Puck Junk Podcast: 2024-25 Upper Deck Series 2 Young Guns

Plus: Four Nations Face-Off Cards?
Episode #209: January 18, 2025

In this episode, the guys talk about the 2024-25 Upper Deck Series 2 Young Guns checklist that was recently leaked on Reddit. What are the best prospects – and the notable omissions – in Series 2? Plus, the delay of EX-2000, the potential for 4 Nations Face-Off cards, the top hockey card of 2024, and more. It’s 90 minutes of hockey goodness – now with chapters, so you can skip ahead to your favorite topics.

Links
2024-25 Upper Deck Series 2 Checklist image (Reddit)

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on X @PuckJunk, Instagram @PuckJunk & Bluesky @puckjunk
Follow Tim Parish on X @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on X @ClementeLisi. 
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube. 

Listen
Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  
PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher,
or Transistor.

Connect 
Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel. 

Support 
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

Calling Out DA Card World on its Bogus Bedard Bounty

It’s easy to talk the talk but not walk the walk.

Last month, DA Card World surreptitiously posted on its blog that the $1 million dollar bounty for finding the 2023-24 Upper Deck Connor Bedard Gold Outburst 1/1 Young Guns card was “no longer an active bounty, it has expired.”

Now, I realize that DA Card World made this sneaky “announcement” on December 9 – over one month ago – and that this is old news.

However, like a lot of things that happen in December, this got lost in the shuffle, flew under the radar – whatever metaphor you want to use – because of its timing around the holidays. Heck, I didn’t even hear about this until December 20. 

I also needed some time to stew on this a bit and mull things over before I chimed in my two cents. Continue reading “Calling Out DA Card World on its Bogus Bedard Bounty”

Puck Junk Podcast: The Bogus Bedard Bounty

Plus: World Juniors & Winter Classic
Episode #208: January 11, 2025

In the first Puck Junk Podcast for 2025, the guys talk about the $1 million dollar bounty that was offered for the Connor Bedard Young Guns Gold Outburst parallel – and then quietly revoked when no one was looking. Plus, the Winter Classic, World Junior Championships, Shoresy Season 4, the upcoming PWHL cards, and more. It’s 99 minutes of hockey goodness – now with chapters, too! 

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on X @PuckJunk, Instagram @PuckJunk & Bluesky @puckjunk
Follow Tim Parish on X @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on X @ClementeLisi. 
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube. 

Listen
Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  
PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher,
or Transistor.

Connect 
Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel. 

Support 
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

My Collecting Resolution for 2025

Happy New Year Puck Junk readers! I hope the holidays have been great for you, that you got a cool present, and had some time to relax and watch some hockey.  

About two weeks ago, I started thinking about what my Collecting Resolution for 2025 should be while I was trying to find room to put some cards away in my “card closet.” Continue reading “My Collecting Resolution for 2025”

Puck Junk’s Top Articles of 2024

Happy New Year, Puck Junk readers! The holidays were great for me – but they also kept me away from this blog quite a bit during the month of December. Hopefully, I will have more time in 2025 to write about hockey and hockey collecting. 

Looking back at the past year, we published 40 articles on Puck Junk – in addition to releasing 34 episodes of the Puck Junk Podcast (more about that here) and sending out 52 issues of the Puck Junk Newsletter. 

Not surprisingly, the most popular article on this website was about Connor Bedard – specifically, his Young Guns rookie card. In fact, four of the top five articles were about card values. Here’s a look at the five most-read articles published on Puck Junk in 2024. 

Continue reading “Puck Junk’s Top Articles of 2024”

Puck Junk’s Top Podcasts of 2024

With the first Puck Junk Podcast episode for 2025 just a few days away, I thought now would be a good time to look back and see how the Podcast did in 2024. 

During the 2024 calendar year, we released 34 episodes. Topics ranged from reviews of new hockey card releases, “setrospectives” of older hockey card sets, interviews with players and insiders, and recaps of major conventions such as the National and the Toronto Sport Card Expo. We really “ran the gambit” of topics, as Tim would say. 

We had listeners from all over the world tune into our show in 2024. About 53% of our audience hails from the United States, while 38% are from Canada. Rounding out the top three is Germany, which accounts for 2% of our audience. We also have listeners from Finland, China, Singapore, Sweden, Australia, Norway and France. (This might be the only time that China ranks higher than Sweden in anything related to hockey.)

For what it’s worth, most of our listeners get our show from Apple Podcasts, followed by Spotify. 

Below are the five most listened to episodes of the Puck Junk Podcast that were released in 2024. If you are a new listener, or you missed some of these episodes, give these a listen to tide you over until our next episode comes out at the end of the week. 

Continue reading “Puck Junk’s Top Podcasts of 2024”

The Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2024

With 2024 coming to a close, it was now or never for announcing the Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2024. But there’s nothing quite like a deadline to get things done, right? 

This year’s Hall of Fame class sees three new members added to the Bad Paint Job Category, four new members enshrined in the Bad Photograph Category, two new members honored in the Bad Idea Category, and – for the first time since 2021 – a new addition in the Bad Mascot Category. 

Continue reading “The Puck Junk Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame: Class of 2024”

Puck Junk Podcast: The Re-Sold 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Case

Plus: The Return of Fanatics Fest NYC
Episode #207: December 20, 2024

In the last Puck Junk Podcast of 2024, the guys talk about the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey case that was sold – AGAIN! – at Heritage Auctions, and why the case was sold a second time. Plus, the return of Fanatics Fest NYC, new Upper Deck exclusive autograph athletes, and more. It’s 99 minutes of hockey goodness.

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on X @PuckJunk, Instagram @PuckJunk & Bluesky @puckjunk
Follow Tim Parish on X @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on X @ClementeLisi. 
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube. 

Listen
Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  
PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher,
or Transistor.

Connect 
Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel. 

Support 
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

The Case of the Resold OPC Case

Just imagine owning an O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card, pack fresh and with four sharp corners. Now imagine owning 24 of them.

For one recent auction winner, that dream could become a reality. On December 5, Heritage Auctions sold a full case of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards for $2.52 million USD. A case has 16 boxes. A box has 48 packs. Each pack has 14 cards. If the entire case is opened, it could have anywhere from 24 to 28 Gretzky rookie cards inside. 

Continue reading “The Case of the Resold OPC Case”