junk wax curious...

If you are wondering what the "Junk Wax" era is as it relates to sports card collecting, let me wax nostalgic for a moment...

The Junk Wax era was a dark period in the history of sport card collecting, spanning roughly from the late 80s to about 1993-94. In terms of the hockey card market, which is all I care about, it sort of yo-yo'd in the mid 80s, then really picked up steam after the Gretzky trade to LA before the '88-'89 season. O-Pee-Chee, the only card company (well, specifically they were a candy company) in Canada, had hyped the trade to dealers, increased production, and then kept it going in subsequent seasons. At the time everyone seemed to be collecting. Even McDonald's in Canada got in on the act with Hockey and Baseball sets.

And then the perfect storm arrived. In addition to O-Pee-Chee, the NHL issued new licenses to the likes of Upper Deck, Pro Set and Score, the prices for cards for the new crop of hot rookies like Roy, Lemieux, and Hull had continued to rise (fuelled in part by the Beckett price guide), Lindros rookie fever was in full swing, further driving collectors. And the card companies were more than happy to keep up with demand...and then some.

In the hockey mecca of Montreal where I grew up, card shops were everywhere, there were multiple, competing cards shows every week-end (even mid-week shows became a thing), the Beckett price guide was the hockey card pricing bible (this was pre-internet of course) with millions of collectors looking forward to each new monthly issue to see if the cards in their set had gone up or down in value.

Some rookie cards were getting high enough in value to attract counterfeits - specifically Gretzky, Lemieux, Roy and Brett Hull rookies. By the time the 1991 / 1992 / 1993 seasons arrived production numbers were astronomical. And while production numbers were a closely guarded secret (gee, I wonder why card companies would not want you to know that millions of your coveted Jaromir Jagr rookie card were printed?), some have estimated that billions of cards were produced each year, across all sports. Top of the market indeed.

And although it was short-lived, it almost killed the hobby. Card companies like Pro Set, Score and O-Pee-Chee didn't survive. Yes, technically O-Pee-Chee is a candy company (eventually purchased by Nestlé), but they stopped making cards after the '92-'93 season. It also coincides with the time I began collecting in earnest, starting with the 1991-92 Upper Deck Hockey series...

What you will find here is a review of (almost) every hockey set from that era (even McDonald's!). And while some look back on the Junk Wax era with distrain, it holds fond memories for me. More importantly though, not all sets were "junk" - many have stood the test of time and have become little gems.

The sets & rookies from the era may not be helping put your kids through college, but there are still some nice, affordable sets to enjoy. And personally I find it disappointing that as a result of the bankruptcies & consolidations, the hobby has basically collapsed into a single mega-card company - Upper Deck. Ironically the explosion in sets which characterised the Junk Wax era also created what I think is it's biggest contribution to the hobby - the sheer amount of choice & variety of sets at the time.