Huge Pile of 13-14 UD Game Used including many HOF'ers

I have mentioned in many posts previous how great my LCS is for finding random deals and the owner's dislike of game used cards. They have always tended to be in my favour and this batch I have to show off today are a result of his dislike and eagerness to unload game used cards on the cheap. 13-14 Upper Deck was bought in mass quantities by people in Nova Scotia in the hopes of landing one of their very own...Nathan Mackinnon. As a result lots of boxes were opened and at a rate of 2 per box game used cards found their way into the 3 for $5 bin. Thankfully Upper Deck included many Hall of Fame players and future Hall of Fame player in that release and here are some that I pulled and others than I bought from the 3 for $5 bin.


 Nick Lidstrom

 

Personally I wouldn't call him the best defenseman of my generation because there were so many who I felt were every bit as good, if not better. But there is no arguing with 7 Norris Trophies and 12 All-Star appearances. 

Dale Hawerchuk

 

 We all know I love this guy so I won't go on and on about him. I think his 81 goals in 72 games during his final year of junior to go with 183 points is just amazing.

Ron Francis

Ron is second all-time in assists with 1249. Can't remember who's first but this total is pretty impressive.

Ray Bourque

No player has taken more shots in the NHL than Ray Bourque. He is first with 6206 career shots.

Borje Salming

Only 3 players have been on the ice for more power play goals against than Borje (621). They are Chris Chelios (708), Ray Bourque (687), Mark Messier (683). Not bad company for a relatively unwanted stat.

Doug Wilson

Doug is a 7-time all-star who also won the Norris in 1982. He would score 39 goals and 85 points that season which are both very impressive.

Peter Forsberg

Peter's 1.25 points per game average leaves fans wondering what could have been for his career if not for feet and ankle injuries forcing him to miss time an a relatively early retirement.

Jaromir Jagr

Jagr continues his assault on the record books. 4th all-time in goals and points and rising!

Dino Ciccarelli

Dino was just solid all-around. However, best known for scoring and he finished up with 232 career power play goals which is good for 9th all-time.

Jari Kurri

Jari scored an impressive 39 short handed goals in his career which is good enough for 6th all-time. The leader in that department however scored nearly double that and I think played on the same line as him (Gretzky).

Paul Coffey

Another former Gretzky teammate. Paul is a 3-time Norris Trophy winner who nearly scored 50 goals in a season (48) which is a total I don't believe will ever be touched again.

Joe Mullen

Joe Mullen is a 3-time Cup winner and former leading American born scorer.

Guy Carbonneau

I've heard people argue that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. He is a 3-time Selke and Cup winner, both are pretty impressive.


Justin Faulk

Future superstar defenseman? At the moment in time, he is on pace to score over 30 goals which has only been done twice since 1990. Kevin Hatcher ('93) and Mike Green ('08)
 
Patrick Sharp

Patrick has already won 3 Cups and could find himself on a team this season to win his 4th. He owns a very respectable 10 goals and 22 point in 30 games while taking on a leadership role in Dallas.

Robin Lehner

Ok, not all my jersey cards are amazing. What does the future have in store for Robin in Buffalo. The future will definitely reveal it soon enough and I am guessing good things.

Benedict Kovalchuk

Once upon a time I would have enjoyed this card. Now I just own it and nothing more....

Well there you have it! I pulled a couple of these but for the most part, they were purchased at the LCS in my 3 for $5 bin which is pretty awesome and always being topped up which means I have a few more to share in a future post! If any interest you, please let me know as I could be convinced to part with some.

Complete Hall of Fame PC - Paul Coffey

Given this size and this scope of this PC. I want to try and formalize how I present it. This is my first attempt and I am hopeful that I get it right the first time and don't have to tinker with it too much. As some of you know, my plan is to get at least 2 out of 3 key cards in a HOF player's career. My plan is to try and own a rookie card, an autographed card and/or a game used card. In some cases a rookie card might be too far out of my reach so I will gladly settle for an auto and a game used. In other cases, an autograph might be nearly impossible so I will have to chase a game used and a rookie. 

With many of the modern players (1980 to present, I will do everything I can to try and go 3 of 3). 

While I have a number of these "done" I am planning on starting from scratch and sharing them in a common format.

What is complete: In the case of Paul Coffey I was able to go 3 for 3.

Card 1: 1981-82 OPC Rookie

This is a card I had for a while, mailed it away to be signed TTM and never saw it again. I was able to buy another to replace it and I just tried to get one in the same condition as the last. Some day I hope to get the set and then maybe get a copy in better shape but for now this is more than fine for me!

Card 2: 2012-13 Artifacts Paul Coffey Auto Black /5

Currently this is my first and only Paul Coffey auto. I do plan on getting his 97-98 BAP one someday since I am working on that set but this is definitely a nice card to have as part of his PC. I am a little sad Upper Deck put a sticker meant for an Oilers card (#7) instead of a Penguins card (#77) but I guess the sticker monkey wasn't too concerned. 

Card 3: 13-14 Upper Deck Game Jersey Paul Coffey

Here is a nice solitary jersey swatch in plain white. It could have been from his Pittsburgh days, at least that is what I am pretending. Just a cool shot of him playing from the 91-92 season which was a Cup winning season if memory serves me right.

Card 4: Bonus! 10-11 ITG Decades 80's For Your Country Silver /30

The only card I actually pack pulled! This one is an Oilers swatch and an old one at that. Love the colour contrast with the other swatches on this one plus the low print run and the multiple HOF'ers. Safe to say this one card will be pulling more than double duty!

Paul's Career:

Paul had a fantastic NHL and International career which made him a shoo-in for the HOF. He has a number of NHL records and I like to think he was my era's Bobby Orr. He didn't change the game for defenseman because Bobby and others already did that but he did dominate his position and that was evident by his career totals, 3 Norris trophies and his many untouchable records for a defenseman. I like to think his 48 goals, 28 game point streak and 8 points in one game are probably records that will stand for a very long time or never be broken. 

Paul appeared in 7 Cup finals and won 4 times all with Edmonton. Paul also represented Canada a number of times as well and won 3 Canada Cups and was on the Silver medal winning World Cup team in 1996. 

Paul was inducted into the HOF in 2004 which I believe was his first ballot. Today Paul is coaching junior hockey in Ontario and running a car dealership. His cards are all relatively low priced and autos usually can be had for under 20 dollars. Game used cards due to the large number out there can be had for well under 10 dollars and his rookie card today books for 50 dollars with high graded ones often receiving a hefty premium. 

My thoughts:

I believe Paul is definitely one of the best offensive defenseman that I have ever seen play and when he was with the Oilers he did a lot of work for the forward and in many ways I like to think as dominant as Gretzky was, Paul did have an impact on the forward's offensive production thanks to his amazing skating and puck moving skills. Same could be true for the converse, Paul also benefitted from an amazing set of forwards. 

Career Regular Season Numbers:

Gm 1409 Goals 396 Assists 1135 Points 1531 Plus/Minus+294


Final Fact:

Currently Paul Coffey sits 5th in all-time playoff scoring with 196 points. The next nearest active player chasing him is Marian Hossa who is nearly 70 points behind.

And the wait is over, my replacement card is..

So my first experience with Upper Deck and redemption replacement was.......as success. Upper Deck informed me that they were not making my 12-13 UD Artifacts Dino Ciccarelli Auto Black /5 and I would need to contact them for a replacement. I gave them my list and true to their word they found a reasonable replacement.

First part that was cool is it is from the same set, same numbering. Secondly, they gave me a HOF'er in place of a HOF'er. Lastly, they gave me a player from my team of choice (Edmonton Oilers). So in the end, what more could I ask? Here it is:

12-13 UD Artifacts Paul Coffey Auto Black /5

Here is Paul as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The card is pretty awesome, the auto is really the only weak point of the card but then again Paul is more of a scribbler than a scriber so it is pretty much on par with most of his autos. In all, it is an awesome card and a cool addition to the collection. I am not 100% sure what I will do with this in the long-term. It does fit my HOF/Mem/Auto project though I already have his rookie and his game-used card. I know I can pick up a certified auto of Paul's for much less than this card would be worth so I need to decide, do I keep it? Trade it? or Sell it?

Thanks for a great replacement Upper Deck!

Fixing a small mistake and learning from it too

In my first few TTM requests, I was feeling like a risk taker and I sent away some cards that I thought would come back and I would certainly miss if they didn't come back (I know you warned me Sal). Well, it turns out not many of those came back...Is it because the players are thinking, "Hey these are nice I want them" or do they think someone willing to send me my rookie is likely just trying to turn around and sell it?

The one I missed the most was my Paul Coffey Rookie. Of course many of you are now questioning my intelligence etc. for mailing away a Paul Coffey rookie card, but even though it was a Coffey rookie, it was VG at best and I felt it was maybe a 10 dollar card. However, I still liked it.

Well it has been over a year and a half since I mailed that card out and nothing has come back yet and I have given it up for dead. So, with my collection missing a Coffey rookie in it, I decided to watch countless auctions on eBay to see what ones are selling for. After I determined what I think they are worth in various grades I landed the one below for under 10 bucks with shipping. The condition is every bit as good as the one I mailed away, possibly even better.

So what did I learn? The obvious of course, but I still can't help but think what that Coffey rookie would have looked like with his signature on it, in my house, in my collection, in my hands. 

81/82 OPC Paul Coffey Rookie

This isn't my first as you know, but it currently is my only. The seller listed it as near Ex, but there are some damage on the corners as well as a tiny crease just about his head. I am going to be hanging on to this one for a while, and maybe some day work on upgrading to a near-mt to mint one. In the meantime, there is one less hole in my collection and I am a tiny bit more cautious too.

ITG Decades Box Break - Part 2 of 3

Hope you don't mind camera shots again! Here are hits 4-6.

The pack gets more interesting as we get our first memorabilia hit.

Hit 4

I am definitely a fan of Nifty Middleton. This card is numbered to 130 which isn't too bad for the highest numbered memorabilia insert.

Wayne Gretzky once played on a line with Middleton and Perreault and he marveled at how skilled Middleton was. There appeared to be a little piece of wood or something stuck in the jersey. I left it there....

Hit 5!!!!!

Wow! This may be one of the funnest cards I have ever pulled! These four guys are amazing and this is the Silver Version which is numbered to 30. Love the swatches, love the players, this made the box. According to the back of the card, all swatches are from their NHL clubs except Mario which is from a Team Canada Jersey. That part is what I think makes this the coolest card I own.

Hit 6

This one was a bit of a surprise. I came down from the high of the last card and missed something key on first inspection of this card. I was happy to see Leetch, he is an amazing defensemen. He is in the Hall of Fame and Messier called him the greatest Ranger of all-time. What I missed at first glance is this is a Silver Version which is also numbered to 30. This box is shaping up to be a winner!