Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
This is my third and final box of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers. With each box containing 250 stickers, my hope was that I would get pretty close to having a complete 630-sticker set. The first box gave me over 39% of the set, while the second box put me at 62%. While I know that I am not going to get every sticker that I need, my hope is that I am at a respectable enough number that I could finish the set off in a few trades.
Continue reading “2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #3”
If you want to build a set of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers, you’re going to need to buy many packs. Considering that you get five stickers per pack and there are 630 stickers in the set, you would need to purchase at least 126 packs, or about 2-1/2 boxes. I purchased three boxes — each has 50 packs — and posted the results of the first box last week.
Opening packs of stickers is not for the “hit chasers,” as there are no hits to speak of. Really, a good box is one that has few doubles in its collation; a great box is one that has very few doubles from the previous box. Hopefully, this box is a “hit” by not giving me most of the stickers that I got in my previous box. So, without further ado, here are the results of my second box break of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers:
Continue reading “2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #2”
I bought three boxes of 2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers way back in January, but a lot of stuff happened in my life that kept me from opening and sorting through them. When the NHL restarted its season in late July, I finally had the time and the motivation to open my sticker boxes to try and build a set.
The 2019-20 season is the first time in a long time that Topps made any sort of tangible hockey collectible; the company last made hockey cards for the 2003-04 season. Topps also made sticker albums way back during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons. Over the past three decades, Panini was the preeminent manufacturer of hockey stickers until Topps got the license for the 2019-20 season.
2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers cost about $1 per pack and contain five stickers: four regular stickers and one shiny “foil” sticker. Boxes contain $50 packs and can be bought from the Topps Online Shop. However, you can find boxes in the $30-$40 range on Ebay and from various online card retailers.
Interestingly, the stickers come in foil wrappers that are “crimped” at the top and bottom, just like how sports trading cards are packaged today.
There are 630 stickers in the 2019-20 Topps Hockey Sticker collection, so you would need three boxes to hope to make a complete set. Here is what I got in my first box.
Continue reading “2019-20 Topps Hockey Stickers Box Break #1”
It took what felt like forever, but Round One of the 2020 NHL Playoffs is finally underway. (And yes, this blog post is two days late; I’m working on “Quarantine Time” here, so bear with me.) After a four-and-a-half month pause, followed by Round Robin and Qualifying Round games, we have our 16 playoff teams, ready to put it all on the line to be winners of the 2020 Stanley Cup Championship.
But with the playoffs, the inevitable questions are always raised:
What player hasn’t yet won the Stanley Cup yet during their career?
What grizzled old vet will retire at season’s end without ever hoisting the Stanley Cup?
What all-time will never get to sip champagne from Lord Stanley’s Cup?
And considering the COVID-19 pandemic, I don’t think any NHL player is going to want to drink from the Stanley Cup this October. Regardless, there are players who play for nearly two decades who will never have the opportunity to drink from the Cup then think better of it.
Every year, playoff teams are chock-full of young, eager players who have seemingly all the time in the world to win the toughest championship trophy to win in all of sports. But every team also has some more experienced players who know that they don’t have all the time in the world, or even a wily old veteran that has stuck around to give it one more go before hanging ’em up.
Here is a look at the oldest player on each 2020 Stanley Cup playoff team and why we’re hoping for each one of them to win, even if we don’t like the team they play on.
In this week’s episode of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about Phase 2 of the NHL Draft Lottery — including the New York Rangers somewhat controversial win of the first-overall pick. They also talk about the Stanley Cup Qualifying and Round Robin games, the upcoming first round of the playoffs, and Dale Tallon leaving the Florida Panthers. Then, the guys look back at the 1989-90 OHL and 1990 Memorial Cup hockey card sets made by short-lived company 7th Inning Sketch. The cards were charming in a no-frills sort of way and included “pre-rookie” cards of many future NHL players, like future superstars Eric Lindros and Scott Niedermayer.
Show Notes, Links and Images:
2020 NHL Draft Lottery Phase 2 Results (NHL.com)
2020 NHL Round One Playoff Schedule (NHL.com)
Dale Tallon and Florida Panthers Part Ways (NHL.com)
Topps Now Hockey Stickers order page (Topps.com)
Upper Deck Game Dated Moments for Week 44 (Upper Deck Blog)
1989-90 7th Inning Sketch OHL checklist & images (Trading Card DB)
1989-90 7th Inning Sketch OHL packaging (Trading Card DB)
The creepy Casey Jones card from the 1989-90 OHL set (Puck Junk)
1990 7th Inning Sketch Memorial Cup checklist & images (Trading Card DB)
1989-90 OHL #1 – Eric Lindros
1989-90 OHL #174 – Casey Jones – more about this card here
1989-90 OHL #195 – Where In 91? (Eric Lindros)
1989-90 Memorial Cup #18 – Scott Niedermayer
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
In Episode #66 of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish focus on the greatest “Number 66” ever: Mario Lemieux! They discuss the many, many different Mario Lemieux insert and tribute sets that were issued over the years, as well as some of the more offbeat Super Mario cards. Sal and Tim also talk about the new “Red Penguins” hockey documentary, the NHL playoffs so far and new hockey cards released this week.
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Profile on CBC announcer Jim Hughson (CBC)
“Red Penguins” streaming links (iTunes & Amazon Prime Video)
Topps Now Hockey stickers (Topps)
Panini hockey cards at the Panini online store (Panini)
Upper Deck Game Dated Moment card for Week 43 (Upper Deck Blog)
More about the LeBron James card that sold for $1.8M (Sports Byline USA)
The card that Randy Carlyle won’t autograph (Puck Junk)
Career In Cards: Mario Lemieux (Puck Junk)
More about Warren Young, Mario Lemieux’s teammate (Puck Junk)
Tim’s list of Mario Lemieux insert and tribute sets (PDF)
Images and set reviews of various Mario Lemieux cards.
1985-86 Topps #9 – Mario Lemieux (rookie card) – set review here.
1992-93 Clark Bun Mario Lemieux card – set review here.
1993-94 Leaf Mario Lemieux Collection #3 – set review here.
1997 Mario Lemieux Moments Card #13
1997 Mario Lemieux Moments Empty Wrapper for Pack #6
1983 Canadian National Junior Mario Lemieux postcard – set review here
2001-02 Topps #328 – Mario Returns
1996-97 Metallic Impressions Mario Lemieux Set
1997-98 Pacific #66 Mario Lemieux (found in packs of 2001-02 Pacific)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
“Red Penguins” is a new hockey documentary about the strange partnership between the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Russian Red Army hockey team and the Walt Disney Corporation. Back in the early 1990s, the famed Red Army hockey team was broke, so it reached out to NHL teams for help. The Pittsburgh Penguins answered the call, and for two seasons co-owned the Red Army team, re-branding it as the Russian Penguins.
Things went well at first. Pittsburgh Penguins ownership brought in a marketing team that introduced “North American Hockey” to an unsuspecting Russian fan base — from opening-night theatrics, game-night giveaways, strippers (seriously), bears drinking beer and more. It was nothing like Russian hockey fans had ever seen. Unfortunately, this also drew the attention of the Russian Mob, who wanted a piece of the action, too. And that’s when things really go off the rails.
If this story sounds familiar to you, it is because I wrote about it last year for The Hockey News. Last fall, “Red Penguins” was featured at the Toronto International Film Festival and received strong reviews. The film was set to be released in theaters this spring, but then the COVID-19 pandemic swept the continent and closed theaters.
However, “Red Penguins” is finally available as of today via streaming services. You can stream “Red Penguins” on iTunes and on Amazon Prime Video for $5.99.
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group, subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube, and support this site and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
Last month, Sal Barry and Tim Parish were guests at the Sport Card Expo’s “Virtual Expo,” hosting the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast live and making fun of some bad hockey cards. Of course, some of these cards you probably know already, such as “Mad” Mel Bridgeman and “Cowboy” Doug Gilmor. But there are sure to be a few surprises here too. Video is 30 minutes long.
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Intro music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group, subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube, and support this site and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
Sal Barry and Tim Parish break two boxes and then review 2019-20 Upper Deck Ice hockey cards in the latest Puck Junk Video.
Ice was released out earlier this summer, with boxes selling in the $100-$120 range. Each box has five packs and each pack has five cards. There are 50 base cards and 100 rookie cards in the set, with some RCs being signed and limited to just 99 copies each.
Who got the bigger hits? Who gave Ice a better score? All these questions and more are answered in the video. Watch it, then leave a comment and let us know what you think about 2019-20 Upper Deck Ice hockey cards.
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Intro music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group, subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube, and support this site and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
It’s been a little over a week, but the Puck Junk Podcast is back and at least as good as the last time! In this episode, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about the upcoming restart of the NHL season, as well as the NHL Awards nominees. Then they take an in-depth look at the 1992-93 Bowman Hockey card set that is often overlooked because it was relatively underproduced. Plus, those gosh darn gold-foil single prints make it a pain to complete. This episode weighs in at 1 hour 40 minutes of hockey goodness.
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Game Dated Moments for Week 40 (Upper Deck Blog)
President’s Choice “Journey” cards (President’s Choice Trading Cards)
Every 1992-93 Hockey Card Set Ranked (Puck Junk)
1993-94 Topps Stadium Club All-Star insert cards (Puck Junk)
1992-93 Bowman Hockey checklist (Trading Card DB)
1992-93 Bowman Hockey card images:
#74 – Patrick Roy
FYI, this set uses the same design as 1992 Bowman Baseball.
#74 – Patrick Roy (back)
Click the image to see the “potato sack texture.”
#329 – Vincent Damphousse
#329 – Vincent Damphousse (back)
#11 – Garry Galley.
With special guest Wayne Gretzky
#162 – P-Dork!!!!
#302 – Jaromir Jagr
#32 – Guy Hebert RC
Hands-down the best rookie card in the set.
#356 – Dan Lambert
Rockin’ the rec specs!
Not listed on your checklist: #442 – Eric Lindros
#207 – Wayne Gretzky All-Star (Gold Foil)
#207 – Wayne Gretzky All-Star (Gold Foil) (back)
Even the foil All-Star cards got the “potato sack” treatment.
#241 – Kevin Stevens All-Star (Gold Foil)
#440 – Mario Lemieux Conn Smythe Trophy (Gold Foil)
#440 – Mario Lemieux Conn Smythe Trophy (Gold Foil) (back)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the new Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■