Pretty bummed about losing Clarkie, a Savard Auto could cheer me up I guess.

As you all know I WAS a huge Clarkson fan. So Toronto fans, congrats on landing what I think is a very good player and if you have seen any Clarkson cards on here that interest you, please contact me. With that being said, once upon a time, Savard left the Windy City to be a Hab (a trade instead of a free agent). Many felt he belonged as a Canadien even though they passed up on him much like all 29 other teams passed up on Clarkson and the Devils were the only club to give him a shot. (The wound is still raw I know).

Anyway, Savard did carve himself a second identity with the Habs and even won a Cup with them. I am not sure what Clarkson's future holds for him in Toronto, but I am pleased Lou has helped the Devils move on and I think we are a much better team now, than we were at the end of the season. Time will tell if that is true or not.

10-11 Luxury Suite Denis Savard Auto

Here is a nice on-card auto of a Hall of Famer and 1000+ point man. I have decided to try and land an auto of every one who has cracked the 1000 point mark and I will post a list someday of my progress. I know lots of other collectors out there have projects similar and I think it would be a fun idea. HOF list might be impossible with all the players long passed away etc, but 1000 point men might be more doable!

Is it me or does his first name look like FERN?

Three Swell Guys

I can't remember which lot I bought this from at my LCS, but basically I saw this card and loved it from the get go and lumped it in with a few others. Can you imagine three more likable guys these these three? Unless you are talking Wayne, Gordie and Bobby, I can't. I respect Savard a great deal, I love Hawerchuk and Gilmour is an ex-Devil and a player I would want on any team, even if it meant cutting a HOF'er. These three guys are all HOF'ers and the swatches are even nice and match up well with the pictures on the card. 

09-10 UD Black Trios Hawerchuk/Savard/Gilmour /50

This card was an absolute steal and the main reason why it cost only a fin was there is a little chipping around  two edges on the back. When it comes to game used cards unless it is a rookie, I tend to not care too much if there is a little chipping mainly because it is the swatches that matter in those cases.

This card is well designed and from a product that sells for about 200 dollars for a 4 card box. That's right, 200 dollars for 4 cards. Certainly a high end product, but as you can see from this card, you do get a quality card for the price. However, secondary markets might allow you to get the card you like at a price you can afford. The UD Black Trios inserts have some pretty cool combinations and if I get the chance to snatch another one up I think I will.

11/12 ITG Captain - C Box Break

At long last, my box of Captain - C arrived at my LCS. I went in and picked it up immediately and that night I got down to the brass tacks and ripped this baby. The box boasts 10 cards, 5 base and 5 hits. Of the base cards, you get 3 regular at a print run of 150 copies and 1 gold card with a print run of 50. After that you get three hits and from other breaks I notice it is usually 2 autos and 3 game-used.





Upon opening my box, I can see the cards are lying flat because of the cards is bulging which I thought was a pretty good sign. On the top of the pack was Sprague Cleghorn's ghostly face. It looks like he is trying to challenge me possibly, well Sprague, here we go!




(These are in order from top to bottom of the pack)





Sprague Cleghorn Base /150



I love the look of the cards. A nice classy foil look and simple photo of the player's face and shoulders. No emblems allowed here, but sometimes you do catch a peak of a captain's crest.





Back side

Most breaks I have seen neglect the back, but we all know I love back-sides, so here it is for your viewing pleasure! Simple all text and no foil or holograms.

Ted Kennedy Base /150

Not THE Ted Kennedy, but rather 1954-55 Hart Trophy winner Ted Kennedy. Solid career which was entirely with the Leafs and included 5 Stanley Cups. Teeder also lead the league in assists once.

David Backes Base /150

Happy to get this one. Over the years I have become a bit of a Backes fan. I need to get a letter of to him before the post-season is over!


Zdeno Chara Base Gold /50

Wasn't too excited to pull this one, certainly is up for trade.



Shea Weber Base /150

I wonder what Shea thinks of "Webering"? Funniest thing I have seen in a long time!

Now time for the hits!

Ed Van Impe Auto

Wow.


Kirk Muller Auto

Well Kirk, it looks like I win! Kirk stood me up for a TTM request despite my Devils fan status and after more than a year, I am a little bitter. Well, I guess I get the last laugh Kirk as I got your stinking autograph anyway! I likely would have enjoyed the Lemieux Sweepstakes Second Place Prize more if he would have signed for me. Nevertheless, I was a fan of his as a kid and getting the auto is a little bitter-sweet.

At this point, the box has been a bit of a dud. But, things get a little better, after all there is that bulge to look forward too....


Denis Savard Game Used Silver /90

The swatch is a beautiful red and a pretty good size too. Not a bad start for the final three cards.

Franchise Captains Barber-Clarke-Tocchet Gold /10

Wow (for real this time). Two really nice seam pieces that just explode out of the card. Tocchet's is a simple black piece but the Clarke and Barber ones are amazing. This is the hit of the box by far! Numbered to 10 is a great added touch and value. I hope to possibly trade this to a Flyers or Clarke fan.


Ryan Murray Junior Captains Silver /50

This hit is going to make this box a decent or a great box. Ryan is projected to go top three in this year's draft and this card could become a little more desirable as a result. A nice finish to a bad start really!

Well there you have it, after a few weeks of waiting, this box took about 2 minutes to open. You have to love hockey cards, after all where else can you spend 100+ bucks and get 2 minutes of enjoyment?(don't answer that, this is a family website)

My wife asked me if it was a dud or a good one and after a moment I decided it was a break-even box for me. I feel that I did get value for my money, but apart from the game-used portion I wasn't too jacked about this box.

As for as availability, I would like to keep one base card (Backes) and I will likely keep the Muller and everything else is up for trade if they interest you.

Card of the week - Denis Savard and Movember

Well another month is in the books and that concludes Movember for many men (and boys) across the world. Personally I enjoyed growing a pathetic caterpiller on my upper lip, but at the same time, it was time to let it go. When I think of moustaches, there are lots of examples of NHL'ers who sported them for looks and nothing else. When I think of cardboard ones, Denis Savard is the first one that pops in my mind. Hard to believe with Lanny and others out there, but truly for me it is Denis Savard.

In particular, I would have to say it is the 90-91 Bowman Denis Savard card to be precise. I remember seeing this card often as a kid and even though I never owned the card until recently, it is funny how these images stick in your mind. Take a look for yourself, nothing super special, but a nice close up and a pretty well grown specimen on his face:

90-91 Bowman #6 Denis Savard

The front side:

-image borrowed from Checkoutmycards.com as my scans didn't turn out well...




The backside:





Here is the unconventional approach Bowman took to displaying their stats. Kinda neat, but never really caught on with other card manufacturers.

Personally, I didn't have any respect for this release when it first came out. One UD came out in 1990 I was a bit of a snob against other releases, but fact is this set has grown on me over the years and I even made a trade with Sal from puckjunk.com for the complete set with hattrick inserts.



Beckett Value: 0.08 - 0.25 dollars


How I received the card: Part of a set I got via trade


How about yourselves? Did you attempt a Movember 'stache? How well did it turn out?

Here is my attempt, sad I know....it is there though...

#3 - Value Vintage Sets - 81-82 Topps

I LOVE the 81-82 design. Topps and OPC versions look down-right cool. From 1980-present day I don't think there is a set design I like as much as this one. With that being said, there is some substance to what I think is the 3rd best value vintage set.

Redeeming Qualities:

Did I mention the design?

17 rookies, 5 of them in the HOF

Gretzky 3rd year card

Unique East/West distribution

Set is 30 years old

2nd year card of players like Bourque and Gartner

Neat Super Action cards

Lists for 17.5% of the price of the OPC set (now that is value)

Card design:

The front side

The cards have an "industrial" look to me with the stamped team name on the front of the card. A good sized action shot on also on the front with name, position and emblem. Gotta love the old Rockies uniforms!

The back side
They cram LOTS on the back but it all flows nicely. Top side gives the card number (east or west if applicable), then vitals, stats and a season summary in text. Then at the bottom, a little additional blurb about the player which pertains to some other point in their hockey career.

Key Card:

Due to the large production numbers, there isn't really any really expensive cards in this set, but in my opinion the key card from the set is the Wayne 3rd year card.

Wayne is so baby-faced in this photo and looks like he is ready for the face-off. I used to have that Titan hockey stick as a kid. Couldn't do what Wayne did with it though!

The rookies:

Like I mentioned, there are only 17 rookies in the Topps version compared to nearly 60 in the OPC version. In addition, Topps missed some good rookies like Coffey, Anderson, Lowe, Moog, and Hunter but many were included worth mentioning. In the Topps version you can find: Savard, Stastny, Ciccarelli, Murphy and Kurri who are all HOF'ers.

Denis Savard Rookie

Dino Ciccarelli Rookie

Some other notable cards:

Like I mentioned above, there are lots of other cool cards and significant cards in the set. Unfortunately there is only one other Gretzky card which is the team leader card.

Ray Bourque Super Action
Here is a cool action shot of little Ray against Dennis Maruk.

Mike Liut Super Action

Here is another example of the cool Super Action cards. I love this one, cool mask and Northland goalie stick!

This 198 card set lists in the Beckett for 35-70 dollars but like most things can be had for pretty cheap on eBay. I bought this set last month for 25 bucks on eBay (for the 66 national cards, the 66 East and 66 West cards). A steal if you ask me considering all the cards are NrMT, and even if you include the outrageous 16 bucks I had to pay for shipping, I still got the set for 41 bucks total. Sure you can buy lots of different things for 41 bucks, but owning this set was a must for me and at 41 bucks including shipping this SCREAMS value to me. I am not sure what a set like this might cost at your local card shop or card show but I imagine you can't go wrong with any price around 50 bucks. Thanks to the countless venting sets out there, there is no reason why you can't get one in mint shape too!