Saturday, July 23, 2016

08-09 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia 9th Edition Ultimate Auto Mates Silver Brodeur/Luongo /24

More slabbed fun! This time Marty has a friend in this Team Canada themed piece. While this particular combo didn't fare so well at the 2006 Olympics, Marty and Bobby did win at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and would eventually win a gold medal together at the 2010 Olympics thus making this card a little more cool and relevant.


08-09 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia 9th Edition Ultimate Auto Mates Silver Brodeur/Luongo /24

I love the fact that these two future Hall of Famers are joined together on this one card and this being a Team Canada card makes it a little more enjoyable for me as a fan and a collector since I didn't care too much for Luongo during his Vancouver or earlier years. Recently I respected his move back to Florida and am loving that he has helped turn them into a competitive club. The only draw back to this card in my opinion is it appears ITG used two different kinds of stickers on the autographs and that is a tiny bit distracting.




Here is the backside of the card. I do wish the Ultimate fact and Congratulations switched spots and there was a little more info on the successes they had as teammates but alas the Dr. has spoken!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the slab tips, I will keep playing around as I have a few more slabs to share!

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The Best Brodeur Card In My Collection....

Been busy so far this summer with Daddy Daycare and marking provincial exams but I am pleased to be back posting again. Back in the fall I came across a card that made my jaw drop. True the card isn't licensed but there is so much to the card that I feel a photo would take away from the card anyway.

The card started off with a very ambitious price and slowly dropped and dropped. Eventually it got low enough where I contacted the seller and we arranged a very nice price on this gem!

Famous Fabrics First Edition Martin Brodeur Stick /09

I love the size of this piece and the prime location off the stick. Words certainly don't back my appreciation of this card. This was the stick style Marty used during his Olympic Gold Medal run in 2002 and his Stanley Cup run in 2003 so the fact that it could have come from any of those time periods makes it that much more special.

Backside with the authenticity statement.


If a picture says a thousand words, then I believe I am done this post, thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed the pics! Quick question, for those bloggers so scan slabbed cards, what methods do you use? I have had a hard time trying to digitize a bunch of pickups and have resorted to a camera but even then it presents challenges so I am open to any help out there!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

5 Years and 23.35 Million Buys You This!

Kyle Palmieri's autograph and the 30 goals and 57 points he put up last season. Of all our free agents, he was the one I wanted us to sign the most and we proved we really wanted him and I'm pleased he signed today. We had a chance to qualify him and force him to stay restricted but we didn't, showing him that he can choose to stay. Then we gave him oodles of time to decide and we even offered arbitration but in the end all sides are happy and we have his services for the next 5 plus years.

10-11 The Cup Rainbow Gold Kyle Palmieri Patch Auto Rookie /51
When we traded for Kyle last season, I picked up a couple cards of his in the hopes that he would have a great season and I could land a card or two before any increase in demand occurred. While I am not sure if the demand is any greater, I am pleased to have been able to stretch my 15 dollars I had budgeted to land the Rainbow version of his The Cup rookie. One of the reasons I landed it for so cheap is the plain white swatch, but the print run more than makes up for it in this collector's eyes. If Kyle is able to duplicate his results from last season for the next few years I would say Devils fans are in for a special treat in the win column. Thanks for agreeing to a great contract Ray and Kyle and lets see what else Ray has planned for this off season.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

We Got Taylor Hall???

Hey all, I am sure you were expecting a post on this much much sooner but alas I was away out of town and the last post or two was scheduled and as a result this is the first chance I have had to post about the craziest 23 minutes in NHL history. I will focus on each aspect one at a time and I will start with the biggest impact to me personally....Taylor Hall!!

I don't think we fleeced the Oilers as much as some suggest, having seen Adam Larsson for the past few years and knowing his projection it is safe to say he will have a good and long NHL career and in Edmonton will finally get a chance to flash his offensive abilities. The Oilers also freed up some cap-space and they used that to sign Lucic and they have a free spot in the roster for Puljujarvi to grow and develop. I am sure everything is thinking why not Eberle or RNH? Well I am sure the Oilers would have preferred that in terms of talent but I am guessing there is also a chemistry aspect perhaps or Ray Shero had no interest in anyone other than Hall and finally got his man. In the end the Oilers will be a tiny bit better and maybe will get over the hump and in the meanwhile the Devils improve substantially and I am very very excited for this upcoming season (Oh boy, I'm starting to sound like a Leafs fan).


10-11 Certified Taylor Hall Auto Jersey Rookie /599
 I haven't shown this card off before and now is the perfect time. Love the set, love the actual game used swatch and Taylor will make a big difference for us this season. He played with Adam Henrique in junior and I am hopeful some chemistry still exists there when Adam scored 20 goals in 19 playoff games with Hall.

For those of you who have been long time readers might recognize these two cards that I still own and appreciate a tiny bit more after June 30th's trade.

10-11 Donruss Taylor Hall Rated Rookie - Toronto Expo /250


10-11 Donruss National Rated Rookies Taylor Hall /25

So what am I expecting as a Devils fan. Progress, if we can keep Cammy healthy and our forwards like Boucher and Blandisi continue developing I am thinking we can seriously contend for a wild card spot this year and break our playoff drought. As far as Taylor Hall goes, I am predicting 35 goals and 75 points for him...lofty but not unrealistic expectations for a player who has career highs of 27 goals and 80 points and is about to hit his prime years!

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Contest at Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle

Check it out if you haven't already! The time is nigh!

http://plaschkethysweaterisargyle.blogspot.ca/2016/06/contest.html


Friday, July 1, 2016

11-12 Titanium Rookie Reserve Brett Connolly Patch Auto /15

Well today is Canada Day or Free Agent Day in the NHL world. I have always loved that these two days have generally coincided on the same day in recent years. My birthday is around this time and apart from a 2 years ago, I have generally had very good luck on birthday boxes and last year was no exception. I picked up a couple boxes and did well on them including a box of 11-12 Titanium. I pulled some star jersey cards of guys like Giroux and Weber but the best part of the box was this hit:

11-12 Titanium Rookie Reserve Brett Connolly Patch Auto /15
Perhaps my best Connolly hit I have ever pulled. The piece on the left is white jersey with some white and blue patch and the right piece is all silver and sparkles rather nicely in the sunlight! This was my first Rookie Reserve card from the set which has auto jersey /100, auto patch /15 and auto "patch" /10. I have since picked up the Brett Connolly /100 and /10 and believe it or not, the /15 card is by far the nicest. My /10 which claims to be a patch is really just a seam swatch and the /100 are just jersey swatches with an auto. All three are great together and I will be sure to post them up all together eventually.

Boston decided not to qualify Brett Connolly with an extension which means one of two things. One is they feel they can resign him without giving him a raise. The other is they are willing to let him walk as a UFA which means that the Devils or any other team can sign him. I do hope he give him a shot since we are lacking in experienced wingers and I think he'd be great to help the new rookies transition over and be very productive in our lineup. Not likely to happen, but a collector and fan can dream. Wherever he signs, I do wish Brett the best of luck and I will keep cheering him on.