Another big addition

I just took the biggest step toward completing the 1971-72 Topps hockey set:

The Ken Dryden rookie is, by far, the most valuable card on this set's checklist. It's also one of the most iconic hockey cards ever produced, one of the few (maybe the only?) cards in the memorable 1971 set that uses an action photo of a player rather than a posed shot. The story of Dryden's dramatic arrival on the NHL scene is well known: He joined Montreal late in the 1970-71 season from Cornell University, playing in just six regular season games (allowing just nine goals). The rookie netminder then proceeded to backstop the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup, appearing in all 20 games the team played in the '71 playoffs, setting an NHL record at the time. It was the first of six Cups Dryden and the Canadiens would during the 1970's. 

Here's a closer look. Even raw copies of this card in poor condition tend to sell for $20 or more, so I decided awhile ago that I wanted to go the graded route. This PSA 7 was sitting around at a low price near the end of its auction, so I decided to take a shot -- and ended up winning it for less than some PSA 5's have sold for recently. And while it's graded a 7, in reality it's nearly flawless. All four corners are shop and the colors are still vibrant. The only flaw that I can see is that it is slightly off-center, which I assume is why it got the lower grade. That's perfectly fine with me, since it meant I could actually afford it! 

These slabbed cards tend to show up incredibly hazy on my scanner. But the narrative on the back describes Dryden's heroics in the '71 playoffs and also mentions that Dave Dryden, another NHL goalie, is his brother. I didn't know that. The cartoon in the upper right corner mentions that Dryden was an All-American and national champion at Cornell. 

This is easily the most important, historically speaking, hockey card in my collection and it's really not even close. And it leaves me at just 12 cards to go on the '71 Topps checklist, with the biggest hurdles remaining  being Bobby Hull, Bobby Clarke and the infernal checklist. 

Authentic Moments auto: Gabriel Landeskog

Some of the nicest-looking autograph cards I've seen browsing around at the "Authentic Moment" auto parallels that Upper Deck has been issuing through its SP Authentic brand over the last few years. And I finally got a chance to pick one up for myself at a decent price:

It's hard to be a card with a fantastic, full-bleed photo and on-card auto signed in gold ink. This was issued as part of the 2013-14 SP Authentic hockey set and, as you can see from the caption, it commemorates Gabriel Landeskog becoming the youngest captain ever in the NHL. Landeskog was just 19 years and 286 days old when the Avalanche gave him the "C" -- 11 days younger than the previous record-holder, Sidney Crosby. One of the complaints I've heard about the Signature Renditions subset in last year's release of The Cup is that it's basically a copy cat of these Authentic Moments cards. It's a fair complaint, as it looks like at least one of the Signature Renditions cards -- Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers -- even uses the exact same photo and moment as an Authentic Moments card. But I have to say....rather than making me like the Signature Renditions cards less, it makes me like the Authentic Moments cards more.

Signature Renditions: Mark Messier

Next up in the Signature Renditions collection: Mark Messier

This has to be one of the best images in the entire Signature Renditions set. There's so much awesomeness. A beaming, gap-toothed Mark Messier branding the Conn Smythe Trophy in the middle of an Edmonton Oilers locker room that appears to be in full Cup celebration chaos. A couple of hazy Oilers in the background, faces blurred as if they're part of an Impressionist painting. A just off-screen reporter holding the largest tape recorder ever made.

I missed out this card five times before finally wining it in an eBay auction. I can't tell you how excited I was to finally get it in hand...So excited, in fact, that I promptly dropped it. If you look down by Messier's left elbow, there's now a small but very noticeable -- to me, at least -- ding in this card. And it is entirely my own fault. I know it shouldn't ruin this card for me -- it shouldn't! -- but, honestly, it almost does. Hopefully, I'll get over my irritation at some point and be able to enjoy this thing because, boy, is it a beautiful card. Except for that damn ding.

Want to know what makes an extra special crotch kick? I was actually re-scanning the card. I already had a copy of it that I'd done with an older scanner, but I wanted to redo it with the better one. I was so annoyed with myself that I didn't even bother to rescan the back. So here's the old scan, which shows you that this celebrates Messier's performance as MVP of the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs. That was an historic postseason. The Oilers finally ended early '80's New York Islanders dynasty and kicked off their own. Edmonton would go on to win four consecutive cups and five in six years.

Be careful with your cards, kids.

Completed set: 1990-91 Upper Deck hockey

The first sets I ever remember seeing as a kid were 1987 Topps baseball and 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee hockey. But the first sets I ever remember really chasing were 1989 Upper Deck baseball and 1990-91 Upper Deck hockey -- the first two sets ever produced by Topps' now well-established rival.

Anyone above a certain age no doubt remembers how popular Upper Deck's first sets were. With interesting, crisp photos, a stiffer, glossier card stock and, of course, those holograms, they completely blew away anything Topps had produced recently in terms of quality. Both sets were also loaded with huge rookie cards and were released at the peak of the frenzy around the hobby. But even though they were wildly overproduced and are worth very little today, they remain some of the most influential sports cards ever produced. It's not an exaggeration to say these two sets revolutionized the hobby.

I got to spend some time this summer digging through my old card collection, which my parents have miraculously carted along with them every time they've moved over the years. There was a bunch of cool stuff in those big plastic tubs, including two binders -- one with a near-set of '89 UD baseball and one with a near-set of '90-91 hockey. After a couple of trades and a Sportlots order, I've finished off the hockey set. So here's a look back at Upper Deck's first-ever hockey release, which, 25 years later, remains one of the most iconic hockey sets of all time.

#1 -- David Volek

The first card in the set may also be the most mysterious. When Upper Deck released its first baseball set, it chose a budding young superstar who everybody was already chasing -- Ken Griffey Jr. -- to be card #1. It remains one of the most recognizable baseball cards ever made. And yet, to lead off its first ever hockey set, it chose an obscure Czechoslovakian who few people had ever heard of from a mediocre team. David Volek wasn't a nobody; he had made the NHL's All-Rookie team the previous season. But I don't think anybody really saw him as a future star or anything. What's more, this wasn't even his rookie card! He'd had one in both the Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets in 1989-90. I would love to know what Upper Deck was thinking with this choice. I have no way of knowing, but I suspect card #1 may have been different if Eric Lindros hadn't signed an exclusive deal with Score.

#32 -- Mike Richter (RC)

One of the things that make this set so memorable is the insanely big crop of rookies. By my count, at least 10 current or future Hall of Famers have rookie cards in this set. And beyond them, there's a big group of semistars -- like Richter, Alexander Mogilny, Curtis Joseph and Rod Brind'Amour -- who also made their cardboard debut in this set.

#44 -- Mark Messier

One of a few Stanley Cup cameos in this set.

#45 -- Rob Blake (RC)

Here's the first of our Hall of Fame rookie cards. It's also one of a few "Star Rookie" cards that were scattered around the set.

#45 -- Mike Modano (RC)

Hall of Fame rookie #2.

#47 -- Theoren Fleury

More than the rookies, though, it's the photography that really makes this set standout. This shot of tiny Theo Fleury delivering a mid-air body check is one of the best.

#54 -- Wayne Gretzky

#55 -- Ed Belfour (RC)

Another rookie card of a Hall of Famer. That's No. 3, if you're keeping count at home.

#56 -- Steve Yzerman

#59 -- Mario Lemieux scoring streak

Upper Deck found a few ways to slip in extra cards of the game's biggest stars. This one highlights Super Mario's 46-game scoring streak during the 1989-90 season, which I believe is second all-time only to a 51-game streak put together by Wayne Gretzky.

#63 -- Jeremy Roenick (RC)

Another of the set's big rookies. Roenick isn't in the Hall of Fame yet, but I suspect he'll eventually get in.

#64 -- Ray Bourque

#67 -- Ron Francis

#91 -- Mario Gosselin

#124 -- Paul Coffey

I didn't remember this, but Paul Coffey apparently served as Pittsburgh's interim captain when Mario Lemieux was out with injury.

#128 -- Igor Larionov (RC)

Hall of Fame rookie No. 4.

#144 -- Mario Lemieux

One of the other features that made Upper Deck's cards stand out were second photos on the back. And some of those were just as beautiful as the pictures on the front.

#153 -- Patrick Roy

#154 -- Brett Hull

#156 -- Cam Neely

This is one of a couple of cards in the set taken from a series-ending handshake line, one of the coolest traditions in hockey.

#162 -- Guy Lafleur

#164 -- Joe Sakic

A second-year card of Hall of Famer Joe Sakic, who was already the Nordiques' captain by this point.

#167 -- Esa Tikkanen

#176 -- Slava Fetisov (RC)

Hall of Famer rookie card #5.

#178 -- Mark Recchi (RC)

#205 -- Wayne Gretzky (Art Ross Trophy)

The initial 400-card set included a nine-card subset of award winners like this one.

#227 -- Ron Hextall

Here's another great card back. Hextall was famous (infamous?) for his temper. I suspect the ref here may be in the midst of wetting himself.

#253 -- Brian Leetch

Leetch's second-year card.

#271 -- Doug Gilmour

#277 -- Mike Gartner

#303 -- Detroit Team Checklist

This team checklist/art cards were a really novel idea at the team. And, of course, they were another way to get the game's biggest stars on to more cards.

#351 -- Draft Checklist

This was one of the big cards of the initial set. I'm not sure if it was truly seen as stacked or just one of the first drafts to really get the modern-day media hype, but everyone seemed to think the top picks of the 1990 draft were going to be huge stars. Funny that it was the fifth guy who really turned into one.

#352 -- Owen Nolan (RC)

#355 -- Mike Ricci (RC)

At one point, Mike Ricci hockey cards were a big part of my early-retirement plans.

#356 -- Jaromir Jagr (RC)

This is the biggest single card of the initial 400-card "low series" set. It wasn't Jagr's only rookie card (he was also in the Score and O-Pee-Chee Premiere sets that year). But it certainly became the one that everyone wanted. I'm going to count this as Hall of Fame rookie card No. 6 in the set, even though Jagr isn't technically a member yet. But that's only because he is still playing! He's a first ballot shoo-in whenever he finally hangs up his skates.

#365 -- Mats Sundin (RC)

Yet another Hall of Fame rookie card. That's No. 7.

#422 -- Chris Chelios

Midway through the 1990-91 season, Upper Deck released a 150-card "high series," which was basically it's version of a Topps Traded baseball set. It was filled with players who had been traded after the low series went to print, like new Chicago Blackhawks defender Chris Chelios....

#426 -- Denis Savard

...Who had been acquired from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for high-scoring French Canadian forward Denis Savard.

#448 -- Bob Probert

#461 -- Scott Niedermayer (RC)

A big chunk of the high series set was devoted to various subset gimmicks, including my single favorite subset of all-time: The 1991 Canada's World Junior Championship team. World Junior cards became something of an early tradition for Upper Deck, which no doubt loved them because they always included coveted rookie cards of some the game's top prospects. I've already shown the entire team set off once on this blog, so I won't run through them again. Instead, I'll just show this one -- the eighth Hall of Fame rookie card so far in this set.

#473 -- Canada's Captains

This was Upper Deck's attempt to get around Score's exclusive deal with Eric Lindros, who was the Ken Griffey Jr. of hockey at that point. It's also probably one of the main reasons Upper Deck decided to do a World Junior's subset in the first place.

#484 -- Vincent Damphousse (All-Star)

Of course, Upper Deck made sure to include a set of cards from the 1991 All-Star game and skills competition. This is the most fun of the bunch, what with the corporatized award in hand and Vinnie Damphousse sitting in the car he presumably won as the All-Star Game MVP.

#511 -- Harry Howell (NHL Heroes)

Immediately following the all-stars was 14-card subset called "NHL Heroes." I assume these were all guys who played in the old-timer's game at the All-Star weekend. I chose to highlight Harry Howell, because he's an alum of the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters.

#521 -- Young Guns Checklist (Sergei Fedorov/Johan Garpenlov)

And now we come to the biggest gimmick of all: the Young Guns. Upper Deck's inaugural Young Guns subset included 15 cards, rather than the 100-card behemoths they are today. And (mercifully for a young kid trying to build this set) they weren't short-printed, unlike the one-in-four-pack insertion rate for current Young Gun cards. Young Guns are probably the most iconic of all modern-day hockey cards. So I'm going to show off all 15 in that first class.

#522 Kip Miller (RC)

#523 -- Johan Garpenlov

#524 -- Stephane Morin (RC)

#525 -- Sergei Fedorov (RC)

Here's one of the two biggest names in the first Young Guns class and another (No. 9) Hall of Fame rookie card. I believe this card, the next one and the Jagr draft pick card are the most valuable in the entire set nowadays, though each is only worth a few bucks at most.

#526 -- Pavel Bure (RC)

I would argue that this is the single-biggest card in the entire set. While Jagr and Fedorov both had rookie cards in other sets like O-Pee-Chee Premiere, this is the Russian Rocket's only rookie card. Judging by the photo, I wonder if they thought to include it solely because they were taking photos at the World Junior Championship...Oh, and it's yet another Hall of Famer rookie card in this set. That would be No. 10 in the set.

#527 -- Wes Walz (RC)

#528 -- Robert Kron (RC)

#529 -- Ken Hodge Jr. (RC)

#530 -- Gary Valk (RC)

#531 -- Tim Sweeney (RC)

#532 -- Mark Pederson (RC)

#533 -- Robert Reichel (YG)

#534 -- Bobby Holik (RC)

#535 -- Stephane Matteau (RC)

Though he never became more than a role player, Matteau scored one of the more famous goals in NHL history -- the Game 7 overtime winner that put the New York Rangers into the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, where they finally ended their 50-year Cup drought.

#536 -- Peter Bondra (RC)

And the last of the first Young Guns probably turned out to be the best of the lot, behind Fedorov and Bure.

#545 -- Wayne Gretzky (2000 points)

 Getting close to the end here. But first, two more chances for Upper Deck to slip in extra cards of big names.

#546 -- Brett Hull (50 goals in 50 games)

#549 -- The Zamboni

And I'll end it with the second-to-last card of the set (the last was a checklist): An odd ode to the Zamboni. Feels a bit like Upper Deck was padding to get to a round number here, doesn't it?

And there you have it: Upper Deck's first ever hockey set, in all its overproduced glory. Sure, the set may not be worth anything today, but it's still a great piece of hobby history. It's not a stretch to say that this is the most influential modern-day hockey card set.