Cardboard on Ice: August 2019

The 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee issue includes the rookie cards of Bill Barber, Billy Smith, Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, Bob Nystrom, Terry O'Reilly and Larry Robinson. But the set also comes with a few sneaky errors and variations.

Two cards are missing the black border around the team nicknames on the front. Here's card #43 Bryan Hextall of the Pittsburgh Penguins:

And suffering the same type of error is rookie card #44 for Chuck Lefley of the Montreal Canadiens:

The error on card #37 Ted McAneeley takes the mistake a step further by omitting both the border and the Golden Seals nickname:

Bryan Hextall's card #43 is involved in yet a third error where the bio on the back is that of his brother, Dennis. The wrong bio back card was issued first, then correct but with the missing border on the front, and then corrected a third and final time to include the correct bio and black border.

And of course Dennis Hextall's card #115 comes in both error (top) and corrected (bottom) versions.

Overlooked by most every hockey card guide and checklist is the fact that there are two distinct sets of Kellogg's NHL Hockey Discs. The first set from 1984-85 includes 36 discs (unnumbered) as listed at the bottom of this post with 1983-84 date and stats on the back.

Updates & Four Substitutions in 1985-86
The next year, the set was updated with 1984-85 date and stats on the back, and the replacement of four players due to trades: Dan Daoust to replace John Anderson, Dennis Herron to replace Rick Kehoe, Bob Gainey to replace Guy Lafleur, and Dave Poulin to replace Darryl Sittler. The fronts of the other cards remained unchanged. The checklist for this second set is also listed at the bottom of this post.

Where most checklists miss the mark is they refer to the four replacement players as variations of cards in a single set. In fact, there are two distinct sets that can be recognized by the dates and corresponding stats on the back of each card.

Identical Stanley Cup Discs...
To add to the confusion, there is no discernible difference between the two Stanley Cup disc versions, and no date appears anywhere. The only ways to truly tell if you have a 1984-85 or 1985-86 version of the Cup disc would be to have it as part of an original attached panel of 6 cards, and looking for the date on the back of those adjoined cards.

...But Differences in Pucks?
In terms of distribution, a panel of 6 perforated discs were included inside a two-piece plastic puck in specially marked packages of Kellogg's Cereals in Canada. I believe that the pucks from each year were also slightly different. By finding instant prize messages inscribed on the inside of the pucks, one could win sports equipment, such as hockey jerseys, skates, sport bags or hockey sticks. "SORRY, PLEASE TRY AGAIN." was predictably the most common message received. But you'll also find pucks--I'd argue from the second year when there were no prizes offered--that do not have any messaging inside.

1984-85 Kellogg's NHL Discs (has 1983-84 stats on back)
John Anderson

Mike Bossy

Barry Beck

Dave Babych

Richard Brodeur

Dino Ciccarelli

Paul Coffey

Marcel Dionne

Bernie Federko

Ron Francis

Mike Garnter

Michel Goulet

Thomas Gradin

Dale Hawerchuk

Dale Hunter

Rick Kehoe

Jari Kurri

Guy Lafleur

Reed Larson

Kevin Lowe

Paul MacLean

Lanny McDonald

Rick Middleton

Gilbert Perrault

Paul Reinhart

Glenn Resch

Doug Risebrough

Larry Robinson

Borje Salming

Darryl Sittler

Stan Smyl

Peter Stastny

Mario Tremblay

Rick Vaive

Doug Wilson

Stanley Cup

1985-86 Kellogg's NHL Discs (has 1984-85 stats on back)