Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Today was the first day of the first-ever (and hopefully annual) Chicago Blackhawks Convention. So far, I am having mixed feelings about this event. It has been a lot of fun, but overall it has been very disorganized.
Here is a recap of what I did on the first day of this event. Continue reading “Blackhawks Convention – Day One”
I have acquired another card from the almighty 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey Set. This one is of Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Don Simmons.
This card is in significantly better condition than the Gordie Howe card I purchased to start my set. But this card is not without flaws: it has some light creases, as well as a “dinged” upper-right corner. But for $6, I’m not complaining.
What I find interesting about this card is the “old” Canadian flag–basically a British “Union Jack” with some extra red. Aesthetically, this works well as a backdrop, as the red on this flag offsets the abundance of blue of the Maple Leafs uniform.
Two down, 97 to go…
I’ve always wanted a complete set of 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey cards. Since a set is very expensive, I figured I’d try and build a set one card at a time. I decided to start at the top and work my way down…
Gordie Howe is the most expensive single in the set. This one is not in great shape. It is yellowed and there is a crease across Howe’s face. There is a pin hole right above his head which has since been filled in with blue ballpoint pen.
And yet, I don’t care. Since I don’t have $400 for an EXMT Howe card, I figured that $40 for this one–despite its poor condition–would be well worth it. Even if I get all 99 cards in comparable condition, I would be ecstatic.
One down, 98 to go…
The Onion–a satire newspaper published in the U.S.–is probably the only newspaper I read consistently. Sad but true. And oh so funny. Every now and then they lampoon hockey in their Sports section. Here are some of the more recent riffs–all Red Wings related, given their success:
Giant Squid Thrown On Ice To Celebrate Red Wings Hat Trick
Evil Red Wings Owner Wario Lemieux Steals Stanley Cup
Chris Osgood Gets To Third Base With Stanley Cup
This one is a full article, and a little off color.
Also,, there’s a good chance that people who aren’t video game player will get the “Wario Lemieux” reference. Mario Lemieux was nicknamed “Super Mario” in the 1990s after the popular video game character Mario from the Super Mario Bros. games. Wario, with his big nose and twisty mustache, is the evil version of Mario.
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luc Bourdon died on Thursday when he crashed his motorcycle into a semi truck. The Hockey News article regarding this can bee seen here.
Coincidentally, I traded away two Luc Bourdon cards earlier in the week–a Young Guns, and a game used card.
Upon hearing the news of his death this morning (via The Hockey News email newsletter, I of course was both surprised and a bit sad. I never saw this guy play, but I’m always sad when stuff like this happens. I was bummed when Jon Kordic died in 1992, and when Gaetan Duchense died last year.
It’s even sadder when it is someone who never got a chance to realize their true potential.
A player’s death always has one negative, albeit short term, impact in the hobby. All of a sudden, a card that was selling for $1 becomes a $10 card. This has already begun on eBay–not even 24 hours after his death. I saw Bourdon’s OPC rookie card from last year, with an asking price of $20–that’s more than what Evgeny Malkin’s RC in that set is worth. Some of Bourdon’s autographed stuff is going for over $30 now. I’m sure most of it would have sold for only $5 two days before.
When a player plays well, we try and cash in. When a player makes it into the Hall of Fame, we also try to cash in. And, when a player passes away–sometimes tragically–some people try to cash in on that too. That is one trend in the hobby that I never enjoy.
This week, I picked up a bunch of Upper Deck Young Guns rookie cards from various years.
I *finally* got a Patrick Kane Young Guns card! I hope to get another one for my collection soon. I hate paying more than $10 for a “new” card, but I had to have this one (I paid a *lot* more than $10 for it, that’s for sure).
I also purchased a large lot of Young Guns from various seasons. Below are some of my favorites…
Atlanta Thrashers prospect Ondrej Pavelec has done well in the AHL this season with the Chicago Wolves, my other hometown team.
Brett Sterling has been tearing things up for the Chicago Wolves for the past two seasons.
Dustin Byfuglien has become one of my favorite Chicago Blackhawks players. He’s normally a defenseman, but has been kicking butt as a forward.
Adam Burish led the team in penalties this past season, and is one of the unsung heroes on the Blackhawks.
This Patrick O’Sullivan rookie card brings me closer to completing my 2006-07 Upper Deck set.
Same goes with this Niklas Backstrom RC. Three more Young Guns, and I’ll have the whole 2006-07 Upper Deck hockey set.
Ryan Kesler was fourth on the Canucks in scoring, right behind team captain Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins. His career seems to be on the upswing.
Alas, poor Tuomo Ruutu. I get your rookie card after you got traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Technically, this Tyler Arnason Young Guns card was not his
rookie card.
I like the look of this Jordan Leopold rookie card, with the full body shot in the foreground, and the close up ghosted in the background.
Pavel Datsyuk is an awesome player. Too bad this Young Guns rookie card has a slight “ding” on the top edge. Still cool to own, though.
Kristian Huselius was second on team scoring for the Calgary Flames this past season. Why exactly did the Florida Panthers trade him?
Third overall in scoring for Carolina this year, this Erik Cole rookie card has a Beckett value of $10. Who knew?
I filled up the car the other day and after handing over the $90 drove off wondering, where went the days when you got something at a gas station (other than gas) just for showing up. You know–a freebie. Continue reading “Got ‘em, Got ‘em, Stick ‘em!”
Recently, I completed my 1990-91 Panini hockey sticker set.
For some reason, I never got around to getting the last two I needed, Patrick Roy and Andy Moog, until now.
I used to buy Panini stickers diligently “back in the day”. They were easy to find, as most drug, convenience and grocery stores carried them. They were also very affordable; a pack of six stickers cost about a quarter or thirty cents. Finally, the sticker sets were larger than most hockey card sets–and all teams got “equal treatment”. Meaning, if there were 16 Blackhawks stickers, then there were 16 Nordiques stickers–and 16 stickers for every other team too.
I think I learned more about hockey during my first few years of fandom by collecting stickers–a lot of players were featured, and many times other aspects of the game (rules, signals, all-stars, stadiums, uniforms) were covered.
For these reasons, the Panini sticker albums were always a treat to collect. You could even trade with (or buy from) Panini the few stickers you needed to finish your set. I’m not sure why I didn’t just pick these two up for ten cents each back then. I probably forgot all about needing these two when the 1991-92 set came out.
This week, I plan on adding several articles about hockey stickers. Check back every day this week, as I have three sticker-related articles in the queue, ready for your enjoyment. First up is an article about where my hockey memorabilia collecting all began.
This past Saturday, I went to the twice-yearly Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectors Convention. The show is held in March and November. Back in November, I purchased the one card I needed to complete my 1970-71 Topps Hockey Set. This time around, I had similar luck. Here’s some of the cards I picked up:
This 1969-70 Topps checklist is unmarked, and completes my set.
1969-70 Henri Richard – this was an upgrade, as the one I already have has a bad wax stain on the front. Now, my set is EX/NrMt overall.
I purchased this 1953-54 Parkhurst Leonard “Red” Kelly card for $10. I thought that seemed steep at first, since the card has three major creases. But then I remembered that this card is 55 years old! Suddenly, ten bucks didn’t seem like much for it.
That said, $15 for a 1951-52 Parkhurst Gus Bodnar card seemed like a pretty sweet deal, even though it is creased across the front.
I plan on getting this 1978-79 Topps Dale Tallon card signed at the upcoming Chicago Blackhawks convention in July.
Likewise, I will send this 1976-77 Topps card to Fred Stanfield to get autographed–I have had success with him in the past
Other highlights include:
Now, I just gotta sit down and put everything away…
The Onion makes fun of hockey every now and then. Last week, they published a photo of Penguins goalie Dany Sabourin…
Also worth a chuckle: