As a kid, what was the first pack that you remember opening. Mine was 74/75 OPC. Jim.

Mine was 1971 - 72 OPC. With my 50 cent allowance I would buy 2 packs and a chocolate bar. I also remember scouring the neighborhood for empty bottles to return to the store to buy more packs. Incredible to think that the whole box of 36 packs would have cost $3.60. I want a time machine for Chistmas. lol....

As a kid my folks would not spend money on sports cards for me or allow me to spend my allowance on cards. But dear old grandpa would buy me the whole box. If I just asked for it when we were at the drug store/grocery store. I think just to make my mother upset. They never got along... Memories of a couple 1973 Topps rack's, But mostly 1974 Topps wax with the blue wrapper. I also went crazy for the Wacky Packages from this year as well... They came in the "Wonder Bread" bread bags if I remember correctly. Paul

Once I got into card collecting I tried to determine this, as there was one year I remember in particular where a friend and I used to pick up a pack or two most days; 25 cents if I recall. Since this was my best pal in grade 6 I can say with fair certainty that we were buying 75-76 OPC. Man we had stacks of those things, hundreds.

I remember opening up a 1970-71 opc packs, infront of the "Dairy" as we called it, a grocery corner store really. They had a large garbage can out front for people to throw their garbage in, I remember throwing the wrapper in the garbage and thumbing through the cards on two specific occasions. I got a Bobby Orr card and later a Darryl Sittler RC.

Wish my Mom didn't throw my cards out!

Pulled a Post Cereal Mini-Stick the same time period. It only took my hyper-active brother (pictured in the VHC 1970's introduction page) about 30 seconds to shoot the little plastic puck down the heating vent! Never seen that puck again, wonder if its still in there!?

My first pack was 1972-73 series I.

I could never remember what series it was....packs looked the same except for colour....

My first pack wasn't hockey--used to "find" coins in the back alley and go redeem them at Sam's corner store next door to my house--The first packs i opened were the ELVIS and KISS cards--
Always wondered where the hoarding and hidng thing came from--as my mom didn't allow that kind of stuff

Ah great question...such memories...my first pack I opened would have been the 1st series of 73/74 opc nhl...the red cards....wow...over 3 decades ago...

So far, everyone that responded bought thier first packs in the early to mid seventies. Did everyone follow the same path as me, bought cards until the late 70's or early 80's and then re-entered the hobby in the early 90's and wasted a ton of money on Upper Deck and Pro Set? Jim.

I bought my 1st pack of cards in the early to mid 60's. There was a small variety store that sold the packs. I would keep the red sox and all yankees went in the spokes of my bike. I stopped buying in the 70's and started again in early 90's purchasing hockey cards/packs. The money I wasted on the inserts/chase cards.Ouch.........

I didn't collect cards as a kid, not that I would have seen much hockey in this part of the country.

By the time I started in the early 90's, I wasted my money on Upper Deck and Score. It was all about availability. Once I found places to buy better cards, I started buying 80's OPC cards and went from there. I did buy a box of 1987 OPC once and opened about half of it. That was in the mid 90's, so it was a great experience! I never had my shot at the older stuff, though.

Earl

Jim F....that is hilarious because that is exactly what I did...I collected until the 79/80 opc Gretzky set and then didn't start collecting until that crappy Score set with Lindros as the centerpiece.....then I quit again and started 4 years ago and have only been buying old stuff off the internet....this latest binge has been the funnest though most expensive!

My first set would have been 1969 OPC....I can remember opening them as fast as you can, so you could cram as much of that gum in your mouth before it lost the flavour. Yes, I have a bunch of early 90's crap, but went running back to vintage pretty fast.

Dan

I bought my first pack of cards in 57 - football. I collected baseball heavily from 60 through 63 then dropped out of the hobby due to HS (girls, drivers license, typical teen ager distractions).

I never saw a hockey pack in Indianapolis in the late 50s, early 60s. The first hockey cards I bought were Topps 62-63 that I bought from the old Card Collector's Co. catalog in 63 - I thought they were very cool and would have bought more except for the before mentioned end to collecting period number one.

When I got out of college in 1973 I started buying packs again - football then basketball and hockey. I did complete sets from packs from 73 through 93. The baseball strike and hockey lockout turned me off to collecting (along with the vast expansion of modern cards and the marketing tactics of Upper Deck) and I quit collecting for the second time.

In 2003 I discovered eBay. I also discovered you could find and buy C55 vintage hockey cards (a set I had read about but never seen) and I put a set together. If not for the internet I would have never got back into the hobby.

Packs are fun but there is nothing like getting a prewar card in your mailbox....

1991/92 Upper Deck hockey .

I started opening packs at age 9 a great year! you guessed it 79-80 OPC I had more Gretz rookies on the spokes of my bike than you can imagine.Hard to believe they were only worth 2 cents then.

1966 Hockey, was 7 years old. I still have the cards, about 40 but no Orr rookie. Got serious in 1970, and still have my completed sets up to 1977. I the mid 80's go back into the hobby with the 1960's cards. Still own everything . " BOY,THE MEMORIES "

'87 OPC when I was 7 years old.. I glued the Oilers in my sticker book and tore up the Calgary Flames players to later flush down the toilet.

1971 OPC. For some reason I still remember trading a Phil Esposito for a Ken Dryden during recess in grade 2. Still have the Dryden.... needless to say it's no longer "mint"