LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - 1995/96 Topps Stadium Club Master Photo

This card finally landed into my hands 15 years after its release, 10 years after I actually knew it existed and a year after I actually saw a copy of it for the first time.

I love how some of the cards in my Linden collection have a good story connected to it.

1995/96 Topps Stadium Club
Master Photo

I have very little information regarding this item, other than it has Trevor Linden on the front and it was on my checklist.

It's larger than a normal card and doesn't have any stats on the back. I've heard that it is a test issue, but I don't know what that consists of. 'Test' sounds rare, and as I found out - it's not so rare.


The back of the card has the look of the old printing plate stickers you would see on cards. Just the facts.


As you can see, it's a unique size, which leaves it a little less protected compared to my other cards. They are housed in top loaders or one-touch holders. This Master Photo card is in a graded team bag....and that's about it.

Now, on to the story.

This card wasn't on my radar when I first started collecting Linden. These oddball-type cards just didn't appear on a lot of master checklists. That was until I found a very - VERY thorough checklist compiled by a fellow Linden collector.

I saw this Master Photo and so it sat. I had never seen one of these cards and for a while even questioned if it existed.

Just over a year ago though, I received an e-mail from this Linden collector telling me of an auction on ebay. It was for not one, not two, not a handful and not a few of these Master Photo cards......it was for 1040 Trevor Linden Topps Stadium Club Master Photo cards.

Yeah, I don't need that many extras. And for five grand, it's just a little out of my league.

The guy who tipped me off on the auction told me he had purchased a couple off of him and that he'd fire one off to me when he got them. Sadly, they never arrived.

To be honest, that made me a tad skeptical about the person selling them. I asked him anyways how much it would cost for a couple of them. He gave me the price....and I waited. And waited.

For over a year.

Until this past month when I finally bucked up and bought a few. I felt that with all these cards just sitting right there and with that spot on my master list not yet crossed off, it was time to go for it.

I bought three of them and within a month they arrived.

So what's the first thing I did with them? I fired off the two extras to the Linden collector who ended up not getting his. Hopefully he got them.....I haven't heard yet. :) I told him to keep one and pass one on to another Linden collector that lives near him.

It made me feel good to do that. My fellow Linden collectors have been very kind to me over the years and this was just a small way that I felt I could repay them.

And that's the end of my story.

Actually, there's a small bit of postscript which I'll tell you about soon. Here's a little hint though (and I've always said it). Do good things and good things happen.