Thank you, David

I got to give a shout out and say “Thanks!” to David M. of Industry, Pennsylvania. David so kindly sent me three cards that I needed from the 1979-80 Topps set, including the sweet, unmarked checklist that you see here. And he didn’t even want anything for them either…just the satisfaction of helping out a fellow hockey collector.

I am now only 6 cards away from completing my 1979-80 Topps set. And yes, I do have the Gretzky–though I wouldn’t mind another one 🙂

1963-64 Parkhurst #49 – Ian Cushenan

The 19th card in my never-ending quest to complete a 1963-64 Pakrhurst set. This is only the 4th Red Wing I have in this set, and the first Red Wing I’ve picked up since July.

The back of the card has a special offer for a Stanley Cup replica–only 35 cents and 4 wrappers. Of course, 35 cents was a lot of money in 1963, as I think cards were only 5 cents a pack back then. But you got to wonder how big of a replica Stanley Cup that would have bought someone.



NHL SportsPicks 23 photos

McFarlane Toys has just released photos of NHL Series 23, due out in January 2010. This series will feature some brand-new sculpts, as well as some re-paints. Also, it will be the first time McFarlane Toys inflicts introduces their different “Collector Level” variations on unsuspecting eager hockey fans.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
This figure is a repaint of Martin Brodeur 2, released in NHL Series 9 (December 2004), but of course with a different head. Given his team’s Stanley Cup victory last spring, a figure of Fleury makes sense. Too bad it is not an action pose, though.

Alexander Ovechkin 4, Washington Capitals
About two weeks back, I mentioned how tired I was of Alexander Ovechkin having a figure in seemingly every other SportsPick assortment. Well, I take that back. This toy looks fantastic. Ovechkin celebrates a goal; stick raised, mouth open and teeth missing. Oh, and he’s rockin’ the playoff beard too.

Gordie Howe, Hartford Whalers
EPIC FAIL! What should have been my favorite figure in the series is in fact looking like it will be my least favorite. I don’t mind that the figure is a straight-up repaint of the Gordie Howe figure from Legends Series 6 (December 2007). But I wish the head sculpt was different. This Howe figure looks more like Reggie Dunlop from Slap Shot

…than Mr. Hockey at the end of his career:

If the figure looked more like Gordie here, then it would have been a winner.

Luke Schenn, Toronto Maple Leafs
Not much to say here. Good pose, glad they used the blue home uniform. Next up…

Bobby Orr 3, Boston Bruins
Bobby! According to their website, this “Bobby Orr action figure is based on his legendary 1970 season.” But big-time figure geeks will recognize this as another repaint-with-a-new head. This figure was originally Jean Beliveau way back from NHL Legends Series 2 (April 2005). Orr was 6-0, and Beliveau 6-3. Close enough in height to use one figure as another.

Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks
Another decent action pose. But what’s really got me excited is…

Teemu Selanne, Winnipeg Jets
Yay! A player in a uniform from a defunct NHL team! And I’m not being sarcastic, either. Who wouldn’t want this figure? Unfortunately for old-time hockey fans and those still holding a candle for the Jets, this figure will be one of the hardest to get in this series. Which brings me to our next topic.

Collector Level
Apparently, the occasional chase figure was not enough. In addition to normal chase figures (say, a player in his road uniform instead of his home uniform), there are even harder-to-get chase figures, known as “Collector Level”. The levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Premier, All Star and MVP. Here are the reported quantities of each “Collector Level” figure in NHL Series 23. Note that this information was reported by an online retailer, but has not been confirmed by McFarlane Toys:

Bronze – 1000-2000 – Bobby Orr in white jersey

Silver – 500-1000 – Marc-Andre Fleury – Gloves and stick at his feet, base painted to look like red carpeting.

Gold – 250-500 – Gordie Howe in Green Jersey – I am not sure how this will vary from the “normal” Gordie Howe in green jersey that is part of the regular assortment.

Premier – 100-250 – Alexander Ovechkin 4 in All Star Uniform.

All Star – 50-100 – Teemu Selanne in Jets uniform.

MVP – 1-50 – Gordie Howe in white jersey with Authentic Autograph

The “Classic Chase” figures will be of Schenn or Ovechkin in road (white) jerseys instead of the normal home jersey versions.

Personally, I don’t care one way or another about a figure having a signed base like the “MVP level” Gordie Howe figure mentioned above. But making a major paint variation like the Jets Selanne figure super-limited will aggravate a lot of fans. Most of the time, variants are cherry-picked before they even hit the shelves at your local Toys R Us. Why go through all the trouble to entice us, when all 50 to 100–or however many end up getting produced–are whisked away by toy store managers or stock room boys before you or I have a chance to get one? You know that you are not going to just walk into a Wal-mart and find a Gordie Howe with signed base figure just sitting on the shelf, waiting for you.

Perhaps this is a ploy to sell more cases of toys to consumers via online retailers. Again, according to the McFarlane website, “Every SportsPicks assortment case is guaranteed to receive a special Collector Level or Classic Chase figure.”

In other words, buy a sealed case and you will either get a Classic Chase (boo) or a “Collector Level” (yay) figure.

Knowing that I won’t get a Selanne figure puts me in a poor state of mind before bedtime…

UPDATE: Where are my manners? I was so irate about the predicted rarity of the Selanne-as-a-Jet figure that I forgot to link to McFarlane Toys article about NHL Series 23. Photos are courtesy of McFarlane Toys.

2009-10 Fleer Ultra pack

I’ve had this pack of 2009-10 Fleer Ultra for a few weeks now, and finally got around to opening it. Let’s see what my $1.99 ($2.20 with Chicago sales tax) nets me…

Card #114, Mikkel Boedker, Phoenix Coyotes – Despite watching a ton of Coyotes games last year, I don’t have an opinion on this guy one way or another. I’m not a huge fan of sets that flip-flop between vertical and horizontal photos, either.

Card #66, Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers – It looks like Vokoun is being screened by the Fleer Ultra logo.

Card #34, Christobal Huet, Chicago Blackhawks – Hey, one of those Gold Medallion cards. Parallel inserts suck–especially when you get one in every single pack. That means you’d have to buy 50 packs instead of 40 if you were going to try to complete the 200-card base set. Of course, Upper Deck knows this fact. As for the card itself, the photo is from the 2009 Winter Classic, so that makes it 10% cooler.

Card #110, Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia Flyers – I’m not sure why the Nashville Predators traded away this guy. Oh yeah–because his contract was about to expire. By the way, I’ve never been a fan of the black Flyers uniforms.

Card #236, Peter Regin, Ottawa Senators – An elusive Ultra Rookie card. You get one in every six packs. Too bad it had to be this one. It’s hard to get excited about–or even try to build–the rookie subset if it is just a bunch of leftovers from last year.

One thing I dig about these cards is that they show all of the player’s stats. Not sure how it deals with the stats of a super veteran like Mike Modano or Chris Chelios, but the layout looks like it can accommodate 20 seasons or so.

The back of the Gold Medallion parallel cards replace the big uniform number in the lower right with a “Gold Medallion” insignia.

Like most other sets with “hard-to-get-rookies,” I might just wait until I can find a base set in the $5 to $10 range. Then again, I did buy a jumbo pack too. If I get around to opening it, I’ll post the highlights from that too.

It’s Saturday!

My two favorite songs to hear on a Saturday night:


“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” covered by Nickleback. This really gets me psyched for the next six hours of hockey. It reminds me of the “Are you ready for some football?” song from Monday Night Football, but in a good, non-redneck kind of way.


“Canadian Gold,” the new Hockey Night in Canada theme. This is the intro from last year–I can’t seem to find a video of this year’s shorter intro. Personally, I like the minute-long version instead of the truncated version. True, everyone likes the “old” theme song better. Having a new HNIC theme is like giving Star Wars a new theme. But “Canadian Gold” is still pretty awesome.

Bottom line, the only thing I want to do on a Saturday night is watch Hockey Night in Canada. A perfect Saturday evening starts with the “Saturday Night” song and ends with “After Hours.” Fortunately, my girlfriend is pretty understanding. Plus, she does not like going out on cold, winter Saturday nights anyway. Good thing hockey is not s summer sport.

Review: 1990-91 Boston Bruins team set

Your 1990 Stanley Cup runner-ups!

1990-91 Bruins Team SetProduced by a company called Sports Action, this team set was sold at the Boston Bruins Pro Shop during the 1990-91 season. Appealing in its simplistic design, the 24-card set came in a cardboard and polybag package that was stapled shut.  Continue reading “Review: 1990-91 Boston Bruins team set”

New Heroes & Prospects Set

In the Game’s annual Heroes & Prospects set will be released on January 27, 2010–which is also my 35th birthday.

Looking at the base card checklist, it appears that this season’s set will be heavy on the prospects and light on the heroes. Only 4 Heroes and 15 AHL Grads appear in the 150-card set. The other 131 cards are of Prospects.

What grabbed my attention was the inclusion of a Hero by the name of Larry Kwong. I had no idea who this gentlemen is, but after a little research leaned that he was the first Chinese-Canadian to play in the NHL, when he appeared in one minute of one game for the New York Rangers during the 1947-48 season.

As much as I would like to buy a box of cards by In the Game, their high price point–due to the inclusion of memorabilia and autograph cards–precludes me from doing so, I might still try to pick up a complete base set.

1963-64 Parkhurst #71 – William Harris

Another week, another Parkhurst card. This is my 18th step towards completing this 99-card set. A sweet looking card too–no creases or major corner wear. The gloss on the front is perfect. Probably the best card, condition-wise, that I’ve picked up from this set thus far.

The back of the card is intriguing. In 1963, one could mail away for an autographed puck for 30 cents plus 5 Parkhurst wrappers. You had your choice of Gordie Howe, Dave Keon or Jean Beliveau. I wonder if anyone ever got one of these (Al K.? Thom?). That is one thing that hockey cards are missing today–fun mail-away offers like this one and like the ones offered by Topps and OPC up to the 1990s.

81 cards to go, and I’ll have a complete set.

Card of the Week: Me

1989-90 trading card of Sal Barry

Sal Barry 1989Like most hockey fans, I too made an attempt to play the game. Having discovered hockey in January 1989, I quickly decided that it was a game that I must learn to play. I soon purchased a floor hockey stick, and encouraged all of my friends in the neighborhood to follow suit. By March of ’89, we were playing street hockey in the alley behind my Aunt’s house on a regular basis. But that was not good enough for me; I would also have to try my hand at ice hockey…real hockey. Continue reading “Card of the Week: Me”