Puck Junk

1963-64 Parkhurst #36 – Claude Provost

One great thing about going to The National for all 5 days is that I was able to “punch out” of life for 5 days. No work. No familial responsibilities.Even put off meeting with a friend from out of town for a day (sorry, Phil).

But the downside to all that is that life is back in full swing. I have stacks of old cards to put away, packs of new cards to open and tons of awesome cards to blog about–but no free time to enjoy them.

So right now, here is a 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey card of Claude Provost.

Enjoy the card. I hope to have some video up later today.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 34% Complete

Election Day Champs!

1954 Quaker Oats Sports Oddities card #10 – Chicago Blackhawks

At the 2011 National Sports Collectors Convention, I found cards that I’ve never seen before, including this. Issued by Quaker Oats in 1954, the Sports Oddities set features illustrations on the front and an unusual sports story on the back.

The left half of the card front is a cool action painting of a Chicago Blackhawks player – clad in the old “barber pole-style” uniform – slamming on the breaks, spraying ice everywhere. A goalie who, based on his orange and yellow jersey, appears to be with the Philadelphia Blazers (I know, wrong era, wrong league) sprawls out to make a stick save.

And to the right, we have a boring political illustration. But what do the ‘Hawks have to do with politics?

Continue reading “Election Day Champs!”

2010-11 Luxury Suite Box Break

I had no intentions of buying Panini’s Luxury Suite hockey cards.

That is, until I went to The National.

In order to get the special, show-only redemption packs from Panini, you had to buy certain cards. I had two options:

Buy packs of stuff I already had (Donruss or Pinnacle).
Buy packs of higher-end stuff (Zenith or Luxury Suite).

I opted for the latter.In a way, this forced me to try a product that I normally would not have. But I just don’t need any more Donruss doubles, you know?

A box of 2010-11 Luxury Suite hockey has four packs. Each pack has 3 cards. Here’s what I got: Continue reading “2010-11 Luxury Suite Box Break”

1963-64 Parkhurst #51 – Hank Ciesla

OK, so I’m a little behind posting about The National–and all the cool stuff I got there. Free time after the show each night was spent revising want lists and pulling cards for the other bloggers (and blog readers) that I met up with over the weekend.

Right now, I’m working on one of the several box breaks I did, but in the meantime here is a 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey card of Hank Ciesla.

Like the other two Parkies I bought, this one is in pretty good shape.Just a light crease on the back (between the 51 and the Parkhurst logo). I made a lot of steps towards completing this set, which you will see over the next week or so.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 33% Complete

1963-64 Parkhurst #85 – Gordon (Red) Berenson

Happy Friday! Before I leave for Day 3 of The National, I thought I’d post another one of the sweet 1963-64 Parkhurst cards I got yesterday. This card of Gordon “Red” Berenson brings me one step closer to completing the 99-card set.

For those of you who hate vintage hockey cards, don’t worry–I’ll post some newer cards ~~tomorrow~~ soon.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 32% Complete

1963-64 Parkhurst #13 – George Armstrong

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, I attended the 32nd National Sports Collectors Convention, a.k.a. “The National.” I am having a blast–and I still have three more days to go!

I’ll probably be blogging about all the cool stuff I got for the next few weeks, but in the meantime, here is one of my purchases from Thursday: a 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey card of George Armstrong. He spent all 20 years of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here is a scan of the back. As you can see, this card is very clean. No stains or creases, just a top right corner that’s a bit dinged.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 31% Complete

Modern Art Masterpiece

1976-77 O-Pee-Chee card #240 – Cesare Maniago

At 6-foot-3, former NHL goalie Cesare Maniago stood out among his peers. He played in the 1960s and 1970s, during an era where most goalies were of average height. Maniago’s tall frame – mixed with an unfortunate background and a hasty “jersey re-coloring” led to one strange-looking hockey card. Continue reading “Modern Art Masterpiece”

Review: 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee Hockey

The set that was truly a “head” of its time

Perfection. There is no other word to better describe the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee Hockey set. Hands down, it is the best hockey card set from the 1980s. It might even be the best hockey set made during the “O-Pee-Chee Era” (1968-1993). The ’84-85 O-Pee-Chee set achieves perfection because of its fantastic design, excellent photography and comprehensive player selection – not to mention that it includes the rookie cards of five future Hall of Fame players. Continue reading “Review: 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee Hockey”

Who’s Going to The National this year?

If you haven’t heard by now, the National Sports Collectors’ Convention (a.k.a. “The National) will be held near Chicago from August 3 to 7. (link)

Not only is The National billed as the largest sports convention, but most of the card companies have special convention-only cards that you can get via wrapper redemption programs (like the Jonathan Toews you see above). For those two reasons, and because it is close to home, I will be going to the show all 5 days.

Now I ask you, fellow bloggers and blog readers – are you going to The National? I’ve posted a poll (top, right), so please take a moment to vote in it.

More importantly, if you are going to the National, and would like to meet up for a bit, drop me a line at sjb44 AT hotmail DOT com.

I enjoy meeting other bloggers at card shows. Previously, I’ve met up with Tim (The Real DFG) and Justin G. (The Hopeful Chase), and those were some of the most fun shows I’ve been to. It was cool to meet people that I knew from the blogosphere, hang out for a bit and get rid of cards I don’t need TRADE cards with them.

So, if you’re going to The National, would like to meet up and maybe trade some cards, let me know.

Additional links of interest:

Sometimes I buy baseball cards

Although I consider myself strictly a hockey card collector, every now and then I stray a bit and buy baseball cards–but only if they are from my childhood.

As a kid in the mid-to-late 1980s, I watched quite a bit of baseball–sometimes because the Cubs games pre-empted The Transformers or G.I. Joe cartoons that I watched so religiously, and other times out of actual interest.

I bought my first pack of baseball cards in 1985, and continued buying them until 1990. But by then, hockey had taken over as my sport of choice to collect, and I sold off all my baseball cards.

Then a few years ago, I picked up complete 1985 and 1989 Topps Baseball and Traded sets.

Last week I picked up 4 more years from the “junk wax” era:

1986 Topps Baseball Set with Traded Set
1987 Topps Baseball Set
1988 Topps Baseball Set with Traded Set
1990 Topps Baseball Set with Traded Set

When I go to the National next month, I will try to find a 1987 Topps Traded set. It shouldn’t be hard, but the trick is to get one for cheap. Then I will have every Topps baseball card set from 1985 to 1990. Worthless cards to die-hard baseball card aficionados, but timeless for this hockey fan.