Is it the Gretzky rookie ?

[samosa4u]

Looking for a perfect Plante rookie is next to impossible! This card is often found with centering issues, tilts, registration issues, print lines, print spots, etc.

[jb217676]

Anything from 1982 O-Pee-Chee Hockey is extremely tough to find centered!

[cardsagain74]

The '57 Bill Russell is usually a mess too

[tabasco]

The 1958 Topps Bobby Hull RC takes the honour. Its located at the bottom right corner of the printing sheet so its always O/C and easier to damage already. It is also the last numbered card in the set so it usually placed at the bottom of the stack so its sustainable to lots of fingers rubbing and scratching, bottom surface stains and scratches, and etc damage.

Its population report confirms is rarity of high grades. Only 35x PSA 7, 7x PSA 8, 2x PSA 9, 0 PSA 10. It is much harder to find in high grades than even '51 Howe RC, '66 Topps Orr, or '79 OPC Gretzky. That's why its 7s and 8s go for good money, in fact, the 8 just sold for $87,000 yesterday and I think its a low price for this card. The younger generations don't know the story behind this card and its rarity, I think it should have sold for above $100k. I wouldn't even have been surprised if it sold for $200k yesterday with today's meteoric rise in card prices. Any of Hull's high graded card (7s, 8s, and 9s) would be a great pick up right now before their prices explode.

[goldenage]

I have heard this from other collectors. This is not my opinion. There is talk in Canada that Hull is not collected as much as Howe or Orr because of what happened off the ice, not what happened on the ice.

[FrozenInferno]

By many accounts Bobby Hull is a terrible person.

He abused and beat his wives, even getting arrested in the 80s for domestic abuse and battery after the police found him drunk and his wife beaten. He assaulted a police officer in the process and pled guilty to that.

He's also made Nazi-sympathizing comments and practically admitted to being a racist in the same breath.

How the Blackhawks keep trotting him out as a franchise hero this day in age is baffling to me.

When it comes to his 1958 Topps I'm conflicted. On the one hand it's a very low pop and condition sensitive vintage card of an on-ice ''legend'', exactly the sort of card I usually long for. But on the other hand he was/is a garbage human being off the ice who would be cancelled in a heartbeat in today's world.

With prices going the way they are and PSA 1 examples crossing the $1k CAD mark now I just can't talk myself into spending the money to get one into my PC.

[irv]

Originally Posted by FrozenInferno

By many accounts Bobby Hull is a terrible person.

He abused and beat his wives, even getting arrested in the 80s for domestic abuse and battery after the police found him drunk and his wife beaten. He assaulted a police officer in the process and pled guilty to that.

He's also made Nazi-sympathizing comments and practically admitted to being a racist in the same breath.

How the Blackhawks keep trotting him out as a franchise hero this day in age is baffling to me.

When it comes to his 1958 Topps I'm conflicted. On the one hand it's a very low pop and condition sensitive vintage card of an on-ice ''legend'', exactly the sort of card I usually long for. But on the other hand he was/is a garbage human being off the ice who would be cancelled in a heartbeat in today's world.

With prices going the way they are and PSA 1 examples crossing the $1k CAD mark now I just can't talk myself into spending the money to get one into my PC.

And Bobby wasn't a small man.