Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Jean-Claude Tremblay is the 27th card added to my 1963-64 Parkhurst set. The card is a bit off center (about 70/30), but the corners are nice and the back is clean.
I wonder if anyone ever ordered one of those Stanley Cup replicas. What was it made of, paper-mâché?
I have been working on a new set review that isn’t quite ready to share just yet, so in the meantime here is another card in my ever-increasing 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey Set.
Red Kelly is my 26th card. This one also has a few pin holes in it, but otherwise is not a bad-looking card. No stains, no creases and no badly-rounded corners.
This is the 25th card in the 1963-64 Parkhurst set that I am slowly building.
That’s 25 out of 99 cards.
Twenty-five percent.
One-fourth of the way there.
Hoo-yah!
As you can see, this card of Carl Brewer–like the card of Robert Baun–has pinholes in it. But like I have said before, I didn’t pay a heck of a lot for it (less than $4).
Robert Baun is the 24th card in my 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey Set.
There are a few pin holes in the card and a dent on the back at the top. One of the corners is also rounded a bit.
But at $2.50–yes, two dollars and fifty cents–I could not turn down this 47-year old “artifact.”
47 years back, someone felt strongly enough about this card to want to pin it up where it could be seen and enjoyed.
If you think about it, this card was more loved than most modern cards, which are slapped into protective plastic immediately and sequestered in cool, dark, dry places for the rest of their existence.
The last time I bought a Parkhurst card from 1963-64, it was February. Attending a card show this weekend, I decided to rectify that issue and get me some old Parkies. This one is of Hall of Fame Red Wing Alex Delvecchio, who proudly displays the “C” as team captain on his uniform.
The back of the card has a bit of a flaw–a slight crease towards the middle. The crease does not break through to the front, and actually looks worse in the scan than in real life.
This is the 23rd card in my 1963-64 Parkhurst set. Later this week, I’ll reveal the other cards I picked up at that show.
I picked up a TON of rookie cards at the card show on Saturday. OK, sure–a ton is a bit of an exaggeration. It was 55 to be exact. Some of them are pretty good too. Here’ s what I got:
Two (2) 2002-03 Upper Deck Young Guns for $2.25. The Curtis Sanford card cost me $2; the other one (Chris Bala) was only a quarter.
Six (6) 2003-04 Upper Deck Young Guns. Jordin Tootoo, Antoine Vermette, Joni Pitkanen, Matthew Lombardi, Anti Miettinen and one scrub. Total spent on these 6 cards: $11.
One (1) 2005-06 Upper Deck Young Guns. Eventually, I will pick away at these–cheaply–until all I need is Ovechkin and Crosby. In the meantime, this Valtteri Filppula card brings me a step closer. Cost: $5
Five (5) 2005-06 Fleer Ultra Rookies: Brent Lebda, Jussi Jokinen, Andrew Alberts, Patrick Eaves and one scrub–all for $4.
Eight (8) 2007-08 Upper Deck Young Guns. Drew Miller and 7 others for $18. Only 17 more YGs, and I’ll have the complete ’07-08 Upper Deck set.
Fifteen (15) 2008-09 Upper Deck Young Guns for $29. No one super-notable, though I did pick up former Chicago Wolves (and current Atlanta Thrasher) Boris Valabik.
Twelve (12) 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Marquee Rookies for $18, including Kyle Okposo.
Six (6) 2008-09 Champ’s Rookies for $22, including Luke Schenn, Robbie Earl and Shawn Matthias
Unfortunately, I did not complete any of the above sets–though I am 17 away from having all 100 Champ’s Rookies, and just 6 cards away from finishing the 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Set (the high number set is a different story).
This week, I’ll post a few of the other cool things I picked up.
I’ve been a bit slow in my acquisition of old Parkhurst cards so far this year. But I did manage to snag this beauty for under $4, shipped. William Hicke is the 22nd card in my ever-growing 1963-64 Parkhurst set. Hicke has two cards in this set; I purchased his other card back in November.
Today, I’d like to give a special thanks to Mike G. of Taunton, MA for hooking me up with a bunch of hockey cards from my want list, including…
…2 shiny cards from the 2002-03 Topps “Own the Game” insert set…
…and a bunch of Upper Deck cards from last year and this year.
And some MVP cards too!
Mike, thanks for helping me out in my collection quest.
OK, so maybe I did not encounter a Dalek trying to sell me hockey cards…but I damn near came close this past Sunday when Shellie and I visited a Chicago-area mall. Staring me down at the end of a dimly-lit corridor was this monstrosity:
Don’t be charmed by the pretty pink and blue lights…this thing is evil. EVIL!
Upon closer examination, the window displays cards of Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. A little green sticker at the top says “Guaranteed unsearched,” while a white sticker at the bottom says “4 cards for only 25 cents.” The machine also sells Star Wars CCG cards, and the Dalek–I mean vending machine–behind this one sells baseball and football cards.
“It’s only a quarter–here,” said Shellie, handing me a quarter from her purse.
“Ah, why not? It will give me something to blog about,” I replied.
I put in a quarter…and nothing happened.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a quarter and put that one in, thinking that would fix the problem.
It didn’t.
Perhaps taking inspiration from the Hanson Brothers of Slap Shot, Shellie said “Stand back” as she kicked the machine hard enough to rock it back and forth.
Instead of 4 cards, the machine spat out 6:
Ian Fraser, Mike Kruselnyski, Sergei Fedorov, Johan Garpenlov, Geoff Courtnall and Daniel Marios. A bit heavy on the 1991-92 Stadium Club.
“Try that again,” I suggested. 2 more cards emerged:
Ken Wregget, and is that….? Yes, it is Eric Lindros on water skis. (soon to be a “Card of the Week”).
“I should just leave you here with a roll of quarters,” Shellie mused.
“No! These are the kinds of hockey cards that I’m trying to get rid of, not get more of.”
Later that day, on our way out of the mall, we passed the evil machine again.
“Here–one more time,” said Shellie, handing me a quarter. I think she liked this thing more than I did. Maybe she enjoyed kicking it.
Next to the coin slot, in the tray where the cards land, were these 3 freebies–perhaps the machine vended them after we left?
Kelly Miller, Marc Bureau, Brad Lauer and Mike Hough. Hardly what you’d call “star cards.”
For 75 cents I am the proud owner 15 useless hockey cards from the early 1990s. Two things surprise me:
1. I didn’t get any Pro Set cards, but did get 7 Stadium Club cards.
2. The cards were not vended in cardboard sleeves to protect them. Similar machines in the 1980s and 1990s would usually put the cards inside a folded piece of cardboard. No so today, as the cardboard folder would be worth more than the cards they protect.
So, take my advice: if you see one of these Star Card vending machines at a mall near you, keep walking. Or better yet–run!
My first ’63-64 Parkhurst card of the new year, Ralph Backstrom bumps me up to 21 out of 99 cards in that set. Four more cards, and I’ll be 1/4 of the way there.
In 2008, I only purchased 2 cards from this set (though one of them was Gordie Howe).
In 2009, I made a more concentrated effort to build this set, picking up 18 cards for my set.
This year, I hope to get another 24 cards for this set–about one every two weeks. On a limited budget, that makes it a challenge. Most of the cards in this release are not that hard to come by, but I’d rather wait until I can get a good deal. This Backstrom card here cost me $8.02, but it has no creases, no marks and four sharp corners…well worth it for a 47-year old card.