Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
An obvious byproduct of your favorite NHL team winning a championship is all of the “puck junk” that suddenly becomes available for sale. This is neither good nor bad to me. Most of this stuff I won’t buy, but it still makes me happy to see ‘Hawks-related merch in July. Continue reading “Hawks Junk…”
Lebron James signing with the Miami Heat is the best thing that could have happened for hockey in Chicago.Actually, it doesn’t really matter where James ended up–so long as it was not with the Chicago Bulls.
Think about it. Right now the Chicago Blackhawks are the “Number Two” team in Chicago, right after the Bears. Football is so popular in Chicago, that only a dynastic performance by another Sports team would unseat them–like the Chicago Bulls did in the 1990s when they won 6 NBA titles (And yes, “Sports” is a proper noun in Chicago.)
If the biggest free agent in NBA history signed with the Bulls, it would elevate their status to at least that of the Blackhawks. And if Lebron led the Bulls to one or more NBA titles, then they could easily unseat the Bears as the team in Chicago.
Besides, a raving egotist like LeBron would only draw attention to himself–and thus to the Bulls–and away from the Blackhawks and hockey.
The ‘Hawks earned all the attention they are getting in Chicago right now. They won the Stanley Cup. They have a marketable group of young players signed for a long time. And they have legions of new fans.
LeBron James being on the Chicago Bulls would have negated those factors.
In order for hockey to succeed in the Windy City, the Blackhawks have to be great, and all the other sports teams here need to be bad. That is the harsh reality of Chicago Sports. Hockey will continue to grow in Chicago, but only if the Blackhawks remain competitive and the other Sports don’t provide any big distractions.
Bob Probet died suddenly and unexpectedly on July 5, 2010. A man who went toe-to-toe with the likes of McSorley, Domi and Brown – and overcame problems with drug abuse – ultimately lost a battle to a heart attack.
Needless to say, Probert was a tough man. No card better epitomizes Probert’s toughness than his 1990-91 Upper Deck hockey card. Continue reading “Unbeatable”
Tomorrow (Friday) is Bob Probert’s funeral. Every fan I’ve spoken to–and every blog I’ve read–have all expressed their sadness at the untimely passing of the popular ex-NHL enforcer.
A short Bob Probert story I’d like to share happened in February of this year, when Mr. Probert called my cell phone. No, I am not claiming to have known the man–but it isn’t every day that a former NHL player calls up a run-of-the-mill hockey blogger such as myself. Continue reading “A Phone Call from Bob Probert”
Former NHL enforcer Bob Probert passed away this afternoon. He was 45 years old.
Probert played for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks.
More on this story can be found here.
It is always sad to see anyone die too soon.
Jeremy Roenick played 20 years in the NHL, and was known for his fast skating and flashy offense. He appeared in 9 All-Star Games, scored over 500 goals and over 700 assists in his career. Here is a look back at his career–in cards–of the man known as “JR”. Continue reading “Career in Cards: Jeremy Roenick”
Theo Fleury was one of the shortest men to play in the NHL. Looking up at him from a “worm’s-eye view” perspective gives the diminutive forward a sense of importance and grandeur. But also viewing him “through the mask” of a goalie makes the photo less believable. If Fleury was only 5-foot-5, how short was this goalie? Continue reading “Low Flame”
As you know, my favorite hockey team won the Stanley Cup this year. I’m happy. Hell, I’m ecstatic. Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal. Jonathan Toews won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. And Antti Niemi proved that he was the real deal.
Still, there are several ways that this year’s Cup victory could have been better for this longtime Blackhawks fan—6 ways, to be exact. Continue reading “6 ways ‘Hawks Cup win could have been better”
The Stanley Cup—the oldest freakin’ sports trophy in the world–was downtown in Chicago on Tuesday afternoon. Fans were able to get their picture taken with the almighty chalice.
I was one such fan, waiting about 1 1/2 hours for my photo opportunity. I think it came out pretty well.
Also, I was featured prominently on the CBS Channel 2 news in Chicago.. Here is a link to the video–that is me near the beginning (before I put my ‘Hawks jersey on), at the very end, and peppered throughout.
On Saturday, I received this form letter from Beckett Publications, encouraging me to re-subscribe to Beckett Hockey Magazine. This seems like a very strange thing for Beckett to do.
In summary, the letter states that I can receive 7 issues for $29.95–a savings of more than 50% off of the cover price.
It also outlines these key features:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the first two bullet points sound like the same thing–“valuations you can trust” and “reliable price guides”. The 2010 Olympics is old news by now. The show calendar is helpful, but what’s this about “insightful articles?”
In a 176-page magazine, such as the January 2010 issue here, 140 are dedicated to the price guide. Only 20 pages–less than 12 percent–are actual articles that you would read.
And as for the articles themselves, most are either capsules about forthcoming products, box breakdowns, or articles that outline a star player’s most valuable cards. Informative, but not very insightful.
Want information about upcoming hockey card releases? Just go to the websites of Upper Deck or In The Game, as Beckett just regurgitates their press releases, anyway.
Box breakdowns? You can find tons of those on blogs and on YouTube.
So, what’s my incentive to subscribe?
I suppose the price guide itself is a reason to subscribe. But other than adding prices for the new sets, and a few changes here and there, it is more or less the same information every issue.
What perplexes me about this special offer is that in the past few years Beckett has been really intent on selling access to their Online Price Guide (OPG). OPG access costs around $50 per year, requires no paper, no mailing and no need to write articles.
So, why the sudden push to sell magazines–at the low, low price of $4.28 per issue? The answer is obviously advertising dollars. The more subscriptions you sell, the easier it is to sell ad space…and the more you can charge per ad.
If Beckett wants to sell printed magazines, then lowering the subscription price is not the answer. Neither is publishing bullet-point lists of “what we got in a box of Champ’s” or “total value of every John Tavares card ever made” articles.
Instead, they should return their focus to printing quality, hobby-related articles that people would pay to read.