Molson/Panini Stanley Cup Banners

Before I begin this post, I want people to know I don't necessarily endorse the consuming of Molson products. True some of them are tasty and down right yummy, but others are pretty gross. I have not purchased any Molson products from my local liquor establishment, but rather picked up the following from my LCS.

Typically I don't fall for gimmicks like free cards in stuff and I almost never chase these cards, but my guys at the LCS were drooling all over these cards and I felt bad because they loved them so much and I really couldn't care less, so I bought them out of pity. Fact is they are always amazing guys for deals and really spending 5 bucks on three cards I really didn't care much about is no big deal in the grand scheme if it made them happy in the process.

However, I have grown to not mind these cards mainly because of what they represent. My three most favourite NHL seasons! The set as a whole is 92 cards featuring the champions from each season the NHL has produced the Stanley Cup Champion. So if a team has won it since 1918, there is a card for that year. Being a Devils fan, there are three that were of interest to me. Here they are:

1995 Stanley Cup Champions

This ranks as my favourite of the three. I was a teenager at the time and I had been cheering for the Devils for 8 years by this point. I had endured some bad times, and some painful times by this point. I remember the 88-89 season was tough and I even got teased for being a Devils fan. Then 1994 came along and we had a great run and fell oh so close to the Rangers. But after a short lockout, the Devils came on strong at the end of the season and were hot at the right time. We rolled over the Red Wings in the final to win our first Cup. I actually have the final game of that series on VHS where my man Billy Guerin had 3 points and Mike Peluso wept like a child on the bench. I LOVED that year.


2000 Stanley Cup Champions

After the 95 win and missing the playoffs in 96, the Devils put together a few weak playoff appearances before the 2000 season. However, the 2000 season will be best remembered for how strong the Devils were ALL season. We finished the season with a solid 103 points(which was lots prior to the three point games of today) and what some people don't realize is were finished second in the entire NHL in goals scored. In the following season, the Devils would lead the NHL in scoring which is often forgotten because of the huge emphasis the media was putting on their trap style approach to defense. I really enjoyed this Cup win because it was the second time and after the first I wasn't holding out much hope that I would have a chance to see one again so this came as a bit of a surprise.

2003 Stanley Cup Championship

This was the last time we won the Cup and by this point I had just got accepted to do a Bachelor of Education degree at Ottawa U, and I was working back home for the summer and I had every night dedicated to watching playoff hockey. I had just gotten rid of my girlfriend at the time and I must say life was simple. Work, golf, hockey and repeat. I think I will best remember this Cup for those reasons, and the 400 dollars (total) I won in two playoff pools. To celebrate the last I Cup even got cornrows in my hair with red, white and back beads. Do I regret anything, maybe the corn rows, but it was very awesome and definitely another highlight of my life.

So these cards even though I had no interest in them initially, they did bring back some fun season memories and were worth 5 bucks to me. For those curious, here is the back view of the corn rows, I will never show the front view online!

I kept them in my hair for about a week, and then I shaved my head. 1 full year of growing my hair and not cutting it, gone in 60 seconds.

Panini All Goalies Break and Review

When Panini announced that they were releasing a box set called All Goalies I was intrigued. When I found out it was 19.99 and would consist of 100 cards, 5 insert cards and 1 memorabilia card I was excited. (However, I had to pay 22.50 which based on what I have seen online is still a great deal, thanks Jon at Elsewhere Gaming and Hobbies)

The price point is excellent, when you factor in one memorabilia card and the fact that there are over 20 rookies in this box I needed to have it!

Would I be disappointed? Here it is:

The box is compact and pretty cool looking. My complaint is the cards aren't well protected inside so if your box looks like it has survived a drop or two chances are the cards didn't!

Everything was safe in my box.

Base cards:

The design is nice and clean. Cards are the same stock thickness as the Score cards were with the gloss that the Donruss cards had. Not bad for 20 bucks.

The back side of the cards

The write ups on the back contain no career stats information but each seem to have a small blurb and in some cases it looks like the writers tried adding in humour. Read Jordan Pearce's for an example. (a little corny, but someone will laugh)

The OTHER Brodeur

The last 10 cards or so in the set focus on legends from the past. These include Belfour (as a Hawk!!!), King Richard Brodeur, Jim Craig and Tom Barrasso to name a few.

Inserts

Each box includes 5 "Up Close" inserts. The cards are of heavier stock and have more gloss on them. They also include a closeup shot on the front. They box just has 5 sequentially numbered cards so it looks like you could get a whole set of Up Close if you bought a case. That is both good and bad in my books. I got rookie Desjardins, James Reimer and a few other Tampa Goalies.

Jersey Card

When I looked at the checklist, there are 18 memorabilia cards and 6 of them were pretty cool. This one, not so cool. Raycroft isn't a bad goalie, he just isn't very good either. Never lived up to his rookie year and now I own my own piece of him. Still for 20 bucks, I can't complain!

What I like:

Cheap

Cool idea and you get the WHOLE set

Nice design and the layout of the cards are nice including photos on the back

Inserts and memorabilia cards are nice touch to make each box unique

What I don't like:

Didn't randomize insert cards enough

1 in 3 chances of scoring a decent goalie memorabilia card

Box could be a little more protective.

This is a GOOD idea Panini. I really hope you don't mess with this formula too much and come back again next season with this product.

I would rate this a 9/10.

After all, I am sure you have spent 20 bucks on things much worse than this!

Ebay Auto Lot Purchase - Panini Certified

Received an eBay purchase of mine yesterday and I felt it was a total steal. I like the Panini Certified product, however at 12 bucks a pack, I find it a little rich for my blood. But, I won this lot for $7.00 including shipping (almost half the price of one pack). So in the end, each card cost less than two bucks a piece and they are all rookies #/1299 how could I go wrong....

Noreau wasn't the reason why I bought this lot.

However, he was a pretty solid offensive defenseman both in junior and in the AHL. His past two AHL seasons have him scoring 28 goals and 104 points in 152 games. Could have Tobias Enstrom potential in my opinion.

Nick Johnson, again not the reason why I bought this lot.

I seem to be getting Nick here and there. I pulled him from a pack of SPx as well so maybe I should be jumping on the Johnson bandwagon! He is a power forward with some potential, though I am not sure if Pens fans are thinking he has second line potential or not. I don't see him riding shotgun to Crosby.

Jamie McBain is one reason why I bought this lot

McBain is one of the best prospects in the Hurricanes system and this past season had a great rookie year scoring 30 points in 76 games which was good enough for 5th among rookie defenseman. I think he could be every bit as good as Keith Yandle.

Dustin Tokarski the main reason why I bought the lot.

Reasons why? Read yesterday's post. I love this guy and playing for a Tampa team that will be strong for years to come can't hurt Dustin's chances at winning a few games.

I would have a hard time scoring four TTMs for the price I paid for these 4 including shipping. So as I mentioned before, if you want affordable autographs, eBay lots purchases are often a good way to go(especially from companies like Panini, ITG and Pinnacle).

Kovy puts a fork in Canada

A few random thoughts...

With Blogger on the fritz earlier, things have just been wacky on Wax Stain today, but it looks like all the posts are back the way they should be (for now). Looking at the poll, a majority of you seem to think writing Dionne and paying a sawbuck for it is a good idea. I picked out the perfect card for the TTM and hope to share my success down the road.

Well Canada is now out of the WHC and all my hockey pools are now toast, it leaves me with not much left to cheer about, so I am forced to pick from what is left in the post season. Since I am too much of a hockey fan to pack it in, I am throwing my support behind the Lightning and the Canucks. I am cheering for TB because of Stamkos and Roloson. I think Rollie deserves a Cup and Stamkos is an amazing talent that is fun to watch. I am supporting the Canucks mainly because I can't see myself backing the Sharks. Here is hoping I get to see one or both of those teams make the Finals.

The Canada loss had one small lining in it for me and that was Kovy was the one to deliver the final blow. Despite it being his first goal of the tournament, it seems he is continuing to play a more complete game which is a sign that he is committed to being a better Devils player and I think Russia is going to benefit from a two-way Kovy.

Here is another Panini deal I picked up a little while back:

10-11 Panini Certified Top Choice Game Used

This card is numbered 04/99 and features a swatch from a Devils jersey. Please forgive the scan, I think because the swatch wasn't touching the glass on the scanner it came out a little "salmon-like". The swatch is indeed red, and for 99 cents plus shipping I think it was a great deal for a Kovy fan like myself. Just another reason why I like Panini eBay deals.

GO CANUCKS and LIGHTNING!

The impact of Panini on hockey TTMs

Last year when it was announced that Panini would be joining the hockey world I really didn't know what to think. I have only ever known them as a sticker company and really that was my own collecting ignorance. It turns out they have been making sports cards for a number of years and doing a good job at it. So I waited for the hockey products to roll out, and they did slowly, and one after another the hockey world was given what Panini had to offer. After seeing Score, Donruss, Certified and Limited I must say they are decent cards and when compared to many of the UD products of years past they are of similar caliber and I will leave it up to each of you to decide who is better.

What I find particularly interesting is it seems as though many of Panini's products which sell for as much as many of UD's products inside the packs, on the secondary market (places like Ebay) the cards are selling for fraction of the value their UD counterparts are selling for.

For example: A Taylor Hall Rated Rookie could be had for 15 bucks on Ebay easily, while the Young Gun version will set you back closer to 50 (if you are lucky) from what I understand statistically speaking you have an equal chance of pulling either from a box that will run you about 70 bucks. It is clear the demand is still stronger for some of UD's products when you look at the comparables from Panini. So what does this mean for collectors?

Options, there are now more options to score rookies and autographs of your favourite players at prices that are more reasonable than in the past. In addition, for me at least, it also means I might buy one or two boxes less of cards because I know I can buy all the cards I want for less than the cost of the box.

TTMs are another area affected by this new saturation. I was very happy to land myself a Nick Palmieri Mirror Red auto from Ebay. This is an auto I have been trying to get for almost 4 months. When I didn't have luck with getting one from my Score boxes I looked elsewhere and my patience landed me this beauty for about a buck and a half plus shipping.

The card is numbered 222/250 and is a nice on card auto of an up and coming NJ prospect. He recently has been playing with Kovalchuk and Zajac and has 3 goals in his last 6 games with the club.

To get this as a TTM I would have needed to get his card (if I already didn't have it) and mail him a letter which would be to the club in the USA which in all would have cost me almost 2 dollars in postage plus the cost of the envelopes and there would be no guarantee that he would sign it.

Where instead for about 4 dollars I did get the card, already signed and mailed to me. For some players, Panini has made collecting autographs affordable especially in cases where a TTM is a longshot or difficult to attain. I do enjoy writing letters to the players and the payoff is an autograph in return but, if you want a player and a guaranteed autograph then it might be advantageous to use the secondary market and just buy the desired card especially now that there are twice as many Palmieri autographs than there were before. (not to mention ITG's products)