So I sold my Jordan LaVallee 1/1 and this is what I bought.

So about 5 years ago I bought a few packs and I had my first ever 1/1 from a pack of 08-09 Artifacts. At the time I was excited because it was a 1/1 rookie but not knowing who he was or if he would ever amount to much also intrigued me. Fast forward a few years, poor Jordan never makes it back to the NHL but I decide to share my 1/1 on here at random anyway because it is a 1/1. 

Little did I know anyone would ever be on the hunt for my lowly 1/1, well sure enough there was and I shared my hit at the perfect time. While digging through old comments I saw one from a person named Kevin who was interested in my LaVallee. It turns out Kevin was a LaVallee super collector and in our discussions he shared some of his collection with me via email. Check it out! 

Check out the Artifacts rookies, /999, /100, /75, /50, /25 looks like he could use a 1/1

Check out all those plates!

So what do you sell a card like that for? Its a 1/1, one of a kind, no others. Well I have seen some pretty stupid prices on the 'Bay and honestly seeing how big of a fan this guy was I was not going to fleece him on it. To be perfectly honest, I didn't know how high he was going to go either and I am not an asshole so I thought long and hard and came up with a price I felt the card was worth TO ME. If he was willing to pay what it was worth to ME, then in my opinion he can have it. So I gave him my price which I felt was very fair (about the price of a blaster) and in return he offered a few extra dollars to help me cover the cost of shipping so we both were very happy in the end.

So I took my money, bought the Jagr auto you just saw in my last post and I got myself three other cards. I paid for the shipping out of my own pocket so the total was a tiny bit higher than the funds earned but totally worth it in my opinion.


2001-02 BAP Signature Series Ryan Smyth Auto

 Second auto I picked up was one of Captain Canada Ryan Smyth. He earned the nickname after being Captain of the World Championship team for 5 straight years from 01-05 and then again in 2010. I guess there is an advantage to playing for a non-playoff team. Regardless, I do have fond memories and respect Ryan a great deal and I knew I wanted an auto from him and it was a pretty cheap pick up.


2001-02 BAP Signature Series Claude Lemieux Auto

 Arguably one of the most clutch players in NHL history. Claude was a huge reason for two Devils Cup wins and was a large factor in his Cup wins with Montreal and Colorado as well. I wished I could land his auto in a Devils uniform but as far as certified autos go there were very few of him in the 90's especially in a Devils uniform.

10-11 The Cup Marco Scandella Auto Rookie

When Marco played for Team Canada at the WJHC in 2010 I was really impressed with his skill and dependability. I was a big fan from the start so I had been trying to get a card like this for a while. When Kevin bought my LaVallee rookie I made it a priority to land this card and sure enough after a few Best Offer attempts one dealer liked my offer and accepted it. A nice patch here with a little red peeking out with the green and white cream. 

In all, I was very happy an important card ended up with the right collector and in the end I found myself 4 really cool cards which I do enjoy more than the 1/1.

08-09 Artifacts 1 of 1 Rookie, My first 1/1 pull.

So my first ever 1 of 1 came from a pack of 08-09 Artifacts. It wasn't as exciting as you might think it should have been because for one thing I had no idea who the guy was! In the end, it still has been the only 1 of 1 I have ever pulled but I have gone from having hope and excitement that this pull might have meant something to knowing this card is likely never going to amount to much more than a curiosity. 

Jordan LaVallee aka Jordan Smotherman started his career in amazing fashion scoring on the only shot he ever took and had 2 points in 2 games during the 07-08 season. He would play two unsuccessful games in 08-09 leaving him with two career shots and 1 goal. He would still be a plus 1 for his career and a shooting percentage of 50% is better than Gretzky or Lemieux. Still, he would never enter another NHL game and in fact he is further from the NHL than he has ever been. 

Jordan is 26 years old and is playing in the Hockey Allsvenskan (which is tier 2 hockey in Sweden). Now, he is doing well there 2nd in the league in goals with 26 and 22nd in the league with 36 points. But the league isn't exactly boasting top calibre players, but Jordan is playing with Tommy Enstrom who is Tobias Enstrom's brother. 

08-09 Artifacts Black Jordan LaVallee (Smotherman) Rookie 1/1

So would you rather have this card, or a 1/1 parallel of some random base card like Shane Doan? I think I would prefer this card, but I am not positive about that.