A pair of Ginos - Paternal Twins

So a while back I traded away what was my only Evgeni Malkin rookie. I am not a mega fan of his by any stretch, so when I was able to get something more near and dear to my heart I was able to let it go pretty easily. But, since I am a avid rookie collector, I knew there would come a time when I would need to find a replacement....well here is what I came up with.

06-07 Bee Hive #144 Evgeni Malkin Rookie

I really like this card. For the price point, it is the best in my opinion of all the low-end Malkin rookies (Victory, OPC, Bee Hive, Ovation) in terms of appearance. I wish I scanned the back because even the back of this card is cool looking. I know it isn't worth anywhere near as much as my Sweet Shot version, but I actually think I like this card more.

06-07 Bee Hive Wood Evgeni Malkin Rookie Parallel

Well my LCS had a second Malkin rookie and it found its way home with me. I like the different look of this one, the black and white photo with wood trim looks a tiny bit like the Series 3 Bee Hive ones from the mid-late 60's. Having a second definitely makes it possible for me to use one or both as trade bait in the future, or gives me two fun Malkins in my collection filling an important void of having a copy of this superstar's rookie. Fact is, I think bang for buck in the Malkin department these are the best deals to be had, but then again, any deal is the best deal until the next one :)

Trade Bait and other pick-ups

Well my Tigers fell short of making it to the World Series, but there was some consolation in my fantasy baseball team upset a few teams and made it to the finals. I ended up losing on the last day but I earned a few bucks which allowed me to have some eBay fun.

I decided to go hunting for some deals and here is what I picked up. Some good trade bait and a few things I was looking for.

10-11 ITG Decades Auto - Wayne Babych

10-11 Score Rookie Update Box Set
Been wanting this for a few months. My auto hit was a decent prospect, Jordan Caron.

10-11 ITG Decades Auto - Wally Weir

10-11 ITG Heroes and Prospects Auto - Matt Puempel
Puempel is off to a great start with 11 goals in 18 games.

06-07 Sweet Shot Rookie - Evgeni Malkin
These rookies are seriously undervalued!

98-99 BAP Auto - Pierre Turgeon
Pierre will likely be a Hall of Famer and a great addition to the collection.

07-08 Sweet Shot Auto - Alexander Radulov
Love these autos. I would buy them all day for 99 cents a piece.

I also picked up a 90-91 Wayne Gretzky UD Promo. I will save those scans for a later date.

Holiday Hits 2

My next set of holiday hits come from two blaster boxes of 09-10 UD Hockey. I received these as a gift from my in-laws as well. I was very happy to see these because each box should have two young guns and I am still working on both series 1 and 2 so there are bound to be a couple I need. These blaster boxes each have 12 packs with 5 cards per pack and the young guns are seeded at 1:6. The jersey cards are at a near improbable 1:240 which means you find one every 20 boxes!

The first box was my favourite of the two. I found an Alex Ovechkin Top Guns insert as well as two solid rookies. The first rookie hit was Ryan O’Reilly of the Avalanche who is a solid two way centre and at the age of 19 still he has many years of growth and development ahead of him. I already had this RC, but I can always trade one now as he is going to be desirable in the future. The second rookie was one that I was really wanting but didn’t have yet, Evander Kane. Evander brings back great memories especially in light of the recent loss by Canada. Kane was a member of Canada’s last gold medal winning Junior team and has already by the age of NHL developed into a decent NHL’er. I am excited at the potential this kid displays. I really believe there is no reason why Evander will not be a consistent 35 goal guy in the next couple of years.

The next box wasn't as strong, but it did produce two rookies and one surprise. The rookies aren’t household names in the circles I run in as John Negrin has only played 3 NHL games so far in his career and currently is with the Abbotsford Heat in the AHL. The other rookie is Mika Pyorala who played for the Flyers briefly but has taken his talents to the SEL where he has joined P.J Axelsson on the Vastra Frolunda roster. Currently Pyorala is second on the team in goals with 11. Neither of these cards are going to make anyone foam at the mouth with excitement but maybe someone needs them for their set. The biggest surprise came from the inserts. I pulled the usual couple of inserts and one of them was a Malkin Top Gun and a Malkin All-World Team. I joked to myself that this was a Malkin fan's dream box. However, I was pleased to discover the All-World insert was actually a SP. So even though the Guns were duds, I did have a decent Malkin card to show for it. I hope to get my inserts for trade updated with my "higher" end cards and the SP'ed ones. Malkin will be on that list shortly.