Now THESE are minis

Teeny Tiny Peter had no stats at all.

This is a set that I’ve been debating getting into for years.  I finally found a perfect starter lot and the only regret I have is that I didn’t get into this a lot sooner.  I thought they looked cool from a distance, but now having the cards in hand, I’d call them something closer to awesome.

These are 2002-03 Parkhurst retro minis.  There were a number of Parkhurst releases that season, including a retro set that was a modern-sized clone of the milestone ’51-52 set.  A subset of the retro set was the mini set.  This was the same set, but produced at the same size as the originals.  There was a base set of 200 plus 50 short-printed rookies (highlighted by Spezza and Nash – thankfully no Crosby or anyone really absurd).

The cards are a pretty solid tribute to the original set.  The images are manipulated/washed-out colour shots rather than the colourized black-and-white shots used in 1951.  As a result, they’re actually a little less vibrant than the original.  They still work, though.  As a bonus, a ten-year-old player selection (that happens to land on a period I wasn’t collecting) means that there are still cards of Forsberg, Super Mario, Patrick Roy, etc.  It’s a fun set.

Two hotshot young goalies - 50 years apart.

Of course, the new cards are better-made.  1951-52 Parkhurst was cut with a paper cutter and collated in a cement mixer.  The new ones are both straight and centered – things which cost crazy sums of money for 1951-52.  The font is a tad smaller and there’s a bit less contrast, which doesn’t help with legibility.

The cards are exactly half the size of a modern card.  This is also true of the originals.  They’re a touch wider than the old cigarette cards, so finding an appropriate sheet to store them in is an issue.  As I’ve done with the 1951-52 set, they’ll fit in a sticker sheet, but not perfectly.

Standard sized cards look huge in comparsion.

With my lot now in hand, I’m at 179 of 200 base cards, plus two of the 50 short prints.  It’s a solid start and I should be able to salt away at least the base set this year.  It’s a lot easier than ’71 OPC baseball high numbers and 1950s hockey.