Lidstrom / Chelios / Rafalski GU

Normally, I despise jersey cards. I think they are useless as far as my collection is concerned. Plus, jersey cards end up inflating the price of packs of cards that *might* contain one (Upper Deck, OPC). But every now and then, I make an exception, and purchase such a card for my collection. Behold:

Chris Chelios is my favorite player, so I try to get as many different cards of his as possible–including jersey cards. This one in particular has game-used jersey swatches from Niklas Lidstrom, Chelios and Brian Rafalski. The first two are locks to make the Hall of Fame when they retire. While Rafalski probably wont land in the Hall, he has thus far has a pretty good hockey career–in college, in Europe and in the NHL–and will represent the United States in the 2010 Olympics this February.

So how much did this card of three great players set me back? With shipping, $3.52. That just underscores how worthless these darn things are.  I do like the way the red P in OPC is flanked by a white O and white C, giving the card a bit of symmetry.

One small step…

Well, I did it. I managed to update Puck Junk once a day during December. After finishing my grad classes for the quarter in late November, I promised myself that I’d try to do a daily update for an entire month. Counting this New Year’s Day post, my streak is now at 38 straight days (Nov. 25 – Jan. 1). This is the first time that I’ve managed to write something every day.

Another first, Puck Junk has eclipsed 1,000 visits in a month, with a total count of 1,208 visits for December. I know in the grander scheme of the web, a thousand visits a month is nothing–some sites get that traffic in a day. Regardless, I feel pretty good about that.

Sure, this is not the most exciting blog post I’ve ever written. I’m still recovering from an awesome New Year’s Eve banquet. I ate too much and got to bed real late, but managed to get up just in time to see this year’s Winter Classic.

Speaking of which, it is a good thing that  Tim Thomas’ selfish play didn’t cost his team the game, eh?

2009-10 Upper Deck Hockey box break

A few days back at a card show, I purchased a box of 2009-10 Upper Deck Hockey. Here is what got:

169 Base Cards: Thankfully, I did not get any duplicates. This gives me about 85% of a complete base set.

6 Young Guns: Artem Amisimov, Jamie Benn, Dimitry Kulikov, Matt Pelech, Sergei Shirokov and James Van Riemsdyk. Other than Van Riemsdyk, a disappointing lot. Sure, we all want a Tavares rookie card, but I would have been happy with an Anti Niemi YG.

And now, onto the inserts that most of us don’t want anyway:

2 All World Team: Pekka Rinne and Patrick Kane. Looks like every hockey card set is going to have some sort of quasi-tie-in with the Olympics.

2 Draft Day Gems: Pekka Rinne and Theoren Fleury. What, is Rinne in every insert set?

2 Faces of the Franchise: Joe Thornton and Ales Hemsky. WHY?????????? What makes these any different than the typical “Hometown Heroes” inserts?
1 Top Guns: Thomas Vanek. Another useless insert set….
 
1 Season Highlight: Evgeni Malkin. Yawn.
2 Martin Brodeur Hockey Heroes: Looks like New Jersey’s “fat goalie” (as Sean Avery called him) gets his own insert set. 

1 Limited-to-100 Parallel: Dimitry Kulikov, numbered 069/100. Great…now I got the regular and parallel versions of this guy.

 
 2 UD Game Jersey: Jason Pominville and Jason Spezza. Two jersey cards of two Jasons. As much as I detest jersey cards, I am glad that the swatches at least match the uniforms the players are wearing.
Overall, I like Upper Deck brand-cards, but can do without the inserts . None of them really “grab” me, though the Draft Day Gems insert set is an interesting idea. It is lame that you get only 6 Young Guns in a box, but 10 insert cards. No one buys Upper Deck in hopes of getting a Pekka Rinne All-World Team  insert card. Maybe that will all change if someone else gets a license to do hockey cards next season.


Pittsburgh Penguins Keychain

Every time I renew my subscription to “The Hockey News,” I get a free “spinner” keychain. One side features a team logo, which spins around to reveal an alternate logo on the other side.This year, I chose the Penguins, and received it a few days ago.

One side of the keychain has the “penguin with a stick” logo… Continue reading “Pittsburgh Penguins Keychain”

Review: 2009 National Hockey Card Day

15 cards of Canada’s most beloved players

2009 National Hockey Card Day #11 - Wayne GretzkyGiven away in 5-card foil packs on February 21, 2009, the National Hockey Card Day set by Upper Deck focused on some of Canada’s most beloved players. Packs were handed out, free of charge, at card shops, Toys R’ Us, and Wal-Mart stores across Canada as an effort to increase interest in hockey card collecting. This is similar to Free Comic Book Day, when numerous comic books – made especially for the event – are given away at comic shops across the U.S. The 2009 National Hockey Card Day set has 15 cards: 5 are of rookies, 5 of popular current superstars and 5 of retired greats. Continue reading “Review: 2009 National Hockey Card Day”

Epic Win FTS

I went to a card show today, and normally I like to write about all the cool cards and memorabilia I picked up.

But today, I scored what was probably the best purchase I have ever made in my 20 years of hockey card collecting.

I bought a 1985-86 Topps Hockey Set for $50.

Yes, it had the Lemieux. It’s not perfect, but I have a few Topps Lemieux RCs anyway, so a less-than-perfect one will be fine to put in the 9-pocket page.

The set also had the Gretzky card, an unmarked checklist and the other 162 cards.

Complete.

I won’t have to piece this one together.

Yes, it seems too good to be true. Hooray for me.

I also got some other stuff–including a 2009-10 Upper Deck hobby box. Seems kind of unimportant by comparison, now that I think of it.

Ironic that I spent more on an unopened box of new cards than a complete set of old ones…

Upper Deck to continue Hockey Card Day in 2010

For a second year in a row, Upper Deck hockey cards will be given out at card shops and retail chains across Canada to celebrate National Hockey Card Day, or NHCD as the cool kids like to call it.

NHCD will happen on Saturday, January 30, 2010. Those who visit a Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, London Drugs, Rexall, Jean Coutu, Pharma Plus or a local participating card shop will receive a free, 5-card pack featuring all-new hockey cards.

And while only one pack will be given out per customer, there’s no rule against visiting as many of these shops as possible. There are 15 cards in the set, so you’ll need to get at least 3 packs to try to complete a set…or 6 packs if you want to hook your buddy Sal up with a set.

Here is the 15-card checklist:

5 “2009-10 Rookies” cards:
– John Tavares (New York Islanders)
– Matt Duchesne (Colorado Avalanche)
– Jaime Benn (Dallas Stars)
– Evander Kane (Atlanta Thrashers)
– Logan Couture (San Jose Sharks)


5 “Pride of Canada” cards:
– Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
– Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning)
– Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils)
– Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers)
– Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)


5 “Heroes” cards:
– Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
– Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
– Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks)
– Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers)
– Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings)


The “Rookies” and “Pride of Canada” cards look great. The full color photo, placed atop a sepia-toned background, really make the player “pop”. The bold red or blue bars punch up the design while also playing off of the red, white and blue “National Hockey Card Day” logo.

But the sepia-toned “Heroes” cards are a bit lacking. The “National Hockey Card Day” logo should have been sepia-toned too. But it isn’t, so it sticks out like a sore thumb. A shame, since the “Rookies” and “Pride of Canada” cards have such carefully-considered designs.

Then again, the cards are FREE, so who am I to complain about the design?

However, I would like to complain that these are only given out in Canada. How about us fans in the U.S.? Don’t forget that 24 of the 30 teams are here south of the border, and that the Winter Classic will be held in Boston this season.

Anyway, be sure to check out the National Hockey Card Day website. Eventually, they will post a list of participating retailers who will be giving out these free cards.

Road Rash Roenick

1996-97 Leaf Limited card #86 – Jeremy Roenick

1996-97 Leaf Limited card #86 - Jeremy Roenick During the summer of 1996, the Chicago Blackhawks made one of their worst trades in the decade – hell, in their history – when they sent fan-favorite Jeremy Roenick to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Alexi Zhamnov, Craig Mills and a first round draft pick. As a result, the Blackhawks became a downright abysmal team for the next 12 years. Another downside was this cheesy, tacky card of Roenick straddling a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Note the manly tassels hanging from the handlebars. Continue reading “Road Rash Roenick”