Most hockey card collectors we know are always on the lookout for the next big find. However, with so many options available, it is often difficult to determine the best hockey trading cards to target.
We understand that part of the hobby because it’s a constant in hockey card collection. Thankfully, we’ve got a list of metrics we use to vet the cards we collect. We’ll describe some of our top picks, which we arrived at using these metrics. If you keep reading long enough, you’ll also discover how our evaluation process works.
It’s difficult to create a list of the best hockey cards that every hockey collector would agree on. That’s because, for the most part, our card choices when collecting come down to personal preferences.
However, we’ve figured out a way to help you decide on the best cards to collect. We’ll look at the vintage and modern eras of hockey trading cards and describe what we consider the best cards in each era.
Hockey cards have been around for a bit. Some folks say as far back as 1910-11, when they were inserted in cigarette packs. The early hockey cards weren’t designed for collectors but were used as advertising pieces for cigarettes, candy, food, and gum.
In 1954-55, Topps began producing cards featuring US-based NHL teams, and by 1958, O-Pee-Chee (in partnership with Topps) started producing NHL cards in Canada. By the late 1980s/early 1990s, hockey trading card collecting became a thing. More manufacturers entered the market, so the number of hockey collectibles increased. Upper Deck was one such company, and over the years, it has earned a reputation for creating some of the most valuable hockey trading cards. That said, here are our top picks of hockey cards in this era.
This card portrays Orr in his rookie year in the NHL. Orr is responsible for creating the hybrid defenseman position that scored a lot. He actually set the record as the first defenseman to lead the league in scoring. Many collectors rate it as one of the top three most sought-after hockey trading cards.
It’s one of the more popular cards in the hallowed Team Canada Summit Series. It portrays Henderson on a game day during the 1972 Canada–USSR Summit Series. In Game 8 of the series, Henderson scored the “Goal of the Century” in an iconic moment often remembered by many hockey fans.
This card is widely considered by many collectors as the Holy Grail of hockey trading cards and is easily the most sought-after card in this era. It features a portrait of Gretzky in his Edmonton Oilers uniform on his debut of a record-breaking career in the NHL. Although there aren’t many O-Pee-Chee versions in mint condition, you might happen on a couple with the Topps version.
Unlike the traditional trading cards on this list, this is a promotional piece issued by Stroh Brewery. It’s a reminder of a historic feat aptly named “Miracle on Ice,” where the 1980 US Olympic Men’s Hockey team, comprised of amateurs and college players, defeated a formidable Soviet team. Ezurione was the captain of the team, and he scored the match-winning goal.
| Card | Number | Significance | Highest Sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Orr | #35 | Orr became the first defenseman to lead the NHL in scoring | $275,000 |
| Paul Henderson | #14 | Henderson scored one of the most iconic goals in hockey’s history | N/A |
| Wayne Gretzky | #18 | Considered the holy grail of hockey trading cards because of Gretzky’s sterling NHL career | $3.75 million |
| Mike Eruzione | 190 | Eruzione was the captain of the 1980 US Olympic Men’s Hockey team that pulled off the historic “Miracle on Ice” feat. He also scored the winning goal in that match. | N/A |
The modern era of hockey trading cards, led by Upper Deck, was marked by lots of innovative designs and ideas. Standard paper gave way to heavy, rigid card stock, foil, a plastic-like surface, and chrome finishes. That’s not all.
Base cards also gave way to parallels, memorabilia cards, rookie cards, case hits, rookie patch autos, and autographs, among other types of collectibles. There are now more licensing agreements and third-party grading systems than there were in the vintage era. We also observed that player performance, card aesthetics, and rarity are some of the things collectors consider when checking for the best hockey trading cards to collect.
With that in mind, here are some of the hockey cards that we consider top options in this era.
This card features one of the first action shots of Wickenheiser, one of the brightest stars in women’s hockey around the world. Wickenheiser is arguably the most decorated women’s hockey player, so this card has an iconic status (we aren’t sure if it’s got grail status just yet), especially among fans of women’s hockey.
The front side of this card features an action shot of Crosby in his rookie season. It features Upper Deck’s trademark glossy cardstock and is often regarded as the player’s most popular rookie card. Crosby is one of the biggest NHL players in the modern era, so naturally, this card is a cornerstone item in Upper Deck’s stable.
This is yet another highly sought-after rookie card. It features an action shot of McDavid in his rookie year. The card also has all the trademark Upper Deck features and is easily categorized as the player’s mainstream rookie card. McDavid would go on to establish himself as one of the NHL’s greats and is regarded as one of the icons of modern hockey.
| Card | Number | Significance | Highest Sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayley Wickenheiser | #58 | Wickenheiser is the most decorated women’s hockey player, so the card has iconic status | N/A |
| Sidney Crosby | #201 | Crosby is one of the biggest NHL players in the modern era, so naturally, this card is a cornerstone item in Upper Deck’s stable. | $30,100 |
| Connor McDavid | #201 | McDavid is one of the greats of modern hockey and Upper Deck’s cornerstone collectibles | $15,655 |
Since there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to ranking hockey trading cards, we came up with some markers that we used in vetting the cards that made our list of the best cards for each era. Here’s a quick description of the markers that we used (note that the markers we used are updated periodically to suit card trends):
Asking prices helped us get an idea of how much collectors rate a card, but the best marker to gauge a hockey card’s worth is how much collectors are willing to pay for it. So, we looked up a couple of auction sales to help us determine how the cards we listed ranked.
We noticed that with modern hockey cards, current player performance, injuries, current market sales, and card condition, among other things, affected the market value of the cards. So we factored all that in to arrive at an estimated market value at the time of review.
Collector demand is often determined by the historical significance attached to the card. We observed that this applied mostly to vintage hockey cards, but it also plays a role with modern hockey cards. For instance, most of the cards that made our lists of the best hockey trading cards captured some moment in hockey history that old and new collectors can relate to.
We admit that this metric applies more to modern hockey cards because they feature better designs than vintage cards. Still, it helped pick our suggested cards because a card’s aesthetics also influences collector demand.
All the hockey cards we picked as the best options in the market feature players who have significant fan bases. We opted for this marker because many collectors are actually fans themselves, and one of the things that often drives their “pursuit” of the hockey cards stems from an adoration of the players. You’d agree that a good number of the collectors of the Orr, Henderson, and Gretzky cards are fans (albeit older ones). The same rule applies to Wickenheiser, Crosby, and McDavid.
Scarce cards with significant historical significance and players with a large fan base are more likely than not to be prized possessions that collectors look to acquire. With vintage hockey cards, scarcity might refer to a limited number of cards in mint condition. For modern hockey cards, it might be a result of limited production or collectors grabbing up the available ones. Either way, a card’s scarcity is something we considered when considering what the best hockey trading cards are.
A significant amount of the information and insights that we used when picking our list of the top hockey trading cards were gotten from reliable collector resources. Some of the resources we consulted included Beckett, Goldin, eBay sold listings, and Heritage Auctions.
The modern era of hockey cards is dominated by third-party grading companies such as Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and Beckett Grading Service (BGS). These services grade cards to determine how many remain in good condition. They also publish the population reports of the cards they’ve graded to let collectors know the number of cards in each grade that are in good condition. Looking up the published population reports helped us decide which cards to pick and what NHL card rips to opt for.
Another thing that we observed during our review was that the reputation of the card set also affected collector demand. We opted for sets like 1966-67 Topps and 2005-06 Upper Deck Young Guns, among others, because they’re widely regarded as the best hockey card sets.
As a collector who probably has other collector friends, you’d agree that we all have different reasons for collecting cards. That’s why in this section of our guide, we’ll describe the difference between the major types of collectibles and suggest a type of card that they might like.
This group of collectors is all out for collecting cards that feature their favorite players; it doesn’t matter if they’re retired legends, active players, or rookies. Collectors in this category would enjoy collecting rookie cards, autographed cards, memorabilia cards, one-of-one cards, and signed inserts.
By “art collectors”, we’re referring to collectors who are big on collecting hockey cards with a stylish, unique look. Such collectors make it a point to be at hockey card breaks where they can get colored parallels, refractors, and, of course, inserts.
These are the types of collectors who devote themselves to collecting cards that help them build a history of their favorite hockey team. They mostly collect base sets, team sets, and other cards related to their preferred franchise.
With this class of collectors, the goal is to collect all the cards in a complete release. They are often “fans’’ of the manufacturers and go all out to collect any of the releases that appeal to them. Collectors in this category spend time collecting base sets, checklist cards, short prints, and subsets.
Having spent years collecting hockey cards, we understand that each collector has a different drive for collecting cards. Come to think of it, the word “best” is relative. That’s why we didn’t try to provide a formula for picking the “best” hockey cards.
Rather, we split the hockey card collection into two eras and offered you our top picks based on a set of criteria that we described in the guide. The idea is for you to see the rationale behind our choices and apply the metrics you like when you go looking for your preferred hockey cards.
There’s a lot of fun to be had when collecting hockey cards, so see our list of cards and metrics for choosing them as guides and not rules.
There are different types of hockey cards, including base cards, parallel cards, memorabilia cards, inserts, and rookie cards.
You might want to consider its current estimated market value, condition, historical significance, and features, among other things.
There are several options out there. You might also want to check our on-page banners if you’re looking for recommendations.
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