Hockey Cards

Charlton Press, Trajan Publishing released Charlton Hockey Cards 16th Edition.

If you ever wanted to know anything or everything about hockey cards, then Charlton Hockey Cards 16th is the book for you.

The latest edition is a 750-page book chronicling virtually every hockey card from the last 120 years. It identifies every hockey brand with a card-by-card checklist and features the trusted pricing that collectors, traders and dealers have come to expect.

"Pick a card, any card, and you will find it listed in this book," says editor Richard Scott. "This is the book that every hockey card enthusiast recognizes as an essential. The addition of all the Sidney Crosby/Alex Ovechkin rookie cards from the 2005-06 sets, plus the revamped Vintage chapter of all pre-1990 sets, makes this year's book the most anticipated edition in years."

The book is broken into five chapters: Vintage Issues, Boom Years, Modern Years, Modern Team Issues, and the Index. The Vintage chapter features all pre-1990 issues. This year's Vintage chapter has been rewritten with new set descriptions, new information, new pricing. There are dozens of new vintage sets listed and more than 100 new photos.

All vintage sets are now sorted in alphabetical order by brand, a tremendous benefit because to those collectors unfamiliar with a set's year of issue. Even for the seasoned collectors who have memorized the years, they will find that they can locate vintage listings much quicker using the new alphabetical order, especially for the so-called "oddball" items.

To help identify the vintage section, each page in this chapter has a black border. Plus, there are numerous anchors for sets with confusing or multiple brand names, thus promising a quick-find for any set in the book.

The next two chapters list all mainstream and oddball sets from 1990-91 to 2005-06 in chronological order. Every card, every parallel and every insert is listed and priced. Mainstream sets include team-by-team checklists and, in many cases, a Master Set or Builder Set price. Every 2005-06 hockey card set, including Ultimate Memorabilia and Upper Deck The Cup, are priced in this edition.

The Modern Team Issues chapter features all post-1990 team sets. These sets are listed in order by team, starting with the NHL team sets and then followed by all other team sets (junior, minor-pro and European).

Throughout these first four chapters, readers will find three unique check-box shapes to keep track of their collection. While most lines carry the regular square box ( □ ), items limited to 500 copies or less have a triangle-shaped box ( ∆ ) while rare items limited to 100 copies or less have a diamond-shaped box ( ◊ ). Every box represents a different card. The last chapter is the Index for all players and goaltenders. The chapter is split by non-goalies (skaters, coaches, etc.) and goalies, a similar split found in other annual guides and registers. The Index of Goalies section is especially popular with goalie-specific collectors.

The 16th edition of Charlton Hockey Cads was launched in September. The cover features a popular goaltender Patrick Roy, who this November will become an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The book is available in Canada at Chapters and Indigo bookstores.