Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
This card of Boston Bruins winger Vic Stasiuk is the 16th addition to my 1957-58 Topps Hockey set build. The centering is less-than-stellar, and it has a light crease on the front.
There’s no crease on the back, but the centering here is even less than less-than-stellar. Even less.
The upside is that this card cost me $2.25. Less than three bucks to fill a hole in a 55-year old set is fine by me.
I try to avoid the bargain boxes at card shows. You might spend an hour looking through five monster boxes, and only find one card you want.
But this past weekend, I went to a 3-day card show. Going all 3 days–instead of just 1 like I normally do–gave me the luxury of time. So I hit all the dime, quarter–and even dollar–boxes at this show. And I found some pretty good cards.
2005-06 MVP Dion Phaneuf rookie card = 25 cents
Two (2) 2005-06 MVP Brent Seabrook rookie cards = 10 cents each
1984-85 Topps Pat Lafontaine rookie card = $1.00
Yes, it’s nowhere near the value of his OPC RC, but I couldn’t pass this up for a buck.
Two (2) 1990-91 Upper Deck Jeremy Roenick rookie cards = 10 cents each
It actually makes me sad to find this card for a dime. I remember when this was one of the top draws at a card show in Chicago, circa 1990.
1990-91 OPC Premier Jeremy Roenick rookie card = $1.00
OK, so maybe I’m still hoarding Roenick RCs after all these years.
2010-11 Black Diamond Dana Tyrell rookie card (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents
Some guy had several Double and Triple Diamonds in his quarter boxes.
2010-11 Black Diamond T.J. Brodie rookie card (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents
2010-11 Black Diamond Alex Plante rookie card (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents
2010-11 Black Diamond Carey Price (Double Diamond) = 25 cents
Two (2) 2010-11 Black Diamond Mark Messier (Triple Diamond) = 25 cents each
2005-06 Parkhurst Ryan Suter rookie card = 10 cents
2001-02 Upper Deck Vintage Martin Erat rookie card = 10 cents
Another dime, another Predator RC.
Two (2) 1991 Stadium Club Members Only Patrick Roy = 10 cents each
1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Lou Nanne rookie card = $1.00
I need so many cards from this set, so a non–common for a buck is a find.
1974-75 John Davidson rookie card = 25 cents
An RC of JD. I hope to get this signed one day.
1991-92 Arena Draft Picks Fat Balloon…er, I mean Pat Falloon = 10 cents
Nine (9) different 1997-98 Upper Deck 3-Star Selects = Ray Bouqrque (pictured) was 25 cents; the rest were 10 cents each.
1997-98 Score Check-It Bryan Berard = 10 cents
This completes my “Check-It” Insert Set. Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
46 assorted 1980s Topps Logo Stickers = 10 cents each
Why did I buy all these logo stickers? I’m not sure. I think I still find them cool after all these years.
Ten (10) 1989-90 Topps Wayne Gretzky cards = 10 cents each
Ten cards of The Great One for one dollar. How could I say no?
Not a bad bunch of cards for $12.65. These were the highlights of the “cheap thrills.” Stay tuned to see more of the high-end cards I purchased.
The second 1963-64 Parkie I bought at last weekend’s show was card number 52, Norm Ullman. This card is in near-perfect shape with sharp corners and perfect gloss. It is a bit off centered, but lack of centering is just part of the charm (as 1967ers would say).
As usual, the back of the card is the usual brown color (were these even printed on light stock?). This one has no stains or flaws I could find, other than the centering. I paid a few dollars under “high book” value for this one, but I think in the end I got a really great specimen for my set.
In October of 2010, I started my attempt to build the 1957-58 Topps Hockey set. I was off to a good start, accumulating 14 cards from October to December.
But in 2011, I only managed to pick up one measly card from this set.
So at this weekend’s card show, I decided to make this set one of my priorities. Here is card #44 from the 66-card set. This also happens to be Bill McNeill’s rookie card, for what it’s worth.
The only real flaw on this card is that it has some “white spots” at the bottom edge of the back–where the red ink meets the border. However, after I took this scan, I was able to gently “brush off” the white spots–it seems like “White Out” or some other similar correction fluid. I was able to gently scratch it off without harming the card.
Since mid-2008 I have been passive-aggressively building the 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set. Sometimes I “passively” bid on a few cards on eBay, while other times I will “aggressively” seek them out at card shows. This weekend was the latter. I went to a card show and had some great luck finding Parkhurst cards I wanted for a decent price.
Here we have Hall of Fame player and coach King Clancy. He played in the NHL from 1921 to 1937, and later was a coach or assistant coach for 15 seasons.
Oh so close to halfway completing this set.
Last week, I bought 30 different of 8″ x 10″ hockey photographs from AU Sports, one of my favorite card shops.
Many of these photos were taken at old Chicago Stadium, and most of them are from the 1980s and early 1990s, so these rate pretty high in the nostalgia factor for me.
Mike Liut (Hartford Whalers) – Taken at Chicago Stadium
Sylvain Turgeon (Hartford Whalers) – I used to watch quite a few Whalers games on TV back in the early 1990s, as SportsChannel would show Hartford games quite regularly.
Mike Bossy (New York Islanders) – Bossy retired by the time I got into hockey.
Denis Potvin (New York Islanders) – Potvin had retired and was a studio analyst for SportsChannel when I started watching hockey. I remember him infamously guessing that the Chicago Blackhawks would get eliminated in the first round of the 1989 playoffs, when in fact they made it all the way to the Conference Finals.
Billy Smith (New York Islanders) – The first game I ever went to was the Blackhawks against the Islanders.
Billy Smith (again) – I’m not sure when either of these photos of Smith were taken. I can tell that these are from old Chicago Stadium, as it was one of the last arenas to put advertisements on the boards.
Martin Brodeur – Wow! What a great overhead photograph–making the save just in time. I’m not sure where or when this was taken
Marcel Dionne (New York Rangers) – A nice close-up of the Hall of Fame player at the end of his career.
Bob Brooke (New York Rangers) – Brooke played for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team.
Rick Vaive (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Taken at Chicago Stadium, and most likely during the 1984-85 season. Vaive was infamously stripped of the “C” when he missed a practice during the 1985-86 season.
Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Wearing the “conceited swan” logo, this is probably from 1996-97.
Attention Canadian Collectors
I need a complete set of the Canadian National Hockey Card Day set, including the Crosby card, two checklists and a wrapper. I will gladly send you the American NHCD set in exchange (1-15 plus the Tim Thomas card plus 2 checklists plus a wrapper).
Also, I was able to purchase 20 additional packs of NHCD and 5 more Tim Thomas cards, and have almost completed 6 more sets. If anyone (Canadian or American) would like to trade for a set–or purchase one outright for just my cost on the set ($10 plus shipping) let me know.
Attention American Collectors
I need the following US NHCD Cards to make complete sets:
3- Henrik Lundqvist x2
4 – Pekka Rinne x32
5 – Jaromir Jagr x 4
6 – Zdeno Chara
7 – Ryan Kesler x64
12 – Willie O’Ree x3
Also looking for extras of Patrick Kane
I have the following for trade:
1 – Gabriel Landeskog
2 – Alex Ovechkin
9 – Ryan Miller
10 – Zach Parise
11 – Andy Miele
13 – Mike Modano
14 – Brett Hull
16 – Tim Thomas
If anyone can help me out–either with a Canadian NHCD set, or some of the US NHCD cards I need to make complete sets–please email me at sjbATpuckjunkDOTcom
And if you didn’t see my (week late) recap of NHCD in America, check it out here.
Last week was perhaps my busiest week in the past 4 years. In addition to teaching 5 college classes and a class at a grammar school, I curated an art show that opened on Wednesday, finished a grueling application for a full-time teaching job, and finished another grueling application for a teaching award that I was nominated for.
So, yes, I did get my free hockey cards on National Hockey Card Day. But I didn’t get the chance to blog about it…until now. Here is my long-overdue recap of National Hockey Card Day.
The Plan
Shellie and I went to 5 different card shops. She drove (her car is stick shift, which I can’t drive…but I haven’t driven in about a billion years, anyway) so that we could hit some shops in the suburbs too. And, by having someone with me, it would double the amount of free NHCD packs I’d get.
Stop #1
Elite Sports Cards
2028 W. Montrose Ave.
(773) 784-1396
http://elitesportscards.net/
The guy at Elite Sports card is nice. I had to buy a pack of cards made by Upper Deck to get the “free” pack of NHCD cards. Shellie and I each bought a pack, and he also gave us each a Tim Thomas card. He also gave me the Panini “Player of the Day” sign on his counter top, as that promo was over and he was going to throw it out anyway.
My only complaint about Elite Sports cards is that they don’t really have much of anything when it comes to hockey cards. He carries the new packs…and that’s about it.
Stop #2
Sports Harvest
6031 W. Irving Park Rd. in Chicago
(773) 283-4350
No website
I have never been to this store before. It is in the Portage Park neighborhood in Chicago. My old stomping grounds–a few doors down from my old karate school, and across the street from a theater I used to frequent.
Chuck is the owner, and he gave Shellie and I each a pack of NHCD cards, and each of us a Tim Thomas card. His store has cards, but Sports Harvest really specializes in toys and McFarlane SportsPicks figures.
So, I bought a few random single hockey cards that I needed and a Marty Turco Blackhawks figure.
Stop #3
Chicago All-Stars
5754 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago
(773) 631-5566
http://chicagoallstars.com/
This place was CLOSED when I got there. They are supposed to be open until 3pm on a Saturday. We got there at 1:55pm, and it was locked up and the lights were off. No note or explanation as to why they were closed over an hour early. I even called and left my number, and they never called me back.
Stop #4
Sports & Gaming Cards
205 Golf Mill Center in Niles
(847) 795-9355
No website
The owner was very friendly and loved hockey. I forgot his name, but his second cousin is former NHLer Bates Battaglia.
The shop had a moderate amount of hockey cards, and I picked up a few random Young Guns, including one of Magnus Paajarvi.
Shellie and I were each given a pack of NHCD cards, but the owner would only give me the Tim Thomas card, even though he had a bunch of them. Shellie did buy some WarCraft cards, and I spent $50, so I think he probably could have given us a second TT card. Oh well.
Stop #5
AU Sports Memorabilia
5629 W. Touhy Ave. in Niles
(847) 647-8311
Facebook Page
AU Sports has quickly become tied for my favorite card shop. Store co-owners Scott and Frank are two of the nicest, most well-adjusted card guys you will ever do business with. Plus, Frank is way into hockey, so he and I geek out and talk about old O-Pee-Chee cards and stuff like that.
When Shellie and I walked through the door, Scott immediately gave us each 2 packs of NHCD cards. He also offered to give us each a Tim Thomas card, but he only had 4 left, so we only took one so other customers could get a chance to get one. I bought some pages, a few large toploaders, some random cards from the 1990s and early 2000s to fill some sets and a 1961-62 Topps Wayne Hillman.
I opened the 4 packs that AU Sports gave us, and still did not have one complete set. So Frank kept opening packs and gave me cards that I needed. After about 10 packs, he gave up trying to get me a Pekka Rinne, but that still helped me almost complete 3 sets.
And the verdict
National Hockey Card Day was fun. I ended up with some free cards, and the NHCD promotion prompted me to visit some shops that I never would normally have gone to. Other than the less-than-spectacular collation of the cards, I think National Hockey Card Day was a success. I look forward to it again next year.
This Saturday (tomorrow!) is National Hockey Card Day. And as all of you know by now, this year it will be held in both Canada and the U.S.
Participating stores will be giving away 5-card packs of Upper Deck Hockey cards containing an exclusive “National Hockey Card Day” set. Each country will get its own distinct set:
While the giveaway packs are free, a special 16th card (Sidney Crosby in Canada; Tim Thomas in America) will only be available if you make a purchase.
Canadian collectors who visit London Drugs or Toys R Us will get an oversized “blow up” card when they purchase an Upper Deck product.
I’m excited, and am going to visit a few stores and try to build a few sets to trade to my fellow collectors north of the border.
I’ve been pretty scarce this past week or so, as the college semester is in full swing and I am teaching five–count ’em five!–classes between two different schools.
However, I wanted to quickly point out two “blink and you’ll miss ’em” magazine articles that mention Puck Junk.
The February 13, 2012 issue of The Hockey Newsfeatures my fourth “In The Cards” article (the third one was printed back in December). The short article talks about the trading card of Todd Ewen nomming on a hockey puck. Delicious!
Meanwhile, the January/February 2012 issue of The Want List has an article entitled “The Scott and Tracy Show…plus five other collector stories we wanted to share” (pages 16-19). The article talks about KSA Grading Services, Panini America, Bleacher Creatures, KSKS Collectibles, Clouts N’ Chara and Puck Junk.
In other news, I bought six boxes of hockey cards. Expect some breaks–including some video breaks–soon.