It was a good news/bad news proposition for hockey card collectors as the 1975-76 season approached. Topps boxes now contained 12 more packs than the year before. If you wanted to collect the entire set, though, it would require more dimes and nickels as Topps increased the size of its set from 264 cards in 1974-75 to 330 for ’75-76.
While the 1975-76 Topps and OPC sets aren’t long on great rookie cards, they do offer a pretty good overview of the NHL in the mid-1970s and the sets are full of Hall of Famers, including Bobby Orr.
This week’s Vintage Pack Facts offers a look back at the packs and boxes from 44 seasons ago.
- 1975-76 Topps hockey wax boxes held 36 packs with ten cards per pack. O-Pee-Chee boxes contained a whopping 48 packs with eight cards per pack. The OPC boxes, as usual, contained a small piece of tape over the lid. Topps packs were 15 cents while OPC kept its price at 10 cents.
- Both boxes touted the move to a bigger set with the words “Biggest Series Ever” on the front.
- Topps wrappers contained one of four ads: a camera, card storage locker, cork bulletin board and info on joining the “Topps Sports Club.” You can usually find Topps and OPC wrappers for just a few dollars on eBay. Empty Topps display boxes aren’t common but can usually be purchased for $50, sometimes less.
- There were no inserts in 1975-76 hockey card packs.
- Topps also produced three-pack trays with very limited distribution.
- Today, boxes of Topps and OPC are tough to find. The few Topps boxes that have sold publicly over the last couple of years have reached $2,000-$2,500 on average. In June of 2019, a nice OPC box sold at auction for $5,296.
- Topps rack packs contained 42 cards for 49 cents. They contain a Topps Sports Club ad on the back of the header. Rack packs typically sell for $200-$300 today.
- As usual, Topps produced vending cases sold to hobby dealers and vending machine companies. The last vending box sold at auction went for $775 in March 2019. A vending case of 24 boxes was auctioned for $12,697 in 2014. That same case would likely sell for several thousand dollars more today because of the increased interest in unopened material.
You can participate in a pack, box, or set break anytime at VintageBreaks.com which offers a variety of options across all years and sports.
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