85-86 OPC Kirk Muller Rookie

So when I was a kid just getting started into collecting, I always had an eye for "vintage". Of course the concept of time was still relative so for me anything that was older than 90-91 was considered vintage by my little developing mind. One card I remember distinctly on my want list was the 85-86 OPC Kirk Muller Rookie. It didn't book for much at the time 4-5 dollars and even today it still doesn't book for much $4.00 in the most recent Beckett Hockey Monthly. So when I was at a card shop back in like 1991, the same one where I shelled out 8 dollars for an Upper Deck Ed Belfour Star Rookie, I saw a Kirk Muller rookie for $5.00.

I still remember it like it was yesterday, it sat there in the display case in a 10 count card holder and the card had a bit of curl to it. Later in life I'd learn it's called the OPC curl and basically all the OPC card if left for a long extended period of time outside a toploader or other case it would start to curl on you a bit. So I brought my purchase home with me and was perplexed by why it had curled and figured that I could just flatten it out and shove it into a toploader and that's just what I did. However, in the process of flattening it I created a new problem and that was I damaged the card in a new way...wrinkles/ripples in the center of the card. I was pretty bummed out but still enjoyed owning the rookie card of the best Devils player ever (at that point) and over the years somehow that card managed to disappear.

Several years ago, I was able to build an 85-86 Topps set which got me another Muller rookie this time in Topps form. However, a hole was still there from my childhood and about 2 years ago I was at the LCS and the owner had a bunch of new stock which included a bunch of vintage cards and in there I found myself an 85-86 OPC Kirk Muller rookie in fantastic non-curled shape in the 3 for 5 bin. You better believe I left with it.

85-86 OPC Kirk Muller Rookie

While I always believed that we should have been the ones to get Mario Lemieux and it should be him in this jersey, things still worked out ok and in the end it would be a trade that sent Kirk Muller to Montreal that helped them win a Cup and eventually us win a Cup too. Glad to have you back in the fold Kirk and I promise to just leave you as is.

A pile from the 3 for 5 bin! A little bit of everything for everyone.

Right now the 3 for 5 bin in my LCS is pretty lean thanks to me picking through all the good stuff. Rather than drag this out over 9 posts and bore everyone to death I figured I'd just lump them together. Enjoy the fruits of my 15 dollars!

2003-04 Private Stock Reserve Pavel Bure Jersey /750

Hall of Famer! Yes pleasure, I was willing to overlook the blue shirt.

2013-14 Upper Deck Canvas Valeri Nichushkin Young Gun

Love this guy's potential and love the photo. Seeing a shooting Star isn't too uncommon during a Dallas game but a flying Star is pretty awesome on cardboard.

2005-06 Trilogy Rookie Premiere Corey Crawford Rookie /999

This without a doubt is the coolest card of the bunch. Underrated beyond belief this keeper is and no respect at my LCS as this mint condition rookie was just sitting in the cheap seats. The crud at the top of the card was on the top loader. I promise to move it to a better top loader and give Corey 100% respect.

2006-07 Black Diamond Gemography Brad Winchester

I have far too many of his cards in my collection. Where is he now you ask? Retired. So perhaps he is on a beach somewhere spending his hard earned money. Though, he could also be waking up in a shady no-tell motel after a night of partying and drowning his sorrows.



2006-07 Black Diamond Gemography Jim Slater

I also have too many of Jim's cards in my collection. Jim left the NHL this season to play for Geneve in the Swiss league where he is playing with Tom Pyatt and Matt D'Agostini. Currently he has 25 points in 26 games which is pretty solid. These are his best numbers since he left college in 2005.

2013-14 Upper Deck Young Guns Jacob Trouba RC

Unless I already have a card in doubles or triplicate I typically love getting Young Guns in the 3 for 5 bin. Jacob is still very early in his career and given d-men usually take a few seasons to hit their stride I am thinking he is going to be an NHL star before long.

2013-14 Upper Deck Young Guns Ryan Murray RC

Hated him at the WJHC in 2012 where he repeatedly turned the puck over. The Blue Jackets have been slow bringing him along and for good reason but I think eventually he could be a decent defenseman and totally worth the $1.67.

2013-14 Upper Deck Young Guns Rasmus Ristolainen

Think Victor Hedman just slightly shorter.

2013-14 Contenders NHL Ink Steve Oleksy Auto

A roller hockey stud and an ice hockey minor-leaguer. Interesting auto here but again, autos for less than 2 bucks are always fun to snap up!

There you go, 9 cards covering all sorts of different players and all welcomed into my ever growing collection. Thanks for stopping by, I have a few fun posts coming up so stay tuned!

What is a rookie card?

I used to think I knew the answer to this question. It seemed so easy. In my first life as a collector, I felt that a RC was the first release of a player's card in a set that was available nationally/internationally. Some companies got a little aggressive with this idea and released cards of players in their junior uniforms and cards of international hockey events but collectors accepted these as true rc's and life was good. Companies like Seventh Inning Sketch and Classic were ignored and their cards were off the Rookie Card table in my books. I don't know why they were ignored, I imagine the Beckett Hockey Card Monthly had something to do with that.

Since I have resumed collecting, my opinions on rookie cards has changed. Maybe not changed so much as I think I have evolved. I question why does the Beckett determine what are rookie cards? I know it isn't fair for ITG to claim all the rookies by undercutting the NHL licensed manufacturer by releasing Junior and AHL players before they lace up in the NHL, but I think a balance can be reached.

Here is a rookie by Beckett definitions of Mattias Tedenby.

Picked it off eBay for $2.99 and Teddy is going to be a star for the Devils in the next year or two.

Here is the ITG release.

What I am suggesting, is why can't this also be a rookie card? It says so on the card after all! In fairness, they were both released in the same year and he is wearing an AHL jersey (which is professional hockey). Both are available Nationally/Internationally. In fact, you needed a redemption to pull the Artifacts version meanwhile, the ITG version could be found in packs of Heroes and Prospects.

To add to the confusion, sometimes UD released two rookies of the same player in the same set. For example, Steve Mason rookies can be found in UD Victory and Victory Update. However, in 2001 Ilya Kovalchuk had a Young Gun RC released in UD Series 1 and then in Series 2 had a regular base card released and the Beckett classifies the YG as a rookie card but ignores the Series 2 card entirely. This inconsistency is frustrating for me personally because how could it be true in one case and not another?

I believe each collector needs to decide their own definition of a rookie card and collect accordingly. Dr. Price blogged about rookies in their ITG Decades release. I will not for a second consider a 2011 release containing a "new" Patrick Roy rookie. I still plan on buying this product and am excited for it. But not because there will be any rookies in the box.

My own personal belief on rookie cards is:

Any card that is made featuring a player during their first season in the NHL

The card must be released Nationally/Internationally

The card can be a redemption

I am also willing to consider:

Parallels and Inserts as rookies on an individual basis.

I have this card as part of my collection. This is an insert from 05-06 which is Vanek's rookie year with this card being from the UD Ice set.

I consider this a rookie card. Would I sell it as a rookie card or trade with someone under those pretenses? NO. But for my own personal collection, I consider it a rookie and as far as trading with one another unless I know your own beliefs, I will stick to what the Beckett tells me.

Does this mean I am going to go back and consider cards like 1992-93 UD Brodeur Star Rookie as being a rookie card? No, but I do plan on using my definition of a rookie card for releases since the card companies stopped sniping junior players before they made it to the pros. With that being said, what is your definition of a rookie card? Does ITG have rookies in their products, or do Panini and UD just have that right?

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