During the 1970s and 1980s, Topps and O-Pee-Chee were the only kids on the hockey card block. Topps first entered the hockey card market with the 1954-55 series. Between 1951-52 and that set, Parkhurst was the only manufacturer to supply the product. The two would run together for over a decade, splitting the six-team league in half. Parkhurst featured card players from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens. Topps featured players from the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. In 1963-64, Parkhurst produced its last series. O-Pee-Chee had originally produced cards in the 1930s and 1940s, but went on hiatus until it was resurrected in the 1960s.
Aside from the obvious, like the labels on the back indicating who the maker was, there are several ways to tell a Topps card from its O-Pee-Chee counterpart in an era when the two were basically clones of each other.
Topps hockey cards were printed on slightly different paper or cardstock. Topps generally had darker colors on the back. Topps cards were also prone to what I call ‘Topps stain’. The greasy fingerprints were quite prominent and permanent on the back of the Topps cards. The Topps card fronts seemed to be glossier than their cousin’s cards.
The 1971-72 series is a radical exception to the rule. The fronts are the same on Topps and O-Pee-Chee cards, but the back is quite different. Topps have a green and yellow reverse and are oriented with the print at the shortest width. OPC hockey cards are facing opposite on the back and are pastel green and black.
The number of cards is much higher in the O-Pee-Chee series. This is understandable given that O-Pee-Chee is a Canadian company that sells products to the hockey-hungry Canadian market. The reciprocal was in effect for baseball cards during the same era, and the Topps games were much larger than the OPC series.
An important difference that makes identifying the difference between Topps and O-Pee-Chee unmistakable is the language on the back of the card. The information blurb on Topps cards is in English only, while OPC is in both English and French. Interestingly, on the O-Pee-Chee cards, sometimes the information was different in English than in French.
Topps is currently out of the market. O-Pee-Chee exists but only in name, really. Upper Deck is behind the OPC brand now and the cards are no longer produced in London, Ontario, Canada.
