News

OK, so we are 1 month into 2011, but I saw another blogger do this and I wanted to steal the idea follow suit. So, here are Puck Junk’s 5 most read articles of 2010.

5. Vintage Rookie Card Haul – Apparently, hockey card collectors like reading about old hockey cards.

4. Painted Penguin – Everything about this card is just plain wrong.

3. 2010 Blackhawks Training Camp Fest – My recap of the ‘Hawks first day of Training Camp. Special guest appearance by the Stanley Cup.

2. 2010-11 Upper Deck Victory review – The first (and so far only) video review I did of a hockey card set.

1. Sports Card Girl is a Scam – My investigation of a fake blogger who was running a link farm under the guise of a cute card collecting female. Apparently, this ruffled enough feathers to merit (in-actionable) legal threats against me.

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All right, enough about 2010. I hope 2011 is another good year for Puck Junk–and for my fellow hockey card bloggers too.

Upper Deck will continue National Hockey Card Day for a third year in a row–or NHCD as us cool kids call it.

On Saturday, February 12, 2011, hockey card collectors in Canada can get a free pack of hockey cards at their local card shop or at participating chain stores. The cards themselves are from a special, 16-card NHCD set that will feature some of Canada’s most popular players.

That’s right–this year the set will have an extra card, whereas the previous two NHCD sets had 15 cards.

Personally,  I wish Upper Deck would also have NHCD in the United States. Yes, hockey is “Canada’s sport,” but the U.S. has 80% of the NHL teams. Go figure. Plus, there is greater opportunity to grow the hobby in the U.S. with such a promotion.

What if Upper Deck were to have International Hockey Card Day next year, and give out cards in Canada and the U.S.? They could even take it a step further and give out different sets in each country.

While the NHCD set strictly has Canadian players (Gretzky, Crosby, Lemieux, Toews), the United States counterpart could feature some awesome American players from past and present (Joe Mullen, Chris Chelios, Jim Craig, Ryan Miller). And you’d end up with collectors in one country trading with collectors in the other country so as to get both sets. This idea has potential.

Would someone pick me up a complete 2011 NHCD set?  I will gladly trade for this year’s set (plus a wrapper), or purchase one if the price is right.

Former enforcer Chris Nilan almost played in the 1991 All-Star Game. His controversial selection changed how All-Star rosters are picked.

Back in the day, the coaches of each All-Star team would select the reserve players. Fans still voted for the starters, but it was up to the coach to choose the rest of the team.

Enter Boston Bruins head coach “Mad” Mike Milbury, who coached the Wales Conference team. Milbury picked Bruins enforcer Chris Nilan over more, ahem, traditional choices like Guy Lafleur or Kirk Muller.  

Milbury loves tough guys and physical play. Of course that’s meant in the most manly, bludgeon-each-other-over-the-head way possible. Nilan, who had 277 penalty minutes in 41 games with the Bruins in ’90-91, fit that to a T. He had the numbers all right…just not the numbers one would normally consider for inclusion in the mid-season classic.

In the end, Nilan did not play due to a broken ankle, and the NHL changed how reserve players were selected. Now a panel decides what non-starters are in the game, instead of leaving it up to the coaches.

What I never understood, though, is why Chris Nilan did not get an All-Star card.

The 1991-92 Pro Set Hockey set featured cards of players from the 1991 All-Star Game. All of the players.

Except for Nilan.

Yes, Nilan was injured. But so were these players…

Brett Hull also sat out due to injury. His inclusion on an All-Star card is understandable, as he was voted to the starting lineup.

Brian Skrudland was another controversial selection by Milbury. Skrudland was a defensive forward — and a fine one too. He also sat out because he was injured, but still “suited up” for this trading card photo.

The player who replaced Nilan in the All-Star Game was Bruins’ teammate Dave Christian.

But nowhere on Christian’s card is it noted that he was a replacement for Nilan.

Did the NHL tell Pro Set to exclude Nilan from the set? Perhaps. Nilan was not in the game, and most likely not at the pre-game photo shoot either. Thus no photo. But removing any mention of him seems just like the strange, yet spiteful, kind of thing the NHL would do.

Former collegiate goaltender Tom Fenton–who appeared as an emergency backup goalie for the Phoenix Coyotes last month–is getting his own hockey card. Today, hockey card manufacturer In the Game announced that Fenton will be a part of the 2010-11 Between the Pipes set.

“You’re not going to see him in any other products this season,” stated ITG president Dr. Brian Price in a press release, “so it was important that we do our best to bring his cards to collectors.”

Between the Pipes focuses exclusively on goaltenders, and this year’s set will feature both signed and unsigned cards of Fenton. As ITG does not have an NHL license, they will most likely show Fenton from his playing days with the American International College Yellow Jackets.

As a hockey card collector, I am excited that Fenton is going to get a card. While Fenton’s role as a one-game backup goalie hardly significant in the grander scheme of pro hockey, it is still pretty darn cool.

Besides, do we really need another card of Brodeur, Roy or Luongo, when we can have one of someone who played a small, but interesting role for a night?

A few months ago, I subscribed to a magazine called The Want List, which focuses exclusively on hockey cards and memorabilia. Recently, they asked some of their readers to rate what they thought the most influential hockey jerseys were.

I just got the new issue yesterday, and on page 37 I am quoted in The Want List’s 25 Most Influential Hockey Jerseys article.

OK, so it’s not like I wrote the Declaration of Independence or anything. But it is still cool to see my name on paper.

Two issues in, and I’m really enjoying my subscription to The Want List. The majority of it is about hockey cards, but some of it also covers hockey jerseys (obviously), hockey toys, hockey pucks, hockey DVDs…the key word here is hockey.

I’m also learning some new stuff from this mag, too. One article in the new ish was about hockey cards made by the Paterson and Paulin chocolate companies during the 1920s. Admittedly, I don’t know too much about cards from that era.

The Want List is chock-full of hockey card articles. If you are interested in learning more or subscribing to the magazine, check out their website.

To the friends and followers of this blog who love the great game of hockey, I want to wish you all a Merry Puckmas.

Bagged with the new issue of Beckett Hockey Magazine (Issue #221) is a 2010-11 Panini Hockey sticker album. The album has 72 full-color pages and  comes with 6 stickers:

Jonathan Toews, Henrik Sedin, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby…

…P.K Subban and Ryan Miller.

Not a bad group of guys to be featured on promotional stickers.

While the newsstand price of Beckett Hockey is high at $10, it might be worthwhile to pick up this issue to get these promo stickers, which are adhered to a larger sheet stapled into the book, instead of on their own individual backings.

The 2010-11 Panini set contains 364 stickers. Each team is given 7 stickers. There are also stickers of logos, season highlights, award winners and a rookie subset. Unfortunately, all 30 of the rookies are guys who debuted late last year (leftover rookies), and not recent draft picks like Taylor Hall of Jeff Skinner.

One nice thing about collecting Panini stickers is that you can order directly from Panini the last few that you need for 20 cents apiece. I plan on purchasing a box or two and putting together this set.

Question of the week: Do you plan to collect the 2010-11 Panini Hockey sticker set? Vote in the poll above (upper right corner of this blog), and post your comments here on why/why not.

Update: You can order packets of stickers directly from Panini. A pack of 8 stickers is $1.00. There are 50 packs in a box, if you want to buy a whole box. An album can be purchased for $1.99. Prices include shipping. Send a check or money order payable to Panini America Inc. Orders can be sent to:

NHL Hockey 2010-11 Direct Sales
Panini America, Inc.
2300 E. Randol Mill Rd.
Arlington, TX 76011

If you got a little money left over after the holidays, maybe you wanna pick up a few dozen packs and get some trades going.

American film director Irvin Kershner passed away this Saturday. Many of you already know this by now, but I just learned the sad news today.

Kershner is probably best known as the director of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. That film holds a special place in my heart, and is my favorite film of all time.

The Empire Strikes Back was the first “non-cartoon” movie that I saw as a child. I was 5 at the time, and I remember my mom taking me to the old Devon Theater in Chicago to see it. The line wrapped all the way around the block! I’m not sure how long we waited, but after that film I would always and forever be a fan of the Star Wars movies.

Coincidentally, the first trading cards I ever had as a kid were movie cards based on Empire. My mom used to buy them for me, and I recall having stacks of these in a shoebox. Now, I only have a few dozen.

Below are some of my cards from the various sets based on The Empire Strikes Back.

The scene with the Imperial AT-AT Walkers was my favorite part of The Empire Strikes Back. If you have 7 minutes to spare, watch this clip and remember how awesome a film Empire is…and how awesome a job Irvin Kershner did when directing it. 

Today is Halloween, and  I would like to point out an article that I wrote in October 2007–back when NO ONE was visiting this site. It is a review of a comic book story entitled The Hockey-Mask of Death.

So bad that it’s good? Or just plain bad? You decide.

Yesterday, I sold hockey cards at a sports card show. Or, more accurately, tried to sell hockey cards at a sports card show.

As good as this show has been in the past (at least, from a buyer’s perspective), a few things kept this show from being profitable for me.

Did I break even? Sort of. The table cost me $40. I sold $40 worth of stuff. 

The show went from 9 AM to 2 PM. Here’s a quick rundown…

8:10 AM – Arrive at the show.

8:45 AM – All set up. If you build it, they will come…

9:10 AM – OK, maybe not. Perhaps this was too ambitious of an endeavour.

9:15 AM – Made my first sale. $20. A few other small sales follow.

10:00 AM – Still haven’t broken even.

10:30 AM – Haven’t sold a thing in 40 minutes.

11:10 AM – The room has gotten loud. More people. Maybe things will pick up.

11:50 AM – Finally broke even. Just over 2 hours left in the show.

12:05 PM – A hush falls across the room. One dealer has packed up and left.

12:30 PM – The Bears are playing? Really? I wish I thought of that before deciding to sell at this show.

12:50 PM – The only people looking at my table are other dealers. At this point, about half of the 50 or so vendors have either left or are packing up.

1:15 PM – I decide to call it quits, and pack up my table.

1:30 PM – Sal-vis has left the building.

So, what went wrong?

First, few people came. I’ve seen this show get crowded, but unfortunately not this time.

Second, the economy is still bad. Back in the day, most collectors would spend $5 on a card they wanted. Now, they either try to buy it for $3 or don’t buy it at all.

Third, the $%&* Bears were playing! Whatever small buzz the show had was pretty much killed once the Bears game started.

What really riles me, though, is that many of the people I saw were wearing Blackhawks apparel, and yet they didn’t want any of my sweet ‘Hawks stuff.

Anyway, here’s a few pictures of my set up:

Blackhawks cards from 1970 to 2010. .There’s also some old team calenders and a few other odds n’ ends.

Complete sets. Sure, a lot of it is “junk wax” era, but some of it was newer. I even had a few insert sets from the 1970s, and a complete 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee set for sale.

Non-Blackhawks hockey cards, including 2010-11 Victory Rookies, some 2009-10 Young Guns, and other decent cards from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

I had the most hockey cards and memorabilia at the show, my prices were great (seriously), but few people equals few sales.

The promoter–who is a very nice man–asked me if I wanted to do this show next month. I politely told him no, but said that I might be up for trying this again in  a couple of months.

And the crazy thing is, I just might try again. 

Or maybe that’s a stupid thing…

I have more thoughts on this, but those will be saved for a future blog post.