91-92 UD Czech World Junior Box Break

During the sports card boom of the early 90's, this set is a which was fetching 5 bucks a pack and some of the "rookies" were selling for like 20 bucks at my LCS. Thanks to the bubble busting and the internet, I was able to score a whole box of 36 packs for a fraction of what it would have cost back in 1992. 

Each pack had 12 cards and there were some pretty cool cards in this set which I didn't even know about. The highest valued card in the set is the Paul Kariya which books for 5 bucks and most of the cards are first-time appearances for the players. There were also two Gretzky holograms honouring his Lady Byng and Art Ross awards. I ended up opening most of the packs, but I still have 8 unopened packs because at that point I had more than enough doubles and a complete set. As a result, anyone interested in trading for one or all 8 packs let me know! I can help you out with completing a set of your own too!

My goal was to build a set, maybe score an extra Kariya or three and the Gretzky holograms. Having more than accomplished these goals I feel this box was a great success. 

Here is a look at the set:

Card 1

 I hated not winning this tournament, but Canada seems to go in streaks....Win 5....lose 5....win 5 etc.

Here is a description on the back of the card explaining the set.

The CIS team is loaded with talented rookies. Yashin, Kasparitis, Kovalev and others.

Here is a Kapanen rookie, a 5 time 20 goal scorer. I always liked him!

 Here is a Karyia rookie one year before his real rookie was released.

 Here is what the back looks like. Name, country and position are listed in Czech on the back and English on the front. Also are two write ups one in each language.

 WOW! Brian Rafalski 8 years before his actually rookie card gets released!

 Here was the big chase card back in the day. Hamrlik never really lived up to his 1 overall billing, but did have a pretty good career that won't end up being HOF calibre but respectable nonetheless.

 Ziggy Palffy actually had three cards appear in the 91-92 year.

Front side of the checklist shows some of the talent in the set.

Back side shows the rest! Martin Straka also has a pre-rookie rookie card too!

So there you have it. Another set off the to-do list. This box was lots of fun to bust and it was certainly worth the wait for me. If you have been waiting too, let me know. I have a few extra packs kicking around.

Card of the week - Alexei Yashin

With each passing day I swear 1995 is coming back in style. First the Jets, then Jagr and now Yashin? After a less than steller year in the KHL, Yashin wants to prove he can still disappear come playoff time at the age of 38. However, it looks like the only team interested in him (Islanders) won't likely make the playoffs come this spring thus making him just another expenditure to get the Isles over the cap floor. What makes this even more interesting, according to Capgeek.com, Yashin is still on the payroll for his buyout. In fact, he is still a cap hit for the Isles (2.2 mil/year) until the spring of 2015. I am not sure what they are hoping for with this possible signing, but I do hope that John Tavares' locker is as far away from this guy as possible as I am not sure what Yashin could offer JT in terms of advice!

94-95 Collector's Choice Crash the Game Redemption Silver and Gold

Back in 1995 I came out of collecting retirement to play "You Crash the Game". The deal was every 5 packs had a player card in it which featured one of 30 players with a date on it. Each player was released with 3 different dates. The player would have a game on that date, and if they scored a goal that game, YOU won the right to mail away for a set. OF course you needed to pay for shipping and handling which was 3 bucks. The gold redemption cards fell 1 out of every 34 packs. I had several and won on a few. Now fast forward 16 years and they are pretty much worthless, but fun nonetheless.

I actually preferred the look of the silver sets. Each set also came with a single bonus card which was packaged in the set giving you a total of 31 cards.

The backside of the card just featured text and looks the same on both gold and silver.

How I received the card: Both came via redemption

Beckett value: Yashin Gold (40 cents)

Yashin Silver (12 cents)

In the end I think I have about 4 Silver Sets and 2 Gold Sets as well as many different "game" cards which I didn't win on. If you have any interest in these let me know I wouldn't mind trading a couple away as I am sure I don't need them all!