Hockey cards are having a moment, aren’t they?
Recently, an entire carton of unopened 1979-80 hockey cards, found in a Saskatoon basement (could this story be any more Canadian?) sold for $5 million. There could be 20 Wayne Gretzky rookie cards in the box, potentially worth many millions. Last week, collectors lined up to buy boxes of new Upper Deck hockey cards in search of supposedly can’t-miss superstar Connor Bedard’s rookie card that could be worth a lot someday. If Bedard flops, so do the cards.
This got me thinking, “Hey, I’ve got hockey cards! Lots of them!” In my basement, hidden away under the accumulated detritus left over from the raising of three sons, I found two boxes holding an estimated 1,500 cards, almost all hockey. Could there be a Gretzky rookie card or two in these boxes of long-forgotten hockey cards?
I haven’t looked at all 1,500 of these cards, but I can safely say the answer is: no. I did find a Mariusz Czerkawski rookie card that could be worth, what, a couple of bucks? At least they might be worth that much to Mariusz Czerkaswki.
But there are other gems, or perhaps cubic zirconias. I have two – yes, two! – Terry Carkner 1991 cards. I’ve never heard of Terry Carkner, but perhaps the Carkner family would be interested. There are a couple of cards, circa 1990, of Soviet-era teams, (Central Red Army, Soviet Wings) that have violated the sanctity of the set. There even is a card featuring Bruins goalie Byron Dafoe that (allegedly) comes with a piece of his uniform. A card of potential value is an Eric Lindros ‘First Round Draft Choice’ card from 1991, a pre-rookie card if you will. Best of all, I have a Kelly Hrudey card where he sports a truly hilarious mullet that he would possibly pay me to destroy.
It’s not all hockey either. I also found, stuffed unceremoniously in a plastic bag, a variety of other sports and pop culture stuff.
Don’t ask me how baseball cards ended up in the ‘collection’ (I hate baseball), but if anyone is interested in a Mark Thurman Orioles card from 1988, let me know. Perhaps even more unique, I have dozens of Canadian Football League cards, including one autographed by Edmonton ‘Eskimo’ (so, so sorry) Michel Bourgeau from 1992. And I have three – yes, three – unopened The Simpsons trading cards, circa 1990. from back when the show was good. And perhaps the rarest of rare cards, a Lebaron Hollimon card from when he played for the Edmonton Drillers of the NPSL. (The Drillers were Edmonton’s professional indoor soccer team, for those unfamiliar, which would be almost everyone.)
If I do strike it rich (or reasonably well off) by selling one of these cards, it will present me with a dilemma. Technically, these cards belong to my sons. Would I have to split the proceeds with them, and if so, which one of them? Do I claim a finder’s fee? A percentage of some sort? Fortunately, I don’t think this issue will come up, because these cards seem fairly valueless, and my sons never read my blogs anyway.
But if you’re reading this Kelly Hrudey, the bidding starts at $50. That card is very embarrassing.
In This Corner 