Filling in Gaps - 1964-65 Topps Hockey

The new year has brought with it a bit of a lull in my collecting, which is probably a good thing. Between Bruins games on consecutive nights and the World Junior Championship, which ended in a thrilling win for the Unites States in the gold medal game last night, I've spent a lot of time watching hockey already this year!

As far as collecting goes, we've got a couple of weeks before the 2010 baseball sets start appearing. On the hockey front, I'm just a few cards away from completing my 2009-10 Upper Deck Series 1 hockey set, and Series 2 doesn't hit the shelves until the second week in February. I'm taking advantage of the down time to better organize my collection and scan in some older cards, like this beauty from the 64-65 Topps set.

This was another set that was completely absent from my hockey card collection, so I picked this single up on eBay. Of the 1960's sets I've managed to pick up a sample from so far, 1964-65 Topps may be my favorite. These cards really have to be seen in hand to be fully appreciated. This is a "tall boy" set, meaning that while Milt's card is the same width as a modern day card in terms of the top and bottom edges, it's over an inch taller. The design of the card is simple, but the large size really gives it some appeal. Here's the back of the card:

Not the world's most exciting back, but plenty of space for a large cartoon. As I've said before, I love when coach cards are included on a checklist. This card is in really great shape, crease-free with clean corners and a good glossy front. Combine that with the fact that it's a Bruins card and a coach and it was a no-brainer for under $10. This is generally regarded as one of the more scarce 60's Topps sets, and certain cards can fetch good money, so I will likely never complete it. I will definitely be adding some more of these to my collection though if I can find them on the cheap!