Card of the Day: 1981 Fleer NFL Team Action High Gloss Stickers – Philadelphia Eagles

Card of the Day: Jerry Remy 1983 Fleer Star Stickers #68

Card of the Day: 1991 Fleer Cleveland Indians Team Logo Stickers

Card of the Day: 1989 Topps Nintendo Little Mac Game Tip Stickers #8

Card of the Day: 2013 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Series 3 Stickers – New Year’s Eve #152a

Card of the Day: 1985 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Stickers Checklist – Adam Bomb #8a

Topps Surprises Hockey Fans With Brett Hull Signed Stickers

Topps left the NHL licensed card business in 2004.  In 2017 they jumped back in with their Topps NHL SKATE digital trading card app.  In 2019 Topps took things a step further acquiring a license to produce NHL stickers.

Leading up to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, hockey fans enjoyed the events at the NHL Fan Fair.  One of the biggest moments took place at the Topps booth when St. Louis Blues legend, and 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Brett Hull arrived.  Topps printed stickers which resemble Brett Hull’s 1988-89 Topps #66 rookie card.  Fans were quite eager to snatch the stickers up, and have him sign them.

They might not be “cards”, but these stickers look darn good.  Topps is as close as possible to making NHL licensed cards as they can get.  Upper Deck currently has an exclusive NHL license to make cards.

Card of the Day: Phillie Phanatic 2015 Topps Stickers #202

Flashback Product of the Week: 1985 Prism/Jewel Stickers

There is an endless amount of “I wish I could go back in time” moments when it comes to this industry.  Some people would travel back to when Mickey Mantle signed baseballs at a show for only $40.00.  Others would go back even further to snatch up tobacco packs containing Old Judge cards.  Basketball fans would no doubt take a trip to 1986 to buy boxes of 1986-87 Fleer.  The list goes on and on.

If you did have a time machine, visiting your local grocery store or department store in 1985 might be a good place to check out.  Among all the neon clothing, He-Man action figures, and cases of New Coke, it wasn’t uncommon to find vending machines filled with shiny stickers.  Stickers ruled in the 1980’s.

You can’t miss the line of Prism/Jewel Stickers that were released in ’85.  Looking at them for too long could easily burn your eyes out.  To say they’re shiny is an understatement.  There are (14) basketball stickers to collect.  It shouldn’t surprise you that the Michael Jordan is the most valuable.  That sticker predates his ’86-’87 Fleer rookie.  Examples have easily sold for over $1,000 depending on the condition.  Other stickers in this set include Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, and Moses Malone.

Unlike cards, when these stickers came out most people didn’t think about their value.  Many fans simply peeled off the back and slapped them on pretty much anything.  Prism/Jewel Stickers were found all over the country, jammed inside tiny vending machines.  But not every vending machine contained the same stickers.  A lot of the basketball stickers were found out west.

Most collectors think these are ugly as hell.  I might agree with them if the picture was a photograph.  But I like the animated drawings.  The reflective surface looks just like a Superfractor.  In a way I believe the design was way ahead of it’s time.

Flashback Product of the Week: 1987-88 Panini Hockey Stickers

For the most part, sets from the 1980’s don’t carry that much value.  But there are always some exceptions.  One of those exceptions happens to be 1987-88 Panini Hockey Stickers.

Panini got it’s start producing stickers in the early 1960’s and continues to make them today.  In 1987 Panini and the NHL came together to issue a 396 sticker set.  It was the first of it’s kind for NHL fans here in the U.S.  This product was more or less a test to see if hockey fans in America would be interested in an all NHL sticker set.  It turns out that fans were very interested.  The product was a major hit with collectors.  Many collectors consider it to be one of the best hockey products to come out of the 1980’s.  The key rookies include Luc Robitaille, Mike Vernon, Ron Hextall, and Bill Ranford.

Wayne Gretzky has nine different stickers in this set.  He has been with Upper Deck for years.  Its funny to think that Panini once had him.  Given today’s exclusives, I highly doubt we’ll ever seen Gretzky on a Panini card again.  Not unless Panini buys up all the competition, which has been a rumor floating around.  They’ve got all that international sticker money to play with.

If your lucky to find a sealed box, be prepared to open your wallet.  Asking prices are quite high, usually $1,000+.  100 packs come in a box, and each pack contains 6 stickers.  Given the success of the 1987-88 test release, Panini drove up production for the following years.  None of their other NHL sticker sets ever reached the popularity and/or value of their first.