Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

1935-36 V304-C O-Pee-Chee Overview

A total of five different sets have all been designated as V304 O-Pee-Chee cards. The Each set (series) has its own separate designation – V304-A, V304-B, V304-C, V304-D, and V304-E. These series designations are printed on the backs of the cards along with a card number.

Cards are colorful with bold backgrounds, a player image, and the player’s name. Cards differed from the V304-A and V304-B sets as miniature stars in the background were replaced with silhouetted images of hockey players.

As in previous sets, several different background colors were used and players can be found with different ones, making a master set nearly impossible due to the rarity of this particular series.

In addition to the series designation and card number, backs include bilingual biographies in English and French. One unique item is that only the players’ last names (and in some cases, his first initial) are printed on the fronts as opposed to the full name as was done in the previous year.

The cards have a different look than the first two sets but because the number started with No. 73, it is a continuation of those issues, and was such included in the V304 series. Another significant change is that the cards are smaller than the V304-A or V304-B releases.

Of note is that the V304-C subset is the rarest one of the entire series. It is believed by many that there was a break in the O-Pee-Chee sets in 1934-35 (with V304-B cards being issued in 1933-34). If they were not sure how the cards would be perceived after the time off, that could account for the rarity if O-Pee-Chee was hesitant to print larger quantities as they did in the earlier sets.

That rarity is generally seen in the pricing with the V304-C commons generally costing more than the others.

Want to know more about this set and how it compares to the other O-Pee-Chee issues? Here’s a full breakdown of the five sets.

1935-36 V304-C O-Pee-Chee Checklist

73. Cude
74. McGill
75. Blinco
76. H. Smith
77. H. Cain
78. Marker
79. Patrick
80. Gottselig
81. M. Barry
82. S. Mantha
83. Hollett
84. Metz
85. Thoms
86. H. Kilrea
87. Kelly
88. A. Jackson
89. Shields
90. Boll
91. J. Pusie
92. Jenkins
93. Coulter
94. Chapman
95. Haynes
96. Goldsworthy