Hockey Card Values: How to Price Your Hockey Cards
How to work out what your hockey cards are worth: find the exact card, judge the condition, and read real sold prices instead of asking prices.
By Card Shows & Shops · October 22, 2026
Find the exact card
Write down the year, the brand (O-Pee-Chee, Topps, Upper Deck, Parkhurst, Pro Set, Score), the card number on the back and the player. Two cards with the same photo can be worth very different amounts: an O-Pee-Chee and a Topps, a base card and a parallel, a rookie and a second-year card.
Judge the condition
Look at the four corners, the edges, the surface under a light, and the centring of the borders. A soft corner or a crease drops a card a long way. If a card might be worth grading, see what PSA grading costs before you send it.
Read sold prices, not asking prices
Anyone can list a card for any price. What matters is what copies in the same condition actually sold for in the last few months. Search sold listings for the exact card and grade, and look at several sales, not one.
Know which years are worth checking
- Before 1980: almost every star card is worth something, and condition decides how much.
- 1979-80 to 1989-90: the key O-Pee-Chee rookies (Gretzky, Messier, Lemieux, Roy, Yzerman) carry real value.
- 1990-91 to the mid-1990s: printed in huge numbers. Most cards are worth cents; see the junk wax era.
- 2005-06 on: Upper Deck Young Guns of stars, numbered parallels and autographs.
The fastest way to a real number is to ask the people who buy cards for a living. Bring your best few to a card show near you or ask for offers on the whole lot.
Questions collectors ask
- Are my 1990s hockey cards worth anything?
- Most base cards from 1990-91 to the mid-1990s were printed in huge numbers and are worth very little. Rookies of Hall of Famers in perfect condition, and rare inserts, are the exceptions.
- Where can I get my hockey cards appraised?
- Local card shops and dealers at card shows will look at your cards, and many will make an offer. For a valuable card, grading gives you a condition everyone agrees on.
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