Parkhurst Products
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Parkhurst Hockey Cards were manufactured by Parkhurst Products, a Canadian manufacturer of sports cards. Their cards were primarily for ice hockey but also featured Canadian wrestlers. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Parkhurst produced its first hockey cards in 1951 and continued for over a decade as the primary cardmaker for that sport before ceding the market to Topps.
Although Parkhurst was a very popular brand in Canada, it only had the rights to produce cards of the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. In some years, it only had the rights to produce cards featruing players from Montreal and Toronto and the sets for any given year could consist of less than 70 cards.
After disappearing in the 1960's, the brand was resuscitated in 1991 by Pro Set. After the hockey card explosion of 1990-91, Parkhurst cards were back in the marketplace. Now promoted as a premium brand of cards, there were three different series available. Series I and Series II were available in both English and French and featured the rookie cards of players such as Dominik Hasek and John LeClair. The 1991-92 Update Set was the final release of the year and was the most valuable of all three sets. One of the key rookie cards of that set was of Bill Guerin.
During the 1993-94 hockey season, Parkhurst released a set of cards, known unofficially as "The Missing Link". These cards were produced to complement the fact that Parkhurst did not make cards in 1956. All the cards in the set featured the Original Six teams. The cards featured stats from the 1954-55 season, and the cards had a very retro feel to them. One of the most unique cards in the set was a card featuring the likeness of Johnny Bower in a New York Rangers uniform. The popularity of this set, led to another retro-style set, which was released in 1996. This set was to commemorate the 1966-67 season, which signified the rookie season of Bobby Orr and the final Stanley Cup triumph of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Once again, all Original Six teams were featured in the set and each pack contained a bottlecap with the likeness of a player from this set. There were ten chase bottlecaps featuring Bobby Orr and had a black back.
In 1994, the brand was acquired by Upper Deck. Its offering was lost in a glut of too many hockey card products. By 1994-1995, brands like Fleer and Be A Player (cards from the NHLPA) were involved with hockey cards, and Topps introduced its Finest brand. The one set Parkhurst released in 1994-95 that gained any attention was its Special Edition set (which was supposed to be available in Europe). It was a smaller set and could be distinguished from the standard Parkhurst cards of 1994-1995 by its unique numbering. All cards from the Special Edition had a numbering that started with SE. This set was unique because it featured the first cards of players like Jarome Iginla and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Starting in 1995, the brand was no longer owned by Upper Deck. Returning to a Canadian ownership, Parkhurst was released into the North American and European markets. This resulted in a premium price for its packs while the quality of the cards did not warrant a premium price. Some of the highlights from the 1995-96 Parkhurst set can be found in Series II. The first card of Wayne Gretzky in a St. Louis Blues uniform was part of Series II. Although the controversy of this card was that Wayne Gretzky's face was superimposed over previous captain Shayne Corson's body, Wayne Gretzky was also featured on another card in the Series II set, but this time, it was on the back. Kevin Stevens was featured in Series II as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. On the back of the card is a picture of Kevin Stevens and Wayne Gretzky wearing the Los Angeles Kings third jersey. This is the only known card that features an image of Wayne Gretzky in this infamous Kings third jersey. Despite these unique Gretzky issues, the brand disappeared after 1995-1996.
For the 50th anniversary of the initial set, the Parkhurst brand was relaunched by In The Game Trading Cards. It lasted only a few years before the 2004-05 NHL lockout halted hockey card production. When the NHL resumed operation, the league and the players' union agreed to make Upper Deck the sole licensee for the sport.
In 2005, Upper Deck issued another Parkhurst set. This was a unique brand that was launced in June 2006. It featured 700 cards and had a card of Alexander Ovechkin's goal, lying flat on his back (card number 588). Another unique card commemorated the first head-to-head meeting between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby (card number 600). In all, there were four cards of Alexander Ovechkin (card numbers 588, 597, 600, and 700), while there were six cards of Sidney Crosby (card numbers 526, 586, 587, 593, 657, and 694). Not to be forgotten, this set also features Stanley Cup Hero Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes (card number 614).
