O-Pee-Chee Sticker history 1983-84:

What you are getting here is the STARTER set or 83.33% of the FULL SET. So many people don't want to pay the premium price of $300 for the full set. Pick up 274/330 of the COMPLETE set for less than 25% of the COMPLETE set price. For sure, the budget conscious will appreciate this auction.

This was the biggest O-Pee-Chee set to date featuring 2 piece puzzles of at least one player from every NHL team. A Topps version was also made for this year and it featured the same front pictures as the O-Pee-Chee but with a different unique backing. The O-Pee-Chee “Record Breakers” had both English and French language on the front whereas that Topps version only has English on the front. This O-Pee-Chee series here had English and French language on the backs of the stickers. When finding unopened wax from 1983, it is not uncommon for the glue that held the packages to be coming undone. O-Pee-Chee distributed these stickers out of London, Ontario in Canada. It should be noted that Panini S.p.A., based out of Modena Italy, manufactured all O-Pee-Chee and Topps hockey stickers from 1981 to 1986. So, although these stickers do not have the Panini name on them, they are in essence Panini stickers as they were the only NHL hockey stickers produced during this era. In 1987, Panini decided to produce their own NHL hockey stickers from now on, leaving O-Pee-Chee to manufacture their own stickers in London, Ontario, Canada. O-Pee-Chee stickers only lasted for 3 years after the split from Panini, whereas Panini would continure to produce NHL stickers into the next century.

Sticker set general information:

 This set is from 1983 O-Pee-Chee. It contains 330 stickers which each measure 4.9 cm X 6.5 cm (1.93 in X 2.56 in). When these stickers first came out, there were 100 packages per box, 6 stickers per pack (1 more per pack than the previous year and 2 more than in 1981) and each pack cost $0.25. The original cost of the album was $0.25. The album cover showed Pete Peeters.  

Interesting facts from the 1982-83 NHL season:

 In 1983, the New York Islanders won their 4th Stanley Cup in as many years with Billy Smith of the Islanders being named Playoffs MVP.  The Colorado Rockies were purchased by John McMullen and move to New Jersey. The Devils started playing their home games in New Jersey for the 1982-83 season. Mark Messier scored an impressive 48 goals this season. Wayne Gretzky was featured 9 times (plus 3 other stickers that do not have him directly on the stickers but are a part of a 4 piece puzzle #19-#21) this set includes his first foil puzzle for being a Record Breaker. Wayne led the NHL in goals with 71 and a new record of 125 assists. Gretzky set a playoff record with 38 points. He did this without scoring a goal in the Finals. Wayne became the first player to win 4 straight Hart trophies for being the most valuable player in the league. He also won his second straight Lester B. Pearson award for being the league MVP as voted on by the players. The Art Ross trophy was awarded to Wayne for the 3rd time. This was the 2nd year in a row that Wayne would fire more than 300 shots with a total of 348 to be exact. Future hall of famer Glenn Anderson contributed 48 goals on the Oilers while Jari Kurri chipped in another 45. Pete Peeters won his only Vezina trophy and finished runner up for the Hart Trophy, Rod Langway won the Norris trophy, Goalie Pelle Lindbergh won 23 games as a rookie. Still a player, Bobby Clarke led the Flyers in scoring with 85 points. MIke Bossy recorded his 6th season with at least 50 goals. The interesting note here is that Bossy has only played in the NHL for 6 seasons. Peter Stastny finished behind Gretzky in the scoring title race. Journeyman  Pat Hughes from the Edmonton Oilers has a 2 piece puzzle in this series for scoring the quickest 2 short handed goals 25 seconds apart. 

Item Description: Here’s what you get:

This set is from the third year of OPC stickers that were sold only across Canada. These stickers were manufactured at the Panini factory in Modena Italy. Panini S.p.A made these stickers but they were issued under the O-Pee-Chee name. In a complete set there are 330 stickers (you will get 274 out of 330 of them here in this auction win) that are unpeeled and not stuck anywhere. It is harder to find these stickers unstuck, but you will get them here. I’ve included scans of the stars, the rookies and every single sticker in this set. You get one of each different sticker.  So if you see a sticker twice, it’s because I want to highlight it. You get a complete set that I have personally assembled. This set is over 27 years old and stickers were cut differently than cards so some may be a touch off centre but I have tried my best to assemble the best shaped stickers that I have.

1983 O-Pee-Chee Sticker Checklist: 

The stickers that highlighted in BLUE are the stickers NOT included in this auction win