He had stacks of hockey cards from the 1970s up to modern times. So, just as I was setting goals to trade a bunch of cards I didn't need, thereby paring down my collection . . . enter the temptation.
Well, stuff from the 1990s up to the present time I can easily resist. But stuff from the '70s and '80s? Can't pass it up.
Turns out I had a couple hundred cards on his wantlists, so the transaction ended up being part-trade. But a lot more cards came my way than went out to him. Here's the bulk of what I received (all Topps):
Many commons, but definitely not all, as you can see by the 1980-81 Guy Lafleur up there and the 1971-72 Vic Hadfield at the bottom. Here are some of my favorites from the different sets:
I'm not as big a fan of the 1971-72 design as many collectors seem to be. But I do enjoy that Seals card. And there's Paul Henderson, shortly before he'd score an important goal for Canada against the Soviets in the Summit Series. The Hadfield pose is cool, as he was known for his slapshot.
Lots of cool stuff in this batch of 1974-75s. An Atlanta Flames jersey and an old-school goalie mask on the same card? Winner. A creased Stan Mikita is still a Stan Mikita. Bill Flett is a smiling sasquatch who's been plucked from the wilderness by the Maple Leafs and airbrushed by Topps. Perreault and Martin represent two parts of the French Connection line in Buffalo. Butch Goring looks front and then to his left. Emile Francis sports the classic team jacket, while Boom-Boom is in a snazzy blazer.
Another Seals card here, plus Bobby Clarke x3 on the Team Leaders card. And there's the Bobby Clarke base card. (I wonder what the hole punches were for?) Seems like someone at some point was a Flyers fan, though.
Cool stuff from the 1976-77 batch here. That Wilf Paiment card yields a good view of the Kansas City Scouts logo. Another Seals card, this time the team card. I like how Topps listed "Adams Division" and "Patrick Division" on the fronts of the team cards here. Phil Myre with the classic goalie pose. And Bill Clement looks slightly miffed. Maybe he knows that in a few years Tom Selleck will beat him out for the role of Magnum, P.I.
Another Scouts card (check out the headband on Henry Boucha!). That card of the Islanders Top Scoring Line refers to them by their nickname at the time—The Long Island Lighting Company—which was the actual name of the electric company on Long Island (LILCO for short). Al MacAdam shows you that the team colors of the Seals have changed. And at first glance, those all-star sunbursts make me think that Barber, Perreault, and Lapointe are on sale.
1978-79s here. I wonder how that beard felt under John Davidson's goalie mask. It's great that he's got the mask tucked into the top of one of his leg pads there. Soon-to-be Islander Butch Goring and current Islander Clark Gillies are teaming up on him. Why don't they have penalty minute leader cards nowadays?
Just a few 1979-80s came with the trade. Wayne Stephenson with an all-time great goalie mask. Gilles Meloche is chatting it up with a Capitals player in warmups. Dave Williams is recapturing his high school yearbook photo with that blurry background.
Some great cards in the 1980-81 batch—and none of the pucks have been scratched off! Every card here shows a star player. Lafleur, Trottier, Salming, Tony Esposito, Mark Howe, Phil Esposito, Denis Potvin, Gare-Simmer-Stoughton, and John Davidson. (You should go 5-hole on John Davidson there.)
Some nice cards from the 1981-82 set, which features one of my all-time favorite hockey card designs. In this batch of nine cards we've got McDonald's pushbroom, Morrow's beard, Gartner's tidy mustache, Maruk's fu manchu, and a nice-looking Super Action card featuring a clean-shaven Mike Bossy.
There are only 165 cards in the 1984-85 Topps set. Got a big stack of them in this trade, including a whole bunch of star players. We have Coach Q before he was Coach Q. And there's Wayne looking up at the scoreboard to calculate how many goals he can score in the time remaining. I like that shot of Ken Morrow hopping through the open bench door onto the ice.
The 1986-87s include an even better view of Lanny's pushbroom at the top left. Manhattan native Joe Mullen is keeping his distance at the top right. In the middle row, two classic logos next to each other in Minnesota and Hartford. And there's Bernie Nicholls at the bottom left, sporting the gold and purple home uniform of the Kings. Always nice to receive an unmarked checklist, too.
If you're working on some hockey sets from the 1970s or 1980s, let me know. Most of the cards I received in this lot are available for trade, aside from the 1980-81s and 1986-87s.
Thanks for reading. And a big thanks to my trader-friend (whose name will remain anonymous). I hope your move goes as smoothly as possible!
