CHASING THE CUP
COLLECTORS HAVE PURSUED THE
SILVER CHALICE FOR NEARLY 100
YEARS. HERE ARE THE 10 MUST HAVES.
BY JOHN SNYDER
BECKETT HOCKEY 23
the eye-straining mixture of orange, yellow and purple color
blocks. Just a spectacularly ugly card that’s so bad, it’s good.
- 1970-71 OPC #254
An absolute classic. e Cup
pops off card, with four spot-
lights shining against an orange
and mauve background. Despite
its popularity with graders, just
33 copies of the card have been
deemed Mint or better, a testa-
ment to the diffi culty of fi nding a
premium example.
- 1990-91 Pro Set
Hologram
Arguably the hockey hobby’s
fi rst true chase card, this holo-
gram still fascinates collectors
despite the hopelessly dated
technology. Pro Set produced
5,000 hand-numbered copies
of the card – a painfully short
production run at the time
that gave it an aura of impos-
sibility that lingers to this day.
Although it no longer sells for the $500-plus it once did,
the card is a quick mover at $100 or more, especially for a
copy that is largely free of the scratch marks that marred
many singles.
- 1969-70 OPC #231
Part of a nine-card subset that
celebrates the league’s most cov-
eted hardware, this single benefi ts
from the stunning simplicity of
its design. e Cup is center stage,
surrounded by a ghostly white
glow that fades into a blueish-
grey background contained by
a thin, white border. Visually, it’s perfect. It’s also diffi cult
to track down in premium condition. Just 60 copies are
known to have graded out at Mint 9 or better.
- 1933-44 Beehive
Photos Group 1
is vintage issue shows off how
truly historical the Cup is by picturing
a trophy that, outside of the crown-
ing bowl, is almost unrecognizable to
modern fans. And, like many photos in
this series, there’s more than one way
to collect it. ere are three “offi cial”
variations – dated on back, blank back
and name horizontal – and each also
can be found with either blue or cream-colored backing paper.
Both the Beehive Group 2 and Group 3 series feature pho-
tos of the modern-day trophy, but this one stands apart for its
visual signifi cance as well as its scarcity.
- 1924-25 C144 Champ’s
Cigarettes #59
e fi rst known card to picture the
Cup isn’t just a stunning visual of the
trophy in its fi rst decade symbolizing
the NHL championship, but also the
fi rst self-proclaimed insert as well. e
card, which features a bowl with three
small rings underneath, looks
completely diff erent from the rest of
this premium release. at’s because it
was issued as a placeholder in the set.
As the card front notes, “Pictures of
(Nels) Stewart, (Johnny) Matz, (Charlie) Cotch and (Edwin)
Gorman were not available at the time of going to press.
ose who are interested in our Hockey Contest may
substitute this insert for any of those players.”
While the details of the contest are lost to history, the
decision to include an image of the Cup led to one of the
most signifi cant hockey cards of all-time.