Tuesday, July 20, 2004

 

Old Hockey Cards: Waxing Nostalgic

Not only were hockey players much more colourful (personality wise) and outgoing in the �old� days, but the hockey cards from earlier era�s were also totally sweet! There wasn�t any of this 3-cards-for-$50 crap, nor cutting up rare game-worn sweaters and sticks and inserting them into cards (Oh boy, I own 1/500th of Bobby Orr�s jock strap!)...you simply got a bunch of cards and some cheap nuclear bubble gum for a nickel or a dime.

I was going through my old hockey card collection the other day and I came across this beautiful 1971 O-Pee-Chee card of Gump Worsley.

















Worsley was a roly-poly goalie who was a hero to all non-athletic fat guys everywhere in Canada. He played 861 games and won the Vezina and Calder trophies, all while possessing the physique of the Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man.

I mean, just look at that goofy face? Gump was the kind of guy that you could sit down and have a beer with�during the 1st intermission!

And look at the back of the card? During the 70�s, O-Pee-Chee cards typically had a little comic on the back of each card. They actually paid someone to draw up a little descriptive comic on the back of EACH and EVERY player card.

These little pictures would give you a little background detail or tidbit about the player in question, and it added a cool characteristic to the stats and vitals. (Such as Worsley tossing the mask aside)

It�s been quite a few years since I�ve actually purchased a pack of new hockey cards, so I don�t know if any company has gone �retro� for real�but I�d love to see a newer set that was cheap in price, and had a little comic drawing on the back of each card.

You could have a picture of Alexei Yashin with a cocky little smirk, smoking a cigar and sitting on those comic-book money bags (The ones with the $ symbol to tell you there is money inside), with a caption �Alexei signed a 10-year, 87.5$million contract�

�or a picture of Pavel Bure: �Pavel has had 23 knee operations�, complete with a sad-looking Bure walking with crutches.

Now, that would be cool�


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