Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Collector’s Sportslook was a sports collectibles magazine published in the mid-1990s by Wizard Entertainment. Wizard Entertainment is better known for their more successful magazines – ToyFare, InQuest Gamer and of course Wizard, from which they derive their namesake. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Hockey Antihero”
The 1998-99 Photocards set was an odd release for Panini. While the company usually focused on making sticker albums, this season they also made this set of “photo cards,” which were similar in size to postcards. Panini also issued a small hardcover album to store the photocards.
You would think that a larger-sized format set of cards would excel, but this one unfortunately does not. This set falters because of mediocre photography, bad cropping and color problems. Continue reading “Review: 1998-99 Panini Photocards”
Earlier this month, I wrote a review of the 2007-2008 Victory Hockey Set.
This is a bit late, but I thought I’d post the box breakdown for the two boxes of Victory that I purchased.
Box 1
Box 2
The collation of cards was very good. Between two boxes, I got an entire base set. Of the 36 rookie cards (18 per box), none of them were doubles. I was able to track down the last 9 rookie cards on eBay.
The insert cards were another story. I got duplicates of several of them, which is frustrating, because there are so many of them. But I’m not sure if I really want them; I mean, will I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I get all 50 “Game Breakers”, or all 50 “Stars on Ice”?
One afternoon, my former roommate Dave — who played floor hockey with me in college — came home from his job at the local comic book store. “Sal, I found something you’d love,” he said as he handed me a beat-up old comic book from the 1970s. But this was not your typical Superman or Richie Rich.
ALL NEW! Strange Sports Stories exclaimed the title. Underneath it was a picture of two men playing hockey, and asking us the question “What was the sinister secret of the goalie who wore a hockey-mask of death?”
Dying to know? Then read on. Continue reading “The Hockey-Mask of Death!”
NHL Series 17
McFarlane Toys has added photos of NHL Series 17 to their website.
Due out in January of ’08, Series 17 will give us figures of Evgeny Malkin, Jason Blake, Ryan Miller and a new pose of Alexander Ovheckin–all wearing the new RBK Edge Jerseys.
Even more exciting is the inclusion of two more figures–Joe Sakic as a Quebec Nordique and Trevor Lindin wearing a retro Canucks uniform. And I don’t mean those weird “stick logo” jerseys–I mean the flying skate, baby!
I guess McFarlane Toys has to do something with all of those “obsolete” figure molds. The tooling for an action figure costs toy companies a lot of money. So, companies try to re-use tooling as much as possible, hence repaints, goalies that use the same pose, etc. Hopefully, we can grow to expect more “retro” figures using the “old style” of jerseys.
What are you waiting for? Check them out!
Hockey Goal Display Stand
Taking a cue from their success of last year’s Hockey Rink Playset, McFarlane Toys will also issue a Hockey Goal display stand. This is much needed, considering that all new goalie figures no longer include a net. Half the time, the best thing about adding a goalie figure to your collection was getting a “free net” with it. This new display, however, will be a vast improvement, as it will have room for both a goalie and a shooter. Better yet, it will come in both Classic (pictured) and Modern designs. More about those here.
Even more figures
McFarlane Toys has also announced the figures for NHL 19, NHL Legends 7 and NHL 3-inch Series Six. I won’t list them all here, but I think I speak for all of us in saying that it is awesome that they are making a figure of Guy Lafleur as a Nordique! You can read up on all this here–scroll about halfway down.
No, it’s not Maurice “Rocket” Richard, or even his brother Henri “Pocket Rocket” Richard – it’s former pro football player Ragghib “Rocket” Ishmail. Continue reading “Not Your Father’s Rocket”
The 2006-07 Fleer Hockey set was quite underrated, considering how nice it is. It featured a clean look that was not bogged down by an overly-complicated or cluttered design. Continue reading “Review: 2006-07 Fleer Hockey”
Yesterday, in a weak moment, I bought a box of 2007-2008 Upper Deck MVP hockey cards. I knew that if I bought a box, that I’d have to get at least one more to complete a base set. But I’ve always enjoyed opening packs, so I gave in to the Dark Side.
I won’t post a review of this year’s MVP until I get at least a complete base set.
In the meantime, here’s my breakdown of what I got in the 24-pack box.
Base set & Rookies:
Insert cards
At a glance:
– 1968-1969 Post Marbles
– 30 marbles (3/4″diameter)
– 1 game board (30″ x 18″)
– Download Checklist
We all played with Marbles when we were kids. Recess was the best time. Heel a small hole in the hard packed school yard and delicately roll your beauties towards it. Now there were several types of games and depending on how good you were could also decide on what size “Crown Royal” bag you would be carrying. Crown Royal has a status all to its own and to marble collectors it meant a great looking tote bag. Kids love to collect things, although I suspect kids today may not know what a marble or alley is. Continue reading “Review: 1968-1969 Post Marbles”
O Canada, the new hockey card set from In the Game, launches today. The focus of the set is on Canadian National Team players, as well as a few “formidable” International foes.
Sigh.
It’s times like this that I really miss competition between hockey card companies. Right now, Upper Deck pretty much runs the show, since they have the exclusive rights to make NHL hockey cards. I admire what ITG has done without having an NHL license, with their sets focusing on international play, or “Heroes and Prospects”.
But it seems that all the cards that ITG makes are so expensive, due to autograph and memorabilia inserts.
And guess what? Upper Deck cards are expensive too. Well, the Victory cards are cheap, but not very exciting.
I guess if I’m going to spend $80 on a box of hockey cards it’s going to be NHL hockey cards.
But maybe I can pick up a base set of these O Canada cards on the cheap.
Click here to find out everything you would want to know about the O Canada set. ■