Hockey Cards Archives - Page 35 of 61

Custom Cards: 1990-91 Pro Set Jaromir Jagr & Martin Brodeur draft pick cards

1990-91 Pro Set Hockey Series One consisted of 405 cards. Included were cards of Owen Nolan and Petr Nedved, the first overall and second overall picks in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. However, Pro Set missed out by NOT including fifth overall pick Jaromir Jagr or 20th pick Martin Brodeur. So I decided to make custom “Draft Picks” cards of these two players.

Other companies, such as Upper Deck and Score, included cards of Jaromir Jagr from draft day. The photo used above is actually taken from Jagr’s Upper Deck rookie card. Pro Set put out a card of Jagr, playing with the Penguins, in Pro Set Series Two later that year.

Martin Brodeur, on the other hand, never had a Pro Set card. Other than a five game call-up in 1991-92, Brodeur spent 1990 to 1993 either with his junior team or in the minors. For this custom card, I found this photo, which was taken soon after the New Jersey Devils selected Brodeur 20th overall.

Seeing as how utterly comprehensive Pro Set tried to be, I am surprised that they did not issue “draft day” cards of all 21 first round draft picks. That would have made for a nice snapshot of one of the deepest drafts in NHL history.

Question: Looking back 23 years later, who should have been the first overall pick in the 1990 draft: Jaromir Jagr or Martin Brodeur?

Card of the Week: Platinum Pratfall

prat·fall • /ˈpratˌfôl / • Noun

A fall on the buttocks.
A stupid and humiliating action.

This is not a great photo for a hockey card. I mean really — who exactly is flattered by this picture? Defenseman Rob Blake, getting knocked into his own goalie? Or goaltender Kelly Hrudey, about to get his head squished by Blake’s butt? Maybe this photo would make the net-crashing Canuck look cool — if his head was in the frame.

And yet, this is the photo that was used on Rob Blake’s “Sensational Sophomore” insert card in the 1991-92 Pro Set Platinum Hockey set.

Let me rephrase that; a photo of Rob Blake’s ass about to crush Kelly Hrudey’s head was THE photo that Pro Set used for an insert card touting Blake as a “Sensational Sophomore.”

One can only wonder what the REJECTED photographs looked like. The pic might have been better utilized for a goalie mask advertisement: Easton goalie masks – made to withstand being sat on by a 220-pound defenseman.

Blake was a regular in the Kings’ lineup in 1990-91 and 1991-92, so many pictures of him should have been available for Pro Set to choose from that year. Even the picture from the back of the card would have been a better choice for the front, since you can see his face. Oh, and because he doesn’t look like a stooge crushing his own teammate.

This was not the first time a defenseman was made to look like a doofus on his own card. Ten years prior, Topps — for some strange reason — used a photo of New York Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin falling on his own goalie. for his “Super Action” card.

Can you think of any other cards that use a very unflattering picture of a player ON HIS OWN CARD?

One Game Wonder #2: Alexander Andrijevski

The Chicago Blackhawks wasted a lot of draft picks on Eastern European players in the early 1990s. For a time, it seemed like they drafted anyone and everyone from Russia or former Soviet Union countries who even showed a glimmer of promise to perhaps one day become the next Sergei Fedorov or Jaromir Jagr. One such draft pick is Alexander Andrijevski from Belarus, who played a whopping ONE game for the ‘Hawks in the 1992-93 season. Continue reading “One Game Wonder #2: Alexander Andrijevski”

2013 ITG Draft Prospects Box Break

Coming out tomorrow (June 20) is the 2013 Draft Prospects set, produced by In The Game Trading Cards. The set focuses on junior league prospects eligible for the NHL Entry Draft later this summer.

But just like the Heroes and Prospects sets of years past, there are also cards of current and former NHLers — here categorized as “First Round Picks” or “Draft Surprises.” There are also cards of “Future Draft Prospects” who are new to junior hockey and may one day be drafted by an NHL team.

A box costs around $90 and contains 12 cards, including seven base cards, three autographs and two game-used jersey cards.

Here’s what I got in the box I opened: Continue reading “2013 ITG Draft Prospects Box Break”

2012-13 SP Game Used Box Break

It’s easy to figure out why someone would want to buy a box of SP Game Used Hockey by Upper Deck. Each and every pack in the box includes a card containing a game-used memorabilia card. A 5-pack box costs around $150, meaning that each 5-card pack costs $30. That heightens the expectations for getting great memorabilia cards instead of the lower-end memorabilia cards prevalent in Upper Deck’s more inexpensive sets.

Five packs is not a lot to play with, so this was one of the quickest boxes I ever opened. Continue reading “2012-13 SP Game Used Box Break”

2012-13 Panini Limited Box Break

Panini Limited gets its name, I assume, from the fact that every card is serial numbered. The base, parallels, inserts, jerseys and autographed cards all proudly display a serial number on the front of the card. A box of 2012-13 Panini Limited costs around $80 and contains 7 cards. Three of them are either jersey or memorabilia cards. I recently opened up a box–here’s what I got: Continue reading “2012-13 Panini Limited Box Break”

2012-13 Artifacts Box Break

Artifacts was slated to coincide with the beginning of the 2012-13 NHL season. But we all know how that went. (For those of you reading this blog post 30 years from now, the 2012-13 season was delayed by a 3-month lockout.) Other than the rookie redemption cards, the labor dispute didn’t really have much of an effect on Artifacts, which is laden with current and former star players, as well as three memorabilia hits per box. Each box contains 10 4-card packs and costs around $100.

Here are the results of this box break: Continue reading “2012-13 Artifacts Box Break”

Custom Cards: 1990-91 Pro Set Mario Gosselin, Ron Scott & Three More

Those of you who read this blog no doubt recall my endless love for the 1990-91 Pro Set Hockey set. Between its colorful design and comprehensive player selection, it will always be one of my all-time favorites.

But Pro Set could have been a little more comprehensive that year. Continue reading “Custom Cards: 1990-91 Pro Set Mario Gosselin, Ron Scott & Three More”

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Box Break

The cancellation of several sets by Upper Deck and Panini means that O-Pee-Chee will be the largest set of the 2012-13 season. There are 500 base cards, 50 Marquee Rookie cards and 50 Marquee Legends cards, making a total of 600 cards. There are several different parallel sets and a few interesting inserts, like Stickers and Pop-Ups, giving this year’s OPC set some nice variety.

I recently opened another box of OPC. Here are the results: Continue reading “2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Box Break”