Back Checking - Sandis Ozolinsh

Wow, it's been ages since I have done some back checking, so here is one that hopefully will make you smile like it did for me!

About a year ago I was at the LCS and I found a box of 93-94 Upper Deck Series 1 and 2 there for 10 dollars a piece. Given I didn't ever complete either of these sets I decided it would be fun to buy them and break them.

The set as a whole is much like early Upper Deck sets, very well designed, good photography and a backside which featured a second photo and all the necessary stats and vitals.

93-94 Upper Deck Series 1 Wayne Gretzky #99

 Here is a good example. Great colour scheme and a fantastic action shot of the Great One.

 Here is the back side. A different game, same Wayne and all the stats for the past 5 years as well as career totals. Sadly one of those seasons is not like the other and we can all thank Gary Suter for that one.

93-94 Upper Deck Series 1 Sandis Ozolinsh #72

Much like the Gretzky, a pretty cool action shot here. Carrying the puck with his heads up and players behind him are on their feet! Then you flip the card over and I am honestly at a loss for words on this one:

Is that Ace Ventura?

Or perhaps it is his impersonation of SJ Sharkie? Either way, when I saw this side of the card I must admit it made me laugh and even now it's still funny and maybe one of the most memorable card backs I have ever come across. I do comment Upper Deck and Sandis on their creativity and while I must say my first thought was WTF, it's actually a fun card and collecting should be all about fun! What are your thoughts? Is this card a winner or a loser for you? Do you have any card backs that stand out as memorable to you?

Thanks for stopping by!

Back Checking - 1991/92 Pro Set The 1991 NHL Draft CC1

The early 90's was an ever growing world when it came to sports cards and the same could be said for the NHL draft. It slowly grew from a back room activity to an arena event with spectators. 1991 was also the year that everyone was going after Lindros including the card companies. Score owned his exclusive rights but that didn't stop Upper Deck and Pro Set from finding loop holes. Upper Deck put out "Canada's Captains" in their 1990/91 UD High Series and Pro Set came out with CC1.

Pro Set on the heels of their debut, came out with an insert set and autographs inserted into packs. The insert set was not advertised and you could end up with a few of these cards in a box or none. Eventually after the dust settled, the CC (collectable card?) consisted of 9 cards. 4 could be found in series 1 and 5 in series 2. The first four were The Draft, The Mask, Pat Falloon and Scott Niedermayer. The second batch, CC5-9 consisted of leaders from the 90-91 season. 

I actually remember the 1991 draft because the Devils owned Toronto's pick thanks to the Tom Kurvers deal and I was hoping all season they would finish last and the Devils would land Lindros. It never happened of course and Quebec would never get Lindros either despite having the first overall pick. But what Quebec did get was far more than Lindros' value and the Devils did well themselves. Here is the card:

1991/92 Pro Set The 1991 NHL Draft CC1

Look at the hustle and bustle. A far cry from the 1971 NHL draft which was held in a posh Montreal Hotel. This draft would be a pretty impressive one if you considered just the first round alone.

Here is the back and the whole reason for the card was player number 1. Some of the other names aren't too shabby either. Niedermayer, Forsberg, Matvichuk and Rolston. Kovalev wasn't a slouch and neither was Markus Naslund. Everyone one except Brent Bilodeau would play in the NHL. Half of these players would score at least 300 career points and some of the best picks ended up later in the draft. Ray Whitney went 23rd overall and Ziggy Palffy would go 26th.

Looking back on the draft, I am glad we had the third pick as things turned out very well for the Devils.

Back Checking - Damien Brunner SPx Rookie

SPX is one of those products that Upper Deck has always put out and it has its own specific following. I personally am usually a fan because you get nice rookie auto/event worn cards in boxes and the prices of them are often around the same price as young guns except you get the added bonus of serial number and of course the auto. I bought a box a few years back of 08-09 and gave myself a chance at a Stamkos. Sadly the box didn't have a Stamkos but I felt I broke even with my hits. I also have bought singles from this set over the years like a Hornqvist Rookie, Getzlaf Rookie and Kopitar Rookie just to name a few. I recently was able to land a Damien Brunner SPx rookie for about 2 bucks plus shipping.    

13-14 SPx Damien Brunner #169 Auto Rookie /499

 Here is the front side of the card, nice looking design with a cool foil treatment. I have a few Brunners thanks to fellow collectors but no auto so I fixed that with this card.

Here is the back side of the card and what I found very curious was the message from the grave. Apparently, my card has a legit auto from Damien Brunner, but what the heck are those scraps of fabric on the front? Event used? Player worn? Game used? No idea, no mention of their origins. For all I know, they were worn by Richard P. McWilliam.

Upper Deck, if you are reading this: Please stop putting Richard's guarantee on the back. A guarantee from Richard is like buying an iPod from Steve Jobs and trusting he will back up the craftsmanship.Second, rather than waste all that space with your guarantee, take a page from Panini and just state what it is and you back it up (Autograph and player worn/game used memorabilia is certified by Upper Deck)

I know I will never know if it is worn or game used or even if it is from a Red Wings or Devils jersey. But once upon a time, Upper Deck used to tell you these things, and I wish they would get back to doing just that, even if it means they have to admit to some strange Franken-cards (Like the Lindros card I have with a Rangers pic, Maple Leafs emblem and it contains a piece from a Flyers jersey).
 

Back Checking Ryan Johansen

Numbers have kind of been my thing my whole life. When ever I see them, I am always analyzing them and in fact I remember using Lotus 123 to calculate the Devils stats including g.a.a by using the daily box scores in my local newspaper (in days before the internet). Numbers and sports stats have always been fun for me and I could never get enough. 

When I got landed my Park and Robinson, I was also able to get a screaming deal on a Ryan Johansen Certified Rookie. When the card arrived, I loved the look of the front, the scribble signature with sticker technology and the game worn player worn swatch on the front. As much as I like to kid a bit, I really and sincerely do love the Certified rookies and this was no exception.

I then made my way to the back where I found something jump out at me....

92 points in 10-11 is a pretty solid output for 63 games, but apparently in 71 other WHL games, Ryan has 25 goals, 44 assists for 100 points. Hmmm.....something wrong here wouldn't you say? Well according to hockeydb, he did play 71 games the previous season, and did have 25 goals and 44 assists. But, we should all know that 25 + 44 doesn't equal 100, just like 65 + 98 wouldn't equal 192. In today's age of internet, spreadsheets and computers it is hard to think an addition error would still exist on hockey cards. True problems with the write up could happen or messing up a birth date but addition? I figured this type of stuff would be automated and imported in to a matrix on the backs of these cards. I guess I am wrong and adding is something that is still done by hand....and poorly at that.

Have you noticed any errors like this? I know the Beckett doesn't have it listed as an UER, have they stopped listing the new errors all together?

Back Checking - Alex Delvecchio

I have been a huge Alex Delvecchio fan ever since I knew about the game of hockey. I be honest though, my reasons for being his fan have nothing to do with seeing him play. In fact, he was done with the game of hockey years before I was even born. My admiration for Alex began purely based on the fact that he was the best player to come from the same town as me. In fact, he is the most famous NHL'er to come from the Thunder Bay area with maybe one exception, Jack Adams.

Nevertheless, I knew Alex was a household name before I was born and really gave me hope as a kid that maybe I too could make the NHL some day. Well I am getting a little old for some day and frankly my game is pretty weak compared to most NHL'ers so I think that dream has long sailed but my admiration for Alex hasn't!

I am beginning to start collecting cards from Alex's playing days and this is a recent addition to my collection. It is from the 70-71 OPC set and I got a really good deal on it.

Front Side

 Pretty simple front, as you can see the Detroit C is over the right shoulder which appears to be their "thing". He also has a little snow on the roof, but that didn't stop him from scoring 68 points in 69-70 or from playing a few more years.

Back Side

What caught my eye about this card was the first sentence. "Alex is second only to Gordie Howe in all time assists record and third in all time goal scoring (behind Jean Beliveau and Howe). 

Wow. During his time, he certainly was one of the best and if you consider the period from 1917-1970 he was second in all time assists and third in all time goals. That is pretty good company, and if you hear the name Alex Delvecchio, I am pretty sure that doesn't come to mind.

Certainly adds another level of appreciate for someone I admire, maybe it will rub off on someone else.

Back Checking - Al MacInnis

One card I added to my collection in the last year was an Al MacInnis rookie. I have always wanted this card and one reason for the desire was the fact that I haven't seen many in my life. I don't think the card is super rare, but it is the ONLY rookie for Al as he didn't make an appearance in the Topps set which might be why many aren't floating around in the circles I travel in.

I was reading the back of the card the other day and I noticed something peculiar.

Front side

Just a neat photo, not sure what he is looking at, but he is staring pretty intently.

Back Side
At first glance, it appears that he has played many seasons for this to be his rookie card. This isn't entirely unusual for the time as many players may have had a part season or two before they were included in an OPC release. What is the most strange is when you read the text and see he was Calgary's top scoring defenseman in the 83-84 season!

My first thought was, why didn't he have a card in the 84-85 set? After all, he was Calgary's top scoring defenseman. I was a little perplexed by this as I always felt that the biggest exclusion from the 84-85 set was Pelle Lindbergh but now I feel that Al MacInnis may be the biggest miss.

So I decide to look through my 84-85 OPC set and see who made the cut before Al. There were the usual players like Kent Nilsson and young guys like Hakan Loob, Dan Quinn and Jamie Macoun. Quinn, Loob and Macoun were all rookies along with Al MacInnis, but Quinn was a hotshot rookie, and both Loob and Macoun played more games than Al so I imagine that is why Al got axed.

However, on the team leader card, Al did get a mention as Allan MacInnis.

Is this a Pre-Rookie card? Maybe that is a bit of a stretch, but I do get a little satisfaction that he wasn't entirely excluded from the set.

(I have a feeling this card is an error card because I don't think Froese gave up 506 goals in 48 games. His GAA might be a little closer to 10 than to 3 in that case)

It turns out Pelle Lindbergh was given the same treatment to some degree. His rookie card is from the 83-84 set, but the only mention of him in 84-85 is on the back of the team leaders card. Then as many collectors know, he had three regular issue cards in the 85-86 sets (OPC, Topps and Topps All-Star Sticker). One of those three cards (OPC) does list his birth year and death year. Pelle Lindbergh's four cards were the very first PC I ever completed. Unfortunately, since 1992 many more cards from different sets have been released and I never continued collecting his cards. To this day, I consider those four cards my complete Pelle Lindbergh PC.

Back Checking - Jeff Carter

This month has just flown by and now that the exams are all marked and grades taken care of, I feel like I can spend a moment or two on this blog finally. I have picked up lots of cards and sets in the last couple months and have had no time to share.

So with a couple moments to myself, here is another back checking post.

Being a writer for the backs of cards must be a pretty fun job if you ask me. I don't know if the pay is very good, but to have your thoughts and writing immortalized on cardboard and collected by hundreds of thousands people would be a pretty cool gig. Certainly not one I could do as my regular readers know (I HATE proof reading), but if I were paid enough, I might be convinced to give it a shot!

Jeff Carter's 10-11 Luxury Suite card is a prime example of how a situation can change in as little as months.

Love the front side of this card. Nice stick and jersey piece, and it happens to be my first stick card. I received this card in a trade with Sal from Puckjunk.com

On to the back, as you can see it is both numbered and guaranteed! Of course, that isn't why I am showing this card. Check out the text on the left of the photo. I think it speaks for itself as Carter is now a member of the Blue Jackets and probably wishes he was still in Philly right now, even if it meant he couldn't have all he could drink. There was no way the author of this card could have predicted a club would sign someone for an 11 year extension only to trade him less than a year later, but it happens and it kinda makes this write up seem foolish!

Flash forward less than a year after this card was created, Jeff is off to the worst season in his career, he is up on the trading block again, and Columbus is currently trying to Fail for Nail. It is amazing how quickly things can change for an NHL player regardless of talent. Well Jeff, drink up because this off-season is going to be a little longer than you are used to and it isn't going to get any easier for you!

Back Checking - Chris Terreri

Without a doubt, one of the most memorable card backs from my childhood is the 90-91 UD Chris Terreri rookie card. The front side of the card is a neat photo of Chris doing something (I could never really figure it out...

But the backside is pure gold, and maybe one of the best photos from the entire set. I can only imagine how cool this card would have been had UD included horizontal cards in their inaugural hockey set. Nevertheless, this card features a sweet action shot that looks as painful as it does amazing. I believe that the only thing that would have been cooler, is if a puck was in that glove!

Chris is still kicking around the Devils organization and even dons the pads occasionally in practice if the Devils are short a goalie. Last season he showed he can still do it at his age, check out this save:

Back Checking - Pat Lafontaine

A new feature I want to do on my blog is called back checking. What I am going to do is post a neat or interesting card back that I have in my collection. I love reading card backs and may enjoy it as much as the photography and designs on the card front.

I recently picked up a part set of 85-86 Topps. Essentially I got all cards in NrMt-Mt shape except for the Lemieux rookie. He was not a part of the deal, but the 164/165 cards were won with a 33 dollar bid. Essentially I got almost the whole set for about 20 cents a card. Sal from Puckjunk.com had traded me a Mario Lemieux Topps rookie with a wax stain back in the fall so together I have a pretty nice complete set.

When the set arrived I threw it into pages and began flipping through. I owned a couple of the cards either in Topps or OPC form but not the whole set. It was nice to go through and see the different cards and of course read the backs. I came across one neat back which I will share today.

85-86 Topps Pat LaFontaine #137

This is a Pat Lafontaine second year card, it features an action shot of Pat playing against the Whalers.

When you look at the back, I found two things jumped out at me. First was the awesome 13 goals in 15 games during his first season. Not a bad way to begin a career if you ask me. He would score only 19 in 67 during his first full NHL season. But the more interesting thing jumps out second and that is he centered what was called the "Diaper Line". I thought the "Baby Oil" line name was bad, this is just gross! I have a toddler at home and I know the nastiness those packages can contain and to have a line named that is pretty bad. Of course, it was in reference to their young ages but still, NASTY!

In all, a pretty cool card anyway, I have a couple LaFontaine rookies, but this is my first time seeing and owning his particular card and reading it taught me something!

Are there any worse line names that you can think of than the Diaper Line? I can't think of any, but I am sure they exist!