Hi Everybody! It isn't Dr. Nick...

Hey all, still not dead but somedays it probably felt like it. Truth is I am still around, I have been tweeting a bit lately and a bit during the summer and early fall. One of the reasons is it is just so easy to post and interact and it can be done anywhere. However, I am dedicated to start posting here, especially after a few years of limited posting and content. One project I do have on the go for all those who are into Twitter or Pro Set please check me out @ProSetCards.

I can't leave you hanging on here without posting something so here is a gem I found on COMC ages ago.


90-91 Upper Deck Sergei Fedorov Young Gun French

Once upon a time I remember when I was a kid and we had satellite tv there used to be these QVC-style sports card auction site/sales site. Usually it was just sales and my step-dad and I would watch it for hours. The guy pretty much always said (Neear-mint to Miiint). The grainy standard def broadcast of the early 90's wouldn't betray his analysis either. On this channel I saw Brett Hull OPC rookies selling for 150 dollars and this about card was pushing close to 100 dollars on some evenings. I paid $1.58. Money very well spent because I remember laying on the floor wishing I had that card because I thought someday it will be worth some serious money. Well turns out it isn't but the memories are priceless and that is the true value! Anyway, I hope this post finds you all well and I promise to be back in a day or two! Cheers.

Wow, has it been 800 posts already? Let's celebrate with the best modern day card IMHO.

When I started this blog nearly 7 years ago, I didn't have much in the way of expectations. I thought I might share a few packs, a few finds and perhaps make a few trades. Instead I have exceeded all those expectations of myself and 800 posts and many new friends later I wanted to bring myself back to the point where my collecting really began.  1990-91 Upper Deck.

Modern day cards in my opinion really began in 1990 when there was a huge collecting boom and it wasn't just Topps or OPC as options. In those 26 years, so many different card companies have come and gone and many set ideas and designs have also succeeded and failed. I want to use this post to share my favourite card created since 1990 and perhaps call it the best card in the past 30 years.

1990-91 Upper Deck #241 Wayne Gretzky Promo

When I started collecting cards everyone was gaga for Upper Deck. The little holograms on the back, the insert stereograms and rookies galore were the draw of these cards. Even their "tamper-proof" packs offered something different than previous card companies products. This was a set to be "invested" into to. Time flies and sadly there are more Roenick and Jagr rookies to go around to all who want them and it wasn't exactly the investment people thought. Partially because the number of people collecting cards hasn't really matched what they were back then and secondly production run was probably a "little" higher than the demand. With that being said, I just remember going to store and seeing the 90-91 UD Low series box on the shelf and I would get butterflies in my tummy wondering who I might open in that pack. 400 cards made up the low series and another 150 were added to the high series. Despite all the packs I would open, one card on the box was never in the packs and that was the Wayne Gretzky promo. I remember seeing that card on the box and I thought, wow that is a cool looking card. Wayne in all black almost looked like he was part of "The Empire" and the look on his face is much like the Mona Lisa. Is Wayne smiling? What is he thinking?

The card had me hooked and when I saw the Gretzky in the pack, dressed in his white "home jersey", I was let down. Don't get me wrong, the regular base Gretzky is a nice card but I wanted my all black Gretzky. As time went by, I would add cards and complete both the low and high series sets. I can't remember the last card I needed to complete the high series but the last card I did need to finish the low series was Ed Belfour. Later in life, during my second incarnation as a collector I was able to land my Wayne Gretzky promo. In fact, I was able to pick up two!

What makes this card so perfect in my opinion is the front, there is no fault I could find with the card. It truly is a work of art that I hope to turn into a work of art and someday I hope to share the final product if all goes well! The backside is able to support my claims as well. The photo on the back shows a home game where Wayne emerges from a scrum/war which has John Tonelli being mugged by Dean Kennedy and Wayne leaving with what I believe are his eyes locked on the puck. I even love the view you get of Wayne's iconic Titan TPM 2020 and Daoust skates.

For the keen eyed, there is a small error on the back too which is just icing on the cake if you ask me as the notation for feet and inches are inverted and list Wayne as 6" 0'. Also in view on the back is the greatest regular season point total the NHL has ever seen 215 points in 80 game. When you combine all the factors above, and the fact that there are no "gimmicks", or swatches or anything added to this card, it is one of my absolute favourite cards of all-time and in my opinion the best card made since 1990. What are your thoughts? Do you have a favourite modern day card?

Thanks goes out to all of you who read my posts and an extra special thanks to those who comment and have reached out to me over the years to make trades or chat cards. All the best and here hopes I have another 800+ posts in me!  

Hook, line and sinker!

OK, does it make me a sucker if I know I am a sucker? Well, when Upper Deck came out with yet ANOTHER let's celebrate our past insert I was wondering when will it all end. Truth is, I have missed out on ALL the other celebrations so why would the 25th Anniversary be any different? Well nostalgia got the better of me and I guess the silver anniversary was the one that made me cave. While I have yet to buy any packs of this year's release, I did at least hold out until Series 2 came out and featured my beloved young gun buy backs and I bought a former Devil Bobby Holik for a mere couple dollars!

2014-15 (90-91) Upper Deck High Series Bobby Holik Young Gun /25

So I paid a couple dollars for a 50 cent card but it does have some foiling and a handwritten number 21/25. Enough cynicism, what I do like about the card is it represents the 25th anniversary of my collecting, its a rookie of a player who was very instrumental in the Devils winning their first two cups and finally he is wearing at sweet Whalers jersey which is just one of those uniforms that you only appreciate once its no longer in the league!

A cardboard tribute to Jaromir Jagr in honour of 700 goals and a rookie auto.

Growing up in the 90's, I have had a chance to really seem Jagr perform through out his career. I was always in awe of his skills and abilities. But since joining the Devils, I have really had a chance to see him as a person and man is he funny! Check out this video for a classic example. Jagr's favourite target is Dainus Zubrus who he has played with a few times. If you don't have the time to watch it, essentially Jagr says Zubrus should have won the Selke Trophy in 01-02.  The reason why is because when he joined the Caps and started playing WITH Zubrus, his own scoring went from 121 points down to 79 points and Zubrus was the one shutting him down. They are hillarious together and Jagr is often the instigator.

But, that isn't what the post is about, its about 700 career goals. That is pretty amazing, and it has only happened 6 other times by guys all in the Hall of Fame. Here is a look at all Jagr's "rookie cards" and a recent pick up, my first and only Jagr auto.

90-91 OPC Premier

 This one is my favourite of all his rookies and it is also the most "valuable". With a book price of 12 bucks, it is head and shoulders above the value of all his other rookies. It is also one of only two rookies with an action shot of him playing.

Here is the back side of the card, very simplistic and no previous season stats. I guess OPC wasn't interested in what he did in Kladno but they did give a good side profile of his mullet.

90-91 Pro Set

The other rookie with an action shot is one what I would consider to be his most underrated rookie. Not sure why I like the one as much as I do, but a good action shot on the front and loads of info on the back make it a pretty decent rookie. Book value is a mere $1.25 the lowest of his rookies. 

Here is the back side of the Pro Set rookie. Very young photo of Jaromir and his two previous seasons with Kladno are also listed.

90-91 Score American

My least favourite rookie of the crop are the the Score ones. Very dull and staged studio shot on the front. The blue writing on the front is one way to tell Score American and Score Canadian apart. Book value on this and the Canadian version are the same and it is about 2 dollars.

On the back, the text is all English in the US version and it actually has more info and different info than the Canadian version. Apparently Jagr isn't real flashy.. I hope that isn't the scout that placed Nedved higher than Jagr because he may have lost his job.

90-91 Score Canadian

Here in Canada we like red eh? Same front just Red text on the Score logo.

Here is the back, much less info but there are some in French too. The additional french is a quote which says that "In addition to handling the puck well, he is patient in heavy traffic." I always like reading the French text because sometimes you do actually get more or different info than the English text tells.

90-91 Score Traded

This isn't considered a rookie but I still like it included because it is what I wished his rookie looked like. Great action shot and the back is very well done as well. The book value on this card is about 2 dollars, a little more rare but lacking the rookie status hurts its attractiveness with some collectors.

Here is the back and there is a short story on Jagr here. Look, first goal against the Devils, 700th goal was for the Devils.

90-91 Upper Deck

This was the first Jagr rookie I ever scored and the one I have the most copies of too. Book value is about 4 dollars which is about what it would cost you given shipping costs online anyway but at cards shows and LCSs you can probably land it for under a dollar.

Here is the back of the card. One of my favourite backs of all time. Well laid out, useful info and good stats. 

90-91 Score Jaromir Jagr Auto Rookie

Bought this online from a dealer who specializes in autos. Got the background story on it, felt it was worth a chance and when it arrived and I checked it out with a magnifying glass I felt very confident it is legit. Very interesting marker was used on this one. It isn't a sharpie but rather a chisel like purple marker. The front looks scuffed but the card is still in the screwdown the dealer sent it in and I haven't changed it yet. Really happen I got this one for  my collection and I was able to pay for it with some money I made from a private sale of a 1/1 card I had pulled a while back. I will share that story and the rest of my loot in my next post. 

Btw I was technically missing two Jagr rookies. There is one extra with Pro Set when you consider he has an Error and a Corrected one and I am missing the 90-91 UD French Rookie. Hope to land the French one some day but I would prefer to do it via trade instead of buying. 

Back Checking - Chris Terreri

Without a doubt, one of the most memorable card backs from my childhood is the 90-91 UD Chris Terreri rookie card. The front side of the card is a neat photo of Chris doing something (I could never really figure it out...

But the backside is pure gold, and maybe one of the best photos from the entire set. I can only imagine how cool this card would have been had UD included horizontal cards in their inaugural hockey set. Nevertheless, this card features a sweet action shot that looks as painful as it does amazing. I believe that the only thing that would have been cooler, is if a puck was in that glove!

Chris is still kicking around the Devils organization and even dons the pads occasionally in practice if the Devils are short a goalie. Last season he showed he can still do it at his age, check out this save:

Kelly Hrudey TTM

Here is another TTM success. I mailed three cards to Kelly Hrudey and he returned all three along with a little note that was signed as well. The complete story can be found at Dirty Dangle.

The cards were mailed to the CBC and I received them back signed in black sharpie 8 days later.

Ray Ferraro

Well I guess not every personality at TSN has their mail filtered. I received this gem in the mail about a week ago.

Ray Ferraro was a player who I really enjoyed watching play as a kid. He had amazing goal scoring abilities that were evident right from his junior days. In 83-84 he scored 108 goals for the Brandon Wheat Kings in a 72 game season. An interesting fact from that season was the second leading scorer on the team was Cam Plante who had 22 goals and 118 assists that season but, would never play more than 2 games in the NHL. I can't imagine how many of those 118 assists where to Ray. Another neat fact about that 83-84 Wheat Kings team is their number 1 goalie was Ron Hextall who really was the only other player on the team who would find long-term NHL employment.

Ray scored 20+ goals 12 times throughout his career in the NHL and even reached 40+ goals twice and would finish with 408 career goals.

Here are the cards:

1990-91 UD

1989-90 OPC

He signed both cards with red sharpie and numbered them 26 which he wore during his time in Hartford and LA. It took about 5 weeks to receive these back.

Need Help...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have had a little trouble with my custom cards because of the trouble I have had trying to match the fonts. If anyone out there knows what font I can use to match up with the 90-91 UD it would be greatly appreciated so I could finish the card I have below. Most of you could see that it is a hybrid between the Score RC and the UD first round draft pick subset.

Thanks again - Dave