Recent Pick Up - Mark Messier (Sorry Brett and Michael)

I have learned over the last few months that Vancouver fans are not fans of Messier which surprised me a little bit because Messier WAS a Canuck. Being a Devils fan, of course it is no surprise I am not a huge Messier fan because Messier was ALSO a Ranger (of Ragger as some Devils fans fall them). Messier was famous for calling the Game 7 victory in the '94 playoffs which sent them to the Stanley Cup final and it seems after that day he was heralded as one of the greatest leaders of all-time! I find this a little surprising because on that '94 team, Messier wasn't the only player wearing a letter in the dressing room. Leetch, Lowe, Graves and Larmer were all wearing A's on their jerseys and none of them were slouches in the leadership department. However, it seems that Messier ends up with all the credit.

Messier was also an Oiler and a pretty decent Oiler and that alone is why I felt the need to try and land a Messier rookie.

Ever since Mike joined Jon at my LCS things have been getting more card oriented and there have been some pretty decent cards that have made their way into my collection as a result.

One card that has been there for a few months was a Messier rookie. Messier only has one rookie and that is from the 80/81 OPC Set. As a result, Messier rookies are a little more valuable in terms of BV than Bourque rookies because of that fact.

I remember looking at the Messier rookie and thinking the price was a little high for my taste and I just put it back on the shelf. Time would go by and each time I would see it on the shelf. Finally I was curious and did some research into what they were selling for online. Messier rookies aren't exactly available by the dozens but even poor quality ones were selling for 30+ bucks so I thought more about the price tag on the card in the shop was fair.

So I go in one day with some cash in my pocket and an agenda to try and shave 20-30% off the asking price.

After a little humming and hawing, Mike was more than willing to sell it at a discounted price and in the end I believe we both felt the deal was good!

So here is my first and only Messier Rookie!

Front Side
The card is in "tough" shape but not rough shape. Some corner rounding is present, slightly diamond cut, definitely off-centered and there are two light creases. Other than that, this baby is MINT! Ok, maybe not, but I was really happy with the purchase price and the card is still pretty easy on the eyes.

The Back Side

One of the creases on the front does go to the back and seen below the comic. The back is a beautiful yellow and green colour and the card shows well from behind.

Even though I am not a huge Messier fan, I am happy to have this card. Are there any players out there you don't like but found yourself needing or wanting their rookie card?