Card of the Week - Daymond Langkow

Hard to believe after such a cool start to a "Franchise" that Young Gun cards were once religated to mail-in status in Upper Deck's cheapest product. The object of many collector's desire spent a couple years in the "minors" before they were called back up to Upper Deck's base set where collectors have lusted for them ever since.

This past week in the news, the Flames traded Langkow back to the Coyotes in exchance for Lee Stempniak. On paper, it appears to be a bit of a salary dump but really this trade could be great for both teams. Stempniak is 28 and has many years ahead of him, but don't expect the point a game production he did after the Leafs to Coyotes trade. Lee is a half point a game player at best and likely will be a 3rd liner in Calgary.

Langkow, only played 4 games due to a neck injury last season is looking at making a comeback. I remember when he was first drafted and there certainly was a great deal of pressure for him to perform. Didn't work out with Tampa, but Daymond did hit his stride with Phoenix and Calgary breaking the 20 goal barrier in 7 straight seasons before sliding in 09-10. I expect to see him in more of a mentor/leadership role this coming season, but he might be good for 20 goals given the extra ice time in Phoenix.

95-96 Collectors Choice Young Gun # 402

Front side

A simple card with a nice gloss to it. The Young Guns emblem is unique and the Islanders jerseys in the background have me craving fish sticks. Overall just a good clean mid 90's hockey card.

The back side
All write-up. You can see a little stats are hidden in the text and the information is pretty relevant and what some fans and collectors want to see. I like the amount of text on the back and only would like to have seen some vitals to call this complete. The old puck style hologram is present in the bottom right.

How do you get this card in 1996? Well you needed to pull this card:

Young Guns Redemption Card
These cards were seeded 1 per 34 packs in 1995-96 Collectors Choice.
Here is what was required....not a bad deal I thought at the time. I ended up with a couple of these and mailed away for a few sets. I had a couple left over redemptions that I kept for collecting purposes. The highlights of the 15 cards were Doan, Koivu and Alfredsson YG cards. Not all were rookie cards as players like Koivu were a part of the World Junior subsets from the early 90's.

How I received the card: Came with 14 others as part of a redemption that cost me 2.50 US

Beckett Value: very little (20 - 50 cents)

Alex Delvecchio - TTM

I seem to be averaging one a week right now, hope that rate increases!

Like Pentti, Alex also grew up in the Thunder Bay area. Here is my favourite card of the ones he signed.

Check out the other signature and the rest of the story at Dirty Dangle.

Mystery Repack Box Break 2

Here is the second repack box I bought. Not as good as the first, but maybe still worth the 6 bucks....let me know what you think.

#4 - Value Vintage Sets - 84/85 Topps

I think from now to number one the list will be a little more interesting because I felt that #2-4 could all be rearranged and with the right argument I could certainly buy into a person's opinion on the matter. But really, like most people's blogs they are just opinion pieces anyway so here is why I think 84-85 Topps is the 4th best value vintage set out there.

Here are the redeeming qualities to me:

The set is from the mid-80's which was the height of fire-wagon hockey!

Tonnes of star players in the set as well as a crop of new up-coming stars

It was the first Topps set produced since 81-82 so there are a few "First Topps Cards"

It was harder to build by packs because of 66 single printed cards in the set

17 Rookie cards in a set of just 165 Cards

Steve Yzerman rookie!!!

Card Design:

I really like the design of this year. On the front you get an action shot and a head shot. Also you see the name, team and position the player was playing. Really just a nice classic design certainly has the mid-80's feel to it.

The back side
The back is equally nice featuring vital information, stats and a small write-up back the player. Here Wayne averaged more than a goal a game for the second time in his career and won the Stanley Cup.

Key Card:

Without a doubt the key card in the set is the Steve Yzerman rookie. This card wasn't double printed so it holds its value rather well. The book price on this one is 15 - 40 dollars which is a pretty decent price to own an Yzerman rookie!

Steve front side

Steve back side
Like the Sakic rookie on my #5 set, Stevie Y's card value makes up a large percentage of the set price, in this case, 80% to be exact.

The rookies:

Even though there are only 17 rookies in the set, some of them are pretty good ones. Rookies include Dave Andreychuk, Tom Barrasso, Pat Verbeek, and Pat Lafontaine.

Pat Lafontaine Rookie

Other notable cards:

In addition to the rookies, there are some other cool cards like a Oilers era Gretzky which you have already seen, and cards from stars like Bossy, Coffey, Bourque, Savard and other typical mid-80's stars.

Wayne Gretzky All Star front side

All-Star back side

As you can see this is a pretty cool set. What makes it an especially good value is that you can own a set that is over 25 years old for very little. This set lists for 25-50 dollars in the Beckett but I have seen them go on eBay for less than 25! Definitely worth the price of a typical blaster box!

I bought my set which is in amazing shape in the early 90's for 45 bucks. Certainly haven't made any money off that purchase but my enjoyment of flipping through this set every now and again is worth paying a little more for it a long time ago and certainly a set I am going to continue to enjoy going forward.

It is worth noting, if you have the money...the 84/85 OPC is phenomenal as well. Addition rookies of Chelios, Neely and Gilmour make it a more attractive set but at 5 times the price a collector has to ask themselves is it worth it? Or should you own the Topps set and buy the missing rookies as singles? Lucky for me, I was given the 84/85 OPC set as a gift in the mid 90's so I have both plus a few singles of Gilmour and Chelios (no extra Neelys though).

Pentti Lund - TTM

A little while back, I picked up a Pentti Lund RC which prompted me to write him a letter and see if I could get an autograph.

Sure enough he did sign for me, and I got a little more than a bargained for...(in a good way). Check out the story at Dirty Dangle!

Card of the Week - Peter Mueller

Rather than focus on the negative news in Devils camp, lets focus on the positive news around the NHL. It appears a number of players who have missed the last bit or all of last season are on the mend including Peter Mueller.

Mueller is an exciting one as he was on a serious hot streak after Phoenix traded him to Colorado. In the 15 games after the trade in 2010 Mueller scored 20 points for the Avs including 9 goals. Life was good and it appeared he was going to return to his Rookie year form when he suffered a huge concussion. Mueller sat out ALL of last year which either means the concussion was very severe or they are treating is very seriously and giving him a fresh start.

I became a Mueller fan (along with Kopitar and Booth) as a result of watching the 2008 WHC in Halifax. Here are a couple photos I took of Mueller:

I actually took the photos from my seat with a pretty cheap camera so I considered myself lucky to see some great hockey from a nice seat.

08-09 OPC Premier Premier Remnants PR-PM
I like this card a lot. Nice design, triple swatch and game-used. The card is numbered 95/100 and the front is really sharp looking. OPC Premier has tended to be in the shadow of The Cup and I find you can pick up some great deals on rookies from this set which are every bit as nice as The Cup ones. The rookies are generally made with a couple swatches and an autograph!

The back side

On the back, like most UD products, there is a nice reminder that Richard McWilliam selflessly is getting us as close to the game as he can and a little wasted space. I like the OPC foil on the corner and the lines give the card a nice look on the back.

How I received the card: I paid $2.99 for this at the my local hobby shop

Beckett Value: 6 - 15 dollars

Hockey Pool Anyone?

With the hockey season around the corner I am beginning to think fantasy. One idea that has run through my head is to run a hockey pool with my fellow bloggers and readers where the concept would be a $10 BV entry fee. Each person would put up a card (or a pack) with a $10 value and the winner of the pool would get a card/pack from each of the losing players.

I am not sure if this will get off the ground or not and you wouldn't need to pay up until the end. You can even keep the card a secret until the end too if you like. I am just trying to see if there is enough interest out there to participate. I am pretty open to different pool ideas, my initial thought was a draft (through sportsline or yahoo or whatever) and go from there. Let me know if you are interested and if you have an idea on how it should be run, please share. We could even do a keeper league if there are some die-hards out there too.

I would like a total of 10 contestants but of course if there is interest for more that is cool too. So if you are interested or in no matter what, let me know!

#5 - Value Vintage Sets - 89/90 OPC

When I was shopping online last month, I wanted to make my funds stretch as far as they could. Certainly my card collection is far from complete and there were a few holes I wanted to start filling. Most collectors in my age and financial demographic probably have the early 90's nailed down to the extreme and then some sets here and there depending on interests etc.

Well I decided that I needed more vintage sets and I went and got myself a couple for under a 100 bucks total. I based my choices on the best value and substance in the sets. Then I thought it would make a good serial on my blog so I am going to share what I think are the top 5 Value sets from 1970-1989.

Number 5 on my list is the 89-90 OPC Set.

Why you ask? Here are some of the redeeming qualities:

330 Cards

Sets can be had for under the BV of 20 bucks

Great Hall of Fame players and rookies in the set

Design is simple and attractive

You can afford to build the set from packs if you wish (boxes of 36 packs under $40)

The OPC set also has some rookies that can't be found in the Topps version (Fleury, Corson, Tugnett etc.)

Card design:

Here is what the front of the cards look like.

The front looks clean with blue trim on the top and bottom (which is prone to chipping) and a "marble-ized" sides which tend to be a little off centre (my scans ended up all looking off-centre as I used a camera).

Backside of the cards

The back shows both season and playoff stats along with player vitals. Again like the front, the cards look clean and simple.

Key card:

Without a doubt is the Joe Sakic RC.

Joe front side
Joe backside

The BV for the set is 10-20 dollars with the Sakic rookie listing at 5-12 dollars which is a significant percentage of the set.

Other notable cards:

There are plenty of other cool cards in the set including early career cards of Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Brendan Shanahan, Adam Oates, Brett Hull etc.

Hull 2nd year card.

The rookies:

The set contains a fair number of Hall of Fame and star rookies (59 Rookie Cards in total). The rookies include Theo Fleury, Brian Leetch, Joe Sakic, Craig Janney, Derek King, Tony Granato, Ron Tugnutt just to name a few.

Linden RC

Fleury RC

This set is no where near the greatest ever created but there are many intangibles which make this set a great value. The rookies, the stars, the design of the cards and the fact that they can all be yours for much less than a box of 11-12 Victory Hockey all suggest it is jam-packed with value.

I added this set to my collection in the early 90's. I probably bought 2 boxes with of 89-90 OPC and have two complete sets as a result. Certainly the smart way would be to pick up a set at a show or card shop to avoid those pesky shipping charges. Either way, it certainly can be had on the cheap and I think is a must for any hockey card collector.

Do you agree it is a good value? Let me know!

Happy Trails Chris Drury

Well it is a pretty dreary day here in Nova Scotia. Just wrapped up a 3.5 hour thunder storm and I feel safe having my desktop computer on once again.

Well it shouldn't come as a huge surprise to some that Chris Drury has decided to call it a career. He like many others was lured to New York with the promise of a big contract and the hopes that they are the "missing piece" only to underachieve and find themselves homeless (not figuratively of course) after a couple of seasons.

I think any player signing a contract with the Rangers should take out an insurance policy on their talent as it seems to disappear more often than not when they arrive. Jagr is pretty much the only exception I can think of in the last 15 years. Holik, Gomez, Drury, Redden, Lindros and countless others showed up to NY with the hopes of Cups and playoff appearances only to find themselves failing.

Chris Drury was a winner however in his previous life first winning the Calder Trophy in 1999 with the Avalanche. He will be best remembered by me for great 2001 Playoff performance with the Avs which contributed to the Devils not being repeat Champs. I think he made the right choice retiring on his own terms and not embarrassing himself by trying out with other clubs and finding himself on a 4th line or being scratched occasionally on a non-contending team.

I don't have many Drury cards in my collection, but I do have his 05-06 Parkhurst card which does picture him during his best offensive days.

Final career numbers for Drury are:

892 gms, 255 goals, 360 assists and 615 points.

His best season was in 06-07 (which lead the the huge contract with the Strangers)

37 goals, 32 assists for 39 points

Hockey Repacks - Does anyone ever get good cards?

We have all seem them...Repacks... Generally they are sold with a catch, "Over $50 in NHL packs inside" or 1 Game-Used Mem card or 2 Jersey cards per box or my favourite "Find the Parkhurst Gordie Howe Rookie".

Some people cave in and buy one or two or several...

I have bought my share, I usually buy them when they are on clearance and I know worst case scenario is me breaking even in my books. The last ones I bought were 5 bucks a pop which came with a jersey card and 3 packs. Not bad huh? The jersey cards weren't the worst, I pulled a Belfour, Mogilny, and a Sullivan. The packs yielded the occasional decent card or semi-star rookie but nothing blog worthy to report.

Fast forward a year and I am at Walmart and I notice the clearance sticker on this pack.

The pictures on the front are always better than what you find inside...at least that was my experience. So seeing Wayne, Gino and Stevie taunting me to take a chance I decide WHAT THE HECK, it is only $5.97 right?

So I bring it home and open it up. Based on the front I am expecting a loose jersey card and a random pack (probably Ultra, MVP or something cheap).

What I actually find are two packs and a white envelope.

Leaving the envelope for the end I open the two packs. First pack is the Beehive....nothing...no rookies or anything cool.

Next is the Artifacts and bang, we have a hit. I pulled a game-used Curtis Joseph card. Not bad, #/299 and the swatch is boring white. He is pictured with the Coyotes. Nice, but not even worth showing here...

Then I open the envelope. What I see stuns me for a second and it is a moment before I even realize what I have...

This is an autographed Jeremy Roenick insert card from 92-93 Fleer Ultra. There is a neat "crimped" stamp of authenticity below his autograph compliments of Fleer this proving it is all the real deal.

Based on the two packs I considered myself ahead of the game. With this card, I am talking home run here. The card's BV is an astounding $60-150 which means for a card from the early 90's to list this high must mean it is relatively rare. I went on eBay and only found two others and it looks like each of the 10 might have autographed versions out there.

In all, I can finally say I was lucky enough to have success on those repack boxes and to be honest. I think I like this card better than the ones on the box!

So I am sure some of you are wondering. Are there any more of these boxes at Walmart. Well I did go back because there was ONE MORE LEFT. I picked it up and I will post the video this weekend. If you see one in your area, I do recommend it as a deal at 5.97. I don't know if I would pay full price however.

BTW, for all Cujo fans, if you really want to see the card let me know and I will take the time to post it and if you just WANT the card, I am willing to put it up for trade too.

Contests are fun....

Check out this contest.....free and fun!

http://cccollecting.blogspot.com/2011/08/get-your-pimping-shoes-ready-first-ever.html

Card of the week - Maxime Clermont

A pretty slow week again in the NHL news department which is sorta nice. It gives me a chance to share some more Devils news. You may have not been aware of this but Marty Brodeur is getting old. Drafted in 1990, he doesn't have many seasons left in the tank and this is his last year under contract with the Devils. Lou has been thinking of the future and has been drafting and signing goalies for the future and going into camp right now we have 5 goalies under contract.

Martin Brodeur

Johan Hedberg

Jeff Frazee

Keith Kinkaid

Maxime Clermont

We also have goalie Scott Wedgewood, but he is ineligible to play in the AHL right now and will remain in the CHL for the upcoming season. Clermont, will likely play in the QMJHL for the start of the season until injuries occur and he is required to play in the AHL or NHL.

This past year, he lead an over-achieving Gatineau Olympiques all the way to the QMJHL finals where they lost to the heavily favoured Saint John Sea Dogs. He finished the playoffs with a 2.22 Gaa and a .927 save percentage. I have faith that Maxime could be one of our goalies for the future and with Wedgewood and Kinkaid also in the fold, we should make a decent transition from the Marty years to the future (I hope).

09-10 ITG Heroes and Prospects Subway Super Series SSM02

Love this card. The swatch is a seam piece and bulges out nicely. It is the black version which are "numbered" to 60. The swatch is a good size like many ITG swatches are and the front is designed nicely.

Back side

I like that on the back they tell you which year it was used in and of course it was game used. They could have featured stats etc, but like UD that generally doesn't happen often.

How I received the card: eBay purchase for $0.99 + shipping

Beckett Value: 5 - 12 dollars

Marcel Dionne TTM

The poll results said go for it and I did. Here is my return on Marcel Dionne which came back in just 15 days.

The rest of the story can be found at Dirty Dangle.

Video Break - 1983-84 OPC Pack 1 of 2

OK, so finally I made a video worth watching. 1983-84 is a fun year, no super rookies, but a set that looks decent and has many stars in it. There was no Topps release that year so the production numbers were a little high which means the set itself isn't terribly valuable. However packs can still be a little pricey, I was lucky to land two for 11 bucks with shipping so I thought I would share them with you folks.

I did film this the same night as the Score pack and the second pack of OPC so everything looks similar. Maybe I should expense my pack costs to Nike. I will hopefully get the missing cards from my 83-84 set posted on my want list soon, so if anyone can help me via trade I would appreciate it.

First ever video break - Ripping a pack of 93-94 Score

Luke over at the cardboard review just completed a trade with me. I helped him out with his desire for San Jose Sharks and in return I received a couple Devils AND a unexpected pack of 93-94 Score. I have never opened a pack of such product and never created a youtube video so lets cash in both V-cards at the same time!

I was a little awkward making this video, so I probably don't sound very natural, but who gets it right their first time anyway!

WTF is an NHL Event Used Card?

I like game-used memorabilia cards almost as much as I like autos. I collect them, and I am trying to get cards from each NHL team and cards from my favourite players past and present. Some companies do a better job than others making these cards and certain sets have larger swatches and more pieces than others. I also get a fair bit of excitement pulling one from a pack and I do consider buying products that contain jersey cards.

A little while back I was on eBay and saw a few auctions with free shipping and players who I am fans of. So I threw a couple cheap bids on them and ended up with two of them. So for about 5 bucks shipping included I got two quad swatch cards from the 09-10 Black Diamond.

Dale Hawerchuk (huge fan)

Glenn Anderson (gotta respect the 'stache and the 2-50 goal seasons)

But what is most interesting is the colour of the swatches. They looked a bit like they were from the Eastern Conference All Star Jerseys from the mid-90's except for the red piece on Dale's card and Glenn never played in a 1990's All-Star game.

The backs of both cards proclaim that I have received a swatch that was "used in an official NHL event". Does that mean All-Star game? or does it mean Old-Timers game? I do have some 08-09 SP Game Used Duals of Bob Bourne, Billy Smith and Anton Stastny which state on the back they were "used in an official event". Please note the lack of NHL and the front of the three cards shows the player in their Old-Timers uniforms.

So I am not 100% sure where the jerseys came from, but the price was still right and I am still happy to have them in my collection, but I am still not sure what story is behind them. I really wish UD would take some more time in giving collectors an idea of what they own exactly especially when you consider these two cards would be hits that fall 2 per box in a relatively expensive product.

Winner Winner Free Chicken Dinner!

Hurry up free contest here:

http://jaybarkerfan.blogspot.com/2011/08/100th-blog-post-contest-100th-blog-post.html

Wax Stain Love

Call it Sympathy for the Wax Stain or Wax Stain Love, but either way I am beginning to warm up to the leftover waxy residue. Ever since I started blogging and of course reading other people's blogs, my opinions on somethings have changed. I have definitely gained an appreciate for other things and I think naturally due to the name of my website I have learned to stop worrying about the condition and love the stain.

Here is an 83-84 OPC Ken Houston card with a Wax Stain on the front.

I am not sure if I will ever get anyone to truly love the front side stain. As you can see, it doesn't really enhance the photo of the card, but it does add character! But, I am sure Ken Houston wishes his last NHL card didn't have the stain on the front.

87-88 Topps Ron Hextall

Here is a back side stain.

The funny thing is, I received this card from Sal at puckjunk.com and he was kind enough to give it to me as I think he felt it needed to be in my collection. Truth is, the card actually is quite meaningful on MANY levels. First of all, my favourite goalie of all-time (Martin Brodeur) copied and studied a lot of what Ron Hextall did with the puck and really helped transform the game of hockey and subsequently was so good handling the puck they instituted a stupid rule (the trapezoid). So in a sense, Ron and Marty are pioneers of puck handling.

Secondly, I played a lot of hockey as a kid which included street hockey. When I played street hockey, I was ALWAYS a goalie. I had my own equipment which included a Vic Ron Hextall goalie stick!

Lastly I own the 87-88 OPC set and a few stray Hextall OPC RCs but no where in my collection do I have a Topps version so this card is just that much more special.

But when you look at the stain on the back, is it really that bad? You look at the front and it is pristine and on the back where there is only text you see a little discolouration. Nothing crazy, but a little waxy discolouring which 4 sharp corners. You can land some seriously discounted cards based on a little Wax Stain and really just be receiving a card with a little more character and a small waxy bonus!

Case and point.

Ken Dryden Topps Rookie:

BV $125

eBay Price $145 for a PSA 7

Ken Dryden Topps Rookie w/ Wax Stain:

Seller says it is NM with a Wax Stain and you can own it for 70 bucks!

Just some food for thought. Thanks again Sal for a nice card, I will enjoy it in my PC.

11-12 Victory Review

Well with the great value offered last year by Score (autos etc.), it was up to Upper Deck to either revamp Victory or keep it the same and hope the legions of Victory fans out there will sustain the product. So what does Upper Deck do? Lets shove our second cheapest franchise in as inserts, so Victory now comes with MVP!

I was a pretty big fan of 07-08 Victory but each year I get more and more dissatisfied with the product to the point where I will buy two packs a year and that is pretty much it. I will try and nail some good rookies as part of UD Series 2, but that is pretty much it.

Base card front

Hate it. Looks like they hired some people off the street who just completed a Photoshop workshop and know next to nothing about anything else. IS there any need to have Victory appear TWICE on the front?

Back side

For good measure, lets have Victory appear TWICE on the back too!

Victory Rookies

Rookie design isn't much better which would be the only reason why I would buy a pack ever. In my two packs I ended up with one rookie. Aaron Palushaj who came over from the Blues as part of the D'Agostini trade. If you want to get technical, he has played 3 NHL games and has been traded 3 times (2 where his draft pick rights)

MVP Insert

Not a bad design, by far the highlight of the two packs. Still, I would much rather pull 1 real auto per box or two than have a few facsimile autos in a box. The MVP rookies fall about 1 per 18 packs so they will have some value to them, but not enough for me to drop 30 on a box.

Game breakers insert

Again, I loved the Stars of the Game and Gamebreakers inserts from 07-08. They had nice foil, decent design and were overall appealing to the eyes. This is pretty much crap.

What I like about 11/12 Victory:

- First chance to see new players in their new uniforms

- First look at the late arrival rookies

- Parallel Rookies are always attractive

- MVP offers some value

What I dislike about 11/12 Victory:

- Uninspired card design

- Few decent rookies

- Much better value in Score

- Inserts are mostly a waste of cardboard

- Little value in completing set

Card of the Week - Patrick Sharp

Been a slow week for hockey news and a slow month for TTMs. Just got back my Ilya Kovalchuk and much like Sal predicted, it was unsigned. I am convinced he didn`t even see the cards or letter and likely was intercepted. So I too will suggest any Devils fans out there looking for autos, send it to the player's home!!!

One news worthy point is my hometown boy Patrick Sharp has landed some big bucks. 5 years and 29.5 million dollars. Not a bad combination for either side really as Patrick has been playing well for the last 4 years in Chicago. He had a career high 71 points in 74 games and has averaged 28 goals a year since 06-07. He is going to turn 30 years old this season so this contract is an appropriate length in my opinion as well.

09-10 Champs Threads - Patrick Sharp

I was never much of a fan of Champs in the beginning, but I bit on it 09-10. I bought two blaster boxes from Toys R Us for 10 bucks a piece and managed to get nearly half the set and two jersey hits. Patrick Sharp was the second hit and Doug Gilmour (in a Blues uniform) was the first. I have slowly been piecing the set together through trades mostly, but still have a little way to go. This was one set I was pretty sad to see get the axe from Upper Deck, but it looks like it will be back next year as an insert in the Parkhurst release.

Back side

Here is the backside of the card. Nothing too special, the card is about the size of the old tobacco cards but is quite thick. I think I like these cards a little more than the typical jersey cards. Maybe it is because it has a good cardboard/swatch ratio or maybe it is just because they seem classier....I don't know.

How I received the card: Opened it from a blaster box pack

Card value: 3 - 8 dollars (unlisted star)

Parkhurst Project - Card 11

The latest addition to my 51-52 Parkhurst set isn't pretty. As you can see, it looks like Steve had a run in with some glue at one point in his life. Oddly enough, the backside of the card is pretty clean so most of the glue was on the front of this card, or the backside of another.

Steve Kraftcheck

Certainly not the nicest of the Parkies in my set thus far, but the price certainly was right as I won it with a $2.99 bid. For basically the price of a pack of Pinnacle, I won a card that is 60 years old and is a little worse for the wear. They all count I guess, but I am not going to make a habit of getting ones this rough.

Stephen had a pretty short NHL career of just 4 seasons, but did play pro hockey in the AHL for an additional 13 seasons. He was a strong and talented AHL defenseman who just couldn't recreate the AHL numbers in the NHL. His final NHL line was 157 games, 11 goals and 29 points.

Progress:

Card #92 and #11 of 105 in my set

Percent Completed:

10.5%

Cost of Card:

$5.49 with shipping

Total Cost of Set to Date:

$77.94

Bad Wax Contest and Randomness

Bad Wax has a pretty cool contest on the go, check it out over here if you haven't already.

Been pretty busy, just got back from the final U2 360 Tour show in Moncton. Here are a few videos of what I had a chance to see...please excuse the poor video quality as I had to leave all good cameras at home and use one that was about 6 years old.

Here is the highlight of my Summer!

Here are a couple short video clips

Opening Act - Arcade Fire

Here you get a daytime look at the Claw. Arcade Fire did an excellent job opening for U2. I am a big fan of Arcade Fire and they played mostly songs from Funeral and Suburbs which surprised me as I think the Neon Bible album was one of their best!

Here is U2 entering the stage

They came out to David Bowie's Space Oddity and then played Even Better Than The Real Thing. The concert was absolutely amazing and truly an experience of a lifetime!

I have lots of cards to share that I have picked up over the last month or so and have been too busy to share them so later this week and next week I will get them posted including a pack break or two. I have two 83-84 OPC packs coming soon too as well as some singles.