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Collector's World 0108

The Hockey News Collector's World 0108

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011554/10216394-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEVIN STEVENSPITTSBURGH PENGUINS</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01_ad/10216387-1-eng-US/f0025-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0025-01_Ad" width="799" height="183"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

POSTER

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Kevin Allen</div>When Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; left winger Brian Bellows started to plan for his post-career financial future he had no idea his investment portfolio would include hockey cards. Now, he said cards potentially could provide him with his greatest return per dollar invested.Here are his top five hockey card investment tips:&#8902; Buy rookie cards of the following players, all of whom made their first card appearances in 1990-91 sets: Pittsburgh Penguin Jaromir Jagr, Chicago Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick, Quebec Nordique Mats Sundin, Minnesota North Star Mike Modano and mega-prospect Eric Lindros. He expects Lindros to hit the highest sale price, but he thinks the Jagr card, still reasonably priced, could yield the highest return on your investment.And what about the favorite of most collectors, Chicago Black-hawk goaltender Ed Belfour? &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t get me wrong,&rdquo; said Bellows. &ldquo;He played well. But I think goaltenders need a few years to prove themselves. He&rsquo;s no better than sixth on my list of rookies (to buy).&rdquo;&#8902; Buy Pro Set II hockey wax cases. &ldquo;Right now they aren&rsquo;t popular and you can buy them for less than cost,&rdquo; said Bellows. &ldquo;They only had 15 per cent of the production run they had for Pro Set I. Just hold them, afd the price will go up.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011381/10216356-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="573" height="814"></div>&#8902; Buy Cam Neely rookies, 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee, card No. 327. &ldquo;They are difficult to find in good shape because of the way they were cut,&rdquo; said Bellows. &ldquo;They are just going to climb in value.&rdquo;&#8902; When buying older cards, always go for the entire set: &ldquo;The sum price of star cards individually is usually about the same as the set,&rdquo; said Bellows. &ldquo;When you buy a set it&rsquo;s like getting the commons for free.&rdquo;&#8902; Stock up on Ron Francis rookies, card No. 123 in 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee. &ldquo;As soon as the Francis trade talk started I went out and bought some of his cards,&rdquo; said Bellows.And what does Bellows think about his own rookie card, No. 167 in the 1983-84 O-Pee-Chee series, in terms of investment potential? &ldquo;It would have been great if you would have bought a couple of years ago when it was a couple dollars,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s up to $7.&rdquo; &#9632;

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FUTURE LIFE OF BRIAN INCLUDES CARDS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011982/10216249-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"></div>The Hockey News Collectors World presents its fourth and final special supplement to this year&rsquo;s Price Guide.Previous special guides were: inserts, pre-World War II cards and old photo issues and Beehives. Now we are publishing lists for 12 different non-card collectibles which have had varying degrees of popularity among collectors. We&rsquo;d like to give special thanks to Gary Lane of Georgetown, Ont., for his contributions to this guide.Our regular Price Guide, beginning on page 28, includes all regularly-issued cards by the major card companies from 1951 to 1991.All prices are in Canadian funds. As of June 1, the Canadian dollar was worth 87 cents U.S.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011734/10216242-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="3468" height="4078"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03333/10216235-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="660" height="3153"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01658/10216228-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="3890" height="4495"></div> &#9632;

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SPECIAL GUIDE FOR NON-CARD COLLECTIBLES

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN ALLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011615/10216325-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Bellows and Mark Baribeau have collected a small fortune of cards.</figcaption></div>Brian Bellows has invested in Mike Modano&rsquo;s future with the same conviction as the Minnesota North Stars.Bellows, a serious hockey card collector who is close to earning a degree in finance and accounting from St. Thomas (Minn.) College, purchased more than 100 Modano rookie cards because he believes they will perform like a high-yield stock.&ldquo;I said to Mike: &lsquo;The best investment you could make would be to go out and buy 1,000 of your own cards, then go out and have a helluva career,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bellows said.North Stars&rsquo; equipment manager Mark Baribeau introduced Bellows to hockey card collecting and investing last year. They formed a business partnership that owns so many unopened cases of cards they had to find storage places outside their homes.Baribeau purchased more than 1,000 Modano rookie cards&mdash;many of them for as little as 20 cents. &ldquo;I might have overdid it,&rdquo; he says, laughing.Modano smiled about it all. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to admit that they have me interested,&rdquo; he said.Bellows is one of a growing number of NHL players who are in cards as a hobby or a business. Toronto Maple Leaf Dave Reid owns a store in Ajax, Ont., with Detroit Red Wing Allan Bester, and New York Ranger Darren Turcotte and Winnipeg Jet Pal Elynuik are planning to open stores. Montreal Canadien Patrick Roy has been collecting for years.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like a drug,&rdquo; Bellows said with a laugh. &ldquo;You do it once and you want to keep doing it.&rdquo;North Stars&rsquo; left winger Doug Smail also collects and others have become curious when they hear Baribeau and Bellows discuss cards like two Wall Streeters discussing the stock market.&ldquo;I just believe cards are a good investment,&rdquo; Bellows said. &ldquo;With the emergence of (Wayne) Gretzky in California and San Jose and Tampa coming into the league there&rsquo;s a huge, untapped American market that&rsquo;s just now starting to arrive.&rdquo;Baribeau said Bellows is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to buying cards. But Bellows, proud of his business sense, clearly separates the collecting and the business aspects of the industry. &ldquo;I tend to see the newer cards as investments and the older cards as my collection,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I like to put the older cards in those plastic sheets and look at them. I&rsquo;m not going to turn them over.&rdquo;He has all of the sets from the years he has been in the NHL&mdash;his NHL career began in 1982&mdash;plus some going back to 1969-70. He bought a 1955-56 Parkhurst set, which includes the Jacques Plante rookie card, that he won&rsquo;t receive until he returns to Canada this summer.His favorite card is the Ken Dryden rookie card that pictures the retired Habs&rsquo; netminder, crouching and in full gear. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just a great goaltender shot,&rdquo; he said of the card that appears in the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets.Bellows and Baribeau are deeply investing in unopened cases of this year&rsquo;s Score and Upper Deck hockey, but have purchased some of the other available sets, including Ontario League cards.&ldquo;When you hear about (Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; owner) Bruce McNall buying cards you know they have to be good investments,&rdquo; Baribeau said.Bellows has discovered his instincts have been his best guide. &ldquo;I remember buying O-Pee-Chee Premier for $15 a box in Winnipeg,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just thought they were great looking cards. Now they are out of sight.&rdquo;O-Pee-Chee Premier is now selling for more than $200 a box in most places. Bellows has had similar lucrative hunches on individual cards.&ldquo;I thought Adam Oates was underpriced and I bought some of his rookie cards before he went on his streak,&rdquo; Bellows said. Oates&rsquo; rookie card, in the 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets, was listed at $4 at the start of the season and is now priced at $40.He foresees Score and Upper Deck&mdash;because they are premier editions&mdash;rising sharply in value. Many of the cases they have purchased have jumped by $100 from their purchase price.Bellows said he will stick with hockey &ldquo;because that&rsquo;s what I know.&ldquo;But premier editions are so great I want to get a lot of Upper Dec) premier edition football (due out sometime this summer).&rdquo;The business strategy of the Bellows-Baribeau partnership? &ldquo;Patience is the virtue,&rdquo; Baribeau said. &ldquo;Three years ago people laughed at you if you were a hockey card collector. And I know a guy who bought 300 Topps Brett Hull rookies for five cents each. And he hung onto them and look what they are worth now.&rdquo; Hull rookies are worth about $70.Bellows has about 300 of his own cards, many of them given to him by dealers when he just stops by to chat during shows.&ldquo;The first time I looked at my rookie card it was $5 and I went &lsquo;Whoa!,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bellows said. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s up to about $7 and my brother said it&rsquo;s $13 or $14 in my hometown (St. Catharines, Ont.) That&rsquo;s not bad with the media vacuum we have in Minnesota.&rdquo;On the road, Bellows seeks out card shops like a relentless forechecker chasing a puck carrier. &ldquo;My girlfriend (Tracy Sullivan) thinks I&rsquo;m nuts,&rdquo; Bellows said. &ldquo;My teammates? Some of them think I&rsquo;m nuts too.&rdquo;Bellows plans to intensify his collecting in the off-season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really looking forward this summer to going to shows and picking up older sets,&rdquo; Bellows said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be great.&rdquo;Though the enterprise is a business, Bellows and Baribeau still allow themselves to enjoy their cards. Baribeau keeps several wax boxes of all varieties locked in his office.&ldquo;Whenever we get the fever,&rdquo; Baribeau said, &ldquo;we come in here and open a few packs.&rdquo; Who knows, maybe if they&rsquo;re lucky, they&rsquo;ll add to their Mike Modano collection.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021174/10216318-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="3644" height="2023"></div> &#9632;

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BELLOWS, BARIBEAU PLAY CARE MARKET

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE HEPBURN</div>This, being the last THN Collectors World until next season, gives us an opportunity to summarize the regularly listed vintage cards by way of highlighting the note-worthy Price Guide changes for 1990-91.The great increase in the value of vintage hockey cards is over for now. Through 1989 and 1990, values increased five-to-six fold, but since the fall of &rsquo;90, values have increased at a more modest rate. This may be due in part to the collecting public&rsquo;s preoccupation with the 1990-91 sets.The biggest increase occurred in the Topps sets between 1954-55 and 1965-66. Most of those sets grew in value from 15 to 50 per cent.The big winner this past winter was the 110-card &ldquo;Tall Boy&rdquo; 1964-65 Topps set which increased by nearly 50 per cent to attain a value of $4,600. Collector interest in these odd-sized 21/2-x 53/4-inch items has made this one of the premier sets in the hobby. It now ranks with the 105-card 1951-52 Parkhurst set ($6,200), the 105-card 1952-53 Parkhurst set ($4,750) and the 60-card 1954-55 Topps set ($3,300) as the most popular and highly-valued vintage sets from after World War II.The next largest increase was with the 1958-59 Topps set of 66 cards which increased more than 40 per cent, or by $650 to $2,400. Most of this was due to a $400 increase in the value of card No. 66, the Bobby Hull rookie card. The increase was the largest by a single card reported by THN Collectors World this past season. Those Topps sets which experienced a 20 per cent increase were: 1954-55, 1957-58, 1960-61 and 1965-66.Parkhurst sets rose in value as well, especially the three sets from 1957 through 1960. These gained 15 to 20 per cent over the last six months.An examination of the list of cards that increased reveals certain players stand out since a number of their cards&mdash;not just their rookie ones&mdash;appreciated.Bobby Hull&rsquo;s rookie card was not his only card to increase substantially. His 1959-60 Topps issue increased by $100, the 1960-61 version by $50, 1962-63 by $20, 1963-64 by $25, 1964-65 by $80 and 1965-66 by $25.Not surprisingly, Gordie Howe also had a number of his cards grow in value. Some of the largest increases were: 1954-55 Topps ($300), 195758 Topps ($100), 1959-60 Topps ($75), 1963-64 Parkhurst ($50), 1964-65 Topps ($75) and 1965-66 Topps ($50).Maurice Richard cards were also hot this past season as seen by the $250 increase in his 1952-53 Parkhurst card. Other Richard cards which increased were the 1959-60 Parkhurst issue ($25) and 1960-61 Parkhurst ($40).Stan Mikita cards moved up in the Price Guide as well. His 1960-61 Topps rookie card leapt $ 150 and his 1961-62 Topps card gained $40 over the last few months. Mikita cards from 1962 through 1965 also increased by at least $15.Other noteworthy increases include the Phil Esposito rookie card from the 1965-66 Topps set. Perhaps Esposito&rsquo;s status as part-owner of the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning had something to do with a substantial $150 increase. The Marcel Dionne and Guy Lafleur rookie cards, both from the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee set, increased by $20 and $30 respectively.Since the Bobby Hull cards led the way in this the season of his son, the Golden Brett, it&rsquo;s safe to assume connection exists. It&rsquo;s also probably not a coincidence that exactly 30 years after Bobby Hull made his first care appearance as No. 66, Brett Hull&rsquo;s rookie card is the same number. Wi a little help from Brett, some colie tors are predicting that the Bobby Hi rookie card could pass the Bobby O rookie card&mdash;worth $1,500&mdash;in value next season. &#9632;

THE OLDIES BUT GOODIES FROM PAST YEAR

<div class="byline">BY RAND SIMON</div>Now that you&rsquo;ve built on your O-Pee-Chee and Topps hockey card collection and added thousands of Bowman, Pro Set, Score and Upper Deck cards to it, how do you go about storing all these cards?That old standby, the trusty shoebox, just won&rsquo;t do in these days of if it aren&rsquo;t mint, it aren&rsquo;t collectible, so just where do you put all those cards without damaging them?It&rsquo;s a question collectors have had to deal with since the days of the Hamilton Chewing Gum and Ice Kings cards. But in those days, as with most things, storing cards was much simpler. If an old shoebox wasn&rsquo;t around, any old plastic photographic sheet would do. Collectors didn&rsquo;t have top load card holders or screw down card holders to worry about. And, most important, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wasn&rsquo;t a part of the card collector&rsquo;s vocabulary. In fact, it wasn&rsquo;t even a word until 1927.Today, the preferred choice of most collectors is the nine-pocket clear sheets which are usually put in binders. They allow the collector to protect his or her cards while making them easy to look at. However, many sheets contain PVCs which may damage cards. Some collectors believe the oily substance used to coat the sheets may, over time, leave marks on the cards. One collector, Bill Kerr of Wingham, Ont., said less than a week after he put his 1959-60 Parkhurst cards in sheets, they became stained horizontally across the back. &ldquo;Now my cards are back in a box still stained, as is my enthusiasm for collecting them,&rdquo; said Kerr.But at least one manufacturer of sheets which contain PVCs said the chemicals have never been known to harm the cards.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve produced in excess of 100 million sheets and to our knowledge, we don&rsquo;t know of a sports trading card that has been damaged because of our sheets,&rdquo; said an industry source from one of the largest manufacturers of these sheets. &ldquo;We feel we have an excellent, high-quality product that won&rsquo;t damage any cards.&rdquo;Sheets containing PVCs have traditionally been stronger than those without the chemical. The vinyl sheets are thicker with more body. That protects the cards better than weaker sheets which bend more easily.No matter which sheets you choose, keep your cards out of the sun and away from extreme heat or cold. The ultra-violet rays from the sun can fade the ink on the cards while extremes in temperatures can damage the cards and the sheets.Some people still prefer the old shoebox method, which is the least expensive and most practical way to store cards you rarely look it. Don&rsquo;t pack the cards too tightly in the box and leave room for tissue paper at the front and back of the box so your cards don&rsquo;t rub against it.Before keeping cards in mint condition became such a high priority, the first and last cards in the box became more worn than the other cards. Since those cards were often the first and last in a set, it&rsquo;s harder to find those cards in mint condition. That&rsquo;s why there&rsquo;s a premium paid for the first and last cards in a set.More expensive cards should be stored in top load or screw down card holders. The top load holders may contain PVCs but generally keep the card protected. There is a way to remove a card from a top load card holder without touching the card. Hold the card holder between your thumb and index finger and hit your wrist. That will cause the card to pop out of the holder without it being touched.When using screw down holders, center the card and gently turn the screws. Don&rsquo;t turn the screws too tightly, it could damage the holder or the card. Since it&rsquo;s a clear device, make sure you keep it out of the sun.Remember, protecting your cards is nearly as important a step in collecting as buying them. Don&rsquo;t allow your fun or investment to go to waste through bad storage. &#9632;

HELPFUL HINTS FOR PROPER CARD STORAGE

<div class="byline">BY RAND SIMON</div>There&rsquo;s a fine line between having a little fun and self-serving promotion. Fortunately, Upper Deck didn&rsquo;t cross the line with its High Number Series, but too many more Upper Deck board signs showing on the cards would be a bit much.If the high-quality photography and sharp design wasn&rsquo;t a good enough clue this is an Upper Deck set, just take a look at the Daniel Berthiaume, Brian Propp and Bobby Holik cards. They all prominently show Upper Deck rink board advertising in the background. And, just to make sure we know these are Upper Deck cards. Kris King is shown on the back of his card posing in an Upper Deck sweatshirt. He joins California Angels&rsquo; righthander Bert Blyleven as Upper Deck sports card models. Neat idea having a player model your clothes, but why Kris King?This series of cards deviates from what Upper Deck has always done with its baseball High Number cards, which is to keep special cards to a minimum and just show rookies, players missed in the Low Number Series and traded players in their new uniforms. The High Number hockey series includes some great surprises such as the All-Star Game and skills competition subset, the NHL heroes subset and the most popular part of the set, the cards from the gold-medal winning Canadian national junior team.The 150-card set is a great investment for the future not only because of the NHL stars featured, but because of the future NHLers who are so prominent in the series. The Canadian nation al junior team subset includes two players&mdash;Spokane Chief right winger Pat Falloon and Kamloops Blazer defenseman Scott Niedermayer&mdash;expected to be picked in the top five of the NHL entry draft in June.Upper Deck also figured out a way to include Oshawa General Eric Lindros in the set, even though he has an exclusive deal to appear only on Score &rsquo; NHL cards for the 1990-91 season. Lindros, an assistant captain at the tournament, is shown on a card with the other captains from the team-assistant Kris Draper and captain Steven Rice. Lindros&rsquo; name only appears on the back of the card.Of the 21 players included in the subset (not counting Lindros), It have been drafted by NHL teams. Al five others are expected to be selected in June.One other non-NHLer attracting collector interest is Soviet national team left winger Pavel Bure. The Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; draft pick (113th overall in 1989) is pictured: wearing the jersey of the Soviet national junior team at the 1991 World Junior Championships in Saskatoon. He likely won&rsquo;t be in the NHL until at least after the 1992 Olympics, but he is expected to be an impact player when he does.Other special cards honor Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 2,000th point and Brett Hull&rsquo;s feat of scoring 50 goals in 50 games. Both Gretzky and Hull are also included in the 20-card All-Star Game subset. The six winners of each of the skills competitions is also honored with a card.The 15 top rookies in the set are referred to as &ldquo;Young Guns.&rdquo; They include Holik, Sergei Fedorov and Ken Hodge Jr. The checklist card has a photo of Fedorov and Detroit teammate Johan Garpenlov on the front. Judging by this subset, the future of the Calgary Flames is quite bright. Three of the 15 players&mdash;Tim Sweeney, Robert Reichel and Stephane Matteau&mdash;play their home games in the Saddledome.The NHL heroes subset is 14 cards of retired players who appeared in the Heroes of Hockey game the day before the All-Star Game in Chicago. Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke and Denis Potvin are among those in the subset.The rest of the set includes other rookies, players missed in the first set and traded players in new uniforms. Like the other card companies, Upper Deck got burned by the NHL trading deadline. But with the later release date of the High Number Series, just five players are shown in what is now an outdated uniform.Overall, the Upper Deck High Number Series is an excellent set for the collector and investor alike. The outstanding group of young players will make this a popular set for years to come. If players such as Lindros, Bure and Falloon live up to expectations, this could very well become the most sought-after set of the season. &#9632;

NO MISTAKEN IDENTITY WITH THIS CARD SET

<div class="byline">BY RAND SIMON</div>Trying to provide fans with the ultimate baseball experience is the goal of the inaugural Coca-Cola All-Star Fanfest. It should also be quite an experience for collectors of baseball memorabilia.Fanfest will be held July 5 to 9 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, a slapshot away from Skydome, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Madison Square Garden Event Productions, a new division of Madison Square Garden, is responsible for producing the show in conjunction with Major League Baseball and the Blue Jays.The five-day show will run from 1 a.m. to 10 p.m., except for July 9 when the show ends at 4 p.m. That night, for the first time ever, the Major League Baseball All-Star Garne will be played in Toronto.Tickets are being sold on a timed entry basis, in an effort to keep crowds at any one time to an accept able level. Once a fan is present at the 140,000 square foot area, he or she can stay as long as he or she wishesFanfest has identified 19 different attractions for the show. For collectors, the ones which provide the most interest will be the IBM Cooperstown Hall of Fame, Victory Productions Collectors Comer and the Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball.The Hall of Fame exhibit will be the largest ever displayed outside Cooperstown. Fanfest honorary chairman Ferguson Jenkins recently became the first Canadian-born player to be inducted into the Hall.A Babe Ruth display, featuring a Yankee locker from the slugger&rsquo;s en along with one of his bats and uniforms, is the focal point of the more than 100 artifacts making the tour The rest of the exhibit is comprised of glass-enclosed cases which include artifacts spanning five eras. The case; include the equipment and uniform of several Hall of Famers and current players as well as press clippings and photos from each time period.Collectors Corner will feature a large and comprehensive collection of cards and memorabilia for collectors to buy, sell and trade. The sponsor. Victory Productions, is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Pro Set cards.Collectors will have 81 dealer tables to visit, with dealers coming from Canada and the United States. The tables will be split on two levels&mdash;Line Drive Hallway and Grand Slam Hallway.While baseball cards and memorabilia will be prominent, collectibles from all sports can be bought from dealers. Originally, dealers were going to be required to display two-thirds baseball at their tables but now their only requirement is that dealers display some baseball.The Heroes of Baseball exhibit will give fans a chance to meet and get autographs from retired major leaguers. All autographs will be free with the $12 admission charge. Admission is $8 for children 14 and under and those 65 and older.At press time Upper Deck was unable to confirm who would be signing autographs, but a company spokesperson did say Upper Deck was trying to get as many Hall of Famers as possible. Many of those players will be appearing in the Upper Deck sponsored Heroes of Baseball game being held the day before the All-Star Game. Upper Deck will also have a booth in Collectors Comer to provide fans with information about the company. &#9632;

FANFEST A FEAST FOR BUFFS AND COLLECTORS

<div class="byline">BY RAND SIMON</div>Don&rsquo;t go to the Hockey Hall of Fame&rsquo;s Collectors World memorabilia show this August expecting to buy a Gordie Howesigned stick or the sweater Wayne Gretzky was wearing when he passed Howe as the all-time leading scorer.Yes, the Hall will be selling some of its artifacts in preparation for its move to downtown Toronto, but nothing like a Howe stick or a Gretzky sweater.The Hall will sell some of its duplicate artifacts, but only those which the Hall has collected itself. Nothing donated to the Hall, which makes up the bulk of the items, will be sold.&ldquo;We have a concern about the public perception that we&rsquo;re selling off donated artifacts, and that is not the case,&rdquo; said the Hall&rsquo;s director of finance and administration Jeff Denomme. &ldquo;The things we sell are going to be materials we&rsquo;ve collected on our own accord.&rdquo;That means items such as duplicate photos, media guides, programs and cards will be the most prominent collectibles the Hall is selling during the 20-day event at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto Aug. 14 to Sept. 2. Card manufacturer Pro Set and The Hockey News Collectors World are sponsoring the show.Denomme said the Hall is working with Pro Set and player agent Rick Curran to try to get as many as 30 NHL players to appear at the show and sign autographs.Admission to the show and all autographs will be included in the price of a ticket to attend the CNE.Says Pro Set VP of marketing Victor Shaffer: &ldquo;The reason we&rsquo;re there is because we&rsquo;re trying to align ourselves with all the major events that are important to the game of hockey. We think this is one of them.&rdquo;The Dallas, Tex. based company has sponsored several U.S. shows this season, but this will mark their first appearance at a Canadian exhibition. And after their successful debut in the hockey market this year they&rsquo;re looking forward to it.&ldquo;When people think about the NHL we want them to think about NHL Pro Set,&rdquo; Shaffer said. &ldquo;Football was our first product and it remains a big part of what we do. But we&rsquo;ve established ourselves in the hockey world pretty quickly. We sold more cards in our first year in hockey than we did our first year in football. Hockey will continue to grow in the &rsquo;90s and we are doing everything we can to establish ourselves as THE hockey card company.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-012020/10216149-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="611" height="909"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Roy may attend the Hockey Hall of Fame card show.</figcaption></div>Pro Set will offer collectors free samples at the show, but Shaffer wouldn&rsquo;t specify what products would be handed out. The company is also trying to sign several &ldquo;high profile players&rdquo; for the show. Montreal goaltender Patrick Roy, an avid card collector in his own right, will likely attend, Shaffer says.Dealer Ken Cameron of Newmarket, Ont. based The Great Canadian Card Company says the show is one of the highlights of the summer for small card dealers. An estimated 175,000 collectors will attend.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re really looking forward to it,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no amount of advertising anywhere that can do what this ultimately will. Being at the Ex at that time of year, it&rsquo;s like Canada&rsquo;s biggest party.&rdquo;Only 20 dealer tables are available at the show and only a few tables remain. For more information on getting a dealer table, contact Phil Pritchard at the Hall at 416-495-1345. &#9632;

f0015-01

DUPLICATES TO BE SOLD AT HALL OF FAME SHOW

<div class="byline">BY RAND SIMON</div>That the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup was probably no surprise to card collectors. The rookie card values of the Penguin players overwhelms those of the North Star players by a margin nearly as great as Pittsburgh&rsquo;s 8-0 win in the clinching game.If you add up the rookie card values of the Penguin players, you get a little more than $250. The North Stars&rsquo; total is only a little more than $25. In fact, three Penguins&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey and Bryan Trottier have a rookie card more valuable than the entire North Stars&rsquo; team.The surprising Stanley Cup final appearances of the North Stars and Penguins had card collectors searching through their collections to find rookie cards of players on the two conference champions. Veteran collectors know there&rsquo;s nothing like a Stanley Cup appearance to give a card a little boost in the price guides.With that in mind, we present a checklist of rookie cards for all North Stars and Penguins who played at least one playoff game this season. Except where andicated, card values are for regularly-issued O-Pee-Chee cards. If a player doesn&rsquo;t have an O-Pee-Chee card, the Pro Set card number and value is most frequently used instead as Pro Set card values for 1990-91 are closest to O-Pee-Chee values.<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Jon Casey, G, 1989-90, No. 48, $1.Brian Hayward, G; 1985-86, No. 226, $1.50.Shawn Chambers, D, 1989-90, No. 142, $0.15.Chris Dahlquist, D, 1990-91, No. 528, $0.20.Curt Giles, D, 1982-83, No. 166, $0.10.Brian Glynn, D, No NHL card.Jim Johnson, D, 1990-91 Score, No. 202, $0.06.Mark Tinordi, D, 1990-91 Pro Set, No. 145, $0.10.Neil Wilkinson, D, 1990-91, No. 443, $0.10.Neal Broten, C, 1982-83, No. 164, $1.50.Marc Bureau, C, 1990-91 Score, No. 423, $0.10.Dave Gagner, C, 1988-89, No. $1.50.Bobby Smith, C, 1979-80, No. 206, $5.Brian Bellows, LW, 1983-84, No. 167, $6.Gaetan Duchesne, LW, 1988-89, No. 208, $0.20.Basil McRae, LW, 1989-90, No. $0.10.Brian Propp, LW, 1980-81, No. 39, $4.50.Doug Smail, LW, 1982-83, No. 388, $0.25.Shane Churla, RW, 1990-91 Pro Set, No. 135, $0.10.Mike Craig, RW, 1990-91 Pro Set, No. 613, $0.15.Ulf Dahlen, RW, 1988-89, No. 47, $0.25.Stewart Gavin, RW, 1983-84, No. 331, $0.10.Mike Modano, RW, 1990-91, No 348. $0.75.<h2>PENGUINS</h2>Tom Barrasso, G, 1984-85, No. 18, $1.50.Frank Pietrangelo, G, 1990-91 Pro Set, No. 509, $0.15.Paul Coffey, D, 1981-82, No. Ill, $75.Randy Hillier, D, 1985-86, No. 212, $0.10.Grant Jennings, D, 1990-91, No. 510, $0.10.Larry Murphy, D, 1981-82, No. 148, $0.75.Jim Paek, D, No NHL card. Gordie Roberts, D, 1979-80, No. 265, $0.35.Ulf Samuelsson, D, 1987-88, No. 23, $0.25.Paul Stanton, D, 1990-91 Pro Set, No. 633, $0.10.Peter Taglianetti, D, 1988-89, No. 257, $0.15.Ron Francis, C, 1982-83, No. 123, $12.Randy Gilhen, C, 1990-91, No. 250, $0.10.Jiri Hrdina, C, 1990-91, No. 234, $0.15.Mario Lemieux, C, 1985-86, No. 9, $110.Bryan Trottier, C, 1976-77, No. 115, $40.Phil Bourque, LW, 1989-90, No. 19, $0.50.Bob Errey, LW, 1989-90, No. 50, $0.15.Troy Loney, LW, 1990-91, No. 347, $0.10.Kevin Stevens, LW, 1990-91, No 360, $1.Jaromir Jagr, RW, 1990-91 Pro Set, No. 632, $2.Joe Mullen, RW, 1982-83, No 307, $6.Mark Recchi, RW, 1990-91, No 280, $2.Scott Young, RW, 1989-90, No. 209, $0.25. &#9632;

NO SURPRISE TO COLLECTORS PENGUINS WON CUP

The big news in this edition of The Hockey News Collectors World Power Play/Penalty Box listing is the new arrivals. Both Upper Deck French edition and the Canadian Home Shopping Club (CHSC) are basically hype-driven products.In the case of Upper Deck French edition, the hype does not originate with the company. It has, if anything, played down the miniscule print run of both the regular series and the virtually non-existent High Number French runs. There has been reported sales of over $8,000 (U.S.) for a 24-box foil case of High Number French. Curiously, Upper Deck limited the print run on this product because it perceived a unilingual French edition would create little or no demand in the U.S. market.The big question is, Who are the end users? Are there collectors who will pay $20 or more for a pack where the only distinguishing feature is that they are (in the case of the U.S.-) in a foreign tongue? This product is quickly becoming a hype-driven, dealer-only item. In the same vein, Upper Deck High Number English is still hot, hard to get and a definite keeper.Topping the Power Play is another hot, low production issue from O-Pee-Chee. Premier has not slowed despite a surprise, late-issue factory set.Following Premier are the Dynamic Duo from the St. Louis Blues, Adam Oates and Brett Hull. It&rsquo;s the first time this season Oates has passed Hull on the list.Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury have managed to bump Wayne Gretzky out of the top five for the first time this season. This is consistent with a general trend away from big-ticket items. That helps explain the exit of Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe as well. This is a seasonal phenomenon in card collecting attributed to a belief that big-ticket item buyers are well-seasoned collectors who know there will be very little movement on big cards between June and September, so why buy now?Jeremy Roenick and Sergei Fedorov are joined by the main man from the Cinderella North Stars, Brian Bellows. Bellows has toiled in relative obscurity until lately but showed enough in Minnesota&rsquo;s unsuccessful Cup drive to gain some new fans.Last, but not least, welcome back Super Mario. Lemieux gained more than an MVP award this May, he also became a champion.. Now, from the pinnacle to the pits. The CHSC may be No. 12 on the Penalty Box list now, but you can expect a lot of movement if recent complaints and feedback are any indication. Using a smattering of knowledge about cards, the hype hucksters on the CHSC sell very ordinary card collecting items at grossly inflated prices. The buyers are usually new or potential collectors who quickly find out after a trip to a legitimate dealer or a chat with a card collecting friend that they have paid well above the going rate. Not a very good introduction to the hobby.As for the rest of the list, Jari Kurri may be spending his final time as No. 1 on the Penalty Box.Now that he&rsquo;s set to rejoin Gretzky as a member of the Kings, Kurri will likely regain collector interest. If Kurri returns to the NHL and displays the kind of form he did before leaving for Italy, we may find him on the other list on this page early next season.Since Kurri left the NHL before the big hockey card boom, his cards never rose much on the price lists. He appears to be a great investment at this time.Following Kurri are his Penalty Box companions, Philadelphia goaltender Ron Hextall, Toronto right winger Gary Leeman and Montreal center Denis Savard. All three have spent most of the season in the Box. All three are also past stars who still aren&rsquo;t too old to be washed up.Some recent bottom-feeding on Jimmy Carson cards are a result of low prices and the hope that Carson and Detroit are parting company. With Fedorov and Steve Yzerman holding down the top two center spots, look for Carson to change teams this summer.Pierre Turgeon, Bernie Nicholls and Larry Robinson cards are still not moving. Only Turgeon is young enough to win back the hearts of card collectors.John Cullen and Mark Messier cards may be a smart, but risky, purchase this summer. Both are team leaders, 100-point men and will get tons of ice time next season. They could very easily find their way onto the Power Play with good early-season starts in October.Pro Set I will be a bargain-binner for some time yet. There&rsquo;s still tons of it out there and with all those errors, it&rsquo;s not likely to become a more sought-after commodity.<h2>POWER PLAY</h2>1. O-PEE-CHEE PREMIER (1)2. ADAM OATES (3)3. HULL (2)4. ERIC LINDROS (5)5. THEO FLEURY (6)6. WAYNE GRETZKY (4)7. UPPER DECK FRENCH (NR)8. JEREMY ROENICK (10)9. UPPER DECK HIGH (9)10. SERGEI FEDOROV (8)11. BRIAN BELLOWS (NR)12. MARIO LEMIEUX (NR)Number in parenthesis is last month&rsquo;s ranking.<h2>PENALTY BOX</h2>1. JARI KURRI (1)2. RON HEXTALL (3)3. GARY LEEMAN (4)4. DENIS SAVARD (5)5. PIERRE TURGEON (7)6. JIMMY CARSON (2)7. JOHN CULLEN (8)8. MARK MESSIER (11)9. BERNIE NICHOLLS (10)10. LARRY ROBINSON (6)11. PRO SET I (12)12. CHSC (NR)Number in parenthesis is last month&rsquo;s ranking. &#9632;

HYPE-DRIVEN PRODUCTS MAKE THEIR MARK

<div class="byline">BY ADAM TEICHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011391/10216287-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div>Hobbies for professional athletes can be dangerous. Look where football, for example, got Bo Jackson.George Brett&rsquo;s hobby is not as hazardous as that of Jackson, his former Kansas City Royals&rsquo; teammate. All Brett has to do to indulge is flip on his fax machine, take the Mercedes for a spin or hop on a jetliner.At any of those moments, Brett is transported to his sidelight as part-owner of the Western League and Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs. Among a nine-man ownership group, Brett and his brother Bobby hold the controlling interest.For Bobby, the active owner, it&rsquo;s a labor of love. He&rsquo;s the Chiefs&rsquo; governor, their hands-on guy.For George, it&rsquo;s just pure fun.&ldquo;I get to enjoy it while Bobby has to work at it,&rdquo; Brett said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t make any of the decisions, 1 don&rsquo;t have meetings with the Chamber of Commerce or the city or the county. I don&rsquo;t go to the governor&rsquo;s meeting. That&rsquo;s Bobby&rsquo;s job. I&rsquo;m just a guy who owns a portion of the team. I go in, shoot the bull with the kids, watch them play and then leave. That gives me a lot of pleasure.&rdquo;In a similar ownership deal a few years ago, the Brett brothers purchased Spokane&rsquo;s Class A Northwest League baseball Indians, another successful franchise. But Brett has a special affection for the Chiefs.The main reason is the Chiefs play much of their season during baseball&rsquo;s off-season. Brett has time to be a Chiefs&rsquo; fan.At his winter home in Palm Springs, Calif., Brett collects newspaper articles and stat sheets sent via the fax from the Chiefs&rsquo; office&rsquo;. He will ride around town in his car with the radio tuned to the Chiefs&rsquo; broadcast because he can&rsquo;t pull in the station from his radio at home. Occasionally, he&rsquo;ll even hop on a flight to Spokane to watch in person.He&rsquo;s also a season-ticket holder of the International League&rsquo;s Kansas City Blades, making it to Kemper Arena for about half of the games.A life-long hockey fan, right? Actually, Brett didn&rsquo;t play as a kid in the Los Angeles area. He became a fan of the sport after joining the Royals. He got hooked watching the NHL Scouts, who moved out of Kansas City to Denver after two unsuccessful seasons.But Brett didn&rsquo;t lose his hockey interest. When home for the winter, he attended Kings&rsquo; games in the preWayne Gretzky days.That was the extent of his involvement with the sport until last year, when the Bretts came across the opportunity to purchase the Chiefs.&ldquo;Because of the baseball team, we have a tremendous relationship with the city of Spokane,&rdquo; Brettsaid. &ldquo;We rescued the baseball program that was there, upgrading it to where fans started coming out. After Bobby looked at the (financial) numbers, he thought we could make it work. It was something we wanted to do for the city of Spokane.&rdquo;The Bretts&mdash;including Ken, a former major league pitcher and John&mdash;bought the team from Vic Fitzgerald last May. The Brett&rsquo;s business venture was-quite successful, if attendance figures are any indication. The Chiefs drew an average of 3,410 fans per game this past season, up from 2,572 in 1989-90.Brett attended a half-dozen or so Chiefs&rsquo; regular-season games. He then went to a Memorial Cup game in Quebec City while the Royals were in Toronto and Brett was disabled with tom knee ligaments.He also played hockey for the first time in a Spokane area senior league.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a helluva workout,&rdquo; said Brett, who found going up and down the wing a lot more invigorating than playing first base. &ldquo;I never realized that before. I used to say, &rsquo;Why do they have to change lines so often?&rsquo; I could never understand why guys could only skate two or three minutes at a time. After I was on the ice for two or three minutes, I was more than ready for a break.&rdquo;After taking off the skates, Brett would spend time with the Chiefs&rsquo; players, who were awestruck by their famous owner&rsquo;s presence.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an idol for a lot of them,&rdquo; general manager Tim Speltz said. &ldquo;They were all impressed that he has time to come and will spend it with them. It&rsquo;s a different sport, but they&rsquo;re all hoping they can someday reach the superstar status of George Brett. It&rsquo;s; a big thing to them.&rdquo;And it&rsquo;s a big thing for him.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an awful lot of fun to go to a game and sit there watching your team play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I was in Quebec City, they gave us a suite, they had a gal running the suite for us. We had passes to go anywhere we wanted and could go into the locker room any time we wanted.&ldquo;I was really nervous before the game. It was scarier than playing, because then you can control the outcome. When you own, you just sit there and hope your boys are prepared. It&rsquo;s a very helpless feeling.&rdquo;But it became a great feeling when the Chiefs won the Memorial Cup with a 5-1 win over Drummondville May 19. Just two days later, the Royals announced Brett had signed a two-year, $7-million contract.Brett, who turned 38 May 15, appears destined for the baseball Hall of Fame when his career comes to an end. While his knee injury will likely delay his assault on 3,000 hits until 1993 (he started the season with 2,707), he is recognized as one of the greatest hitters of all-time.George Brett was just like any other kid&mdash;he collected base-ball cards. And like many kids, most of his cards got thrown out over the years. That&rsquo;s where the similarities end. After all, how many kids wind up having a major league base-ball card of themselves? And. one worth about $200 to boot?&ldquo;I threw them out somewhere along the line,&rdquo; Brett said. &ldquo;Now I really wish I would have hung on to them instead of throwing them away.&rdquo;Brett&rsquo;s first card appearance came in the 1975 Topps series. Since then, more than 50 cards of Brett have been made by the major card companies. And, that doesn&rsquo;t count the countless extra all-star and leader cards that have also been made of him. Score honored Brett this year by including him in its seven-card bonus set called, &ldquo;Cooperstown Bound&rdquo; of players likely to make it to the Hall of Fame.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02903/10216280-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="576" height="812"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE BRETT</figcaption></div>If Score is right, and Brett does make it to Cooperstown, his cards will be even hotter than they are now.The Brett Topps Checklist: Topps: 1975 (No. 228), 1976 (No. 19), 1977 (No. 580), 1978 (No. 100), 1979 (No. 330), 1980 (No. 450), 1981 (No. 700), 1982 (No. 200), 1983 (No. 600), 1984 (No. 399), 1985 (No. 100), 1986 (No. 300), 1987 (No. 400), 1988 (No. 700), 1989 (No. 200), 1990 (No. 60), 1991 (No. 540), (Stadium Club No. 159). &#9632;

f0021-01

GEORGE BRETT

<div class="byline">BY ALAN ADAMS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011437/10216425-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div>Trevor Kidd can&rsquo;t possibly help whistling Me and My Shadow when he thinks of Felix Potvin. Kidd and Potvin are the two finest goalies to emerge from the Canadian Hockey League in some time and they have been playing their own cat-and-mouse game for the last season. It&rsquo;s a sign of things to come at the NHL level.The relationship between Kidd and Potvin goes back to last August when both attended an evaluation camp for Canada&rsquo;s national junior team. Both were invited to return to a pretournament training camp last December. And when it became obvious they had both made the team, they spent practices trying to outshine each other.The duo became inseparable. They were roommates. They joked. They shared goaltending secrets.Dick Todd, head coach of the national junior squad, says that given Kidd&rsquo;s experience as a backup to Stephane Fiset on Canada&rsquo;s world champion team in 1989, he was a shoo-in for the No. 1 netminding job. Mike Torchia, the Kitchener Rangers&rsquo; netminder, and Potvin competed for the backup post. Potvin was a clear winner.&ldquo;Felix had to win the job with his play and he did that,&rdquo; says Todd. &ldquo;He gave us lots of confidence in the event something happened to Trevor.&ldquo;It was interesting to see how their friendship developed. They recognized both had talent. Obviously by our picking them and having them go to the Memorial Cup and perform as they did, it verifies the fact we were able to get the two best and they proved themselves again at the end of the year by taking their teams to the Memorial Cup.&rdquo;After helping Canada win a second straight world junior title, Kidd was traded from the hapless Brandon Wheat Kings to the Spokane Chiefs. The St. Boniface, Man., native led the Chiefs to the Western League crown and the Memorial Cup in Quebec City.He bumped into Potvin again.Potvin arrived at the major junior hockey championship with impressive credentials&mdash;a CHL-leading 2.70 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage and a 33-15-4 record for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the Quebec League. The pair renewed their friendship and spent some time together, rekindling memories. It was the first time they had talked with each other since the global tournament.The night before the highly-anticipated battle between the former roommates, Potvin, bothered by a knee injury, hobbled up onstage to collect the trophy as the top goaltender in junior hockey for 1991.Guess who won it in 1990? Trevor Kidd.The game didn&rsquo;t live up to the publicity, as Spokane won 7-1 and went on to win the Memorial Cup with an unblemished 4-0 mark. Potvin, the victim of a fluke overtime goal against Drummondville in the semi-final, was named the tournament&rsquo;s top goalie and all-star netminder.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never considered who&rsquo;s the best,&rdquo; says Kidd, who went into the Memorial Cup with a microscopic 2.07 GAA in the playoffs with a 14-1 record. He won all three games he started in Quebec City. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t consider who&rsquo;s the best. We don&rsquo;t decide. I don&rsquo;t compete against him.&rdquo;Despite the blowout, an impression was left that the netminders will meet down the road. With Kidd playing for the Calgary Flames and Potvin for the Toronto Maple Leafs.Kidd was a first-round pick (11th overall) by Calgary and was a late cut at the Flames&rsquo; training camp last September. Potvin cried when he was passed over in the June 1989 draft but he erased his depression and frustrated opposing shooters the following season. Toronto took note and made him its second-round pick, 31st overall, last June.Besides their friendship, Kidd and Potvin share size and quickness. Kidd is 6-foot-2, 176 pounds. Potvin is an inch shorter and four pounds heavier. Both have great lateral movement, quick reflexes, intense concentration and lightning-quick catching gloves.They also have something else in common; they&rsquo;re heading to NHL clubs in need of goaltending aid.Goaltending hasn&rsquo;t been a strong suit for the Maple Leafs since the days of Mike Palmateer. Rookie Peter Ing held the No. 1 job last season and showed flashes of brilliance. Jeff Reese is an adequate backup but is expendable should Potvin shine in the minors.Maple Leaf general manager Floyd Smith is in no hurry to bring his top goaltending prospect along.&ldquo;He will not get the opportunity as a starter next year, that is for sure,&rdquo; says Smith. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to spend some time, learn the game, and he is well aware of this. He has said to me that when he comes to Toronto, he wants to stay. He does not want to come and go. We feel down the road, we will really be relying on him to help the Toronto Maple Leafs.&rdquo;Unlike the Leafs, the Flames are a strong team that offers its goalies some protection. While there are exceptions, rookie goalies on weak teams are more vulnerable because of the difference in play from the junior ranks. Improved power plays, the quickness of the shots, the deft touch of NHL snipers, they combine to test a young goalie&rsquo;s mental toughness.&ldquo;He (Kidd) is a very poised person,&rdquo; says Flames&rsquo; assistant coach Guy Charron, who coached the gold-medal winning team two years ago in Finland. Kidd was the backup goalie. &ldquo;He felt fortunate that he was there. He knew the opportunity for him to play would be minimal but he hung in there and he worked hard. His work ethics were very good. He would do a few things in practice that allowed us to think that he played very well. He gave us the confidence that if ever Stephane (Fiset) was injured, we were not too concerned about playing Trevor.&rdquo;Kidd, however, may have a red Maple Leaf on his chest before he dons a Flames&rsquo; uniform. Dave King&rsquo;s Olympic team has expressed an interest in adding Kidd to the roster for the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France.But wherever Kidd and Potvin play next season, they appear destined to meet again sometime down the road.With several players now getting rookie NHL cards well in advance of their NHL debuts, it pays for collectors to know who are the potential future stars of the NHL.Trevor Kidd and Felix Potvin are generally acknowledged as being the junior goaltenders with the best future. While investing in goaltenders&rsquo; cards is risky because of the inconsistent nature of the position, Kidd and Potvin appear to be the closest thing to a sure bet.Kidd made his NHL rookie card debut in the Score issue. Since no other company made cards of players drafted below the No. 10 spot&mdash;he was picked 11th&mdash;Kidd&rsquo;s first card is the Score card.Potvin&rsquo;s rookie card appears in the Upper Deck High Number series which also includes Kidd as part of the Canadian national junior team subset. Both Potvin&rsquo;s and Kidd&rsquo;s card will benefit from the relatively low production numbers of the Upper Deck High Numbers.Both Potvin and Kidd appear in two junior card sets made by 7th Inning Sketch.The Kidd Checklist: Score: No. 438; Upper Deck: No. 463; Seventh Inning Sketch: No. 226 (WHL), No. 74 (Memorial Cup).The Potvin Checklist: Upper Deck: No. 458; Seventh Inning Sketch: No. 35 (QMJHL), No. 26 (Memorial Cup). &#9632;

f0027-01

FELIX AND THE KIDD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011545/10216526-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div>The Hockey News Collectors World Price Guide is an attempt to accurately reflect the purchase prices of hockey cards. Remember, the Guide is just that. You may not find these cards at exactly the price listed. Our prices are the average of what the cards sell for across Canada and the United States. All prices are in Canadian funds. As of June 1, the Canadian dollar was worth 87 cents U.S. Card prices will vary depending on geographic region. For example, you will likely pay more for a Mario Lemieux card in Pittsburgh than you will in Minnesota. Hometown players command a premium in virtually all cases.Prices in the Guide are for mint condition cards unless otherwise indicated. As we did for the first time in the last issue of Collectors World, we present our listings with indicators to show whether the card or set has gone up or down in price since last issue. A + sign indicates a price increase; a &mdash; means a decline in price. As always, we present all cards made by Parkhurst, Topps, O-Pee-Chee, Bowman, Pro Set, Score and Upper Deck from 1951-52 to 1990-91. The WHA sets, left out of last issue, are included. Please see pages 18 to 20 for price listings of some non-card collectibles.<h2>ABBREVIATIONS</h2>AS: All-starCOR: Correct variationERR: Error variationFAS: First team all-star(FCA): First card appearanceFRD: First-round draft pickGWG: Game-winning goalsHL: HighlightsHOF: Hall of FamerHT: Hat trickIA: In actionMVP: Most valuable playerRB: Record breaker(RC): Rookie cardROY: Rookie of the yearSAS: Second team all-starSHG: Short-handed goalsTL: Team leader cardTR: TrophyUSO: United States Olympic team<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011557/10216519-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="6864" height="4084"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011533/10216512-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="6950" height="4096"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011557/10216505-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="7200" height="4102"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011458/10216498-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="6970" height="4042"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011413/10216491-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="6930" height="4044"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-011011/10216484-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="7048" height="4070"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01941/10216477-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="7044" height="4094"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01821/10216470-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="6950" height="4090"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01734/10216463-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="2783" height="4047"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02490/10216456-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="641" height="629"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

WHA SETS BACK IN PRICE GUIDE

The 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee series includes a card of Dale McCourt in a Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; uniform, a team he never played for. The 198081 O-Pee-Chee series has a card of Doug Risebrough which is clearly Serge Savard. Are these cards valuable collectors&rsquo; items?Paul FooteSt. John&rsquo;s, Nfld.Since both cards are uncorrected errors, the are not particularity valuable. Both cards are considered commons and worth no more than a quarter in near-mint condition. McCourt&rsquo;s photo was airbrushed to put him in a Kings&rsquo; uniform because he was awarded to Los Angeles as compensation for Detroit&rsquo;s signing of free agent Marcel Dionne. However, McCourt refused to go to L.A., and different compensation was worked out for the Dionne signing.I have had for some time The Hockey Album published in 1948. How accurate is the album&rsquo;s statement that: &ldquo;to the best of our knowledge, the first all-photo book of hockey to be published.&rdquo;? Also, is the photo of Gordie Howe in the book the same photo as the one that appears on his 1951-52 Parkhurst card? Was Turofsky, who took the photos in the album, the photographer for the &rsquo;51r52 Parkhurst set?Barry GodwinEdmonton, Alta.We&rsquo;d like to help you with your questions, but we don&rsquo;t know all the answers. We can tell you that the photo of Howe appears to be the same one as the one in the Turofsky book, but the pose is so common, we can&rsquo;t say definitively one way or the other. The book does appear to be the first of its kind. We also believe Turofsky took at least some of the photos in the &rsquo;51-52 Parkhurst set. Anyone with more information, please drop us a line.How much is the 40-card Score Young Superstars set worth?Rob NizzariBrooklyn, N.Y.Originally, the set was available from Score for $5. But now that Score has sold out the set, it is selling in most stores for between $ 15 and $20.I have a booklet called Hockey Tips from the Stars that includes a series of pictures called Hockey Stars in Action. These pictures and book were issued by the Toronto Star in 1964. Do these have any value as a collectible?Ken WanamakerCodette, Sask.Values for these items are currently being determined by our Price Guide analysts. It appears the set contains 42 photos from the Original Six teams. A future issue of THN Collectors World will list these photos.In Pro Set Series II, card No. 668 shows Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; he has coached the Flyers, Canucks and was an assistant with the Oilers. How is that possible? This is the first year he has coached in the NHL. How much might this card be worth?Kevin LalondeMonkland, Ont.The backs of Bob Gainey&rsquo;s and Bob McCammon&rsquo;s cards were switched by Pro Set. Neither card is considered to be any more than a common, at least as long as Pro Set doesn&rsquo;t correct the error. Common coach cards are listed at six cents in the Price Guide.I collected the Lipper Deck set this year and was surprised to see there was no Sergei Fedorov card. When Upper Deck does make his card, will it be a rookie card?Eric FetscherPoughkeepsie, N.Y.Upper Deck made a Fedorov card in its High Number Series. According to our rookie card definition, since it came out in the same year as his first card, it is a rookie card. The card lists in our Price Guide at $7.What would the March 22, 1972 Canadian Magazine article on Wayne Gretzky be worth? How about the 1983 Gretzky hockey dollar issued by the Oilers?Joe FadaTroy, Mich.Both would only have much value to a collector of Gretzky memorabilia. To a collector who wanted to have anything produced to do with Gretzky, they could be valuable items. But most collectors would probably have little interest in those items.I would like to know why all the errors in Pro Set Series I decreased in price but the Joe Nieuwendyk error card is still quite expensive. Kristopher Skworchinski Marathon, Ont.Of all the corrected errors, the Nieuwendyk error card appears to be the most difficult one to find. Thus, it still lists in the Price Guide at $5.I have an Upper Deck card of Ed Belfour that features a photo of his teammate, Jacques Cloutier. Is this card worth more than the corrected card?Michael RamiscalWinnipeg, Man.The card you have does show a photo of Belfour, not Cloutier. The photo comes from the 1988-89 season, when Belfour wore No. 31, not No. 30 as he does now.In each issue of Collectors World. we&rsquo;ll answer your questions about hockey cards and memorabilia. We &rsquo;ll only be able to print responses for questions which appear in the magazine. Send all inquiries to:Collectors WorldAttention: Rand Simon85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2 &#9632;

SOLVING MYSTERY OF KING McCOURT

Just because The Hockey News Collectors World is taking a few months off for the summer doesn&rsquo;t mean you should, too.We won&rsquo;t be publishing again until September but if you&rsquo;re a hockey card collector, there are a few things you should be doing this summer to build on your collection.A guaranteed investment would be to go out and buy a case of Upper Deck High Number French cards. The value of those cases has gone up more than tenfold in the past two months. But since most of you don&rsquo;t have an extra $10,000 lying around (and even if you did, wouldn&rsquo;t you rather spend it on something a little more important like your mortgage or education?) here are some other suggestions for summertime buys.&#8902; Bowman cards. Yes, I know it&rsquo;s the one set you vowed never to collect, but it really isn&rsquo;t that bad. Most important, it may be the only Bowman hockey set ever. Topps, the issuer of Bowman, plans to make a higher-quality set next season named Stadium Club. Stadium Club baseball cards make their debut this summer and if all goes well, hockey will follow in the fall. Twenty years from now, you may regret it if you don&rsquo;t have the only Bowman hockey issue ever made.&#8902; San Jose Sharks. Why wait until the fall to collect cards of the NHL&rsquo;s newest team? Next time you&rsquo;re at a show or store, buy as many rookie cards as possible of the original Sharks. By my count, only eight of them already have an NHL card. But including Tim Kerr and Greg Paslawski, you can get 10 altogether. Sure this subset will never be worth much, but it would be a fun thing to have and a great thing to look at in 15 years when San Jose beats Ottawa for the Stanley Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012323/10216605-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="610" height="881"><figcaption class="caption-body">RAND SIMON</figcaption></div>&#8902; Sets from the 1970s. This past season, once collectors bought all the new cards they wanted, many of them started to work their way back to older sets. We saw incredible jumps in several sets from the &rsquo;80s and in some of the first modem era hockey sets from the &rsquo;50s and &rsquo;60s. But, for some reason, a lot of the sets from the &rsquo;70s didn&rsquo;t move much on the price lists. A set from 1978-79, Mike Bossy&rsquo;s rookie year, will cost you about the same as a set of this year&rsquo;s O-Pee-Chee Premier. 1 think it&rsquo;s only a matter of time before such sets climb in price. Since hockey card values don&rsquo;t change much over the summer, now&rsquo;s the time to buy.&#8902; Mario Lemieux. Now that Lemieux has led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup, his rookie card is sure to top the $200 mark by early next season. His cards have already started to go up in value, but just wait until he leads Canada to victory at the Canada Cup and watch his card rise even higher. If there is one card sure to go up quickly this summer, it&rsquo;s Lemieux&rsquo;s.As promised a few months ago in this space, here are the grades for each second series of cards this season.Upper Deck High Numbers: Its late release is the only disappointment. Player selection is good, photos great and quality of cards unsurpassed. Including the Canadian national junior team is a great idea. A&mdash;Score Rookie and Traded: There is nothing wrong with this set; it just isn&rsquo;t very exciting. Player and photo selection is good and the comments on the backs are by far the best in the hobby. A couple of surprises in next season&rsquo;s Rookie and Traded set would be nice. BO-Pee-Chee Premier: Just because everybody wants Premier doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s the best set. It still bothers me that Ed Belfour and Ken Hodge Jr., are not included. The cards are very attractive and there&rsquo;s no doubt O-Pee-Chee has a winner with Premier. BPro Set Series II: Everything about this set is better than Series 1, but there is still a long way for Pro Set to go. It is encouraging to see fewer errors and fewer blurry photos. It is less encouraging to see too many poorly-cropped photos and glaring mistakes. I&rsquo;ve seen the promo cards for next season and Pro Set is headed in the right direction. C &#9632;

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RANDOM THOUGHTS

O-Pee-Chee&rsquo;s 22-card insert set of the Central Red Army was the talk of the hobby at the beginning of this past season when Sergei Fedorov made an immediate impact with the Detroit Red Wings. Now another player from that card series may be ready to make a similar impact.Left winger Valeri Kamensky is reportedly close to signing a deal with the team that drafted him in the seventh round in 1988, the Quebec Nordiques. Long considered one of the best in the world at his position, Kamensky, 25, sure would look good skating alongside Joe Sakic or maybe even Eric Lindros.The Nordiques were dreadful on the left side in 1990-91. Mike Hough, who played most of the season with Sakic and Mats Sundin, led Quebec left wingers with 13 goals and 33 points&mdash;totals Kamensky would have no trouble surpassing if he joins the Nordiques.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021967/10216636-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="538" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body">VALERI KAMENSKY J</figcaption></div>There have been several twists and turns in the Nordiques&rsquo; efforts to sign Kamensky. First, Soviet goaltender Sergei Mylnikov, who played 10 games for the Nordiques in 1989-90, told Kamensky Quebec wasn&rsquo;t a good place to play. But last season the Nordiques signed defenseman Alexei Gusarov who reportedly told Kamensky great things about Quebec. There&rsquo;s also the matter of Kamensky&rsquo;s three-year-odd son who suffers from asthma. At first, Kamensky was advised the Quebec climate would not be good for his son. But now he has received assurances from doctors that his son would be fine in Quebec.So now it appears to be strictly a matter of money.Since Kamensky&rsquo;s agent, Michael Bamett, would like to see Kamensky in the NHL, the Nordiques probably wouldn&rsquo;t have to come up with $1 million. But if they offer Kamensky something close and he plays in Quebec next season, card collectors will be scrambling for card No. 4 in the O-Pee-Chee Red Army subset. &#9632;

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TIP OF THE MONTH

Just a few lines to say I&rsquo;ve been enjoying THN Collectors World since the first issue and I think you&rsquo;re doing a great job informing collectors about our fascinating hobby.The Reader Poll was an excellent idea and I must take this opportunity to ask is there any card that better epitomizes this past season than the Brett Hull Score card? It&rsquo;s a beauty that will stand the test of time.As for a suggestion, I don&rsquo;t think any company has yet come up with the ultimate card. That would be a card with excellent photography like Upper Deck, but with the statistical information of O-Pee-Chee. Hockey fans should be able to turn over a card and see a player&rsquo;s career record season by season. This would help determine a player&rsquo;s investment potential and in making us collectors more knowledgeable.I owe much of my knowledge of hockey to collecting O-Pee-Chee cards for the past 20 years.Scott CoatesSherbrooke, Que.<h2>LOWBALL</h2>Upper Deck, how could you shoot such a cheap shot to people who collect hockey cards?The foil packs of Upper Deck High Number cards have eight Low Number cards and only four High Number cards in them. You should receive a gross misconduct or a 50-game suspension for such tactics.I will no longer buy Upper Deck hockey cards. Things must be very tough for Upper Deck to stoop to this marketing ploy.Dennis SeguinWindsor, Ont.<h2>GET EVEN</h2>Thank you so much for your article in Vol. 1, No. 6 of THN Collectors World called, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Get Mad, Get Even.&rdquo;Until now, I never imagined the manufacturer would replace factory defected cards. I am writing to find out the address of O-Pee-Chee because I received pin pricks in all six Sergei Fedorov cards that I got and would very much like mint ones.Noam AshWinlaw, B.C.(You can reach O-Pee-Chee at PO Box 6306, London, Ont., N5W 5S1.)<h2>HOW IRONIC</h2>Ironies of all ironies! In a year when we found faces, numbers and statistics wrong on assorted cards in all sets, the card shown representing Pro Set in your Reader Poll for best set was an error card.How can a company expect to compete when the first card off the line is Ray &ldquo;Borque"? Better luck next year boys.Brock JacksonWest Vancouver, B.C.<h2>PRO SET FAN</h2>I recently bought some packages of&rsquo; Pro Set Series II hockey cards and I was very impressed. I also like to collect Score, Topps, Bowman and O-Pee-Chee, but none of those companies have cards of coaches and officials.Speaking of officials, I suggest Pro Set print cards of all officials next year. I&rsquo;m not a big fan of NHL officials, but it would&rsquo;ve been better if they were all included.Jim BittnerLibrary, Penn.<h2>PLUS-MINUS</h2>I would like to congratulate you on the great success and popularity of THN Collectors World. It&rsquo;s great to have a Canadian publication with Canadian prices and some inside information on a hobby that many people have loved for years.But, every month when the next issue comes out, I go get my older cards and check to see if their value has changed. So, what I&rsquo;m suggesting is, if a player&rsquo;s card increases or decreases in value, use some indicator to show that.Steve DaSilvaMississauga, Ont.(Ed. note&mdash;Starting with last month&rsquo;s issue, we&rsquo;ve included a + sign to indicate a rising price and a &mdash; sign to indicate a declining price.)<h2>MINI-CARD COMBO.</h2>I got a copy of THN Collectors World at a card show and I&rsquo;m very impressed with all the interesting articles, facts on hockey cards and especially the price guide.While reading about the 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee mini-cards, you mentioned needing a photocopy of some combinations of players. The combination you wanted to know is: Mahovlich, Hillman, Vadnais and Gamble. I have some cards in original form and have enclosed photocopies of them. Hope this helps you.George LoveWalton, Ont. &#9632;

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