There is an article in the Athletic about the top 25 sports cards of all time. While only two hockey cards made the list (Bobby Orr’s rookie card at #23, and Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card at #10), I thought it would be interesting to look back on the top Calgary Flames cards of all time (and no, Rasmus Andersson’s Young Guns Rookie is not one of them lol). The good news if you’re a current collector is that none of these cards are particularly expensive to acquire
Obviously your top 10 may differ slightly, but here's mine. Only two caveats for my list: they must be from their time with the Calgary Flames (ie no Lanny McDonald rookie card since he was with the Leafs at the time), and I’m not necessarily interested in ultra “rare” and/or valuable insert cards (don’t get me started on those -- I grew up in the days where packs were $0.35 and you got a stick of crappy pink gum in each one). Feel free to add your own thoughts/cards!
10. Lanny McDonald 1983/84 OPC #74. Can’t have a top 10 Flames list without Lanny, so we’ll start here. This card celebrates his team leading 66 goal season, which still stands as a Flames record.
9. Joe Mullen 1986/87 OPC #44 - I always liked the design of this set — clean and bold. This is also Mullen’s first Flames card, and he was a key member of both the 1986 and 1989 Flames teams that went to the Finals.
8. Joel Otto 1990/91 Upper Deck #141 - From the inaugural Upper Deck hockey set, how could you forget Otto’s card with him blowing a big pink bubble? It’s our equivalent to Carl Yazstremski with the big sideburns.
7. Mike Vernon 1987/88 OPC #215 - This was my holy grail as a young card collector. My only gripe is that on the back of the card, it is missing his hometown and birthdate. As a kid, I happily fixed that by writing it in myself
6. Miikka Kiprusoff 2012/13 Upper Deck #22 - There were a couple of options here but I went with this one showing classic Kipper doing the splits to make the save. Extra points for wearing the Flames retro uniform as well.
5. Jarome Iginla 2003/04 Upper Deck #29 - There have been some “interesting” Iggy cards over the years, including one with him playing ping pong, and another where he’s sitting in jeans by the bench holding a skate. I think my favourite would have to be his 2003/04 Upper Deck card. Iggy in his prime, unleashing a wicked slap shot. And I’m guessing the photo was taken at the All-star game as he’s not wearing a helmet (of course, we all know Iggy sans helmet was just the cheat code for pure domination).
4. Theo Fleury 1991-92 Upper Deck #245 - Great photo of the diminutive Theo hopping over the boards and onto the ice. It is reminiscent of a famous Dave Elston cartoon that depicts Fleury using a ladder to “change on the fly”. HM to Theo’s 1989/90 OPC rookie card (I remember thinking his hair looked perfect on this card) and his 1990/91 Upper Deck card (nice shot of him in mid air trying to throw a bodycheck against the boards).
3. Joe Nieuwendyk 1988/89 OPC #16 - Nieuwy’s OPC rookie card. With 51 goals in each of his first two seasons, he set a standard that no other Flame has ever come close to matching.
2. Johnny Gaudreau 2014/15 Upper Deck #211 - Johnny’s Young Guns rookie card. Definitely lived up to the hype starting in his very first NHL season.
1. Al MacInnis 1985-86 OPC #237 - Chopper’s OPC rookie card. A Hall of Famer and key contributor in the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals, which earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy. Also probably the most valuable Flames card from the 1980's.
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And I’m guessing the photo was taken at the All-star game as he’s not wearing a helmet (of course, we all know Iggy sans helmet was just the cheat code for pure domination).
Yup. His first shot attempt starts at about 12:15...
After his final shot, he stands in front of the couple wearing the red and green sweaters in the background of the hockey card.
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Always thought this card was so weird when I was growing up. Kidd's masks and equipment were so cool, so this Rookie Card surprised me as I thought he looked like a nerd or was dressed as Clark Kent.
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It looks like he should be doing my accounting or something.
I have about 10 of those Theo ones from the Upper Deck 75th anniversary collection. I think everyone and their dog collected cards that year. The hockey card market is over saturated with them.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Can some card collections actually still be something lucrative, or has that ship saled?
I remember when I lived near the U.S border and we used to play school sports with the American high school on the other side.
At the time McDonalds in Canada had a hockey card promotion. I think they were Upper Deck cards, but they also had a McD logo on them. You couldn't get them in the States and it was just a promotion in Canada. Those American kids would pay an arm and leg for them in money and cards. By an arm and leg, I mean $5 to $20, or an excessive number of cards that they had.
I felt like I was ripping them off so hard, but they seemed to think those cards were the coolest things ever.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Can some card collections actually still be something lucrative, or has that ship saled?
I remember when I lived near the U.S border and we used to play school sports with the American high school on the other side.
At the time McDonalds in Canada had a hockey card promotion. I think they were Upper Deck cards, but they also had a McD logo on them. You couldn't get them in the States and it was just a promotion in Canada. Those American kids would pay an arm and leg for them in money and cards. By an arm and leg, I mean $5 to $20, or an excessive number of cards that they had.
I felt like I was ripping them off so hard, but they seemed to think those cards were the coolest things ever.
Unless you're dealing with ultra rare, ultra expensive stuff its not worth anything. And baseball/basketball >>>> hockey.
Does anyone remember this one?
I have a fuzzy recollection of Letterman showing the card on his show and joking with Paul about getting Sandy on the show.
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Great thread. I'll post the favorites from my collections shortly. Unfortunately, I got back into collecting a few years ago, and it's basically just gambling. They've reworked how they produce cards, so they do have more value, but you aren't guaranteed to get value cards in each pack/box.
Great thread. I'll post the favorites from my collections shortly. Unfortunately, I got back into collecting a few years ago, and it's basically just gambling. They've reworked how they produce cards, so they do have more value, but you aren't guaranteed to get value cards in each pack/box.
Wanted to revisit this, for a couple of reasons:
- Apparently hockey cards (and sports cards in general) have had a big resurgence this year, due to the COVID pandemic. Record breaking prices for high demand cards, including the most valuable Connor McDavid rookie card (which sold for $135k USD in June): https://globalnews.ca/news/7088732/c...e-card-record/
- I “stumbled” back into collecting hockey cards this year, focusing on Flames cards (and within a pretty strict budget). Just something to do for fun as it was something I enjoyed as a kid; not looking to make money or spend a bunch either.
Anyways, learning about where card collecting is nowadays was eye opening and there really is a huge “gambling” component it seems. You can spend $150 to $600+ for a “box” of cards (I use that term loosely as you only get 1 pack per box and only 4-7 cards per pack) and you might get a valuable card, but you also might get a bunch of meh that is equivalent 10% to 20% of what you spent in value back.
I don’t have a problem if that’s what people want to spend their money on and it’s what makes them happy, but it also kind of makes me sad that kids can’t just go to the local convenience store and buy a few packs of cards like you used to be able to do. Even the basic Upper Deck release costs $100 for a box of 24 packs, which is a lot of money if you’re a kid (unless your parents are willing to pick up the tab). I’m also not a big fan of how card companies try to “manufacture” rarity and or value... especially gimmicks like embedding pearls and other gems onto cards?!? Im waiting for the insert card where they literally embed a $100 bill onto the card and charge you $1000 a pack for it.
Aside from the trick crap they've started (see mcdavid with piece of jersey bs) very few cards are worth anything the last 40 years due to mass production, 60's - 70's bubblegum rookie cards have the value and even Atlanta didn't have a great rookie.
I personally got my down payment on my first house in 92 by selling two Bobby Orr and one Bobby Hull rookie cards.
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Sports cards as a whole have seen a massive increase in popularity in 2020, largely due to the stimulus cheques sent out by the US Government. Hockey cards have not seen the exponential price increases due to the interest being limited to Canada. Basketball, baseball, football and soccer are through the roof.
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