10-11 ITG Enshrined Box Break

10-11 ITG Enshrined is a product that I was been wanted and itching to break for a very long time. But things would get in the way or money would be spent elsewhere and sadly it never happened. With that being said, two posts ago I did pick up a Laprade auto from the set which turns out I bought not long after he passed. With that being said, I finally got my chance on my birthday to break a box of Enshrined. 

Like most recent ITG products, they are without an NHL license so the focus is all on the player and not their club. But with that being said, this is a very very nice product. You get 5 premium base cards numbered to 175 and you get one hit which is an auto /49 or /1 or a game used card /9. Worst case is you can a HOF auto and best case is you have a super rare /1 cut auto of a player like Art Ross. So, how did I fare....

First base was Cyclone Taylor who is without a doubt one of my favourites from the first half century of hockey. The pictures on these cards are in colour and very classy.

The backs are extremely well done with an embossed number job which ITG doesn't do very often. Look at that career. I would be curious to see what those numbers might have been like in a 50 game season. Very good start to the box.

Tom Johnson is another great card. I have his rookie and his auto so landing this card was very fun. While it isn't anything special as far as my HOF PC goes, I do like having a HOF card like this to go with the rookie and auto.

Now this was one of the cards I was hoping for. When I first saw these cards I thought they would be great cards to send off as TTM requests. The first two player I got are deceased but Mr. Richard is still alive so I sent this one off immediately in the hopes he may sign it. I will keep you posted on that one.

Sadly another player who has left us far too soon. This is a pretty nice card and you get a glimpse of his A on the jersey. Bill Quackenbush was a 5-time first or second team all-star for the Wings and Bruins.

 This one was a bit of a surprise because I knew nothing of Mr. Drillon. Turns out he was a pretty awesome player with a very short career. He did finish top 10 in the league in each of his 6 NHL seasons and then became part of the war and never returned again. He only has one card from his playing day and that is in the 37-38 OPC set and then one in the 55-56 Parkhurst Set as an Old Time Great.


So those were my base cards. There isn't load of value to them, book prices range from 5 dollars to 25 dollars a piece for the base cards and most can be had on eBay for under 10 bucks with shipping. But the reason you buy this isn't for the base cards (even though I really like them), the reason is for your lone hit.


Here is my hit:

Scotty Bowman auto silver /49. I was pretty pleased to pull this card. I would have been a bit sad to have pulled someone I already had but in this case I needed a Bowman auto to complete my HOF trifecta. I already had his OPC rookie and I have this "game used " piece of Scotty and now an auto completes everything I could want or need for my HOF PC. For those interested in the product, that is an on-card auto and unlike the base cards the photos are black and white for the auto set. Very pleased with the box and I might consider another one in the future some day. However, in the meantime the itch to check out this product is gone and hopefully Richard will come back to me someday signed.

My largest PC undertaking ever. The HOF Rookie and Auto/Memorabilia Project. Tom Johnson

There are loads of different PCs out there and I have respect for all of them. A couple of my favourite blogs out there have ones that involve HOF'ers. They gave me the idea to try and get a rookie card and an autograph/game-used card of each one. The plan is to get the rookie and one of the other two. For example, Terry Sawchuk has not been with us for a very long time so when I got his game-used glove, that would count as the memorabilia piece and now I just need his RC. Alex Delvecchio on the other hand, I have his RC, game-used and auto so I have all three which is fine too. I will strive to do one rookie and one memorabilia/auto but if all three can be had, that would just be amazing. I am going to share them as they are completed and eventually get a checklist of missing ones up along with a checklist of missing Delvecchios. It will all take time, but this should be a fun PC that will never end. So the kick things off, here is one I complete this past summer.

Player: Tom Johnson
Inducted: 1970
Claim to fame: Won 1959 Norris and 8 Stanley Cups

Rookie:
1951-52 Parkhurst # 7
BV: $125 for a NrMt Version

Some of you might remember this card from a few years back. It is in great shape and one of my better Parkies from the set in terms of condition. 

Autograph:

This auto is NOT a certified auto, but from what I can tell and given the reputation of the seller, I am more than willing to say it is legit. Pauses in the auto and how smooth everything is are all characteristic of a few legit ones I saw. I actually won this with a Best Offer at the same time I was winning another auction. My auction got cancelled with about 12 hours to go because the price was too low for the seller. I was winning with just a two dollar bid at the time and I brought this one home for 7 dollars with shipping. Tom is not only a HOF'er but he also has been deceased for about 6 years so getting autos for him are challenging. This is an example of the 56-57 Parkhurst " Missing Link" set that was released in the mid 90's which someone got signed by Tom.

Very happy to have a completed pair of HOF'er Tom Johnson who was not only amazing defenseman during his years in the league but he was an excellent NHL Coach with a Cup in 1972 and the NHL record for highest career winning percentage at 0.738. Shame I couldn't score this myself via TTM, but having one anyway is still pretty awesome.   

Parkhurst Project Card 16

This is currently THE BEST Parkie in my set. I suspected when I put a bid on this auction I would like the results but when it arrived I was blown away. The card is clean, crease free and even has a sharp corner. The other three are varying degrees of roundness but in all, a pretty decent card. If it were graded, I think it could be as high as a 5....certainly at least a 4, but then again who knows. I would be curious to know what some of the grading experts out there think!

Front side

Back side
Not only is this card in pretty decent shape, but Tom Johnson was one hell of a player. Tom is a HOF'er who won 6 Cups as an all-star defenseman as well as an addition Cup as the head coach of the Bruins. In addition, he won an eighth cup as a member of Bruins management. Many think if Tom wasn't holding down the fort while Doug Harvey was rushing up the ice, he too could have been a pretty good offensive defenseman. Tom was no slouch on either end of the ice playing sound defensive hockey while still racking up 264 points in 979 career games. His finest offensive season happened in 58-59 which had him winning the Norris Trophy and scoring 39 points in 70 games including 10 goals.

I am pretty pleased to add this card into my set and I hope to get a few more in the future that are as good looking as this.

Progress:

Card #7 and #16 of 105 in my set

Percent Completed:

15.2%

Cost of Card:

$8.00 plus $5.00 shipping

Total Cost of Set to Date:

$114.94