Some 1961-62 Topps Hockey Cards

I recently purchased 7 cards from the 1961-62 Topps Hockey set. They either have creases, rough edges or minor staining on the back. But for $3 each, I can’t complain. These cards are 50 years old, after all.

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#21 – Action Near the Cage – Vintage Bruins-Blackhawks action from the ’60-61 season.

#49 – Earl Ingarfield – Played in the NHL from 1959 to 1971.

#63 – New York Rangers Team Photo – I love these old team photos.

#8 – John Bucyk – The Chief! Bucyk played 21 seasons with the Boston Bruins.

#64 – Going, Going, Goal! – Rangers’ goalie Gump Worsley gest beat by Bruins forward Dick Meissner, who pokes in the puck at the goal line.

#20 – Boston Bruins Team Photo – Another great team shot. Team photos should be included in newer card sets, don’tcha think?

#23 – Rudy Pilous (coach) – Am I the only one who likes cards of coaches? From the back of this card…

Rudy, never a big league player himself, drove Black Hawks to Stanley Cup last season…Rudy’s a big, amiable guy with real gift for handling men.

See? Hard-hitting information you can’t find anywhere else but on the back of a vintage card.

Mario Madness!

What’s better than a Mario Lemieux rookie card?

TWO Mario Lemieux rookie cards.

Bought these two 1985-86 Mario Lemieux RCs at my local card shop last week. 

Now, you’re probably thinking, Sal, does anyone really need two Mario Lemieux Rookie cards?

Well, no…I guess not.

So, If anyone would like to work out a trade for one, drop me a line.

The Jet Effect

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Seriously, what’s with all the Jets fans? Where were all you people 15 years ago, when the team couldn’t sell out its home games? Back then, the Jets couldn’t fill a 16,000-seat stadium. Now they have 3 million fans (give or take).

I call this phenomenon The Jet Effect.  A mixture of nostalgia, along with fan-wagoning has led to legions of  fans to celebrate that Winnipeg is getting an NHL team again. No one likes to share in the pain, but boy they do come out for the party.

I am happy for the city of Winnipeg.

But calling the new team the Jets is a bad idea. That’s like naming your new puppy after your old dog that passed away. It seems like a good idea, but in the end it leaves you sad and bitter.

Anyway, the surplus 2,500,000 Jets fans will fade away once they realize that their team is just the Atlanta Thrashers in different uniforms.

As for the remaining 500,000 Jets fans–enjoy your new team.

By the way, I’ve added a new poll–in the upper-right corner of this blog–about the Jets. Please take a moment to vote. (The poll has ended.)

Some CC for the PC

I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve last posted–actually 8 days, but I’ve been so busy that it’s felt like an eternity. I’ve picked up a lot of neat stuff over the past month, but just haven’t had the time to blog about it until now. 

Anyway, I normally hate on the jersey cards–but not when they are of my favorite player, Chris Chelios. And one of them is actually a game-used stick card. That’s not as bad, right?

The card you see above is from the 2001-02 Pacific Titanium set, has a piece of a SHER-WOOD stick and is numbered 144 / 252.

And this card is from the same set, has a piece of a patch and is numbered 007 / 112.

I have several hundred Chris Chelios cards, but surprisingly very few are jersey and memorabilia cards.

Anyway, this week I should have a bit more free time to show off some of the cool stuff I got recently.

2011 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions Set

Upper Deck is releasing a boxed set commemorating the Boston Bruins victory in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. It is available for order now, but will not ship for a few weeks. Priced at $19.99 (plus shipping), the set will consist of 31 cards. The breakdown is as follows:

  • 25 cards featuring the best Bruins during the season
  • 5 “Season Highlight” cards
  • 1 card of the Bruins celebrating their win after Game 7

Twenty bucks seems kind of steep for only 30 cards. Then again, I love this idea. When the Blackhawks won the Cup last year, I hoped that a set like this would be released commemorating their championship. Back in the day, Pro Set used to put out Super Bowl commemorative sets that featured every player on both teams in the big game; I always wanted a hockey card maker to do the same for the teams in the Cup Finals.

You can buy the set–and find out more about it–here at the Upper Deck store.

I plan on purchasing this set. Is anyone else thinking about buying it?

Timmy!

Go ahead, say it…you know you want to.

Congratulations to “TIMMY” Thomas on winning Game 7, winning the Stanley Cup, winning the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP…and for never giving up during the 10 years it took him to make it to the NHL.