70's OPC question

[Hank]

Hi--I recently joined the forum as I live in Florida and am having trouble finding info on vintage OPC Hockey cards. I've been trying to put together a Darryl Sittler collection and am troubled by two things:

1. Centering--I was annoyed to pay something of a premium for what was described as a NM 1974 OPC only to find that the centering was not that great. However, I'm finding that this entire set had these issues? How hard is it to find well-centered 1974 OPC cards?

2. Edges--is it normal for them to be so rough? I also have a '78 OPC that would seem to be NM-MINT except for the fact that there are spots along the edges that more closely resemble a hand-cut card from the back of a Twinkie box.

I've bought a couple of PSA 9 Sittlers that look great in the PSA holders, and I'm just not as impressed by some of the raw cards I've picked up--but I don't know what to realistically expect from these cards. I live in Florida, so the odds of finding any 1970’s OPC hockey cards anyplace besides the internet are, well, remote.

[RGM81]

Can't help you out too much with #1, but with regards to #2 the old OPC cards were cut with wire cutters, so after a time they would wear down and you'd get some pretty jagged edges as a result. The cards sliced earlier in the batch would have sharp edges but as the blades got more and more dull, quality suffered.

[TeamChevelle]

It is real tough to find cards centered from that era....they do exist but the graded cards are your best bet unless you see a scan.

[CoolHandLuke]

It is real tough to find cards centered from that era....they do exist but the graded cards are your best bet unless you see a scan.

What he said is true. Remember that they were selling cheep and was 10 cents a pack with 8 cards in the pack. So only a little over a penny a card. For many, the gum was the trill and cards just a bonus. Also the machine and technique were far from what we have today. It was hard to keep machine rolling and not have part of the adjustment go loose. So the centering aways was a issue. O-Pee-Chee was selling in Canada and I remember some were really awful.

Take a look at the image we have as generic images for this set and you will see not only the percentage is off but they are not always straigth...

The best 1971 Dryden rookie I saw was a PSA 8, I did see a 10 but the card when the SCF member got the card, he realize the card was cut to make the grade and believe it was a KSA 10. I still don't understand how they miss that but the member got his money back from the seller that accepted the card back...

So yes they are rare and glad I have my Dryden RC PSA 8 since not too many exist.

https://www.sportscardforum.com/scf/i...id/0/sort/name

[HOCKEY68]

Hi--I recently joined the forum as I live in Florida and am having trouble finding info on vintage OPC Hockey cards. I've been trying to put together a Darryl Sittler collection and am troubled by two things:

1. Centering--I was annoyed to pay something of a premium for what was described as a NM 1974 OPC only to find that the centering was not that great. However, I'm finding that this entire set had these issues? How hard is it to find well-centered 1974 OPC cards?

2. Edges--is it normal for them to be so rough? I also have a '78 OPC that would seem to be NM-MINT except for the fact that there are spots along the edges that more closely resemble a hand-cut card from the back of a Twinkie box.

I've bought a couple of PSA 9 Sittlers that look great in the PSA holders, and I'm just not as impressed by some of the raw cards I've picked up--but I don't know what to realistically expect from these cards. I live in Florida, so the odds of finding any 1970’s OPC hockey cards anyplace besides the internet are, well, remote.

Centering was very poor on those cards,i don't think i have 1 that is centered good.
As for the rough edges,that was the norm,some did turn out well but most were not.

[centrehice]

The real unfortunate thing about many late 70's and 80's OPC ???

There were many wonderful cards printed that appear on surface to be creased, but they really aren't. OPC printings often times has surface printing wrinkles on the cards. I have a couple of Dale Hawerchuk Rookies and I have a Marcel Dionne Rookie that have this slight flaw.

A crease is a true crease, through the card, identical front to back like a perfect Turkish or Iranian silk carpet, not a surface wrinkle.

I wish new card traders informed themselves more regarding the older OPC and Topps and what their short-comings are rather than writing them off as a damaged card.

It has been said that you will never find a Beckett Graded Perfect Gretzky OPC RC 10.0 on all 4 grading quadrants because of the OPC Wire Cut alone.

Perhaps there is one that is not fuzzy out there buried deep within an unopened box somewhere. It will sell for over 100K if ever found.

[Hank]

I appreciate this--I'm trying to get info on the sets/cards beyond a basic list of prices. Even being aware of the prices, it's hard to get a handle on which cards are truly scarce in a particular condition and which cards are not. I'm interested in sending in some of these cards I have for grading, but it doesn't seem worth it if the card isn't centered.

[capt55]

Sittler rookies graded or not, sell for real good money, if there nice.

[Hank]

I have a PSA 8 Sittler RC, but it's off-center. Is it me, or were the 1970 OPC hockey cards printed on somewhat dingier stock tham the 1971 cards? I have a 1971 OPC Sittler with wonderfully vibrant colors against a snow white background; it may not be worth as much as his RC, but it's a much prettier card.

[bdiam]

Here's a little run-down, from someone's who's been "accumulating" these cards for a "few" years:

68/69 - OPC's first year back in hockey in nearly 30-years. You can often find cards with sharp corners but due to their horizontal design, more then 80% of the cards out there, have centering issues.

69/70 & 70/71 - both are famous for having "blue smudge marks", on both the fronts of the cards and the backs. For whatever reason, the 69/70 roller marks are more often seen on the back of the cards, while the 70/71 versions, often see blue roller marks on the front of the cards.

71/72 - featured a higher-grade of paper-stock, which accounts for the fact, that so many "higher-grade" cards have come from that set. It's also one of the most popular OPC issues ever, so while centering at times can be an issue due to their circle design, for the most part, there are generally allot of higher-grade cards available in the marketplace.

72/73 - used a paper-stock similar to that of the 1970 OPC Baseball issue. In general, you can get nice cards that are centered and with sharp corners. Since the third series (featuring WHA players) was released so late (into the summer), despite the higher prices on the cards, you can still find centered cards with nice corners.

73/74 - easily the most "condition sensitive" set that OPC ever released - along with it's brother - 1971 OPC Baseball. The paper-stock was considered "softer", which made cutting the cards more difficult and in-turn, finding cards with razor sharp corners more of a challenge. Then of course, is the variation with light-backs and dark-backs.

74/75 - changed back to older paper after the 73/74 experiment and with exception to off-centering on many of the cards (difficult to judge I guess, using the hockey stick on the left as your guideline), it's still much easier to find a card from this year with four perfect corners, then one that is perfectly centered (ie) try finding a"perfect" Denis Potvin RC.

75/76 - in general, the paper was good, not big issues with the corners and just your usual OPC cutting - most cards are 60/40.

76/77 - for whatever reason, one of the most popular sets of either the 70's or 80's. Not allot in there but if you ever see a nice set on ebay, they commonly sell for 1.5x book value. The good, honest and smart folks at Beckett have been told this for years but, have never moved the price. Best price I've ever seen a set from this year sell for - $825. Those "blue smudge marks" also re-surface in this year and can often be seen on the green backs. Due to the proximity of the checklists on the sheet, you will also be hard-pressed to find nicely cenetered checklists from this year.

77/78 - the first year that OPC "let the presses roll". Actually one of the nicest sets ever made - with not only the Emblems sub-set but also the team checklists. Of course, while they let the presses roll, nobody bothered to sharpen the cutters and thus the large amount of cards out there with poor cuts - usually shows up on the right-hand border.

78/79 - presses were again allowed to roll. In general, nicer cuts then the 77/78's, as perhaps someone actually sharpened the cutters this time around.

79/80 - didn't want to waste that leftover paper from the 70 or 71 Baseball issues and thus, you ended up having the Gretzky RC made on a generally soft paper-stock. Towards the end of the run, you can see "lighter" or what almost looks like "faded" colors on some of the stock. This is known as "color-run" and while the cards are 100% authentic, they just happened to come from the end of the print-run, when the blue wasn't quite as dark as in the beginning.

Hope this helps. If you look long and hard enough, true gems are still out there.