Our Vintage Pack Break of the Week celebrates the beginning of the new NHL season. This time, we’re jetting back in time to the mid-1970’s. The American Bicentennial was approaching and Topps still enjoyed a monopoly in all four major sports. This week, the crew at Just Collect Inc. has gotten its gloves on a 1975-76 Topps hockey pack.
Vintage hockey packs are generally pretty tough to find and these are no exception. There was a collection of rack packs in a major catalog auction a few years ago and a few unopened boxes have come up for bid as well, but generally, there’s more demand than supply.
Unfortunately, 1975-76 isn’t a great year for rookies. Gretzky was still a few years away but Clark Gilles’ first card is here and so are all of the great veterans of the era like Bobby Orr, Guy LaFleur and Phil Esposito.
The set expanded to 330 cards, the largest set Topps would produce until the early 1990’s.
The player’s team name is at the top, with the player name at the bottom and his position inside a little puck on the front. The white borders make for a clean-looking set.
Aside from one nasty piece of 38-year-old gum, what’s inside this pack? Watch the two-minute video:
Just Collect is buying vintage unopened packs and vintage cards. See them online at JustCollect.com. They offer hundreds of fresh items via their weekly eBay auctions.