The Parkhurst Project

Ever since I have begun collecting cards, I always preferred the older cards over the newer one. Since I started collecting in 1990, it was a good thing as I didn't spend ALL my money on 1990 junk wax and spread what little money I had around a little bit. My collection does have 90's stuff don't get me wrong, I was young and poor and it was often all I could afford. But I do have some older cards in my collection from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. The set designs over the years are pretty darn cool and I definitely have my favourites much like everyone else does I am sure. My all-time favourite is 1951 parkhurst. There are other iconic sets out there like 67-68 topps, or 71-72 OPC or even 79-80 OPC. But it was the Parkhurst set that ushered in the modern card collecting era for hockey cards and the set was the largest ever produced at the time at 105 cards. My life goal in collecting will be to get this complete set. Like most people I can't just drop 15k on a completed set so I will build this set one card at a time. I hope to share my collecting of this historical set. Over the years I have really only ever seen a couple completed sets for sale so I know my goal is challenging but with auctions every day on ebay and thousands of these cards still available it is by no means difficult. The hardest part will just be saving and buying the cards for a price I think is reasonable. To help keep this project reasonable I plan on buying cards that may not be in the best condition especially in cases like Howe, Sawchuk and Richard rc's. But with that being said I do have SOME standards.

1. The card must be a complete card (Not pieces of it)
2. There can not be any handwriting on the card (I don't like it when they have been defaced)
3. The card is obvious (The card shouldn't look like it went through the wash in someones pocket and you can't make out what it says anymore)
4. I want to get a wrapper of the packs from 1951

So with those things in mind I hope to build the 105 card set before I meet my end. Maybe I should make provisions in my will in case I die that my estate finishes the purchases? I wonder if that has ever been done before?

Here is a picture of what the orginial 1951 Parkies came out of. Once in a while I see them on sale but they are much more rare than some of the cards themselves.

I found this picture online as well. It is a picture of 100 of the 105 cards from the set. Can you pick out which ones are missing?

So there you have it. I think it is do-able but of course with time just about anything is I suppose. In the coming weeks I will share with you as I make my attempt and if you wish to help out I am willing to make trades or barter to try and get more cards.

07-08 Sweet Shot

So maybe it was the lack of sleep due to a newborn, or maybe I convinced myself it was a good idea by watching too many box breaks on youtube. But I decided to drop 65 dollars (shipping and tax included) on the 'bay to get a box of 07-08 Sweet Shot. I told myself hey, about 6 bucks, 5 cards, 3 hits and the payout could be really cool!!! In fact, with the deep rookie pool from 07-08 I am bound to get someone decent right?

So the ride begins with Sir Patrick

A neat little tin, inside the cards are in a see-through package so looking right up at me as I open the box is a base card of....

Zetterberg. Base cards design is pretty nice, I don't mind them at all. At 65 bucks a tin I don't believe I will try and build the base set. The base set consists of 100 cards, mostly stars and Beckett lists the value between 20-50 bucks. Definitely don't see the value in trying to build this one!!

Next in the pack was base card number two and it was Dion Phaneuf. Both stars in their own right but nothing I was really in love with yet.... Now on to the hits. The first hit was..

Not a bad card. The puck signings are silver on a black rubber insert. The card isn't numbered but I love the penmanship and it is his rookie year so it means a little more to me than a regular auto of a third line player. The next hit was..

Dany Heatley. This card was numbered to 299, many fans will remember Dany was involved in a motor vehicle accident that almost ended his career and did end the life of Dan Snyder. He did bounce back from the accident and tragedy to have himself a good career so far. I was not excited about this one because there are much better cards out there including many current HOFs. So at this point I am telling myself, one card to go and it is going to be a rookie! Rookies are my favourite part of collecting so I know this last card could be good. Kane, Toews, Backstrom heck even Andy Greene would be fine...

Jared Boll....sigh.....Well it is a rookie....that is what I wanted....but Jared's skills are likely more appreciated in an octogon than an ice rink. He is a fighter, he isn't a scorer...in fact he has compiled 13 goals in 218 games over 3 seasons. He is a regular NHL'er so it isn't the end of the world but I would say that I got a dud as far as rookies are concerned. (the card is white, it just for some reason scanned a little goldish)

So did I get 65 dollars in cards here? I don't think even a Sens fan would agree here. I do have a nice Patrick Roy Tin, there must be some value there! In the end I think it was a bad idea especially if I used the 65 dollars for I used the money for this. If I pulled something numbered to /25 or /15 then I would say it was a success or even one of the better rookies I would have a smile on my face. This is likely the last Sweet Shot tin I will ever buy which is good because they also have stopped manufacturing this product after 07-08 season. Have you ever bought a tin? Would you ever buy one?

Diversions

Ok, so the ruling didn't go the way I hoped it would. Now the waiting game continues, so I thought I would share a box I opened a little while back of 09-10 UD Series 2. I usually don't mind this product because of a couple of reasons. First of all, you get a crack at the Victory versions of the rookies you missed from Series 1, you get a shot at a Rookie Memorabilia card and finally it completes the series. I must say, before I opened this box, I knew it could only get better! My Series one box best card was a Brodeur game used and the best rookie was Ryan O'Reilly. That was a dud box to say the least. I usually like the feeling I got what I paid for, but I was left unsatisfied and disgusted because all 6 of my pathetic young guns had roller marks all over them. SO here we go, this time around I feel I got it right, the young gun pool is much shallower, but I did alright...

The highlight of the rookies was Logan Couture who saw some action at the end of the season and looks to be a rather promising star. THN has him projected to score 36 points this season. Brad Marchand and Lars Eller were the other two notable pulls and they are projected to be full-time NHL'ers this coming season according to THN.

My Victory Gold rookie for this box was good old JT. Since I missed him in Series 1, this is the equivalence of the Ms Congeniality prize. I don't mind Victory rookies as much as others, I love rookie cards so the Gold parallel is better then the regular base one, which I pulled two of him as well.

The Exclusives are inserted 1 for every two hobby boxes and I was lucky enough to pull my buddy Gio. A former Devil, he will always have a place in my heart especially after his magical 48 goal season. He will never be able to repeat it, but I wish him luck in Montreal.

After opening most of the packs, this little surprise was found toward the bottom of the box. I have never pulled a victory black in my life and Van Riemsdyk isn't a bad one to start a collection on. I had pulled a regular Victory Rc of him earlier in the box was well and also lucked into a Ultra redemption rc of my new best friend James. He was born in NJ so maybe this is fate.

I almost fell off my chair when I opened this one. If all these Van Riemsdyk cards can't turn me into a fan then I don't know what will. A black swatch is always better than a white one, but beggars can't be choosers because the other GU from this box I pulled was a JP Dumont which if I didn't already have another GU of him might have been mildly exciting....But alas I have a SP Game Used of him already so now I will try and find a Preds fan who would be remotely interested in it and trade it to them for some commons of a set I am sure I don't collect.

The final thing I have to say about this box is why did I pull two "ice dancer" cards? Since when did hockey and ice dancing go together? Worse yet, one of them has never even won a real event like the olympics! I think they won some crappy USA junior title or some shit like that? There are probably two people in the world that wanted this card printed...Him and His MOM. So why did UD think it was a good idea? I can't wait for Panini to print some cards and give me an option to not buy UD.

The waiting game

Well as I write this, a decision from Richard I Bloch has yet to come. The 48 hours was extended over the weekend and a ruling regarding the infamous 17 year contract will come sometime today. I have read on many websites on how the Devils are "losers" in the free agent market and how the signing is absurd. Well if the signing goes through LIKE IT SHOULD, I believe Lou has once again proved that he is the best GM in the NHL. There is nothing wrong with the contract except that people are hung up on the length. There are no length rules, there are no stipulations on age in the CBA so I think it is funny that people immediately call foul when the Devils organization has following the contract to the letter and found a creative way to spread the wealth. No one can predict what Kovalchuk will do once he gets into his 40's. Igor Larionov played into his 40's and is one of the greatest Russian players of all time and someone who Kovalchuk looks up to. I believe we need to cut the kid some slack, he isn't all about the money because he walked away from more. He wants to win and really WHO DOESN'T? The Devils are perennial contenders and with Kovy we have an offense that will grow under Johnny Mac and here is hoping Marty gets to hoist another cup in the next year or two.

As Homer once said "the waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry-Hungry-Hippos!"

SO here are a couple GU Kovys I picked up off the 'bay.