Eric Lindros Patch - Deal of the Summer

With all the new additions to my collection, this is likely the biggest in terms of "value" and also the best deal of the summer. Upon first inspection, the card seems like millions of other patch cards out there from the last 12 years of production.

What makes this card special on closer inspection are the fine details. First off, this features a nice patch that actually is 4 colours. Blue, Silver, Red and Grey. The upper left looks greyish in the scan, but is actually silver. This patch apparently came from the 01-02 season  when Eric was wearing one of New York's third jerseys. That season was the last of Eric's strong seasons (37 goals and 73 points) before his unfortunate decline in production.

The second feature is the gold foil and the card is numbered out of 88. What makes this significant, is this is from the 02-03 Prism McDonald's Hockey set. Patches in this set were produced based on the numbers 250 and the players number. For example, 250 Eric Lindros patch cards were produced, 88 being of the gold variety (his playing number) and 162 silver versions were also made.

What was the biggest surprise to me when I bought this card for 9 dollars was the book value when I brought it home and checked the Beckett Bible was 200 dollars. That was a very pleasant surprise, however, I just loved this card when I saw it and the price was more than fair regardless of BV. But, I would be lying if I said that little bonus didn't just make it that much more sweet.

Of course if a hardcore Lindros fan came along and offered be equivalent BV in trade, I would take it, but all the same I would have definitely paid more than 9 bucks for this card without knowing its BV.

Troy Crowder with a side of fries

Yesterday I received two treats in the mail. The first was an autograph request from my favourite enforcer of all time. Troy Crowder was only with the Devils for 69 games but my memories from him with the organization seem to be more vivid than some players who had been with the Devils for twice that time!

Here is the first match between the two heavyweights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0adHyGfyik

Bout 1 of their famous two fight game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpLUv1dADV8

Bout 2 of their famous two fight game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2FTGVbprUA

Here is an autograph from the 90-91 UD Set. This is his RC.

Here is a card from the 91-92 OPC Premier Set. Much higher production number than the 90-91 Set. As you can see Crowder found himself with Detroit after two part seasons with the Devils.
These cards were sent out on the 21st of Dec and I received them on the 24th of Feb.

I received some other mail this week. Sal over at puckjunk.com had an all-star contest and these are my consolation prizes. I actually almost won the contest if it wasn't for a goal with 33.6 seconds left. I had picked St. Louis to score the game winning goal which was the case for about the last 5 min of the third until Mr. Staal made it a one goal game.

These are the hologram cards from the 91-92 UD McDonalds set. Sal sent me what I feel are the two best from the 6 produced.

I actually only learned to appreciate how good Neely was after he retired. He accomplished a lot in such a short period of time. Much like another Boston hero, it was his knees that cut his career short. I think his 50 goals in 44 games should be recognized as a true 50 in 50. I don't think it should be team games that they measure it by but the players games. What do you think?

Upper Deck McDonald's 09-10

I would like to have an order of McNuggets, fries and a coke. I would also like to have 3 packs of card with that too please. I can't count the number of times I have gone to my local McDonalds and ordered lunch and hockey cards.

It all began back in 1991-92 when Upper Deck and McDonalds collaborated to make a small set which had 25 base cards composed of NHL's who played in the All-star game and 6 hologram cards. The cards were of pretty decent quality for the time and they even had a hologram on the back in the shape of the McDonalds M. The next season they did the exact same thing and over the 14 years McDonalds did change companies who would make their cards but the ability to get hockey cards at McDonalds was always there. Then comes 2005 and a new rookie is in the NHL and Upper Deck and McDonalds release one of the most wanted base cards in McDonalds history and that is a Crosby rookie card. There was much debate if it would even be considered a RC but when the dust settles it is considered to be a true rookie and is one of the more affordable ones on the market. Here is one on ebay


It would turn out to likely be the last Crosby McDonalds card because of the deal Crosby has with Pepsi and since McDonalds is a Coke distributing restaurant those two topics will not mix. Now it is 2010 and once again a McDonald's set is available. I have stopped trying to collect a whole set, not just for my health but rather it seems to be a little bit of a gimmick these days. There are some good inserts that are very hard to come by, but the base cards are pretty worthless.

They are of decent quality, in fact I find they are every bit as good as UD Ice's product, but rather there is a noticeable lack of rookies. The last rookie to grace a McDonalds card was Rob Schremp. I for the most part I am a rookie collector and I can't justify buying more cheeseburgers than Randy from the Trailer Park Boys and ripping dollar packs like they are going out of style because in the end there will only be a bunch of base cards which aren't any different than the other middle road base sets. I still feel a patriotic duty to buy a few packs here and there even if only for nostalgic sakes. Here is a look at the product.



As you can see, there is a texture to the card much like UD Ice and Ovation, and there is a hologram on the back which again suggests that this is at least a middle range quality card. Each pack has 3-4 cards and there are some inserts including acetate cards, and other redeemables. Writing on the back is in both official Canadian languages.

I was able to get a checklist from the pack I am showcasing. These are inserted 1 per 4 packs which isn't especially rare and there were 6 checklists in total. Though I didn't show it here, in one of my other packs I bought this year I did have one real "hit". I pulled a Joe Thornton Pride of Canada card which is an acetate card. They are available at a rate of 1:40 cards which isn't too bad for only buying 8 packs this year from McDonalds.