08/13/2026
The Sweet History of O-Pee-Chee 🏒🍬
Long before it became the gold standard for vintage hockey cards, O-Pee-Chee wasn't in the sports business at all—it was in the sugar business.
If you've ever flipped over a vintage hockey card and seen that classic bilingual English/French text, you were holding a piece of Canadian history. Here is how a small Ontario gum manufacturer became a heavyweight in the trading card hobby.
The Timeline of an Empire
* Origins
1911
Brothers John and Duncan McDermid founded the O-Pee-Chee Gum Company in London, Ontario. The name comes from the Ojibwe word for "the Robin". Their first major product was "Gipsy Gum," sold in paper wrappers for a single penny.
* The First Cards
1933-1934
To boost candy sales during the Great Depression, O-Pee-Chee started packaging collectible cards with their gum. Their first hockey set dropped in the 1933-34 season.
* The Topps Partnership
1958
Everything changed when O-Pee-Chee struck a marketing deal with the American powerhouse, Topps. For decades, O-Pee-Chee produced Canadian versions of Topps sets. They shared the same designs and photos, but OPC sets were printed in Canada and often featured updated trades and slightly different card stock.
* The Bilingual Era
1970
Due to Canadian federal legislation, O-Pee-Chee was required to add French translations to the backs of their cards, cementing the classic bilingual look that vintage collectors instantly recognize today.
* The Holy Grail
1979
O-Pee-Chee released the 1979-80 hockey set, featuring the rookie card of Wayne Gretzky. Because hockey was OPC's primary focus, the O-Pee-Chee Gretzky rookie is considered significantly more desirable (and valuable) than its American Topps counterpart.
* The Modern Era
1996 - Present
Nestlé bought O-Pee-Chee's candy business in 1996, marking the end of the original company. However, the trading card brand was too iconic to die. Today, Upper Deck owns the O-Pee-Chee name, keeping the retro-styled sets alive for a new generation of collectors.
💰Collector's Tip: When hunting for vintage hockey, always check the back. Because O-Pee-Chee sets were printed in smaller print runs for the Canadian market and often suffered from centering issues and rough-cut edges, finding high-grade OPC cards is notoriously difficult—which is exactly why they command such a premium today!
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