Phantom Joe Malone

Joe Malone was a prolific goal-scorer and two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Quebec Bulldogs even before he potted 44 tallies in 20 games with the Montreal Canadiens in the inaugural NHL season of 1917-18. Known for his unique upright skating style and respected for his clean play, Malone totaled 343 goals in 273 regular-season contests between 1909 and 1924. "Phantom" Joe Malone was deceptively quick and the fastest players in the pros.

After two years with the Hamilton Tigers, Malone refused to attend the team's training camp in 1922, and was sent back to Montreal for two final years as a substitute with the Canadiens. The team won the Stanley Cup (and Malon's third) during his final NHL season in 1923-24.

He is featured as card #13 in the 1923-24 V14-1 William Paterson set. Mine is a PSA 2.5.

The 40 blank-back cards represent the four teams of the NHL at the time: Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto St. Patricks and Hamilton Tigers.

Although there is no indication as to who produced the cards, the accepted theory is that Canadian confectioner William Patterson, Ltd. issued it. A single card was included with the purchase of a "Paterson League Hockey Bar," whose wrapper stated:

...for the complete set — 40 different players — we will send you prepaid a handsome pair of hockey skates. We will return the set of cards to you with the skates.

The company had no strong desire to ship free hockey skates all over Canada so a single card was intentionally short printed. This fact makes card #25 of Toronto defenseman Bert Corbeau on of the rarest and expensive hockey cards. There have only been five of the William Paterson Corbeau cards submitted to PSA, and none have been graded higher than PSA 2. This isn't surprising since anyone lucky enough to pull a Corbeau and collect the other 39 cards to finish the set, would have redeemed the cards for the skates and had them returned with a cancellation hold punch.

The exceedingly rare William Paterson Corbeau card is ghost-like and a legend among hockey card collectors. But the legendary Phantom Joe Malone was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950 and is still the only player in NHL history to score seven goals in a single game.

1962-63 El Producto Coasters Set of 6

The 1962-63 El Producto set of 6 full-color coasters feature Gordie Howe, Glen Hall, Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon, Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard.

The coasters came folded accordion-style as an insert with the 25-pack Christmas box of El Producto cigars. My set is still intact:

 Each 3-inch diameter coaster has a brief player bio on the back (birthplace, height and weight).

The coasters are not exactly rare, and a complete set or two can often be found on eBay at any given time. The set generally commands a ~25% premium when offered as a still-intact strip of 6.

Much more rare are the accompanying cigar box bottoms of the same star players. Among the most rare post-1950 hockey cards, the full-color panels can list for $500 or more each.

1973-74 Topps Team Emblems Sticker Set

Included one sticker per wax pack, the 1973-74 Topps Team Emblem Sticker set of 22 includes 17 different logos, plus 5 variations. All 16 teams of the NHL at the time are represented, plus the NHL shield. Five teams—Rangers, Red Wings, Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Bruins—have variants consisting of a different team name depicted in the lower pennant sticker.

On eBay I have noticed stickers offered where someone has taken the liberty to “correct” the card by taking a bottom pennant sticker from one card and putting it with the matching logo/emblem sticker from another card. For example, you might see a Maple Leafs logo with a Maple Leafs pennant. Obviously, this is not how the stickers were originally paired.

1973-74 Mac's Milk Stickers Set of 30

The 1973-74 Mac's Milk Sticker set contains 30 unnumbered discs measuring approximately 3 inches in diameter. These round discs are actually cloth-like stickers with 2-piece peel-off backs.

Issued through the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) exclusively at Mac's Milk convenience stores in Canada, they feature caricature drawings of star players in the National Hockey League. However, there are no identifying marks anywhere on the discs identifying the sponsor as Mac's Milk.

A sticker came individually sealed in cello-like packages so you could not see through the wrapper and cherry pick your favorite player. Bobby Orr is the most valuable in the set and coveted by collectors. These stickers are condition sensitive since the packaging process had the potential to fuse some edges of the sticker with the cello.