My Last Big Quest

 I have all the Cubs cards from 300 different brands:

1951 Topps, 3-D, Action Flats, Action Packed, Ajax, All American, All Time Heroes of Baseball, All Star Program, Allen & Ginter, American Caramel, American Pie, Ames, Archives, Attax, Aunt Millies, Ballstreet Journal, Ban Dai, Baseball Caramels, Baseball Card Magazine, Baseball Enquirer, Baseball Heroes, Baseball Scoops, Baseball Wit, Baseball's All Time Greats, Bazooka, Ben's, Big, Big League, Big League Chew, Big League Collectibles, Big T, Boardwalk and Baseball, Bowman, Bowman Heritage, Bowman's Best, Brilliants, Buckmans, Bunt, Burger Chef, Burger King, Cadaco, Callahan, Capital Publishing, Cardtoons, Carousel, Cartwrights, Champions, Chef Boyardee, Chicago Tribune, Chicago's Greats, Chilly Willee, Chrome, Chronicles, Church's, Circa, Circle K, Classic, Classics, Clear Travel, Coke, Coke Hardees, Collectors Choice, Collins-McCarthy, Comics, Conlon, Cracker Jack, Cramers Baseball Legends, Crane, Dairy Isle, Decade 1970s, Dell Todays Cubs, Denny's, Detroit Caesars, Dexter Press, Diamond Greats, Diamond Kings, Diamond Marks, Diet Pepsi, Donruss, Dormans Cheese, Dover, Drakes, Duracell, Emotion, Eureka, Extra Bases, Factory Team, Fan Favorite, Fantastic Sams, FBI, Finest, Finest Flashback, Fire, Flair, Fleer, Fleer Stamps, Fleer Stickers, Fleer Ultra, Focus, Red Foley, French's, Fritsch, Front Row, Fruit of the Loom, Fun Foods, Futures, Galasso Glossy Greats, Gallery, General Mills, Golden Press, Gold Label, Goodwin Champions, Goudey, Grand Slam, Greats of the Game, Gypsy Queen, Hall of Fame Postcards, Hardball, Heritage, Heritage '51, Hills, Holiday, Holiday Inn, Holsum, Honus Bonus, Hostess, Illinois State Police, Impact, Investors Journal, Isalys, ISCA, Italian American Baseball Heroes, Jays, Jewel, Jewish Major Leaguers, Jiffy Pop, Jimmy Dean, Jox, Jumbo Sunflower Seeds, K Mart, Kanebo, KAS, Kay Bee, Kaye's Sports Cards, Kelloggs, King B, Kitty Clover, Kraft, Leaf, Legends, Limited, Line Drive, Lineage, Living Set, Louisville Slugger, M&M's, Major League Baseball in Stamps, Marketside, Masterpieces, Maximum, McDonalds, MCI, MDA, Meadow Gold, Merrick Mint, Metal, Metz, Milkbone, Milton Bradley, MLB, Mootown Snackers, Mr. Turkey, MSA, MVP, National Baseball Card Day, National Chicle, Nestle, New Era, Nissen, On Deck Cookies, Opening Day, Orbakers, Originals, Origins of Baseball, Oscar Mayer, Our Own Tea, Ovation, Pacific, Pacific Legends, Panini, Pepsi, Perez Steele, Performers, Perma-Graphics, Peter Pan, Pinnacle, Pinnacle Certified, Play Ball, Pocket Pages, Post, PKWY, Pro Debut, Pro Sigs, Pro Stamps, Publications International, Quaker Oats, Rainier Farms, Ralston Purina, RBI, Red Barn, Red Heart, Reflectons, Revco, Rite Aid, Rookie Cup, Rub Downs, Saga, Safelon, SCD Price Guide, Score, Screenplays, Sega Card Gen, Select, Select Certified, Seven Eleven, Shakeys, Showcase Baseball, Showcase Gallery, Smokey Bear, SP, SP Authentic, SP Legendary Cuts, Spectrum, Sportflics, Sporting News, Sportstix, Sports Design Products, Sports Educational, Sports Illustrated, SI for Kids, Sports Report, Squirt, SSPC, Stadium Club, Star, Starline, Starting Lineup, Stuart, Studio, Summit, Super, Super 70s, Super Stars, Superstar, Swell, T201, T205, T206, T207, TCMA, Team Heroes, Team Issued, Ted Williams, Tetley Tea, Timeless Teams, Tip Top Bread, Tombstone, Topps, Topps Coins, Topps Kids, Topps Magazine, Topps Now, Topps Stamps, Topps Stickers, Topps Total, Topps UK, Towne Club, Toys R Us, Triple Play, True Value, Turkey Red, Twizzler, UC3, Unocal, Upper Deck, Upper Deck Classics, Utz, Victory, Vintage, Weis, Wendys, Wiffle, Windy City Superstars, Wonder Bread, Woolworth, X, Xpress, YooHoo, Zenith, Zipz,

But there is one bigger name missing from the list, the Canadian card-maker O-Pee-Chee.

OPC issued cards from 1965 through 1994 (plus a 2009 Upper Deck release).  The cards were licensed from Topps, so with the exception of the 1993 and 1994 sets, all the OPC cards had the same design as the Topps cards.  Some years the only difference was an OPC copyright on the back instead of Topps.  Some years an OPC logo replaced the Topps logo.  Some years the fronts had a little French and most years the backs were bilingual.  

I've shied away from OPC for two reasons.  First, they are a bit pricier that most cards because they weren't nearly as plentiful as their Topps cousins.  Secondly, I had a tough time justify the cost for cards that were nearly identical to cards I already had.

Recently I decided to go for it.  I wanted one last big quest, and OPC will be it.  There are three distinct parts to the hunt:

Part 1: 1965 - 1970  These are the first years for OPC.  The set sizes were typically half or less of the Topps sets, so the number of Cubs cards needed per year are typically a dozen or less.  However, these will be expensive because there are cards of Ernie Banks and Ron Santo in most.  I've already got the Billy Williams cards in the player collection, so that will same me some money.

Part 2: 1971 - 1976 OPC went all in during these years, duplicating the entire Topps set. This will get expensive due to the sheer number of cards needed each year, plus the scarcity and age of the cards.

Part 3: 1977 - 1994  This is the easiest and I have almost completed this portion already. These will be the cards you'll see here first.  OPC went back to partial Topps sets (except for 1990-1992) and this also coincides with the junk wax era.  Most of these cards are plentiful and reasonably priced.

Once I finish Part 3, I'll most likely go after Part 1 first.  The smaller set sizes will be easier to finish.  I'll most likely do a year or two at a time.  

I'm sure completing a Cubs run of O-Pee-Chee will take a while to finish, but I'm looking forward to the hunt.