Bures and the Beach

1991-92 Upper Deck cards #647 – Bloodlines: Valery and Pavel Bure

When the hockey card market suddenly got crowded in 1990, companies had to find a way to stand out from their competition. Parallels and inserts were not yet commonplace, so card makers resorted to an age-old tactic to make as many cards of the most popular players as possible: subsets. One subset in particular – Upper Deck’s “Bloodlines” from their 1991-92 release – features a memorable card of the Bure brothers “enjoying” a day at the beach. Continue reading “Bures and the Beach”

2010-11 SP Authentic Box Break #1

When I attended The National Sports Collectors’ Convention earlier this month, I participated quite a bit in Upper Deck’s wrapper redemption program.

Buying 5 packs of 2010-11SP Authentic earned me one voucher for a redemption pack. In total, I bought 50 packs of SP Autentic (two 24-pack boxes plus 2 additional packs).

Here are the results from my first box: Continue reading “2010-11 SP Authentic Box Break #1”

Card of the Week: Whitewashed Capital

1975-76 Topps card #189: Bill Clement

During the summer of 1975, the Philadelphia Flyers traded center Bill Clement to the Washington Capitals. This transaction was apparently important enough to prompt Topps’ art department to revise their photo of Clement for their 1975-76 set. Unfortunately, his trade wasn’t quite worthy enough to merit revision to the entire photograph. Only Clement’s jersey had been altered to reflect the trade. His torso screams “Capitals,” while his legs (and heart, probably) still say “Flyers.” Continue reading “Card of the Week: Whitewashed Capital”

Decades 1980s: National Edition – Box Break #2

I enjoyed my first box of In The Game’s Decades 1980s enough that I decided to buy a second box a day later. I actually did a “pack wars” type break with Justin G. (Hopeful Chase) and Tim (DFG). Those guys each got a Mario Lemieux game-used card. And me? I did OK… Continue reading “Decades 1980s: National Edition – Box Break #2”

Decades 1980s: National Edition – Box Break #1

While at The National, I bought not one but two boxes of In The Game’s Decades 1980s hockey cards. These boxes were the so-called “National Edition,” which cost about $10 more than a regular box of Decades, but here’s what made the “National Edition” more enticing to buy:

It entitled you to an autograph from U.S. Olympian Mark Wells
It entitled you to a special 1/1 jersey card only available at The National
One of the jersey cards was swapped out for a special Chicago Blackhawks quad-jersey card
It was possible to get a Dominik Hasek autograph in a National Edition box

Here is what I got in my first box. Continue reading “Decades 1980s: National Edition – Box Break #1”

Review: 1972-73 Atlanta Flames Postcards

Color action photography makes for a worthwhile set

Pat Quinn Team postcard sets seemed to be all the rage in the 1970s and 1980s. Many NHL and WHA teams gave out postcards picturing the players – either in response to an autograph request or as a giveaway at a game. In their inaugural season, the Atlanta Flames issued a simple, yet fantastic, set of postcards that featured practically everyone on their team. Continue reading “Review: 1972-73 Atlanta Flames Postcards”

These Angels Don’t Fly

1978-79 St. Louis Blues Postcards – Blue Angels

The name “Blue Angels” conjures up images of the U.S. Navy’s aerial acrobatics team, flying their jet fighter planes at breakneck speed through the sky at your local air and water show. But in the 1970s, the St. Louis Blues had a cheerleading squad by the same name. Continue reading “These Angels Don’t Fly”

Election Day Champs!

1954 Quaker Oats Sports Oddities card #10 – Chicago Blackhawks

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?

Continue reading “Election Day Champs!”

2010-11 Luxury Suite Box Break

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:

Buy packs of stuff I already had (Donruss or Pinnacle).
Buy packs of higher-end stuff (Zenith or Luxury Suite).

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”

Modern Art Masterpiece

1976-77 O-Pee-Chee card #240 – Cesare Maniago

At 6-foot-3, former NHL goalie Cesare Maniago stood out among his peers. He played in the 1960s and 1970s, during an era where most goalies were of average height. Maniago’s tall frame – mixed with an unfortunate background and a hasty “jersey re-coloring” led to one strange-looking hockey card. Continue reading “Modern Art Masterpiece”