This is my trade of the year: Part 1 of 3

Not too long ago, Matt from Cardboard Conundrum announced that he was starting a new PC. When I read his post on collecting UND alumni I knew I would be able to help him out immediately. I had a few doubles of former Devil Zach Parise that I wouldn't mind trading and an extra Ed Belfour auto. Unlike Clarkson, I didn't have a Zach fire sale because I knew going to Minn wasn't going to add value to his collection and in same cases it dropped the value. Secondly, I didn't take his departure as personally because he wasn't an undrafted signing like Clarkson who was passed over by all 30 clubs including Toronto. Instead, Parise was drafted in the first round and picked by the Devils ahead of Minnesota who would much have rather drafted Parise instead of Brent Burns.

So I emailed Matt with a few cards I had up for trade and a few I was interested in and BANG, one of my fastest trades ever. Then I thought I would ask if Matt had any interest in my Crosby GU 5/5 and he went above and beyond to ensure that was included in the deal. So, here is the first part of my amazing haul thanks to Matt:

2010-11 ITG Decades 80's Esa Tikkanen Auto 

The Tick! Yep, I own an on-card auto of former NHL super pest and 5-time Stanley Cup Champ, Esa Tikkanen. The Oilers are always a club that I liked, and maybe the most of any Canadian club. There are only two names that come to mind when I think of a player who could effectively throw another star player off their game, then score the game winning goal for their own club. Those players are Claude Lemieux and Esa Tikkanen. What some people don't know is that Esa actually in the top 20 all-time for regular season short handed goals despite only having 244 career goals. Esa was also a New Jersey Devil for 9 games in the much forgettable 1995-96 season where we missed the playoffs by 2 points. That season the Devils had more point than 5 teams that made the playoffs in the Western Conference.

11-12 Dominion Peerless Patches - Adam Larsson /40

A rookie year auto is always nice and when you add in the patch it is just awesome. True the patch is a little dull, but when you consider the Devils emblem, there really aren't many exciting swatches you can pull from it. The swatch is nice and large and the auto is large and spot on for Adam. This card was one that had to be included in the trade because there just aren't many bloggers out there who would appreciate this as much as I would so it came home with Esa.

There are the first two from the trade, there will we two more posts each with a single card focus. See you next time. 

2011-12 ITG Heroes and Prospects Review and Contest

Head over to Dirty Dangle and check out a box break I had a little while back. Free prize for anyone who comments.

At long last - Bobby Orr Auto

Selling my David Clarkson The Cup Rookie /199 netted me enough money to buy this beast!

10-11 UD Ultimate Bobby Orr Ultimate Signatures

I tried to buy many in the past, I tried trading for one and every time ended in failure. Finally armed with some PayPal cash I went looking specifically for a Orr auto. Patience is fine, but eventually you just need to take the bull by the horns and I did that. I made an offer or two with some BIN options and one seller countered my 40 less than asking with 30 less than asking so I said SOLD. Using no money from my pocket I was able to buy this card!

The thing with Orr autos is sometimes they can get a little sloppy, lets face is Orr signs lots of stuff for Upper Deck and is getting a bit older and sometimes he probably just wants the job done so he can get back to Chevy commercials. I am very pleased that the auto is solid and legible. I wasn't picky about on card, but that is a nice added bonus with this one. I did want him in uniform which did cut out some cheaper Goodwin options but in all this card was perfect for me and the price was right. Another HOF'er to the collection and one less HOF'er I need to land.

BTW please excuse the team bag line on his face, I should have took it out when I scanned it, but I didn't so I apologize.

Easy come, easy sold.

In less than a week, this redemption arrived in the mail and then it went out the door. I priced it based on BV and it sold for Hi BV. I went with the high sale price because the card is worth a fair bit to me because of Brendan's ties to Team Canada and the fact that I love Auto Rookies. True this card is more of an XRC insert, never the less it was worth HI BV to me. A buyer agreed and it is going out the door less than a week after arriving.

I will keep you posted in the next couple months what I do with my paypal loot and I hope it will be as rewarding and interesting as some of my other purchases. I can't wait to share what I was able to do with my The Cup Clarkson rookie!

1981-82 OPC Jari Kurri Rookie

Back in the early spring I wrote a very short post about one of my favourite cards. I do want to point out that I have lots of favourites and they really are in no particular order. In fact that list could be as high as 40 or 50.  Not more than a week or so after that post my LCS had this card in via a large collection and it was priced to sell.

81-82 OPC Jari Kurri Rookie

This card is in great shape and well centered as far as OPC goes. Clean cut and that upper right corner is likely odd looking because of the penny-sleeve / top-loader combination. The corner actually looks near perfect in person. The surface is also in awesome shape with a nice gloss and no creases.

The back scanned a little oddly, I assure you the white isn't that white it is mostly due to the photo software. I should really use Photoshop it is just sometimes I don't have time to correctly enhance them. You can see a little loss of blue on the back which is pretty typical, but in all a pretty solid Nrmt-mt card in my non-professional opinion.

While this card books for more than 6 times the Topps version, I do like them nearly equally. I do have a slight preference towards to the OPC and I am not sure if it is because I have bought into the OPC snobbery that goes around or being Canadian I feel my cards need some French on them. Either way, glad to have the pair now and who knows maybe someday the full set.

John Tavares TTM Auto - With a cool twist

A while back I received two John Tavares autos which were personalized. However, there was a neat twist to how the envelope found its way home, check out the rest of the story at Dirty Dangle!

At long last - Maurice Richard Auto

There are somethings I think all serious collections need and in my case it was a Maurice Richard auto. I also plan on getting his rookie someday as part of my Parkhurst Project, but in the meantime his autos are a bit more affordable than his rookies. With that being said, because he is now playing hockey at the big rink in the sky, his autograph days are pretty much numbered and unless there is a sheet of his autographed stickers out there, no new cards will be out there. (it freaks me out that Bob Probert autos are still being released thanks to sticker technology)

His autographs do demand a pretty steep premium and are often in the 75-300 dollar range depending on the release. Signature rookies had a few releases with his autograph on them which are on the lower end of the range and I was lucky enough to trade a few items in and land this gem. 

I was actually after an auto for quite a while and a blogger out there was nice enough to offer me an uncertified one for a very fair price. However, I had a lot of bills at the time and didn't end up pulling the trigger and then a few months later I found this at the LCS and was able to trade some extra unwanted cards for this beauty.

1995 Signature Rookies Championship Series Maurice Richard Auto /1500

Those quick goal-scorer hands did get a little shaky as Maurice got older, but still a beautiful signature and much nicer than most kids are firing off day in the NHL. 1500 isn't exactly an exclusive release and Signature rookies isn't exactly the gold standard in cards but I feel this card has lots of the good elements I look for in an auto. 

Much like the front, here is a Maurice photo later in his career with an airbrushed jersey because of no NHL license. There is a hologram on the back for authenticity purposes but no "congratulations" write up which I also like. I would be curious to have seen what the Rocket would have done with a FULL modern NHL season in 44-45 when he scored 50 in 50. Could he have hit 80 goals that season?

Very happy to have added this one to my collection! It crosses off one of the greatest NHL players off my to-do list while costing me nothing out of pocket and I will try and do that whenever I can!

A Pair of Delvecchios, One Modern and One Vintage

Most NHL stars have photos that tend to be used more than once and with Alex Delvecchio that is certainly no exception. This past year ITG blew the dust off an old photo and used it in their Patch of Honor insert. Check out my Alex Patch!

It should would have been nice to have had an actual GAME USED patch, but I will settle for a manufactured patch for now. If you look closely you will see either Alex has some spinach in his teeth or some serious tooth decay.

57-58 Topps  #34 Alex Delvecchio

Here is an amazing looking 57-58 Topps Alex Delvecchio. Without a doubt the best conditioned card in my Delvecchio collection from the 50's. The auction I landed this from a couple years ago listed it as NrMt++++++. I was skeptical because of all the pluses but I took a chance on a NrMt price. Sure enough I won it for less than a blaster and when it arrived I was floored at the condition. It was phenomenal. I thought it was easily worth what I paid and more. I suspect if I got it graded I might get lucky and get an 8 or 9 on it. Perfect gloss, a little off center but 4 razor corners and a nice aging of the white in the paper.

Here is the backside of the card. Great design, which I think makes this one of the nicest sets from the 50's and really is a steal of a deal if you wanted to try and build it because the book price is a modest $3000 dollars with no card booking for over $500 (Howe).  There are still some awesome rookies like Bucyk, Pilote, Hall and Ullman. This card books for around $50 dollars and is one of my favourites in my PC so far.

Those of you who know vintage might also recognize that photo from this card too!

52-53 Parkhurst #53 Alex Delvecchio 2nd year

Here is where I think the original photo came from. I don't own this card yet, but Parkhurst included this in their 52-53 set. What is interesting is ITG has a zoomed in head shot to avoid the Red Wings logo but for some reason the Topps card has the logo air brushed out! I know Topps has a license to use the American teams in their set so that part doesn't make sense. However, I am guessing maybe Topps had to alter the card to avoid copyright infringement? If someone out there knows why the 57-58 card is airbrushed I would love to know. For now I will continue to enjoy my collection and try and track down a 52-53 Parkie to join my collection. 

72-73 OPC Series 3 Team Logos

Last season Upper Deck decided to pull something from the past (40 years ago) and bring back the NHL logos insert set. Unlike 72-73 they are seed one every three boxes and are a manufactured patch instead of a die-cut punch out. They were very popular with collectors so they brought them back this year along with another 40 year old idea, NHL rings. Here are a few 72-73 OPC logos I picked up at the LCS last year.

If you ever looked at the book value of the 72-73 OPC logos you will find that they are pretty expensive and when you look on eBay you will find indeed sellers want a load of cash for them. One reason is they were only released in the much more rare third series and secondly kids often punched the logos out because they were meant to be used that way.  The high value for the set of 30 NHL/WHA books for $1000. While my cards all are tape stained, they are all intact and relatively in good shape (except Bos has a crease and Stl is missing a small piece of the border). They card backs are blank and are listed alphabetically in the Beckett. 

 This one is considered a common and books for 12 in great shape. Mine isn't great but I felt it like the others was a deal for $1.50.

This one isn't a common though I think it should be. Books for 15 in great shape, another deal for $1.50.

Another common, however worth pointing out if you ever got your hands on the Philadelphia Blazers logo, it is an SP'd one and can be worth some good coin. You guessed it, $1.50 for this one.

The most valuable of the non-Sp'd is this one. The defunct Seals books for $25 and I took it for a $1.50.

Another one that books for $25, and another $1.50 purchase. I have actually always loved the look of the NHL shield. For me, it is between the NHL and MLB for the best league logo.

Such a better looking logo than the Orca! This books for $20 and it was also $1.50.

The second last $1.50 logo was Les Canadiens. Apparently not that popular with collectors as this is also a common.

Here is my last one which was also $1.50. You can see a little damage at the top to go with my tape stains. These all are still good looking in my opinion and more importantly they are complete. I might chase this one some day but for now,  I have $12 tied up in a little over a quarter of the set. It is worth pointing out that all the WHA logos and two NHL logos are SP'd and they can range from 60-200 dollars so this will be a lifetime project and not one that will be over anytime soon.

Here is one of the WHA ones just for fun.

A very cool looking card and proof that sometimes the old ideas are often the best ones.

1947 R773 Goudey #79 Nootka

Super fast post today as time is short! I have heard lots about Goudey cards but never owned any. When I bought a few cards including my Alex Delvecchio  and Gordie Howe Coke cards the dealer had a few other interesting cards. One more from that lot purchase was this one for 99 cents.

1947 R773 Goudey #79 Nootka

Rough I know, but a beautiful looking image nonetheless.

I took an interest in the card because of the image, subject matter and its connection to Canada. Just seemed like a nice piece of history sharing a huge piece of history. Clearly the focus on physical traits wouldn't be appropriate for today's day and age but the reverence for their tribe's canoe craft is pretty neat to read.