Caps First Collectible: 1977-78 Washington Capitals Photo Set

By Rodger M. Wood

The earliest Capitals collectible I can recall was a set of fifteen 5x7 black and white photos. They were sold either at the old Capital Centre or sent/given by the Capitals players at team festivities and in response to mail requests during the 1977-1978 season.The “hot” photos in the set were of 36 – goal scorer Guy Charron, #1 draft pick defenseman Robert Picard, and all star defenseman, Ivan Labre.

Since the team finished fifth in the Norris Division that season well behind Montreal, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh with a 17W-49L-14T record, and put an average of 8,000 fans in the stands each home game there was not a large demand for the photo set. Very few photos are seen today at trade shows or advertised for sale on the internet.

The following players were in the 1977-78 Washington Capitals 5x7 black and white photo set:Bob Girard LWBob Sirois RWBryan "Bugsy” Watson DCraig Patrick RWDave Forbes LWGarnet “Ace” Bailey LWGerry Meehan CGordie Lane DGordie Smith DGuy Charron CJack Lynch DMichel Bergeron RWRick Green DRobert Picard DTom Rowe RW