1960-1969 Hockey Cards

The 1960s were another big decade for hockey cards. The 1960s hockey cards offered collectors the most mainstream choices compared to any other period to date. In addition to Topps and Parkhurst, O-Pee-Chee rejoined the ranks.

The 1960-1969 hockey sets include the rookie card for Bobby Orr, which is the most popular rookie from the decade. Other top rookie offerings include Stan Mikita, Dave Keon, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Bernie Parent, Jim Pappin, Phil Esposito, Gary Cheevers, Tony Esposito, and Serge Savard.

1962-63 Topps Hockey Cards

1962-63 Topps Hockey marks the first time they made a hockey set without white borders. Focusing on the Rangers, Bruins and Blackhawks, key rookies include Vic Hadfield and Jim Nielson.

Product Details

1962-63 Topps Hockey continued the practice of featuring a set broken down by team they began the previous year. They also continued to include coaches, team cards and a checklist card. For the first time, however, the cards were given a border that wasn't white.

Cards feature a player photo superimposed over a solid white background. They have a blue field surrounding it. Below the picture, but inside the blue field, are a team logo, player name, team name and position. A black starburst design flanked by two cartoon hockey players leads the vertically oriented card backs. The starburst contains a card number, player name, position and team. Below that, a field of blue contains a single line of statistics from the previous year and a bilingual biography about the player.

Topps only had rights to feature players from three teams for 1962-63 Topps Hockey. Each was partitioned off into its own section of the set. The Boston Bruins appeared on cards #1-22, the Chicago Blackhawks had cards #23-44 and the New York Rangers were featured on cards #45-65. The coaches for Boston and Chicago were the first cards of their teams' sections. Because New York was undergoing a change at the position, they didn't have a coach in the set. Team picture cards are the last cards for each section and a checklist takes up the last card in the 1962-63 Topps Hockey set.

Key rookies in the set include Vic Hadfield, Jim Nielson and Chico Maki.

How We Grade:

Gem Mint (GMT): (10.0) A flawless card. To be in Gem Mint condition, a card’s borders must have a ratio of 50/50 side to side and top to bottom. 

Mint (MT): (9.0-9.5) A perfect card. Well-centered with parallel borders which appear equal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age. No imperfectly printed cards – out of register, badly cut or ink flawed – or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack. Generally, to be considered in Mint condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of 60/40 side to side and top to bottom. 

Near Mint/Mint (NM/MT): (8.0-8.5) A super high-end card that appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may exhibit a very slight wax stain on reverse, slight fraying at one or two corners, or a minor printing imperfection. Centering must be app. 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse. 

Near Mint (NM): (7.0-7.5) A nearly perfect card at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may have slight surface wear, slight fraying on some corners, slightly out-of-register picture focus, a minor printing blemish or slight wax stain on reverse. Centering must be 70/30 to 75/25 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent/Near Mint (EX/NM): (6.0-6.5) Card may have visible surface wear or a printing defect. A very light scratch. Corners may have slightly graduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may have minor wax stain on reverse, may have very slight nothing on edges. Centering must be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent (EX): (5.0-5.5) Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear. Card borders may be off center as much as 85/15. No creases. May have very minor gum, wax or product stains, front or back. Surfaces may show slight loss of luster from rubbing across other cards. Dark bordered cards may have one or two small nicks.

Very Good/Excellent (VG/EX): (4.0-4.5) Shows obvious handling, but still looks nice. Corners may be rounded or have minor creases. No major creases, tape marks or extraneous markings or writing. Surfaces does exhibit loss of luster, but the printing is intact. May have paper wrinkles. May show major gum, wax or other packaging stains. All four borders visible, though the ratio may be as poor as 95/5. Exhibits honest wear. 

Very Good (VG): (3.0-3.5) A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentional damage or abuse. May be “Mis-cut or Off-Center” with no border visible. May have major or multiple creases, however, creases are not so deep as to show the underlying paper. This card is completely readable, has not been written on, and has no tape marks or holes. Corner rounding may extend well beyond the border. 

Good (GD) (2.0-2.5) Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse. Will show all the wear characteristics of a Very Good card, along with such damage as thumb tack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhaps small tears around the edges or creases so heavily as to break the cardboard. Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing or be missing small bits of paper. Still basically a complete card. 

Poor (P): (1.0-1.5) A card that has been tortured to death. Corners or other areas may be torn off. Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch or have been used for BB gun practice. Front may have extraneous pen or pencil writing, or other defacement. Major portions of front or back design may be missing. Not a pretty sight.