Konstantinov & Lidstrom 1991-92 OPC Premier Error Card

I recently picked up one of the rarest corrected error cards from hockey’s junk wax era: 1991-92 OPC Premier #118a Vladimir Konstantinov rookie card. The back incorrectly pictures fellow rookie Nicklas Lidstrom, a mistake that was corrected fairly quickly.

 

 

My copy is graded 9.5 gem mint by Beckett, with sub-grades of 9 for surface, 9.5 for centering, and 10s for edges and corners. A nice card for sure.

 

 

Konstantinov was a tough-hitting Russian defenseman drafted late in the 1989 draft by the Detroit Red Wings. He was part of “The Russian Five” which included Viacheslav Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov and Vyacheslav Kozlov. They helped the Red Wings capture the Stanley Cup in 1997.

 

Following a golf outing as part of celebrating the Cup win, Konstantinov was involved in a tragic limousine accident that cut short his career. He spent several weeks in a coma, and suffered from serious head injuries and paralysis.

 

The Red Wings won The Cup again in 1998, but Konstantinov was confined to a wheelchair and unable to ever play again. The team successfully requested to have his name engraved on the trophy, making Konstantinov a two-time Stanley Cup champion.

O-Pee-Chee Box Toppers

Who knew that the packaging from hockey cards we used to throw away as kids would become collectable? Some collectors fancy unopened waxpacks, boxes and cases. The wrappers of OPC packs from the 1970s, 80s and 90s come in different versions. And the wax boxes started featuring actual “box bottom” cards in 1985-86 that were meant to be collected.

But do you remember Pat Lafontaine of the Islanders on the box top?

The very first box topper was Clark Gillies in 1984-85:

Patrick Roy from 1986-87:

Michel Goulet from 1987-88:

Mario Lemieux from 1988-89:

Al MacInnis from 1989-90:

Carefully cut from the box, these blank-back cards can be inserted into sleeves and stored like regular cards. But the next two years featured images of cards more as part of the box’s design.

Here's the combo of Bill Ranford and Cam Neely from 1990-91:

Next up was Ed Belfour and Mario Lemieux in 1991-92:

And just in case you might be running out of stuff to collect, how about those mini-cards that sometimes adorned the side of the OPC wax boxes or box sets? I guess you have to draw the line somewhere, don't you?