So why are they here? I honestly have no idea! The actual All-Stars are Ray Bourque, Larry Robinson, Borje Salming, and Jim Schoenfeld. Weirder to me, how did I never notice this before? I knew Ray Bourque was named to the All-Star team 17 years in a row, starting with his rookie season. But no card!
Dousing the Flames
Atlanta relocated to Calgary for the 1980-81 season. Topps basically went all head shot with the Flames players to get around the logo issue, but OPC just airbrushed it away. Why? Not sure. Doubt it was a legal thing, more of a somewhat failed attempt to stay current. The flaming A was purged from all Flames cards...but the editor forgot the players who were traded.
Good ol' Bobby Lalonde. All of 5'5"!
Penguins Shed the Blues
You might think the Greg Malone card features an old photograph - but it might not! The Penguins did something really weird, changing their jerseys from blue to black mid-season! This is the only Penguin in blue in the set.
Poor Doug Risebrough
OPC had a hard time identifying this poor guy. His rookie card features Bob Gainey, and this card appears to have an older shot of Serge Savard, before he was named captain.
What must Steve Payne do to catch your eye, Topps?
Only North Stars fans noticed Steve Payne was missing from the Topps set, which was really weird considering he led the team in goals with 42! OPC made up for it. I mean, seriously, Topps. What does a guy have to do? Topps was known for snubbing the Kings, Penguins and Blues (and all of the Canadian teams), but the North Stars were typically very well represented each year. The Capitals were also snubbed, but because most of the photos were taken in Washington, they were everywhere.
(Did I forget the Rockies? So did everyone else.)
Um....
"Now with..." is very common in 1980s OPC, but these cards are very unusual in that the players are already with the teams. So they're more like "Still with..."
And finally...
Airbrush Artistry
Oh yes, take it in. The famous Rick Vaive card where they airbrushed hair over his helmet...for some crazy reason. Now if he had hair like Don Murdoch, that wouldn't have been necessary.
Trivia answers to come after people try guessing. They're not too hard.
Mike
