12-13 ITG Superlative III Glenn Hall Jersey Auto /30

Well this is probably my last post for the year, but don't worry a new one should be a few days away! I do want to end the year on a great note so here is a nice card I added to my collection this year. 

12-13 ITG Superlative III Glenn Hall Jersey Auto /30

This isn't my first card from the set. I added a really nice Tretiak one a year or two ago which made getting this one much easier knowing it would be a quality product. This card gets two points in my HOF project because it features a game used swatch from his Blues days and a very nice on-card auto.  In case you aren't too familiar with Mr Hall, he is without a doubt one of the NHL greats and his consecutive games streak for a goalie will never be broken. Here is a great little bio on him that I would just be ripping off if I tried it myself.

It was a great year for my collection, made new friends and lots more trades. I have a great trade story for you in the new year which was an international one and I look forward to sharing that story! It was a sad year too as Panini lost its NHL rights for one reason or another. While their time was short, they weren't afraid to take chances and some were amazing and other were flops. I hope Upper Deck uses this to help inform them in the future for their releases because even though they have exclusive rights, we as collectors decide if we want to buy the product or not! I am curious to see what is coming out in the new year, I still haven't seen a product that speaks to me yet but I am hopeful for 2015. ITG will always be there I hope and at the very least we can see products like Superlative out there putting a tiny bit of pressure on UD to hold high standards and not get lazy!

I wish everyone out there a fantastic 2015 and I hope to have a chance to meet many of you someday!

The Moose is no longer loose. ITG Superlative Volume 3 Mark Messier Edmonton Auto

Being a Devils fan, I probably disliked Messier as much as anyone out there during the 90's. I even felt that often he was one of the most overrated NHL players of all-time. If I was building a team, I would gladly have taken Mike Gartner or Dino Ciccarelli over Messier but I am sure I am in the minority there. However, there is no denying his accomplishments during his HOF career:

2nd in all-time Regular season games (1756)

7th in all-time Regular season goals (657)

3rd in all-time Regular season assists (1193)

2nd in all-time Regular season points (1887)

and he did all this without ever leading the league in any one category during the regular season.

ITG Superlative Vol 3 Mark Messier Auto Silver Edmonton

Here is the front side of the card featuring a very nice and large on card auto. In addition, you see the Moose in an Edmonton uniform and wearing the C. I love the intensity on his face, the Winwell bucket and the chipped teeth. In all, for a Messier card I would say it is nearly perfect.

Here is the back side and you can see it is a Silver version limited to just 20 copies. What is worth noting is there is another version called A-MM which I can only assume is a Rangers auto, but then again I guess I don't care enough to really solve this riddle. What is rather peculiar to me is that if you look closely at the bottom you see something strange.

The copyright on this card is 2010, on a product that was released in 2012/13. I don't think this is an error, but rather it has been a few years since the last Superlative release and I suspect ITG was making cards for a while before they finally released the product so as a result there are a couple different copyright years that may appear on this product. I just checked my Tretiak from this set and the copyright on that card is 2011.

So there you have it, a Devils fan with a Messier auto. Truth be told it was picked up at an insanely cheap price thanks to some very patient waiting by me (almost 2 years to pull the trigger) but I am glad I did wait and this card is exactly what I would want from a Messier auto. What are some of the painful purchases you have had to make (cards you sorta need to finish a set but really didn't want to shell cash out for)?

12-13 ITG Superlative III Vladislav Tretiak Auto

For as long as I can remember, I have been a huge fan of the '72 Series. Even though it happened 7 years before I was born and 15 years before I started watching hockey, I haven't been able to get enough of that Series. Being Canadian, of course I am very pleased that Canada was victorious, but at the same time I have a real appreciate for the talent the Russian players possessed and their approach to preparing and playing hockey. Tretiak is without a doubt one of my all-time favourite players. Several years ago, The Hockey News put out an issue on the Greatest Debates and I still have my issue from 2005 which featured some pretty awesome topics including a "What if?" section with two awesome debates:

"What if New Jersey won the Mario derby?"

and

"What if Tretiak played in the NHL?"

Tretiak is a player who was someone I idolized long after his playing days were pretty much over. Vlad came into the spotlight as the starting goalie for the Russians in the '72 Series and unlike Canada, the Russians played him in all 8 games instead of playing Zinger or Sidelnikov. What the Canadians ran into was a goalie far more capable than they anticipated and for a goalie who never played pro hockey in North America, you would be hard pressed to find any non-NHL goalie more famous than him. He played 15 seasons for CSKA Moscow and he was even drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1983 at the age of 31. However, it was never meant to be as he would never defect to CAN/USA so it will always be a guessing game to what he COULD have done in the NHL at that point or in his prime. Vlad has had a huge impact working with many NHL goalies as both a coach with the Blackhawks and on his own with this goalie school. Ed Belfour can thank much of his career as a goalie because of Tretiak who be both idolized and received direct coaching help from the Russian great. Tretiak was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 making him the first Russian player inducted into the Hall of Fame and arguably the first European. 

12-13 ITG Superlative III Vladislav Tretiak Auto

Is this what a perfect card looks like? I am not sure, but I do think this card is pretty amazing with all the features I look for in a memorabilia card. The photo is great, the swatch is game used team Russia and a good size and the auto is clear and on-card. I have wanted a piece of Vlad for as long as I have been collecting and to get this into my collection is pretty awesome. This card ranks as the second best pick-up in my collection as far as HOF autos go in the last year.

There you have it, another HOF auto, I have two left to share including my number 1 favourite pick-up in the last year before I can end this series and share some more pack and box breaks.