Friday, February 28, 2014

It's Evolution Baby! Upper Deck Style

Once upon a time there were two species of human, once upon a time there were two card companies (OPC and  Topps). Once upon a time, Upper Deck had two rookie subsets. It started off as Young Guns and Star Rookies. The Star Rookies were a carry over from the baseball sets and Young Guns were new for hockey. For a few years Upper Deck kept both around in their flagship set and then something happened. Young Guns died off and became a part of the Collector's Choice product and Star Rookies got the prime-time focus in Upper Deck's flagship sets. Was that the end? Of course not, eventually Star Rookies would be dropped and Young Guns came back and have been going strong for over a decade. Question is, would you want to see Star Rookies make a come back and live in harmony with Young Guns? Well Upper Deck has reformed its monopoly so they can do whatever they want! Here are two fun old Star Rookies.

1992-93 Upper Deck Series 1 Bill Guerin Star Rookie
This is a legit rookie. Check out the nice photography.

Here is the back side of the rookie. Bill is one of my all-time favourite players and this is a pretty cool rookie.


1992-93 Upper Deck Series 1 Martin Brodeur Star Rookie
Unlike the Guerin, this is NOT a legit rookie. Score included him in their 90-91 set as a first round draft pick. Still, this was the first card after he played in the NHL so that is cool right? Ok, maybe not but the photo on this card is cool. Green pants, cool helmet and gallimaufry galore!


Here is the back of the card, as you can see he already has 2 NHL wins and Zero Shutouts. Hard to believe he would set NHL records in both those categories in a mere 20 seasons...


If you are just checking out this post because you like Pearl Jam then here:



Wednesday, February 26, 2014

TTM Success - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

While I typically like to share my TTM success via  Dirty Dangle, I decided to just fire off a quick one on my own blog of a success I got a while back. Since I moved (and paid for mail forwarding) I was very fortunate to have done so because I have received about 4 or 5 returns that were out for well over a year and were ones I really really wanted. Here is an example:

10-11 ITG Heroes and Prospects Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Here is an awesome return! Ryan signed and returned this back after I had sent it out about 14 months previously. I am going to be honest, I wasn't sure if I would see the one back after failures with Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall. But, when it arrived I was really happy and gracious for its arrival. Ryan signed it with a blue sharpie and he included his Red Deer number 9 which is pretty awesome. Since Glenn Anderson had his number 9 retired with the Oilers, Ryan switched to number 93 which he currently wears with the club. I hope to add another RNH auto with his  number 93 to my collection someday,  but this one is certainly an amazing addition to my collection and I am very grateful for the signing. Thanks Ryan!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Parkhurst Project Card 30 and 31

This post will feature two additions. The first is my last pick up for the Parkhurst project and the other is my Edgar Laprade rookie which I have decided will be included in the set. This is a card that I thought I had already owned but when Bamlinden of My Hockey Card Obsession posted his Meatball I realized that I didn't have it. Not that I went on a mission to find it immediately but as I watch auctions I always look for deals and this one was a deal. I won it a penny below my max and it pretty much ate up the rest of my lingering PayPal money. 

Metro Prystai was a very solid NHL'er who played 11 season and put up some impressive numbers. 151 career goals and 330 career points including three 20+ goal seasons and two 50+ points seasons. He won three Cups with the Red Wings. Sadly he passed away this past Fall at the age of  85. He was a month shy of his 86th birthday but had outlived two spouses!

The card itself is in pretty awesome shape. There is a little wear on the corners and a small ding/crease on the top right corner but really it is in fantastic shape otherwise. Super happy to land this for as little as I paid for it.

Progress:


Card # 65, 96 and # 30, 31 of my set


Percentage Complete:

29.5%

Cost of the Card:

$10.00 (including 3 for shipping)


Total Cost of Set to Date:

$265.99

This total includes the cost of my Edgar Laprade rookie.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Parkhurst Project Card 29

Since my last update I have managed to land two more of these. While my pace is very very slow to say the least, I am pleased to be reaching a milestone once I am finished updating so for that I am very pleased. I think my goal going forward is to try and land as many as I can in at least as good of condition as Gaye Stewart is in. While it is a long way from mint, there are no massive creases or damage that was the result of spending a day in someone's pocket. The corners are worn and it has seen many hands, but in all it still looks rather attractive for being 63 years old.


Gaye was born in Fort William which is the same side of Thunder Bay I was born on. Gaye's claim to fame was he beat the Rocket Richard for the Calder Trophy as league's top rookie in 1943 which is amazing feat especially when you consider the fact that Gaye was two years younger than Maurice Richard. Gaye would win two Cups in his career and a variety of other awards including a first and second all-start team honours. Like many players of his generation, Gaye also stopped his NHL career to help the Allied forces in WWII for two years before coming back and playing every bit as well as he had in his Calder Trophy winning season. While he may not have made it into the Hall of Fame, Gaye is one of the better players to come out of Thunder Bay and he is a welcome addition to my growing set.  


Progress:


Card # 99 and # 29 of my set


Percentage Complete:

27.6%

Cost of the Card:

$8.00


Total Cost of Set to Date:

$230.99

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Has your team ever drafted a player from your town?

As some of you know, I was born and raised in Northern Ontario. I was born in Thunder Bay and when I was 14 I moved all the way across the province and lived my High School days and every summer day of University in Iroquois Falls. Not much in Iroquois Falls except fishing lakes, trees, a paper mill, a golf course and a hockey rink. No movie theater (nearest is 30 min away), no McDonalds, mall or anything a teenager would want to socialize at. So, I hung out at the rink and golf course. My golf game was pretty decent through high school and university. My best score was 71 and I was rocking an 8 handicap while playing probably 8 rounds of golf a week. I even played 54 holes in a day once and had the bloody hands to prove it when I was done. However, I just never got that great at hockey so I worked as an official instead and I time-kept more games than you can imagine. I can say as a result of my time that I saw Claude Giroux play from ages 8-10 years old when I was a timekeeper. Our local team played Hearst a couple times a year at home.

As far as heroes go, Iroquois Falls had one. Paul Gagne. I had the chance to get to know him reasonably well on the golf course and even play against him in some tournaments. But being a Devils fan, it really doesn't get much better than that. He played a few seasons with the Devils including a 24 goal and 43 point season in 84-85. However, he was drafted by the Rockies so even though he was from Iroquois Falls he was a Rockies import so technically the team I know and love had never drafted a player from my tiny town of about 5000 people. 

Last spring something happened for the first time and that was the Devils did draft someone from Iroquois Falls and his name was Ryan Kujawinski. Now I am not going to profess I had ever heard of him or even met him. I had moved away from Iroquois Falls back in 2004 but in my time since I left a young prospect grew up in the same hockey system and rink I grew up in and made a name for himself. Am I a fan? I think I need to be...

Here is a card I picked up for less than 2 bucks shipped from the 2013 ITG Draft Prospects set. It will be interesting to see if he can prove to be as good as Paul was, but we are years away from seeing the results.

The History of Hockey Cards

I have started a new blog, which is something I have been wanting to do for a little while now. It will be a little different than this blog since it will focus more on the history of hockey cards and not so much about new and fun things I get into my own personal collection. The blog is aptly titled The History of Hockey Cards and it will stick to facts as I know then or research them to be and I will share a little opinion on the cards themselves too. I will look at sets card by card, front and back and let collectors see stuff they have never seen before or appreciate something they already own. So please feel free to follow if you like what you see and add links to your blog rolls if you wish to share it as well.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

Dave H

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Casey of House of Oglethorpe Gives Me More Than I Bargained For

Casey of Drop The Gloves House of Oglethorpe had struck a deal with me for a card that he offered up from his collection. I agreed to an awesome deal and when it arrived,  it arrived with some extra coolness. The card which which was the focus of the deal,  I will share at a later date. Here are extras that arrived with it and I can't thank Casey enough for his kindness and generosity.

08-09 UD Masterpieces Alex Delvecchio Brushstrokes Brown Auto
This is the set that sparked the canvas craze in current UD products. Originally Masterpieces was product done all in the style of canvas (base and inserts). Alex has a great on card auto here with a photo that UD has over used but the design of the card more than makes up for it. If you notice Alex's stick, there were clearly rations on hockey tape back in the late 60s and early 70s.


2001-02 BAP Signature Series Igor Larionov
Here is another gift from Casey. NHL HOF'er all round winner Igor Larionov.
Check out this resume:
2 time WJHC Gold medalist
4 time World Champion
1 time Canada Cup Champ
2 time Olympic Gold Medalist
Olympic Bronze Medalist
and 3 time Stanley Cup Champion.

For a player who spent most of his prime playing in Russia, he came over to Canada at the age of 29 and rattled off 14 pretty impressive NHL seasons. This also completes another HOF'er off my RC/Memorabilia list. Like most collectors I have dozens of Larionov rookies it was much harded to land the auto than the rookie here.

Thank you very very much Casey for the beautiful additions and I will soon share the center piece of our deal.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

11-12 Rookie Anthology Adam Henrique /99 Part Deux

Keeping on the Henrique theme until I get some of my set action sorted out and my huge surprise posted I am going with something that may look familiar. Same set, different card. 

11-12 Rookie Anthology Adam Henrique /99
This time it is 72/99 which has a different seam piece. Still in nrmt-mt condition and still signed by the man. The other thing that is different about this card then the other is the price. With a bit of change in my paypal account, I was able to steal this for half the price of the other one. Two Henriques, nearly identical and completely awesome.

Next post is some amazing collector kindness!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

12-13 Luxury Suite Adam Henrique Stick

The nice things about being months behind on posts is there is no shortage of content to post about. The bad thing is what to pick next. I moved some nice generous gifts and interesting returns up on the priority list but now that I am caught up there (well almost one huge one to share), I decide to get a quick and easy one off.

12-13 Luxury Suite Adam Henrique Stick

I have grown my Henrique collection substantially since the departure of David Clarkson and here is a stick to the collection. I have many autos, jerseys and patches but no sticks. This little gem was less than a toonie plus shipping which is awesome because about 7 months ago these were selling for about 10 bucks a piece plus shipping. Patience pays!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

13-14 Select Nail Yakupov Auto Rookie /399

Well get'em while they are cheap! I had some money left over in my paypal account after getting a good deal on my Mackinnon and I was able to find an amazing deal on a Yakupov from the same set as well. This pairs up really nicely with the Mackinnon.

13-14 Select Nail Yakupov Auto Rookie /399
Again these don't scan worth a darn but they are sure nice in person. I love them a great deal more than Young Guns and they can be had for about the same price! Nail really should have been a finalist last season for the Calder but I think being first overall expectations were a little higher which is why he didn't get any love. This season he has had some sophomore blues but he has 4 points in his last 5 games and is even a plus 2 during that stretch. Many are quick to give up on this kid but he is very talented, 20 years old and plenty of hockey ahead of him. I suspect he will be a slow developer but in about 3 years he will be among the top 10 in scoring perennially. 

Buy low people and hang on to them. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A Yak-tacular parcel from Matt P.

I finally crawled out from the rock I have been stuck under called life! Been far too long since my last post especially since I have been hanging on to a beauty parcel from fellow blogger Matt P at Cardboard Conundrum. Matt and I have made several trades over the years and a couple weeks ago he gave me the heads up that a parcel was coming my way. Well not knowing what to expect especially since we didn't make a formal trade, I was absolutely floored by what he sent.

The package was actually a pretty big box and inside was a retail tin of Titanium. The first thing that met my eyes was Nail!

13-14 Titanium Nail Yakupov Oversize Rookie
This is a 5x7 rookie of Yakupov who I have been trying to scoop up some cards of while I can still afford to collect him. This was a nice addition to my collection, thanks Matt.

13-14 Black Diamond Jersey Nail Yakupov
More Yakupov! Here is my first player worn card for Nail. Nice to see the blue and orange swatches together. This card is just plain cool and a welcome addition to my collection. 

13-14 Upper Deck Damien Brunner Young Gun
Here is another card that is a great addition to my collection. I have been wanting to land a Brunner to my collection and when my boxes yielded nothing I was on the look out but hadn't been able to land one yet. Instead, Matt sends one my way and saves me all the trouble. Not only does he send one, but he sends a second!

13-14 Artifacts Ruby Damien Brunner Rookie /299
Check it out, a Brunner in a Red Wings uniform. Damien is with the Devils this and next season so having a couple rookies is a must in my opinion. Awesome stuff Matt, thanks!

11-12 Limited Mattias Tedenby /299
The final card in the awesome package was a Mattias Tedenby card. This is actually my first Limited base card and I am happy to give poor Teddy some love. This kid has been sent up and down like a paddle ball for the last few years and even suffered a gruesome accident last season in the AHL. I do wish Teddy the best and if he can learn to play both ends of the ice and play stronger on the puck he does have a future with the Devils.


Well there you have it, an absolutely awesome package from Matt P. Matt, many thanks once again, this was totally fun and unexpected your package is going on its way today or tomorrow so I hope you enjoy it too!