Hockey Cards

An Incredible Collection of 100 Sports Wrappers

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I’ve always loved wrapper collecting. Too bad I wasn’t buying yet in 2005 when this incredible lot of 100 (1949 to 1972) baseball, basketball, football, and hockey wrappers were auctioned off together.

Most were described as being in clean EX to NM condition. There was also a bit of duplication amongst the collection: BASEBALL: Bowman 1949 one cent green/orange, 1950 one cent dated, 1952 one cent. 1953 Color (GD), 1954 dated (VG) and 1955 (VG). Topps 1951 Red Back one cent, 1952 (VG), 1953 one cent (a NM beauty), 1954 one cent, 1955 one cent, 1955 Doubleheader one cent, 1956 one cent, 1957 one cent, 1958 one cent, 1959, 1960 (2), 1961 (2), 1962 (2), 1962 Baseball Bucks one cent, 1963 one cent, 1964, 1964 Giants, 1965, 1966, 1967 (3), 1968 (3), 1968 Posters, 1969, 1969 Posters, 1970 (2), 1971, 1971 Tattoos, 1971 Super, 1972 (5) and 1972 Posters. Leaf 1948-49 and 1960. Fleer 1960, 1961 and 1963. FOOTBALL: Bowman 1951 one cent, 1953, 1954 one cent and 1955. Topps 1951 Magic, 1956, 1957 one cent, 1958 one cent, 1959 one cent, 1960 one cent, 1961-71 and 1972 (5). Fleer 1960-63. Philadelphia 1964-67 Also 1961 Nu-Card, 1963 Topps Canadian and 1972 O-Pee-Chee. BASKETBALL: Fleer 1961-62. Topps 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72 and 1972-73. HOCKEY: Topps 1968-69, 1969-70, 1971-72 (2) and 1972-73.

Wrapper collecting isn’t for everyone, but they are way more affordable than unopened wax packs. And, stored in binders, vintage wrappers display very well together. Another cool thing about wrappers is that there’s usually exciting hobby history involved, as Topps often advertised giveaways on them.

1952 Parkhurst Hockey Set And Album

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As the hobby library guy, I love seeing vintage sets bundled together for sale with the albums manufacturers produced for them. The 1952 Parkhurst hockey album is a tremendous post-war example; Mastro offered this one with the complete set of 105 cards in May 2000.

Albums were available to collectors as a 25-cent mail-in offer on the back of the cards. Here’s an example from Tim Horton’s card #58 (photo from Robert Edward Auctions).

The album measures 9” x 11′ and includes 13 pages, each with slots for eight cards via corner mounts. While 13 times 8 is only 104, short of 105, there is a paste-in space for “My Favorite Hockey Star.” 

These days, empty albums can be found for a little over $100, while complete sets are $2.5k++.

1966/67 Topps USA Test Wax Pack Display Box Uncut Sheet

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Mastro’s April 2004 catalog featured this “only known example” 1966/67 USA Test uncut display box. It was described as an ex-Topps Vault item and was accompanied by that company’s LOA.

The 18” x 25”’ blank-backed sheet, printed in the US on regular cardstock, bears the unfolded, central rendering of a 24-count, 5-cent wax pack counter-sales box. Masto wrote that small proofer’s notes and printing alignment marks appear in the periphery of the sheet.

Lelands first sold an assembled 1966-67 Topps USA Test Wax Display Box (pictured below) in October 2017 for $8070 before selling another for $4555 in February 2019.

And for completeness, here’s a 1966 Topps Test hockey “cello” wrapper. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found this one to credit the source.

1970/71 Topps Hockey Wax Box And 24 Packs

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This ultra-scarce complete 1970/71 Topps Hockey wax box, with all the packs authenticated by GAI was offered for sale in August 2004.

The box was described as VG with minor surface abrasions on the unpunched lid and packs with the following grades: Mint 9: 2 packs; Nm-Mt+ 8.5: 9 packs; Nm-Mt 8: 10 packs; Nm+: 3 packs.

If you’re in the vintage unopened hobby niche, you know how tough hockey items are to find. The PSA Pop Report currently shows 29 graded 1970 Topps hockey packs, and I suspect many of them are cross-overs from this GAI lot.

Regarding pricing, BBCE Auctions sold this PSA 8 wax pack for $2225 in November 2023.

1962/63 Topps Hockey Bucks

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The 1962/63 Topps Hockey Bucks insert set deserves more attention in the hobby as one of the most unusual and low-production vintage Topps hockey issues. These are from Mastro’s December 2004 auction, which was noted as the first time they had offered the thin-paper inserts in one of their catalogs. You still don’t see complete sets that regularly in the hobby.

The 24 hockey bucks were designed to resemble the Canadian currency of the time. One 4-1/8″ x 1-3/16″ bill was vertically folded and fit into each pack.

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