One DZ JR RCs FTW

Roenick_RCsJust wanted to give a quick “thank you” to Mike W. of Quakertown, PA for sending me TWELVE assorted Jeremy Roenick rookie cards.

In 2013, I set a collecting goal to accumulate 1,000 rookie cards of Jeremy Roenick. Sometime that year — I’m not exactly sure when — I hit that mark, so I decided to up the ante to 2,000.

Mike’s generous donation to my cause brings me 12 steps closer to my ridiculous lofty collecting goal.

Eight New 1965-66 Topps Hockey Cards

Feel the vintage! I picked up eight cards from the 1965-66 Topps Hockey set. I need a ton of cards from this set, so eight really doesn’t bring me that much closer to completion. Still, vintage is vintage, and these are in pretty decent shape. Anyway, enjoy the images.

96-Milt-SchmidtMilt Schmidt

118-Doug-MohnsDoug Mohns

100-Bob-Woytowich  Bob Woytovich

70-Bobby-RosseauBobby Rosseau

53-Billy-HarrisBilly Harris

34-Murray-OliverMurray Oliver

33-Al-LangoisAl Langlois

8-Claude-ProvostClaude Provost (…and that’s a square jaw if I ever saw one.)

Two Niemi XRCs, One Low Price

RR-313_white RR-313_niemi_red
I’ve wanted an Antti Niemi “XRC” for some time now. Even though Niemi had numerous cards during the 2009-10 season — recognized by Beckett as his true rookie cards — he did have a few cards released the prior season, like these two from the 2008-09 Be A Player Hockey set. There’s also a version without the jersey swatch.

Beckett recognizes Niemi’s 2009-10 cards as his true rookie cards. Why these count as XRCs, I don’t know. XRC is a designation for a rookie card that was released in some hard-to-get manner, such as a traded set, a mail-away or a redemption. I believe these cards were actually mailed out to redemption winners in 2010 — meaning that Niemi’s 2009-10 cards came out before these 2008-09 cards; though I am not 100% sure.

Usually, I’m not too fond of jersey cards, but these are of one of the heroes of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions. In the opinion of many fans, it was Niemi and not Jonathan Toews who should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the 2010 playoff MVP. I agree.

RR-313_niemi_redThis card is serial-numbered 82 of 99 and has a red swatch from an, ahem, event-used sweater.

RR-313_whiteAnd the other Niemi not-a-real-RC-card is numbered 97 of 99 and has a white event-used jersey swatch, with just a touch of black at the top. I wonder if both of these swatches are from the same sweater…or from the same event.

RR-313_backThe back of the card states that the “memorabilia” was worn in a rookie photo shoot. I’m guessing that Upper Deck had the players scrimmage, since all of Niemi’s early hockey cards show him wearing a helmet, as if he was in a game or at least a scrimmage.

OK, so the swatches aren’t game-used and they only show Niemi from the waist up. But I finally have Niemi’s “first” NHL card. After seeing this card offered between $15 and $30, I managed to snag these two in the same eBay auction for an absolute steal: $6.66 — and that included shipping. Once again, my patience has paid off.

Cards I purchased at the 2013 National

howeTruth be told, I did not enjoy the 2013 National as much as I enjoyed the 2011 National.This was because I had less money to spend this time around. However, there was far less hockey this time around too. So, I had less to spend — and less to spend it on. I couldn’t be impulsive and had to carefully weight anybig purchases, but I dug around and still found a few treasures for bargain prices. Continue reading “Cards I purchased at the 2013 National”

Autographs I got at the 2013 National

bannerman_8x10_4Two weeks later, and I am still wading through the stack of cards and other assorted goodies that I got at the 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention. I’ve busted boxes, found many cool singles and acquired a lot of new autographs for my collection.

When I went to the National, I paid for a VIP ticket, which included 12 autographs from the “VIP Signers”–basically, the ex-athletes who were signing autographs for around $15 to $25. You get a sheet of tickets that have the athlete’s name printed on it. What I did on the first day of the show was trade tickets. If someone was wearing a Cubs jersey, I asked them if they would trade me their Ed Olcyzk or Murray Bannerman ticket for, say, a Jerome Walton ticket. Most people were willing to trade, and some even gave me their tickets for the ex-Hawks without wanting anything in return.

Here’s a rundown of the autographs I got at the 2013 National:

Do not adjust your monitor. This is indeed a football card.
Do not adjust your monitor. This is indeed a football card.

On Wednesday, former Chicago Bears running back Neal Anderson was signing autographs for free. You did not need an autograph ticket, and since I got into the show early I was able to get in and out of his line rather quickly.

I decided to get Anderson’s rookie card autographed. Not much of a decision, as it is one of the few football cards I’ve kept from my childhood, for sentimental reasons.

When it was my turn to get Anderson’s autograph, I said “I’ve had this card since I got it in a pack of cards from 1988, and I’m excited to finally get it autographed.”

“Well,” he cheerfully replied, “I’m excited to sign it for you.” He seemed to mean it too. Anderson appeared to be having a good time talking with fans and shaking hands.

I thanked him for the autograph, and for coming to the show. I can’t say I was the only one who got a football card signed, but most others were either getting Anderson’s autograph on a photo or a mini football helmet.

olczyk_8x10_1Thursday was the first full day of the show. Former ‘Hawks player and current TV color commentator Ed Olczyk was signing autographs. Through trades and a few “gifts” from fellow attendees, I ended up getting eight items autographed by Olczyk. You can see the rest of the items here on my autograph blog.

bannerman_5x7On Saturday, former Blackhawks goaltender Murray Bannerman was signing autographs. In all, I ended up with 11 tickets for Bannerman’s ‘graph, which was way more than I needed. I gave three tickets away and got eight items signed, including this 5″x7″ photo of Bannerman as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. He played one game — only 20 minutes — with the Canucks in 1978 before he was traded to the Blackhawks. You can also see the rest of the items here on my autograph blog.

auto_toewsOn Sunday, I pulled this card of baseball legend Ken Griffey Jr. from an Upper Deck redemption pack and promptly traded it to another collector for this autographed card of Jonathan Toews. (You can read more about the redemption programs at the show here).

reardonOne of the dealers — all the way at the back of the room — had this 1983 Cartophilium Hall of Fame card signed by Ken Reardon, who passed away in 2008. I love this set, and could not pass up the opportunity to get this card. Plus, the price was very reasonable.

misc_autographsFinally, I purchased a few cheap autographed cards over the weekend. The autographed cards of Benoit Cote and Greg Andrusak were 25 cents each.The Stephen Weiss signed mini card was $4. The 2010-11 Panini Certified autographs of Bobby Butler, Justin Mercier and Brandon Yip were $1 each.

Tomorrow, I’ll share some of my cool non-autographed finds from the show.

1963-64 Parkhurst #97 – Dale Balon

1963-64 Parkhurst #97 - Dale BalonWow, has it really been eight months since I last purchased a card from the 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set? Yes, yes it has. I did not find any Parkies from that year back at the card show in March, and I haven’t done much eBay shopping lately.

Anyway, this “common card” of Dale Balon was $12. A little steep for a common, until I noticed how perfect the corners on this card are. The only real flaw is that bit of discoloration (dirt?) along the bottom left edge. Even the borders and back are a little less aged  than usual.

And thus, I’ve taken another small step towards completing this set.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 69%

2013 Blackhawks Convention day 3 recap

hawks_convention_logoThe third and final day of the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks Convention was only four hours long, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m. However, wristbands for the first group of players would be distributed at 8:30 a.m. There was an outside chance that I could get Bobby Hull’s autograph, as wristband distribution for “The Golden Jet” was at 9:30 a.m. However, fans had already started lining up for Hull — as early as 5 a.m.! Guessing that there were probably more than 315 fans in the line for Hull, I turned my attention elsewhere. Good thing I did, too. Continue reading “2013 Blackhawks Convention day 3 recap”