1957-58 Topps Hockey Set Marked Company’s Return to NHL Cards

The 1957-58 Topps hockey set marked the company’s return to the sport after a two-year break that followed the 1954-55 debut set.  Topps must have felt pretty optimistic about the sports bubble gum business at the time, because it also produced its first basketball card set that winter.

1957-58 Topps Hockey Basics

The  set consists of 66 cards representing only players from the four U.S.-based teams in the National Hockey League—the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.  Measuring the newly standard 2-1/2″ by 3-1/2″, the cards were sold in packs of four cards.

Design

The cards were fairly colorful with both posed action shots and portraits set against red, blue or yellow backgrounds. At the bottom was the player’s his name in a nice-looking italic font, position, team name and even a team logo.

The backs were printed horizontally and offered text in both English and French against red and blue backdrops.  There was a single line of stats from the 1956-57 season and a large cartoon quiz on the right side.

Rookie Cards and Major Stars

There were four notable rookie cards in the set:  Johnny Bucyk (#10), Glenn Hall (#20), Pierre Pilote (#22) and Norm Ullman (#46).  The biggest stars on the checklist included Ted Lindsay (#21), Terry Sawchuck, whose name was misspelled with an extra c (#35), Gordie Howe (#42) and Gump Worsley (#53).

The 1957-58 Topps set is not difficult to put together and the cost of most cards is generally pretty reasonable.  Even a very nice-looking EX example of the Howe often runs less than $200.

The Sawchuk and Hall rookies are also popular with collectors. Centering, as usual during the era, is often the biggest condition challenge. 

Complete sets vary in price depending on condition.  Goldin Auctions sold a fairly high quality set for just over $1,600 in 2016. 

You can see 1957-58 Topps hockey cards on eBay by clicking here.

1957-58 Topps NHL Hockey Checklist

1 Real Chevrefils

2 Jack Bionda RC

3 Bob Armstrong

4 Fern Flaman

5 Jerry Toppazzini

6 Larry Regan RC

7 Bronco Horvath RC

8 Jack Caffery

9 Leo Labine

10 Johnny Bucyk RC

11 Vic Stasiuk

12 Doug Mohns

13 Don McKenney

14 Don Simmons RC

15 Allan Stanley

16 Fleming Mackell

17 Larry Hillman RC

18 Leo Boivin

19 Bob Bailey

20 Glenn Hall RC

21 Ted Lindsay

22 Pierre Pilote RC

23 Jim Thomson

24 Eric Nesterenko

25 Gus Mortson

26 Ed Litzenberger RC

27 Elmer Vasko RC

28 Jack McIntyre

29 Ron Murphy

30 Glen Skov

31 Hec Lalande RC

32 Nick Mickoski

33 Wally Hergesheimer

34 Alex Delvecchio

35 Terry Sawchuk

36 Guyle Fielder RC

37 Tom McCarthy RC

38 Al Arbour

39 Billy Dea RC

40 Lorne Ferguson

41 Warren Godfrey

42 Gordie Howe

43 Marcel Pronovost

44 Billy McNeill RC

45 Earl “Dutch” Reibel

46 Norm Ullman RC

47 Johnny Wilson

48 Leonard “Red” Kelly

49 Bill Dineen

50 Forbes Kennedy RC

51 Harry Howell

52 Jean-Guy Gendron RC

53 Lorne “Gump” Worsley

54 Larry Popein

55 Jack Evans

56 George “Red” Sullivan

57 Gerry Foley RC

58 Andy Hebenton RC

59 Larry Cahan

60 Andy Bathgate

61 Danny Lewicki

62 Dean Prentice

63 Camille Henry

64 Lou Fontinato RC

65 Bill Gadsby

66 Dave Creighton

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]