Custom Cards: 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee Jeremy Roenick & Curtis Joseph

Those of you who follow this website are probably familiar with my Autograph Blog. But few of you probably knew about my now-former Custom Hockey Card blog.

Yep, I had a custom hockey card blog. And I hadn’t updated it in 2 years, so I decided it was time to let that one go. If only all webmasters were so conscientious and would clean up cyberspace by deleting their abandoned blogs.

Anyway, I’m still going to make custom cards. And I am going to show off some of the cards I made in the past. Here are two customs from the 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee set.

Curtis Joseph appeared in 9 games for the Calgary Flames in 2007-08. All of his cards from that season picture him with his previous team, the Phoenix Coyotes. The following year, he’d play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. No cards were made of Joseph with the Flames, so I made a custom using the 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee set. It’s not the greatest looking set, but it is easy enough to spoof. I used this card to fill in a gap in my Career in Cards article about Joseph.

On the other hand, Jeremy Roenick did not get any cards made of him during the 2007-08 season, save for a few Jersey cards. Roenick said prior to the start of the season that he was going to retire, but San Jose Sharks General Manager (and former teammate of Roenick) Doug Wilson talked him into playing 2 more years with the Sharks. Like Joseph, I also did a Career in Cards article about Roenick, so I needed something to put for that season. J.R. netted his 500th goal in 2007-08, so it is disappointing that he didn’t get any cardboard that year.

Review: 2004-05 Upper Deck All-World

2004-05 UD All-World #36 Patrik EliasPatrik plays Charades. His card reads: Snowman on fire. — 2004-05 UD All-World #36 Patrik Elias
Patrik plays Charades. His card reads: Snowman on fire.

The homeless scuffle over crumbs, the poor haggle over bites, and the millionaires and billionaires?

The latest NHL lockout is proof, once again, that we’re just people and pie. No matter the size, there’s always going to be a fight for a larger slice.

With that in mind, whenever the NHL starts play again, I’ll be back. Castigating men for greed is better left to a monk.

What I do hope is that this lockout produces a curiosity as memorable as this one from hockey’s last nuclear winter.

Milan Hejduk looks as befuddled by this color “scheme”—”scheme” implying actual forethought—as many collectors were when Upper Deck released 2004-05 All-World.

In the midst of a lockout that would eventually see the entire season wiped out, a number of NHL stars played overseas to stay in shape and in the black. Upper Deck capitalized on the now apparently once-in-a-decade opportunity to capture familiar stars in unfamiliar surroundings. Continue reading “Review: 2004-05 Upper Deck All-World”

An Epic Haul of 1951-52 Parkhurst Cards

Some are Good some are Fair…and one is particularly “Terrible”

I’ve been meaning to “blog about this” for a while. Back in November, I went to a card show near Chicago and met up with fellow bloggers Justin, Tim and fellow ‘Hawks fan Nick. We hung out for a bit, traded cards, then went back to perusing the show floor. I was a few paces behind Justin and Tim when something caught my eye, causing me to drift away from the group. Distracting me was a stack of cards with a small sign reading:

1951-52 Parkhurst Cards $8 and Up

Parkies! Even better–the first-ever Parkies! You’re more likely to see King Kong riding a unicorn around downtown Chicago than you are to find 1951-52 Parkies at a card show in the Windy City.

After some haggling with the dealer, I ended up with 38 cards from the Godfather of Hockey Card Sets.Where else would I be able to get so many cards from this set at once?

These Parkies were not in the greatest shape, but weren’t all that expensive either. Most cost me $10 each–some cost less, some cost more. That may seem pricey for substandard grade cards–but remember, old Parkies are hardly the stuff of garage sales here in the U.S.

The last card in the group is so awesome that I have to show it twice as big:

#56 – Robert “Ted” Lindsay (a.k.a. Terrible Ted Lindsay) RC
I have never seen a Ted Lindsay rookie card before. This one was priced around 25% of “book” because of the crease (which is visible on the front, but strangely not on the back) and the rounded corners.

This is a tough set to put together. I almost never see any of these at card shows in/near Chicago. And with rookie cards of Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk and Maurice Richard valued at over $1,000 each, I may never complete this set.

Still, it is cool to finally own a chunk of hockey history, even in a lesser grade. But these are really old cards–let’s see how good we all look at 60 years!

Review: 2012-13 Upper Deck Series One

No season? No problem! Upper Deck shines despite lack of strong rookies

Year-for-year and dollar-for-dollar, Upper Deck is the best hockey set a collector can buy. It’s combination of exciting action photography, broad player selection and desirable rookie cards make this a perennial favorite of causal and serious card collectors. Driving Upper Deck’s immense popularity for the past decade were its short-printed “Young Guns” rookie cards, where collectors can hope to pull a card of one of the top new rookies for the season.

But a work stoppage of the NHL is currently preventing new players from entering the league. Since a player has to appear in one game to appear on a card, how would Upper Deck Series One fare without any of the 2012 draft class? Continue reading “Review: 2012-13 Upper Deck Series One”

Merry Puckmas 2012

Happy Holidays to those of you who read the blog–or just look at the pictures–and to those of you who have traded cards with me and helped my collection grow.

Card ‘Toons

Steve Galvao is a good old Canadian kid who grew up loving hockey and collecting hockey cards. To see more of Steve’s work, visit his website, the Shoebox Collection.

National Hockey Card Day Returns in 2013

Earlier today, Upper Deck announced on their blog that National Hockey Card Day will be back in 2013. NHCD–as the cool kids call it–will take place on February 9 in Canada and on February 16 in the United States.

Five-card packs of special cards will be given out at participating retailers. Like last year, each country will have its own exclusive set of cards–15 different cards found in the packs, and a 16th card that can only be obtained if you make a purchase at the card shop.

Autographed cards will be randomly inserted in NHCD packs, and Upper Deck promises improved collation. The collation was particularly bad in the U.S. for their 2012 NHCD promotion–ten 5-card packs did not yield me even one complete 15-card set–so it is great to hear that Upper Deck is doing something about it.

The Canadian set will feature 15 cards of players suiting up for Team Canada. The bonus card will show Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky playing at the 1987 Canada Cup tournament.

The U.S. set will consist of 15 cards of the best American-born players.The bonus card will feature Kings goalie and 2012 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick hoisting the Stanley Cup. This is a nice parallel to the 2012 US NHCD set; the bonus card was American-born, Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas with the Cup. (Hopefully, a US-born goalie will win the Conn Smythe Trophy next year to continue this trend).

Considering that we are in the third month of the NHL lockout, this is great news for hockey card collectors. The lockout has resulted in a weak rookie class. less sets overall and lukewarm Ebay sales. Hopefully, this will give hockey card collecting some spark in a season that is all but cancelled.

For more information, check out Upper Deck’s blog and their NHCD Facebook page.

So, who can I count on to get me a Canadian set for 2013? 🙂

All images courtesy of Upper Deck.

Card ‘Toons

Steve Galvao is a good old Canadian kid who grew up loving hockey and collecting hockey cards. To see more of Steve’s work, visit his website, the Shoebox Collection.

1963-64 Parkhurst #44 – Parker MacDonald

Among the 58 cards I ordered from Check Out My Cards, one of them was vintage–this 1963-64 Parkhurst card of Parker MacDonald. It cost $7.25 and is in very good shape. Just a bit of corner wear, and a pencil mark on the back that I was able to gently erase. (SHHHH! Don’t tell PSA, or they won’t grade it.) Now, I only need 31 cards to complete this set.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 68%

Another 5 sets killed off in 2012

Late last month, I placed an order on Check Out My Cards, and managed to kill off 5 sets. Here are the last cards for each set that I’ve completed after this purchase.

2011-12 O-Pee-Chee #615 – Erik Gudbranson – These “OPC Update” cards were inserted in packs of 2011-12 Upper Deck Series 2, so they were a bit trick to track down. After buying 5 boxes of UD Series 2 and making a few trades, this was the last card I needed.

1995-96 Topps Power Lines #8 Red Wings and #10 Devils – The Devils and Red Wings were the best two teams the previous year, as the Devils won the Cup and the Wings were the runner-up. Coincidentally, the best two teams were also the last two cards I needed to finish off this insert set.

1991-92 Score American #315 – Gary Shuchuk – I tried building this set during the 1991-92 season, but never completed it. In 2001, I bought a complete set, but this card was missing. So, I’ve needed this 20-year old card for 10 years.

2009-10 Fleer Ultra 23 – Daymond Langkow – BOOM! Another one bites the dust!

1994-95 Fleer Ultra Sergei Fedorov #3, #4 and #5 – Everyone’s favorite Russian sniper, circa 1995. This 10-card insert set focuses on Fedorov’s career to date. Card #5 gives details of his defection from Russia to the U.S., such as a secret note given to Fedorov in a tournament in Norway and the Red Wings enlisting the aid of a bilingual photographer to help Fedorov defect. Not the usual stuff you see on the backs of hockey cards!

One of my collecting resolutions for 2012 was to kill off as many sets as possible. In January, I completed 10 sets. In August, I finished off another 2 sets. In September–thanks to your generosity during the One-Card Challenge–I was able to complete another 6 sets. With these 8 cards you see above, I have now completed 23 sets, so I think I did a good job of upholding my resolution to complete my sets. Still, I might try and finish off 2 more sets by the end of the year.