Completed Set: 1981-82 Topps Hockey

I thought I'd begin this post with a sell sheet that Topps distributed for their 1981-82 hockey product.

 

Check out those three bullet points on the left.

 

 

 

 

110 individual subjects? Sounds good.

 

All new colorful action shots? Sounds really good.

 

But did you notice that middle point? It was a special one.

 

Features top players from LOCAL teams

 

But what exactly did that mean? And how did it work?

 

Here's what Topps did. Instead of placing an assortment of cards from the entire set into wax packs and shipping them all across the country (as usual), the 198-card set would be separated into three equal parts. 

 

• 66 cards, numbered 1–66, would feature players from across the NHL, and be issued nationally.
• 66 cards, numbered 1–66 EAST, would feature only players from Wales Conference teams (Bruins, Sabres, Penguins, Whalers, Islanders, Rangers, Flyers, Capitals), and would be issued throughout the Eastern United States. 
• 66 cards, numbered 1–66 WEST, would feature only players from Campbell Conference teams (Black Hawks, Jets, Rockies, Red Wings, Kings, Maple Leafs, North Stars, Blues), and would be issued throughout the Western United States. 

 

So, if you lived in the Eastern US, your wax pack would contain a combination of the nationally issued cards and EAST cards. If you lived in the Western US, your wax pack would contain a combination of the nationally issued cards and WEST cards. 

 

On the surface, you can see how that might be appealing. Let's imagine a young Kings fan living in California opening WEST packs, and a young Islanders fan living in New York opening EAST packs. 

 

For the Kings fan, nationally issued cards included big stars from his favorite team, like Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, and Dave Taylor—and also big Islander stars he probably would have enjoyed adding to his collection, like Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, and Bryan Trottier. 

 

But in his WEST packs, he would've also had a chance at pulling 8 other Kings cards—including some lesser-known players that the Islanders fan in New York might not have been interested in. And in a similar manner, that young Islanders fan would've had a chance at pulling 10 other Islanders cards from his EAST packs that the Kings fan might not have been interested in. More players from your local team. Hooray!

 

Was the idea successful? Well, let's answer it this way: 

 

After the 1981-82 hockey set, Topps wouldn't produce another hockey set until 1984-85.

 

(Sad trombone)

 

And the '81-82 set did create a conundrum for collectors, regardless of where they lived: Was the complete set 198 cards? (1-66 National, 1-66 EAST, and 1-66 WEST) Or was the complete set only 132 cards? (1-66 National, plus the 66 EAST or 66 WEST cards you had access to in your region of the country)

 

What would you do, for example, if you were a big hockey card fan or set completist in the Colorado area? Would you ask your local card shop to contact a retailer in New York or Boston and ask them to mail you some EAST packs? I wonder if that happened on occasion.

 

But you know what? Despite these negatives, I'm going to give Topps some credit for trying something different. They actually created a similar numbering convention for their basketball set that same year. Good on them.

 

Okay, with all that background information out of the way, let's get to the cards.

 

Right off the bat, I love the design. The thin, colorful border has curved corners, and is not unlike the shape of a hockey rink. The team logo is nicely tucked into the border on the bottom. And that bold, yellow, diagonal team name is just excellent, regardless of how long or short the name is. I know I've mentioned this elsewhere on the blog, but hockey is such a dynamic, action-heavy sport, and diagonal lines help to bring that out. Just look at the three cards shown above. Hockey action!

 

Of course, since this is a set from the 1980s, that action font is sometimes offset by a notable lack of action in the photograph.

 

 

There were players standing around.

 

 

 

 

And then there were players who were outright tired.

 

 

 

Even Wayne Gretzky was taking a quick breather!
 

I'd be remiss if I didn't show a few airbrush specials, too.

Those poor airbrush artists went through the trouble of recreating the entire Jets and Penguins jersey logos, just to have them covered up by the team name. And look at Don Luce on the right. They airbrushed his entire uniform, but forgot to do his hockey gloves. D'oh!

 

If those cards get you down, don't worry. There are plenty of cards in the set that will pick you right back up. For example, just look at some of the leather goalie pad goodness you'll find.

 

 

I love those waffle-board blockers.

There was a good rookie class this season, too.

 

 

 

Five out of six of those guys would become Hall of Famers. 

And now let's get to the subsets. There were no record breakers. No highlights. No league leaders. But there were Super Action cards. And similar to the 1982 Topps football version, the hockey Super Action cards were the place you'd find a lot of the standout cardboard.

 

You'll find face-off scrums, physical puck battles, goalies making saves through traffic, players celebrating goals, and more. They tell a pretty accurate story of the game of hockey.

 

The other subset? Team leaders.

I was going to use the Oilers team leaders card here, simply to show how Wayne Gretzky was really coming into his own just a few years into his NHL career. For the 1980-81 season, he led the Oilers in goals (55), assists (109), points (164), and power-play goals (15). However, I couldn't say no to posting a card that showed that fantastic Colorado Rockies jersey—not to mention Lanny McDonald and his mustache.

 

Now let's talk about the card backs. Usually I show just one example, but this time I'm going to show three.

Topps provided some nice informational copy when there was room for it—mostly related to scoring. The black text on a blue background works well enough, although the height/weight/bio section gets a little tougher to read against the darker blue color. The overall design is the same on all three cards, aside from the East-West distinction. It's small, but it's there. (Top left, under the hockey puck.)

 

 

 

Kent Nilsson was part of the nationally distributed set. As you can see, those guys received five little stars under the puck instead of an "EAST" or "WEST" designation.

 

 

Finally, here's a checklist.  

 

Notice how it lists cards 1–132, not 1–198. The back of the card reveals why. 

 

 

 

 

It's the WEST checklist. The EAST checklist also lists cards 1–132, with the card back showing the 66 EAST cards instead.

Again, give credit to the folks at Topps. They really went all-in here!

 

 

And that's 1981-82 Topps hockey. This is one of the sets I got into when I returned to collecting back around 2013. I even bought a few wax packs and opened them to help me build it, so I'm extra happy now that it's complete. 

 

And when I say "complete", I mean all 198 cards—National, EAST, and WEST. They're currently in a binder, arranged thusly: National cards first, then 1-66 EAST, then 1-66 WEST.

 

 

What do you readers think about the way this set was arranged? Good idea? Bad idea? Fun for the kid collector? Too complicated for the kid collector?

 

Share your thoughts in the comment section, and thanks for reading, as always.

 

 

PS: I'll mention here that O-Pee-Chee did not go with the regional idea in 1981-82, and instead released a nice, normal 396-card set, which was standard size for the Canadian company at the time. I'm fairly close to completing it. Once I do, I'll post a set review here on the blog. It'll be fun to compare the two sets.