The 1971 O-Pee-Chee Hockey set, a 264-card issue, remains a favorite among collectors. Its colorful backdrops, posed player photos, and team names along the top give it a classic look. The set includes great cards for Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr, and Ken Dryden’s rookie card.
But tucked among the stars are two of the strangest cards you’ll ever see: Rogie Vachon’s #156, which features his head on Ross Lonsberry’s body, and Mike Corrigan’s #157, which uses Mike Byers’ body. I did a little digging to find out what happened.
First, let’s discuss Roggie Vachon’s card number 156. O-Pee-Chee pasted Vachon’s headshot on the body of Ross Lonsberry from card #121.
I looked up Vachon’s biography and career statistics, and it shows that he played one game for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1971-72 season. He lost his starting job to rookie Ken Dryden and demanded a trade, and the Canadiens obliged, shipping him off to the Los Angeles Kings, where he would have the best years of his career. It seems O-Pee-Chee didn’t have a photo of Vachon to use in a King’s uniform, and since the O-Pee-Chee sets were far larger than the Topps sets, they had to fill out the 264-card set no matter what (Neither Vachon nor Corrigan had 1971 Topps hockey cards).
It’s a similar story for Mike Corrigan’s card #157 as O-Pee-Chee pasted his head on Mike Byers’ body (card #34).
Corrigan played 19 games for the Vancouver Canucks to start the 1971-72 season before moving to the Los Angeles Kings, who selected him off waivers on November 22, 1971. Similarly, his best career season would follow in 1972-73, when he scored 67 points. Corrigan also had a standing relationship with the Kings, who drafted him in June 1967 from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the expansion draft, before the Canucks picked him up in June 1970 in that year’s expansion draft. So I think it’s a similar story where O-Pee-Chee didn’t have a photo of Corrigan to use for the set, so they went all head-swap on us.
The Rogie Vachon and Mike Corrigan cards have become two of my favorites. Based on printing schedules, the expanded checklist, and player movement that year, O-Pee-Chee likely resorted to a little creative editing to fill out the set, and honestly, the result adds a quirky charm to an already great release.
Happy collecting!
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