I don't normally go for things like the 800 ct. box of mixed Red Wings cards I bought at my last Gibraltar show trip, but hey once in a while you have to change things up and go for this kind of thing, right? I mean what was the worst that could happen?
The box is your typical 800 ct. box and it was labelled as 800+ cards on the front of it. When the dust settled from the explosion of cards all over my desk as I went through it, there were actually 863 cards packed in there. Here's a breakdown by set of what I got:
79-80 Topps/OPC = 1
81-82 Topps/OPC = 1
84-85 Topps/OPC = 1
89-90 Topps/OPC = 12
90-91 Bowman = 4
90-91 OPC Premier = 2
90-91 Pro Set = 77
90-91 Score = 35
90-91 Topps/OPC = 31
90-91 Upper Deck = 8
91-92 Classic Draft Picks = 1
91-92 OPC Premier = 3
91-92 Parkhurst = 3
91-92 Pro Set = 38
91-92 Pro Set Platinum = 3
91-92 Score American (Purple) = 218
91-92 Score Canadian (Red) = 135
91-92 Score Update (Blue) = 27
91-92 Upper Deck = 17
91-92 Topps/OPC = 6
92-93 Classic Draft Picks = 1
92-93 OPC Premier = 1
92-93 Pinnacle = 4
92-93 Score American = 16
92-93 Score Canadian = 3
92-93 Stadium Club = 3
92-93 Parkhurst = 2
92-93 Topps = 4
92-93 Ultimate Original Six = 37
92-93 Ultra = 1
92-93 Upper Deck = 10
93-94 Classic 4-Sport = 61
93-94 Leaf = 4
93-94 Parkhurst = 1
93-94 Pinnacle = 2
93-94 Premier Plus = 45
93-94 Score = 6
93-94 Stadium Club = 13
93-94 Ultra = 9
93-94 Upper Deck = 10
94-95 Donruss = 1
94-95 Pinnacle = 5
94-95 Premier = 1
If you don't like lists (who does for any kind of show and tell post), then here's a visual look at all the differnt sets that made up the 800+ cards in the box. We'll start with some good old 1991-92 Score, one of the first sets I remember collecting as a kid.
Now we have some 1993-94 Upper Deck, some 92-93 Ultimate Original Six and the original 1990-91 Score. The Sid Able is pretty neat with him dressed up in current (at the time) Wings gear and you have to love the draft day pic on the Primeau.
Then there was some 1991-92 Upper Deck, some 1988-89 Topps and 1993-94 Premier. Gotta love the airbrushing on the Marc Habscheid Topps card, I mean talk about an awful looking Red Wings crest on the jersey, am I right?
Now we have some Pinnacle, Score, and the original Upper Deck from 1990-91. It's weird seeing the late Brad McCrimmon playing for the Wings on the Score card, as I'm only used to seeing him behind the bench from his time under Mike Babcock.
Then there was some Topps Stadium Club, O-Pee-Chee, and some Leaf goodness. Other than Ysebaert and Crossman, the rest of the guys are the ones who I kind of grew up watching as a Wings fan in the early 90's.
Now its time for some more Topps, Score, and a little bit of Bowman. While I know of all the guys pictured among these nice cards, Probert and Kozlov are probably the most familiar to me out of this group.
Then there was some more from 1992-93 Upper Deck and 1990-91 Topps. There was also some 1993 Classic Four Sport cards of some Wings prospects, most of which I had never heard of other than Anders Eriksson.
I also found a bunch of good stuff from 1993-94 Fleer Ultra, 1991-92 OPC Premier and 1991-92 Parkhurst. Of this group I really like the OPC Premier, especially the Cheveldae, because of the old school third jersey the Wings had back then.
Finally, for sets I got three cards or more from, there was some 1991-92 and 1990-91 Pro Set. If I had to choose between the two, I would give the edge to the 1990-91, despite the countless errors that are scattered throughout the set.
That's it for all the sets I got at least three cards from. Now it's time for the rest of what I got as far as single cards per set. There are too many to list, so take a look below:
Definitely a nice mix so far. I saved the best for last as I managed to get a trio of really old (at least to me) cards from the 1980's. My favorite is probably the Reed Larson from 1979-80 OPC as that is one of the best base card designs from that time period.
Hopefully that was a good look back in time for you like it was for me. I grew up on these kinds of sets and its always fun seeing them again. Even though they are completely worthless to most, these cards now have a home in my Red Wings PC and they won't be going anywhere any time soon.
What do you guys think? Was all of this worth the $6 that it cost me?