11-12 Dominion Adam Larsson Auto Patch Rookie /99

One question I get asked all the time, why are you a Devils fan? While I have a fun story about that, my answer should be because the hockey cards are cheaper! One thing I truly believe is if Adam Larsson was on the roster of the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens his cards would probably sell for more than twice the value they do as a Devil and fan base is a huge factor in that. However, exposure is one too. What I have had the privilege to see him do on a nightly basis has me a believer in why he was such a highly touted pick.

NHL defensemen are very similar to wine in my opinion (this coming from a guy that doesn't touch the stuff). Some are fantastic right from the start but as their careers progress, there is little to no improvement in their game and in some cases there may even be a regression. Others seem to just get better year after year. Look at Victor Hedman or Scott Niedermayer. Both highly touted picks and both had a little mud slung in their direction early in their career but both get better year after year and by the end of it Hedman is getting some votes for the Norris and Scott is a HOFer.

I am not sure what the ceiling is on this kid but with the Devils looking to improve and rebuild, Larsson will hopefully be a fixture of the defense corps for many seasons to come and potentially take over Andy Greene as the go to man on the back end.

11-12 Dominion Adam Larsson Auto Patch Rookie /99

When it comes to Dominion, the 2011-12 design is by far my favourite and I love that the print run on these are just /99 copies. The swatch I was able to get here was pretty sweet too (3 colour) and is part of the Devils emblem on the front of the jersey.

 

For how much I like the front, I am a little disappointed with the back side. I am not against the obscure facts and in fact welcome them but zero stats or vital info is a big negative to me. Plus is it just me or did you always find seeing a plain old Panini emblem instead of a hologram or foil somewhat underwhelming?

Well despite the lack luster backside, the front more than makes up for it and this card is a nice addition to my collection for a price that I felt I could pay any day and all day (less than the price of a blaster).

11-12 Dominion David Savard Rookie Patch Auto /58

Here is another card from an epic twitter trade I had made. There were two David Savard autos in the lot and this was by far the better of the two. On card auto, huge two colour patch and a nice and low print run with beautiful gold foil. What else could a collector of modern cards want? Cards like these make it pretty impossible for me to be strictly vintage!

11-12 Dominion David Savard Rookie Patch Auto /58

David is a good Canadian kid who is slowly coming into his own in the NHL. As a member of the Blue Jackets, he logs about 22 minutes every night and plays in all situations. He is already at career highs for goals, assists and points with 8, 15 and 23 respectively. At this pace, he should score 13 goals and have 32 points by the end of the season. I believe there is still room between where he is now and his ceiling and I hope he continues to flourish on an exciting Blue Jackets club.

11-12 Dominion Mammoth - Adam Henrique (Player Worn) /50

There are some cards out there that are part of my PC but I really don't care if I ever land them. This card is a prime example. While Panini did some pretty bad things (Pinnacle anyone?), Dominion was one of my favourite products. But with that being said, the Mammoth inserts were pretty much ho-hum in my opinion and for really only one reason. There is no blue in the Devils jerseys....ever! I suspect I am now a proud owner of a Panini jersey swatch! I have seen a few photos and patches from that said jersey and it really is the only thing that makes sense here. So the question is, do I really want to own a piece of a jersey that is about as fake as they get? The answer is pretty much no.

With that being said, I made a twitter trade a while back which featured a load of cards and this one was in there so I am guessing I care about it more than a Henrique base card but that is primarily because it at least has a low print run and is a rookie year card.


11-12 Dominion Mammoth - Adam Henrique (Player Worn) /50

What I do like about the card is the photo, NHLPA symbol and the large swatch size. I really just dislike the swatch. If that was a nice Devils jersey, this card would have been a winner for me. Instead, it is another for the pile and one I will probably not display on a regular basis.

11/12 Dominion Pen Pals Stamkos/Connolly Auto /50

I think this one speaks for itself! One for the PC and one I didn't have already all in one.

11-12 Dominion Keith Kinkaid Auto Rookie /199

Before there was Cory Schneider, I really felt and still think the Keith Kinkaid could be a good option for the Devils. With Cory having done very well this season, it looks like next year it is between Scott Wedgewood and Keith Kinkaid for the back-up job. The early favourite is Keith and he already has NHL cardboard so that makes sense right?

As far as top cardboard goes, UD's The Cup has been king since 2005 but when Panini entered the game in 2010, they took a stab at the top dog with their Dominion brand. In my opinion I find them every bit as nice and little to no difference in design or quality. Both are super think, both have "player worn" patches and autos. Both are very expensive to buy by the pack and both are very limited in print run.

So why do collectors pay that much more of a premium for The Cup over Dominion? Is it familiarity or is there something I am missing? This card set me back 2 bucks!

11-12 Dominion Keith Kinkaid Auto Rookie /199 

Here is the front, nice auto, limited to 199 copies and good balance of foil and photo.

Here is the back, I prefer stats and vitals but still it isn't wasted space because of a huge pointless guarantee. So what am I missing? Why is this card so inferior to The Cup? True, Kinkaid has a player worn swatch on his UD version but apart from that, even common auto rookies from The Cup sell for much more than their Dominion counterparts. Another example is my Brett Connolly Dominion Gold Patch Auto Rookie /25. I paid roughly the same price for my Brett Connolly The Cup Rookie which doesn't have as nice of a patch and has been produced in a much greater quantity, nearly 10 times as many copies. Even recently I have seen others which still aren't as nice selling for 35+ dollars with shipping and still don't feature as nice of a patch.

Idea? Why the hate for Dominion? Or is there just room in the market for one super high-end product and Panini was not renewed due to redundancy. 

11-12 Dominion Gold Brett Connolly Rookie /25

I have been very fortunate the last month or so thanks to more eBay sales and I went on a pretty decent spending spree. I decided to focus on primarily PC stuff and get cards that may not be worth much but have more sentimental meaning. So my next several posts will reflect those purchases. I also got two boxes of Series 1 from my LCS in exchange for some cards but I will save that for a little later.

11-12 Dominion Gold Brett Connolly Rookie /25

Without a doubt my favourite Brett Connolly card in my collection and I have added ones that cost more than this one recently too. I love the large signature, huge multi-colour swatch and very low print run. While it isn't the lowest print run Brett I own, and it his signature isn't numbered like many I own I still love all the other components combined together here.

Here is the back side of the card, I like that it is simple and almost muted. It definitely doesn't distract the person from what is on the front but I really wish there were some information besides a small anecdote on the back.

The book value of this and other Dominion cards I find a little on the low side since pack prices are easily 300 dollars a pack and in many cases I feel they look  nicer than some of their The Cup counterparts. However I can't complain because it allows collectors like me to be able to land dream cards for little money. The book value of this is 60 dollars and I picked it up for about 27 dollars with shipping which I felt was an awesome deal.

This is my trade of the year: Part 1 of 3

Not too long ago, Matt from Cardboard Conundrum announced that he was starting a new PC. When I read his post on collecting UND alumni I knew I would be able to help him out immediately. I had a few doubles of former Devil Zach Parise that I wouldn't mind trading and an extra Ed Belfour auto. Unlike Clarkson, I didn't have a Zach fire sale because I knew going to Minn wasn't going to add value to his collection and in same cases it dropped the value. Secondly, I didn't take his departure as personally because he wasn't an undrafted signing like Clarkson who was passed over by all 30 clubs including Toronto. Instead, Parise was drafted in the first round and picked by the Devils ahead of Minnesota who would much have rather drafted Parise instead of Brent Burns.

So I emailed Matt with a few cards I had up for trade and a few I was interested in and BANG, one of my fastest trades ever. Then I thought I would ask if Matt had any interest in my Crosby GU 5/5 and he went above and beyond to ensure that was included in the deal. So, here is the first part of my amazing haul thanks to Matt:

2010-11 ITG Decades 80's Esa Tikkanen Auto 

The Tick! Yep, I own an on-card auto of former NHL super pest and 5-time Stanley Cup Champ, Esa Tikkanen. The Oilers are always a club that I liked, and maybe the most of any Canadian club. There are only two names that come to mind when I think of a player who could effectively throw another star player off their game, then score the game winning goal for their own club. Those players are Claude Lemieux and Esa Tikkanen. What some people don't know is that Esa actually in the top 20 all-time for regular season short handed goals despite only having 244 career goals. Esa was also a New Jersey Devil for 9 games in the much forgettable 1995-96 season where we missed the playoffs by 2 points. That season the Devils had more point than 5 teams that made the playoffs in the Western Conference.

11-12 Dominion Peerless Patches - Adam Larsson /40

A rookie year auto is always nice and when you add in the patch it is just awesome. True the patch is a little dull, but when you consider the Devils emblem, there really aren't many exciting swatches you can pull from it. The swatch is nice and large and the auto is large and spot on for Adam. This card was one that had to be included in the trade because there just aren't many bloggers out there who would appreciate this as much as I would so it came home with Esa.

There are the first two from the trade, there will we two more posts each with a single card focus. See you next time.