1974-75 Topps Hockey - 21 Cards Left!

Recently I picked up yet another card towards the 1974-75 Topps set courtesy of eBay. Like the Scotty Bowman I featured a week or so ago, this card was one of the bigger names I had left to track down for the set:

1974-75 Topps - #195 - Denis Potvin RC

This is Denis' rookie card, and it ranks just behind Bobby Orr and the aforementioned Scotty Bowman card in terms of highest "book value" in the '74-75 set. The Orr and Bowman are listed at $30, with Potvin's rookie booking at $25. I was psyched to win this copy, which is in as good or better shape than many of my '74-75s, for a mere $2.28!

Potvin was the first overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft, and was a key player for the back-to-back-to-back-to-back Islanders championship teams of the early 80s. Denis was one of the premier defensemen of his era, one of the best of all-time actually. Aside from the four Stanley Cups, this lifetime Islander accumulated a Calder and three Norris trophies. He retired as the leader among defensemen in career goals, assists, and points, both regular season and playoffs. Potvin was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991, and was the first Islander to have his jersey retired a short time later.

The seller that I purchased this card from on eBay offered $2.00 shipping regardless of how many cards were won. So...I did what any good collector would do and checked out what else he had up for auction. I ended up winning three additional vintage hockey cards:

1971-72 Topps - #10 - Jacques Plante

One of the most innovative and successful goalies in the game's history. Although he's better known for his time spent with the Montreal Canadiens in the 50s and early 60s, this is a cool card nonetheless. If you've gotten your name on the Cup and won the Vezina a half dozen times each (Vezina 7 times), you're alright in my book!

Jacques wasn't the first goaltender to wear a mask in an NHL game, but he was the first to do so regularly.

1971-72 Topps - #6 - GAA Leaders

Plante makes another appearance here, and this card signifies a pretty impressive feat. Jacques had hung up the skates in 1965 but made a comeback and returned to NHL play a few seasons later. After some time with the Blues he was dealt to the Maple Leafs before the '70-71 season. His first season with the Leafs was stellar, he ended up topping the league in GAA. In fact, he was the only goalie that season with a sub-2.00 GAA:

1971-72 Topps - #1 - Goal Leaders

Finally, perhaps my favorite card of the lot, the very first card in the 1971-72 Topps set. Virtually any time you have 3 Hall of Famers on a single piece of cardboard that card is going to be a winner. Even 40 years after this card came out, these three players are all still in the top 25 for goal scoring all-time (#'s 5, 25 and 16 respectively).

Quite a season for Phil Esposito in 1971-72, huh? Those 76 goals are good for 5th most ever scored in an NHL season to this day, behind Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull and a couple of monster seasons from Wayne Gretzky.

Thanks to the combined shipping from this seller, these four cards cost me a total of $8.53 shipped.