Collecting Origins

It was roughly 36 years ago to this exact day when I opened my first pack of O-Pee-Chee Hockey Cards. The journey from that point onward has certainly been a remarkable one - especially after some of the things that I have been through over the past few months.

For those of you that do not know me, I'm Stephen Laroche. 

Who?

Okay, this requires a bit of explanation for those of you who are not familiar with my work in the trading card industry. As stated above, I have been collecting since the 1981-82 season and have worn a lot of hats in the collecting world. Over time, I went from obsessed young collector to occasional weekend warrior dealer by the time the industry was booming in the early '90s.

(Yes, hockey cards are still around, and yes, there are grown men and women who still enjoy the pursuit of collecting them.)

Unlike many people who were collecting/investing 25 years ago, I managed to stick with it and by the time I was in college in Ottawa, Ontario learning about the world of Public Relations, I was working at a card store. Once I moved on to get my second diploma (Print Journalism), I finally got up the nerve to submit a story to the late, great magazine known as Canadian Sports Collector. Soon after, I was working for SLAM! Sports (part of Sun Media's CANOE portal) and launched a small area of the site called SLAM! Collectibles in October, 2001.

For about three years,  I regularly updated the site (even after being let go from the full-time gig once the dotcom bubble burst) on essentially a voluntary basis. The site had plenty of hobby news for all sports along with box breaks (in the days before they essentially required videos to go along with them) and the occasional fun piece while making tons of contacts in the industry. I also made more than a few appearances on Sportsology's Cardboard Radio broadcasts along the way as well. While I can't seem to find any traces of the SLAM! Collectibles site online anymore, it did allow me a great opportunity.

Back in 2003, my old Editor at CSC, Baron Bedesky, was my go-to-guy for information at In The Game. I had been bugging him for months for a chance to write some card backs in order to get my foot in the door with a manufacturer. With a big project called 2003-04 In The Game Action a few months away from release, Baron gave me my chance - and I wrote 180 of them in exchange for some product.

It was one of the best deals I ever made as it turned into two more opportunities to do some work in the months that followed - compiling stats for subset cards in the massive 2003-04 Parkhurst Original Six releases and backs for the widespread In The Game set that was sold via a Toronto Star promotion.

By the time the 2004 World Cup of Hockey rolled around, I was out of work and trying to figure out how I could break into the industry on a full-time basis. One card company was interested in me at the time, but once Dr. Brian Price was told about that, he asked to meet and we came to an agreement that I would come work for In The Game.

Over the course of a decade, I wore many hats for the company and was involved in dozens of projects. I was able to use my creative energy to help create some great products in addition to building relationships with collectors, dealers, and the players themselves. Over time on this blog, I will try to share a few memories as they come up. Working at In The Game had its share of both good and bad times, like any job, but I managed to learn some valuable lessons along the way.

In 2014, Brian sold In The Game to Leaf Trading Cards and I was finding myself looking for work once again. Luckily, I had started to freelance for Beckett Hockey and its then-Editor, Susan Lulgjuraj, was on her way to taking a position with Topps. Naturally, I campaigned heavily for the position and was pleased that Bill Dumas and Chris Olds decided to give their approval.

Having fun with Travis Konecny and Mathew Barzal at the 2016 NHLPA Rookie Showcase

For a little over three years, I was able to continue to live out that childhood dream of being connected to the hobby. I set out to make the magazine feel like it did in its glory days, at least from an editorial perspective. Honestly, I feel that I succeeded in that mission as folks told me they had started to read the editorial pages again after years of essentially ignoring them. There were some great times and a few frustrating ones, but all good things come to an end and my contract was terminated along with the other freelance editors four months ago. At this time, I am not going to delve deeply into those feelings and speak ill of others that may deserve some criticism, but that may come in time as I continue to grow and move past all of it.

Luckily, I have been able to do a little bit of writing in the past few months for the Upper Deck Blog and contributed a couple of pieces to my old pal, Russ Cohen, at Sportsology. Their kindness at this time has been genuinely appreciated and as I start a new chapter in life.

Now that you have heard my long story about who I am - let's get back to the origin story.

I really need to get one of these packs and save it for a special occasion!

Flashing back to mid-February, 1982, I was five years old and my world was starting to be all about two things - Star Wars and hockey. Quite frankly, those are still big things for me, but I digress yet again.

After spending a Saturday night at a friend's house, we made a stop in the twilight hours that Sunday at a small convenience store in my hometown of Trenton, Ontario called O'Malley's. Long closed and boarded up today, the store was one of my favourite places to go as I sought out packs of O-Pee-Chee Hockey Stickers that had been released a few months earlier. Well, there were no stickers in stock that day, so I reluctantly accepted a pack of cards instead. To be honest, I wasn't even really interested in them at the time. The stickers were my jam - not these larger pieces of cardboard.

The Card That Started It All

That changed once I cracked open that pack. I pulled open the wax seal and lo and behold, Jim Korn of the Detroit Red Wings was staring at me. As I shuffled through the rest of the pack, I encountered a Dave Hunter card as well. Perhaps getting an Edmonton Oilers player sealed the deal for me and I knew I wanted more.

Well, here we are 36 years later and both nothing and everything has changed at the same time. I still love breaking open a pack. I don't think that is ever going to change, but I need to feel better about the hobby and collecting again. This blog is definitely the way to do it and I hope that you will enjoy it.