Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Lazy Saturday! The rain outside has unmotivated me from going to my boxing class or running any errands. So I will stay inside and work on more content for this blog. In the meantime, enjoy this 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey card of Robert “Bobby” Rosseau.
At last week’s National Sports Collectors’ Convention, I got numerous autographs from Hockey Hall of Fame members Pierre Pilote and Bill Gadsby. Go check it out over at my autograph blog, Sal’s Hockey Autographs.
Here’s another 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey card that I purchased at The National. Ron Ingram played 114 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. He later went on to be the head coach of the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA.
Most of the card companies were doing wrapper redemption programs at The National.
I participated in the programs held by Panini, In The Game and Upper Deck. Here is a rundown of my experiences with the 3 programs I tried.
Please note that this review is hockey-specific. I only bought packs of hockey cards, and only participated in redemption programs where it was possible to get hockey cards.
Panini Redemption Program
What you could get
A silver foil redemption pack with 2 cards. Some packs had jersey and/or autographed cards.
What you had to buy / Approximate Cost / Exchange Rate
5 packs of Donruss@ around $10 = 1 redemption pack
5 packs of Pinnacle @ around $10 = 1 redemption pack
5 packs of Zenith @ around $40 = 1 redemption pack
1 pack of Luxury Suite @ around $30 = 2 redemption packs
My Thoughts
First, I was a bit unhappy about the selection of eligible hockey cards whose wrappers could be redeemed. I had plenty of Donruss and Pinnacle–those came out MONTHS ago, so the die-hard hockey fans already had those sets. So I bought a box of Luxury Suite (break here) since that would only cost $40 more than a box of Zenith and would get me 8 redemption packs.
Next, I was unpleasantly surprised to find out that each pack contained only 2 cards. So each “National-only” card cost me $7.50.
Third, I was disappointed at how many doubles I got in my eight packs. I’d open one pack, then another that would have the exact same two cards. I think I got 4 or 5 doubles out of the 16 cards.
The Hits
Out of 16 cards, the only special ones I got was this red foil parallel of Martin Brodeur, limited to 25 copies.
I also got some autographed card of an NBA player named Hasheem Thabeet. I do not watch basketball, and have no idea who Hasheem Thabeet is. Making things harder was that the Thabeet card featured the logo of his college team, and not his NBA team. Forutnately, I was able to trade the Thabeet autograph to someone for this Jacob Markstrom autographed card.
Overall Impression
Panini had a lot of variety–perhaps too much. Two cards per pack was chintzy, the collation was crummy and the quality of “hits” questionable. Hasheem Thabeet? Jacob Markstrom?
Needless to say, I did not buy any more Panini packs at The National.
In The Game Redemption Program
What you could get
A 1/1, National-exclusive jersey card and an autograph of 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey player Mark Wells.
What you had to buy / Approximate Cost / Exchange Rate
1 box of Decades: 1980s “National Edition” @ around $95 = one 1/1 show-only card and a Wells’ autograph
My Thoughts
The so-called “National Edition” of Decades: 1980 swapped out one of the jersey hits with a quad jersey card of four Chicago Blackhawks players. The National Edition only cost $10 more than a normal box of Decades: 1980, so it was totally worth it for me to be guaranteed a ‘Hawks jersey card AND a Wells autograph AND a 1/1 show-only jersey card.
The Hits
I bought two boxes of Decades: 1980s, so I got two 1/1 cards…
…and two Mark Wells autographs.
In The Game provided this nice 5″x7″ card for Mr. Wells to autograph.
I also got this Signature Rookies card of Wells signed.
Overall Impression
This program was great for jersey card collectors, which I am not. But I am an autograph collector, and Mark Wells was a nice draw. I liked the concept of the Decades: 1980 set, so I didn’t mind buying two boxes of it. (Breaks here and here).
Upper Deck Redemption Program
What you get
A cello pack containing 5 cards. Every pack had the same 5 cards, and each day the cards were different so one could easily get a set of all 20. Some packs contained a 6th card that was autographed.
What you had to buy / Approximate Cost / Exchange Rate
5 packs of SP Authentic @ around $20 = 1 redemption pack
5 packs of SPx @ around $40 = 1 redemption pack
My Thoughts
First, I was really annoyed that the only two sets of Upper Deck hockey that were eligible were two sets I don’t collect. What about Upper Deck Series 2, or Upper Deck Artifacts? If those wrappers were eligible, I would have had a field day with this redemption. Instead, like the Panini redemption, I was forced to buy cards that I didn’t want.
Even worse, you could only purchase eligible packs from one of Upper Deck’s “Diamond Dealers,” who in turn would give you a coupon you’d redeem for the redemption pack. I thought this was particularly crummy of Upper Deck to do, as it shut out 95% of the dealers at the show. Only 5 or so dealers were eligible.
The Hits
A lot of people were pulling autographs. I was extremely lucky. Out of 10 redemption packs–2 on Thursday, 3 on Friday, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday–I ended up getting an autographed card each day.
On Thursday, I pulled a signed card of Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg, which I traded to another collector for this Jeff Skinner autograph!
On Friday, I hit the jackpot and pulled a Sidney Crosby autograph!
In the 3 packs I opened on Saturday, I got this card of Mike Singletary. He was a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl team, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But I’d rather have a hockey autograph. This Singletary autographed card IS for trade.
Finally, on Sunday I pulled a card of Boston Bruins Chicago Blackhawks legend Bobby Orr.
Overall Impression
I did not like the fact that Upper Deck severely limited what dealers could sell you packs for their wrapper redemption program. But I like the fact that one could get the whole 20-card set of redemption cards relatively easily. And there were a lot of people pulling autographs.
The Verdict
3rd Place – Panini – I’m not sure what bothered me more: only 2 cards per redemption pack, or the substandard autograph cards. Sure, there were some good autos too, but it seemed way easier to pick a mediocre one.
2nd Place – In The Game – As I said, I’m not a fan of jersey cards, but the thought of getting a few 1/1 cards was alluring. I also enjoyed getting Mark Wells’ autograph.
1st Place – Upper Deck – I saw a lot of people pull autographs, including guys like Michael Jordan, Tony Esposito, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods. It was easy to get a set, and the likelihood of an autograph was good.
I participated quite a bit in Upper Deck’s wrapper redemption program at The National.
In my very first redemption pack, I pulled an autograph. Upper Deck had a camera going and recorded my lucky pull:
Fortunately, I was able to trade the Sandberg autograph for an autograph of a promising young hockey player:
Who says people don’t trade trading cards anymore? I made several successful card trades at The National. Still, trading is the exception and not the rule.
Videos courtesy of Upper Deck.
One great thing about going to The National for all 5 days is that I was able to “punch out” of life for 5 days. No work. No familial responsibilities.Even put off meeting with a friend from out of town for a day (sorry, Phil).
But the downside to all that is that life is back in full swing. I have stacks of old cards to put away, packs of new cards to open and tons of awesome cards to blog about–but no free time to enjoy them.
So right now, here is a 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey card of Claude Provost.
Enjoy the card. I hope to have some video up later today.
At the 2011 National Sports Collectors Convention, I found cards that I’ve never seen before, including this. Issued by Quaker Oats in 1954, the Sports Oddities set features illustrations on the front and an unusual sports story on the back.
The left half of the card front is a cool action painting of a Chicago Blackhawks player – clad in the old “barber pole-style” uniform – slamming on the breaks, spraying ice everywhere. A goalie who, based on his orange and yellow jersey, appears to be with the Philadelphia Blazers (I know, wrong era, wrong league) sprawls out to make a stick save.
And to the right, we have a boring political illustration. But what do the ‘Hawks have to do with politics?
I had no intentions of buying Panini’s Luxury Suite hockey cards.
That is, until I went to The National.
In order to get the special, show-only redemption packs from Panini, you had to buy certain cards. I had two options:
I opted for the latter.In a way, this forced me to try a product that I normally would not have. But I just don’t need any more Donruss doubles, you know?
A box of 2010-11 Luxury Suite hockey has four packs. Each pack has 3 cards. Here’s what I got: Continue reading “2010-11 Luxury Suite Box Break”
OK, so I’m a little behind posting about The National–and all the cool stuff I got there. Free time after the show each night was spent revising want lists and pulling cards for the other bloggers (and blog readers) that I met up with over the weekend.
Right now, I’m working on one of the several box breaks I did, but in the meantime here is a 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey card of Hank Ciesla.
Like the other two Parkies I bought, this one is in pretty good shape.Just a light crease on the back (between the 51 and the Parkhurst logo). I made a lot of steps towards completing this set, which you will see over the next week or so.
Happy Friday! Before I leave for Day 3 of The National, I thought I’d post another one of the sweet 1963-64 Parkhurst cards I got yesterday. This card of Gordon “Red” Berenson brings me one step closer to completing the 99-card set.
For those of you who hate vintage hockey cards, don’t worry–I’ll post some newer cards tomorrow soon.