88-89 Topps/OPC Question

[Bleustrype]

I'm in the market to start a Brett Hull PC, he was my childhood hero and still is to an extent. You'll never forget your first ya know ;). Anyway, what's the difference between the OPC and Topps 88-89 RCs? Slabbed OPC seems to be outrageous compared to the Topps counterparts. Are there any major significant differences between the two? Also, a grading service question. GEM, BCCG, SGC, KSA, PSA, etc. Which has the most strict grading Guidlines? There's a few on ebay, all different services, GEM has a 10 out, but i've never even heard of them at all. A BCCG 9, but is a 9 really worth it? Anyone who can help, it would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[RGM81]

Chalk the difference in value between the OPC and Topps versions up to the rampant faking that was done on the OPC RC. There were scores of counterfeit Hulls out on the market back in the 90s, and at this point unless you know the defining characteristics your sole way to guarantee the authenticity of the RC is to get the slabbed version.
As for grading, I'm certainly not an expert on the subject but Beckett and PSA are the industry leaders on grading, and they both have pretty rigorous standards. Regarding that 9, it's a pretty good number - it's hard to believe that those RCs are already 20 years old so to have one in that good a shape is decent. Beckett does have population reports where you can check to see how many copies of each card they have at each grade.

[30ranfordfan]

The other thing to keep in mind is that the OPC always had a higher BV than the Topps did. Everything was pretty mass produced back then, but I think Topps even more so than OPC. You're already starting out with a more valuable card when it's raw.... so the value of graded, I'm guessing, would climb higher / faster.

[CoolHandLuke]

Topps were sold in USA and OPC in Canada. Because back then hockey was far more popular in Canada, Canadian did not care much to buy topps card because Canadian collector did not collect them for the most part. This is why, in average, OPC is worth double the amount of it's Topps counterpart. Also in some year, Topps had less card in a set then OPC did. All this affected card value on the market. That did change since but it was the scenario back then.

BCCG is from beckett but not from their grading service with full evaluation. They are something the collector usually stay away and don't consider a grade. It's more like saying the card is mint or better when they put 9. But it's not a BCG 9 and this is where the confusion come and why collector tend to disregard them What the 9 mean is that the card is probably mint (8 from BCG) or better. Send that card slabbed at 9 to BCG and it can come back anything bettween 7 or more. Mainly that should be disregarded as a graded card because it's not. These will never reach higher then Beckett high BV where as some RC with a 9 or better can be worth double the high Beckett value in some case. Take my graded OPC rookie from Ken Dryden. A 8 BCG will fetch double the high BV on the market because the nice one are really rare. Stay away from BCCG

BCG and PSA are you best bet.

[aro13]

Other than for 89-90 OPC cards have always had more value than their Topps counterparts.

As for which grading company to use stick with PSA, SGC or BGS for the Hull.

[Drewk86a]

Back in the 80's Topps had a habit of double printing certain cards from various sets (kind of like the opposite of a short print). In the 1989-90 Topps set the Brett Hull RC #66 is marked as a DP (double print) so that will definitley brings down it's value (if you're an investor) and also price (if you're a buyer).

OPC did not double print cards, so their value is higher.

Other than for 89-90 OPC cards have always had more value than their Topps counterparts.

89-90 was the only year Topps produced fewer cards than OPC. After the initial printing, OPC allowed distributors to place additional orders. Then OPC made a second print run and saturated the market. They were so plentiful people were giving away Sakic and Leetch RC for free! You would think the first printing cards are worth more than the second print (kind of like first edition books) but I don't know any way to tell them apart.

The only saving grace of 89-90 OPC were a few "OPC only" RCs like Theo Fleury and Shayne Corson, but even they weren't enough to save this set.