Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Chicago, IL
July 18, 2009
Saturday, Shellie and I got to the Blackhawks Convention at 9 am. My first goal for autographs was to get my 2006-07 Young Guns card of Dave Bolland signed. We got in line, and each of us got a card signed by the ‘Hawks center: Continue reading “2009 Blackhawks Convention – Day Two”
Chicago, IL
July 17, 2009
July 17 to 19 was the Second Annual Chicago Blackhawks Convention. Sure, it’s the middle of July, but for 10,000 of us, all we thought about for the next three days was hockey.
As is my luck, Shellie and I were running a bit late, as we got there just before 5 pm. We could not get into the Grand Ballroom because to see the “Opening Ceremonies”, where they introduce the players who are attending the Con. Continue reading “2009 Blackhawks Convention – Day One”
Another card for my fledgling 1963-64 Parkhurst set. Admittedly, I am a bit disappointed in its condition. In the eBay auction, it looked OK, but once I received it I see it has a lot of creases, even more than the Gordie Howe card that I bought last year. Most likely, I did not scrutinize the photo in the eBay auction as good as I could have. No matter, as I paid a grand total of $3.24 for this card, including shipping. Yes, it is not the greatest-looking card in the world, but I am a collector on a budget. Not to sound defensive, or anything.
And this makes 5 cards out of 99.
Last week, I added another card from the 1963-64 Parkhurst set to my collection. This one is of Hall of Fame Coach/GM George “Punch” Imlach. It cost me $5. I now have 4 of the 99 cards in this set.
Dale Tallon must be out of his mind.
Yes, the Blackhawks General Manager did “manage” to sign this summer’s hottest free agent, Marian Hossa.
The problem is, he signed Hossa for twelve years. Twelve years. Let’s think about this for a minute, shall we? In 12 years, it will be the year 2021–which sounds like the title of a Rush album or an Arthur C. Clarke novel–and Hossa will be 42. Continue reading “Whole Lotta Hossa”
A belated “Thanks!” to Brandon Wagner for sending me some hockey cards. Brandon maintains a blog aptly named Cardboard Hockey, ETC., and usually posts about packs of hockey cards he’s opened recently.
Not only did he hook me up with a bunch of 2008-09 Artifacts cards I needed for my set, he also threw in some cool miscellaneous cards, including two packs of 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee and this 2008-09 Collector’s Choice Jonathan Toews card.
OK, Toews isn’t really miscellaneous. He’s the team captain of the Blackhawks, and was a starter in the All-Star game this year. This card shows him in the ‘Hawks second game from the 2008-09 season, against the Washington Capitals.
As for those 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee packs…maybe I’ll open them up and see if the gum still tastes as good as it did 18 years ago.
It’s been a while since I purchased a 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey card. The same day the Penguins won the cup, I got this in the mail. It is a card of former Red Wing Billy McNeill.
The card is in decent shape, with the typical discoloration and rounding of the corners. With shipping, it cost me $4.50.
I now have 3 cards, and need 96 more. Slow and steady wins the race…
Thanks goes out to fellow sports card blogger Greg Armentrout, who sent me a bunch of cards featuring Michigan State Spartan hockey players – and a few coaches too – including this card you see here of current NHL player Rod Brind’Amour.
As you know, I love cards that show players before they made it to the pros, from the junior leagues to the minor leagues. You don’t often see too many college hockey cards, either, so these are very much appreciated. The Michigan State set has cards of a few guys who made it to the pros, including Joe Murphy, Bob Essensa, Kelly Miller and Kip Miller.
Last week, I decided to purchase a bunch of cards from a Beckett.com dealer. I got free shipping, and it scratched a few itches for me.
For several years now, I’ve wanted to own the 2001-02 Topps Heritage Parallel set. Seeded one per pack, the cards resemble the classic 1971-72 Topps/OPC set, which is among my favorites. No one ever sells these cards as a full set, but I was able to find a dealer that had all 110 cards. About 1/3 of the cards were 25 cents, and another 1/3 were 45 cents. It cost me $61.47 to purchase all 110 cards.
I also purchased several cards to kill off some sets:
— 1989-90 O-Pee-Chee (1 card)
— 1993-94 Donruss (1 card)
— 1993-94 Leaf Hat Tricks insert set (2 cards)
— 1995-96 Pinnacle Select (1 card)
— 1996-97 Leaf (1 card)
— 2008-09 Fleer Ultra (5 cards)
Finally, I picked up another 67 different Chris Chelios cards. I’m trying to get all of Chelios’ cards. I now have 326 different Chelios cards in my collection.
If you are considering ordering from the Beckett.com marketplace, you should know that if you order $50 or more from a single dealer, then the shipping is free. However, if you place an order over $100, then for some reason the site wants to charge you for shipping. So, I’d recommend placing an order between $50 and $99.99, because once your order hits $100 they try to charge you $14 or so for shipping.
Series: Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
My prediction: Penguins pull the UPSET in 6 games.
Thoughts: Last year, I predicted that the Red Wings would win in 6 games–and they did. Am I psychic? No. Am I really good at guessing how many games it takes to win a particular series? Obviously not, as evidenced by my prior blog posts during this year’s playoffs.
But I do know this: both of these teams are awesome, are totally capable of scoring a lot of goals and have so-so goaltending. But I don’t think we can expect to see games with 7-6 scores. It seems that everyone goes conservative once they reach the finals. I would love to see some blowout scores. It might happen–both teams have the tools to do so.
Now, the Red Wings are pretty much the same team as last year, except now they have Marian Hossa too. Hossa was on the Penguins last year, but figured that if he can’t beat ’em Red Wings, then join ’em Red Wings.
And despite the offense that Hossa adds to Detroit, I can’t help but feel that Pittsburgh will do it this year. Last year, they struggled and lost to the Red Wings. This is very much like the 1983 Edmonton Oilers, who lost to the Islanders that year in the Cup finals. That was the Islanders’ fourth straight Stanley Cup. The next season, a more mature, more confident Oilers team would beat the Islanders, starting a dynasty of their own.
History is cyclical. It’s time for a changing of the guard.
Penguins in six.