ONE SHEET, ONE SET - 2001/02 Private Stock

Last week, we took a look at a vintage set from the 60's. This week, let's move into the current millennium.

The late 90's and early 200's brought about a very diverse hockey card collecting world. Plenty of sets to go after... both low-end and 'high-end' (although the advent of today's super-hig-end stuff really re-invents the word 'high-end').

This set from 2001/02 was one that I never went after when it came out. Surprise.... no Linden. So it is kind of nice to put a sheet together and really take a look at what I've been missing.

2001/02 Private Stock

The first thing I noticed when I got a hold of these cards was the thickness and rigidness. Definitely not a cheap card stock. Glossy front as well. Signs of 'high end'.

It was a small set (only 140 cards) so the player selection was more on the 'star' end. There were 40 cards that were short printed and inserted 1:17 packs and on top of that, some of those were numbered to 414 copies each (a nice round number).

One source book describes the front of the card as using 'action' photos of the players. Action? If you mean gliding while watching the action then yes, you'd be correct. A lot of the cards have a very similar, generic look to them when it comes to photo selection. A bit boring after a while.


A closer look at the card shows the featured player in color with the rest of the photo slightly blurred and B&W. It does make the player pop out a bit and I think the early 200's was saturated with special photoshop fanciness.

There is also a bit of a crosshatch texture placed on the background which is nice. It gives the card more of a feeling of a piece of art. Not too bad.

The PS2002 logo is in the top corner and the written player name, position and team are along the bottom. All of which are in red foil. I kind of like the layout. The fonts used work well with each other and don't distract too much from the card.

What does distract me is the cloudy fading in the corners of the photo. I think the card would be a little sharper if they went with the simple solid border throughout. More of a hockey card feel to me.


The back of the card continues the themes used on the front.

The name font is the same, but the foil is gone. It doesn't look as nice without the foil and I would have gone with something else. The PS2002 logo is also sans foil. Meh.

Lots of room for a second photo. Plus.

Not so much room for the stats (only the most recent year). Minus.

A little blurb about the featured player on the right. Plus.

Tons of wasted space everywhere. Minus.

I think that the layout could have been better utilized. Not a fan of the bottom position and team name. Hard to read and should be at the top with the other stuff. The photo, although nice, is really adding nothing much to the card.

The bottom of the card is again - a mess. Yes, I know, copyrights are needed. But Pacific has always used that big white circle with the number of the card. I hate it. It should be a part of the design of the individual card. Not a company-wide standard.

With the wasted space at the bottom, Pacific decided to plunk a faded logo.... which infringes with the logo on the player and competes with the slapped on logo under the blurb. If you don't know what team the guy is on - then this set is for you.

Again, the crosshatching is on the back, which does help the card... but the cons definitely outweigh the pros.

Overall, a nice set (if you only look at the front of the cards). A better photo selection would help a bit and the backs need a complete overhaul.

With this being a bit more expensive (and the SP's in the mix as well), I'd say avoid it unless you get a sweet deal. To me the only real notable rookies would be Kovalchuk and Datsyuk. Not a huge crop.

And not enough to make me fully bite.

2.5 out of 5