Two-Box Blaster Break: 2013-14 Panini Contenders Hockey

box2013-14 Panini Contenders Hockey came out last week, but I didn’t really notice until yesterday. Admittedly, I have not reviewed much Panini stuff this year. What drew me to Contenders is the fact that a $20 retail blaster box has two autographs. Sure, it only has 20 cards total, but come on — two ‘graphs for $20 isn’t bad.

So I had to give Contenders a try. Actually, I had to give it two tries, since my local Target had two blasters left, and I didn’t want to pick one and then wonder if the other blaster had the better autographs.

I will let you be the judge of which blaster had the better autographs. Continue reading “Two-Box Blaster Break: 2013-14 Panini Contenders Hockey”

My attempt at hockey artistry, circa 1992

devils_forwardhawks_goalie devils_goalie
I was cleaning out my filing cabinet and found some old drawings I did in high school. Art was always my favorite subject, and I took it all four years. I would try to draw or create hockey images whenever possible. During my junior year — right around the time of the 1992 Winter Olympics — we had to make a few blended colored pencil drawings for an assignment. I made three, using hockey as my inspiration. Continue reading “My attempt at hockey artistry, circa 1992”

The Alex Galchenyuk before THE Alex Galchenyuk

dad_1The name sounds familiar, but the card belies you. Before there was Alex Galchenyuk, first-round pick and promising young star for the Montreal Canadiens, there was his dad Alex Galchenyuk, a star from Belarus who spent six seasons in various North American minor leagues. Continue reading “The Alex Galchenyuk before THE Alex Galchenyuk”

Box Break: 2013-14 SPx Hockey

boxUpper Deck SPx hockey cards are hard to miss. They are shiny, usually horizontal and have a giant “X” in the background. But as I’ve stated many times before, collectors don’t really buy a set like SPx for the base cards — they buy it for the hits.

A box of 2013-14 SPx Hockey costs around $100 per box and promises four hits on average. Each box contains 12 four-card packs, plus one bonus five-card pack of Upper Deck Ice, which has been relegated from stand-alone set to an impossible-to-complete insert set.

Here is what I got in this box of SPx:

Continue reading “Box Break: 2013-14 SPx Hockey”

Deja Vu Tuesday: Dave Lumley

Lumley_2013-14_OilersWhen I opened a box of the 2013-14 Edmonton Oilers Collection last week, I knew I had seen this photo of Oilers forward Dave Lumely before. Longtime collectors might recall this pic being used on a card during Lumley’s seven-year career with the Oliers. Do you know what other card this photograph appeared on?

Continue reading “Deja Vu Tuesday: Dave Lumley”

Five-Photo Friday: June 20, 2014

chuck_rainer
Photo by Irving Penn.

Five-Photo Friday is a way for me to share some of the more interesting hockey images that I have collected throughout the years. Some of these I took myself, while others are curated from various sources. Read on to see a sidewalk art from a defunct TV station, a scoreboard like you’ve never seen and a table hockey game for girls.

Continue reading “Five-Photo Friday: June 20, 2014”

Eight New 1965-66 Topps Hockey Cards

Feel the vintage! I picked up eight cards from the 1965-66 Topps Hockey set. I need a ton of cards from this set, so eight really doesn’t bring me that much closer to completion. Still, vintage is vintage, and these are in pretty decent shape. Anyway, enjoy the images.

96-Milt-SchmidtMilt Schmidt

118-Doug-MohnsDoug Mohns

100-Bob-Woytowich  Bob Woytovich

70-Bobby-RosseauBobby Rosseau

53-Billy-HarrisBilly Harris

34-Murray-OliverMurray Oliver

33-Al-LangoisAl Langlois

8-Claude-ProvostClaude Provost (…and that’s a square jaw if I ever saw one.)

Box Break: 2013-14 Fleer Showcase

boxFleer Showcase picks up where 2012-13 Fleer Retro left off. Showcase is your typical mid-range Upper Deck hockey card set, with 100 base cards to collect. But 2013-14 Fleer Showcase also has inserts designed after 1990s Fleer sets — just like Fleer Retro did two years back, making it a spiritual successor to Retro.

For those who don’t know, the Fleer Showcase brand was used on baseball, football and basketball trading card sets from 2000 until around 2005. This is the first time that the Showcase name has been applied to hockey cards.

A box costs around $130 and gets you 15 five-card packs. What goodies could be lurking inside? Continue reading “Box Break: 2013-14 Fleer Showcase”

Deja Vu Tuesday: Tony Amonte

UD_Tony_AmonteCompanies have been known to recycle photographs on trading cards in the past, but Upper Deck probably saved a ton in photographers’ fees during the 2002-03 season by reusing the same photo of Tony Amonte over and over. Amonte signed with the Phoenix Coyotes in July 2002, and when Upper Deck got their hands on a photo of Amonte with the ‘Yotes, they really got their money’s worth out of it.

Continue reading “Deja Vu Tuesday: Tony Amonte”

Box Break: 2013-14 Upper Deck Edmonton Oilers Collection

boxEarlier this year, Upper Deck released a team-centric set called the Edmonton Oilers Collection. The set focuses on the greatest players in Oilers’ history — even including some players from the team’s WHA days. A box contains 10 packs, and each pack has 10 cards. The front of the box boasts that you will “get a full base set in every box!”

Spoiler Alert – I did indeed get a full base set in this box, and a few other goodies too. Continue reading “Box Break: 2013-14 Upper Deck Edmonton Oilers Collection”