C55 / C56 Hockey

[samosa4u]

I've been collecting hockey cards nearly my whole life.

There are two things that just bother me about the C55 set:

1) They were drawn up by an artist and appear too cartoonish for me.

2) If you collect rookies, then it is not that big of a set. The Vezina RC is probably the biggest reason why a lot of collectors get drawn to these cards. The Malone RC is the other big one, but the sad part is a majority of hockey fans don't even know who he was! It's an undervalued card, IMO.

Now the C56 set is one of my favorites. It is the first hockey set ever issued and is loaded with rookies of HOFer's, such as Cyclone Taylor, Art Ross (2x), Newsy Lalonde, Patrick brothers and more. Yes, they are more difficult to track down, especially in higher grade, but that is what separates them from the C55 cards. Furthermore, I think they have far better eye-appeal.

[Stampsfan]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I've been collecting hockey cards nearly my whole life.
...
The Malone RC is the other big one, but the sad part is a majority of hockey fans don't even know who he was! It's an undervalued card, IMO.
...

OMG I laughed when I read this. I have several friends who are "big hockey fans" out here in Western Canada. Several I play with in a semi-competitive league. They follow the Flames, Oilers, Canucks, whoever. Some have season tickets to the Flames here (like myself).

Now I laughed with your Joe Malone reference. About a week ago I mentioned grabbing a Joe Malone card to one friend in particular (who kinda knows everything). He said "I never heard of him". Another guy I play with, I mentioned in the dressing room that I picked up an Art Ross card. He also said "Who is that?". I said "There's a trophy named after him", where the rest of the guys chuckled.

Finally I went up to Edmonton to last year for a card show. The night I got there, I had beers with a buddy who has Oilers seasons tickets. He is 38 years old, and "loves hockey". I told him I was "gonna snag a Bernie Parent autograph tomorrow." He said "Who's that?"

I find it just sad that people who are "hard core fans" have never done any reading of hockey (or baseball, football) history, and have no idea who some of the greats are.

[g_vezina_c55]

I also collect simce 1990. I always be more interested bu c55 because georges vezina is
Born and buried in my city. But with the years of collecting my attention moved also to c56. A lot of rc amd so hard to find in high grade.

Here in canada almost everyone dont know about prewar p'ayers hofer.