Puck Junk

Beckett Hockey – Feb. 2008

I received my issue of Beckett Hockey for February 2008, and was pleasantly surprised to see a picture of Vincent Lecavalier fighting Jarome Iginla on the cover!

You don’t often see fighting on hockey cards (except maybe this one), and for a few years in the 1990s you didn’t even have fighting in hockey video games.

So, it shocks me–but in a good way–to see fighting on a cover of a hockey magazine. Even more so since Lecavalier and Iginla are known for scoring goals, not throwing punches.

Granted, this isn’t an NHL-made or NHL-endorsed product. You could very easily see a photo like this on the cover of The Hockey News. But on a collectibles magazine, I still find it surprising. But in a good way.

Fighting is a part of hockey. I like it when publications et. all own up to that fact.

Here is a video of the Lecavalier-Iginla fight, from the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

2007-08 OPC wax box break #2

My breakdown for the second OPC box I opened recently…

– 185 base cards
– 18 Marquee Rookies
– 4 Base Parallels
– 3 Team Checklists
– 2 Season Highlights
– 2 In-Action
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 Record Breakers
– 1 Marquee Rookies parallel
– 2 OPC Buyback (1989-90 OPC Scott Young; 1982-83 OPC Bernie Federko In Action)

This box yielded three more insert cards than the previous box break, but overall I’m not overly impressed with the inserts.

In this box, I also got not one, but two OPC buybacks. One is from the ubiquitous 89-90 OPC set, while the other one was a bit more interesting–a 1982-83 OPC “In Action” card of Bernie Federko, who in actuality *not* in any sort of action (he’s lining up for a face-off).

2007-08 OPC wax box break #1

I just purchased five wax boxes and five collectors tins of 2007-08 OPC, in my quest to build a set.

Here’s the breakdown of the first wax box (36 packs):

– 185 base cards
– 18 Marquee Rookies
– 3 Base Parallels
– 2 Team Checklists
– 2 Season Highlights
– 2 In-Action
– 2 Stat Leaders
– 1 Record Breakers
– 1 OPC Buyback (1989-90 OPC Benoit Hogue)

An OK break, I guess. Got some rookies, but no one notable (no Price, Toews or Kane).

I’m not getting the whole “OPC buyback” thing. I have hundreds of 89-90 OPC cards. Why would I want more? They are neither all that hard to find, nor are they all that attractive (though I *do* like the set). I mean, if I got a card from like 1978 or something, that’d be cool because it at least 30 years old…and not this 18-year old junk.

2007-08 OPC blaster box break #3

The third (and final so far) blaster box I purchased. I hit the jackpot!!!.

The breakdown:

– 69 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookies
– 2 Base Parallels
– 1 Rookie Parallel
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 Record Breakers
– 1 Team Checklist
– 1 OPC Buyback (1989-90 OPC Jon Casey)
– 1 OPC Buyback Autograph (1983-84 Marcel Dionne)

This is awesome! The card of Marcel Dionne–a Hall of Fame player–is signed neatly in blue ink. The odds of getting one of these cards is 1 out of every 1440 packs (or so). Not only am I surprised to get this card in a blaster box from Target, but I got this after buying only three blaster boxes–42 packs total. It’s one thing to buy a ton of packs and finally get a card; it’s another thing to get a card relatively early on in collecting a set.

The Dionne auto came with a certificate of authenticity, from Upper Deck:

I am really glad that I bought all of the blaster boxes at Target that day, as they had three of them and I bought all three. As many of you know, I collect hockey autographs.

2007-08 OPC blaster box break #2

The second blaster box of 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee that I opened was better than the first one, as I got a Carey Price rookie card. I got six other rookie cards too, but nobody noteworthy.

Here’s the breakdown for my second OPC blaster box:

– 71 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookies
– 1 Team Checklist
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 Season Highlights
– 1 In Action
– 2 base parallels

2007-08 OPC blaster box break #1

OK, I am totally convinced that Upper Deck could crap in a cardboard box, label it O-Pee-Chee, and people would still buy it.

I should know…because I am proof. Guilty as charged.

But my whole diatribe about the quality of the new O-Pee-Chee set will have to wait. Right now, I’m here to bust open some packs in the hopes of getting some good cards, and maybe even build a set.

Since I missed the boat on Upper Deck Series 1, I figured I would try and build out a set of 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee. I recently went to Target, and bought a few “blaster boxes”–14 pack wax boxes that are $20 each. I think what fueled my sudden desire to buy this set is that the local dealer told me that the new OPC set was “Canada only”, and apparently boxes were going for a lot on the secondary market.

Honestly, though, I just love hockey cards. And since I could not stomach the thought of buying some set that costs $100 a box(!), I figured this would be a good set to get into.

So, without further ado, here is my first OPC Blaster Box Breakdown:

– 71 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookes
– 2 Team Checklists
– 1 Season Highlight
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 2 base parallels

I think I like this set a little better than other Upper Deck sets–but not Upper Deck proper–because the rookie cards are seeded 1 in every 2 packs, instead of 1 in every 4 or 6 packs, like other sets. So, that means that I’d have to buy, oh, 200 packs of these cards to get 100 rookie cards. Looks like I’ve got some work to do…

Pittsburgh Penguins car commercial

I saw this commercial on G4TV’s Attack of the Show, where they count down their top five best (worst?) short internet videos. Coming in at number one was this car commercial for local Pittsburgh auto dealer A & L Motor Sales. It “stars” Penguins players Colby Armstrong, Maxime Talbot, Sergei Gonchar and Evgeny Malkin. In typical “local auto dealer” commercial fashion, this commercial is awesomely bad.

“You? Who are you? I thought they only took care of sup-pear-stars like me” I don’t know what got into Talbot, but he’s almost as funny as Ilya Bryzgalov.

I also like the way that Malkin doesn’t get any speaking lines, but still gets to show off his good hands with that key catch.

Gotta love The Onion

For those of you who don’t know, The Onion is the premier weekly satirical newspaper here in the U.S. of A.–sort of like Mad Magazine, but more sophisticated…and yet not pretentious. They poke fun at all things, like politics, current events and sports. Once in a while, they even dis’ on hockey, as evidenced by this photo:

The Onion also poked fun about the recent NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Hockey Might-Have-Been

1992 Pinnacle Baseball card #594 – Tom Glavine

This week’s Card of the Week is actually a baseball card – with a twist!

The 1992 Pinnacle Baseball set had a card of ace Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavineskating on ice, stick in hand. You see, in high school, Glavine was talented at baseball and hockey. Upon graduation in 1984, he was chosen in both the NHL and MLB drafts, Continue reading “Hockey Might-Have-Been”

NHL Series 20 lineup announced

McFarlane Toys recently announced the upcoming lineup of hockey figures that will comprise NHL Series 20:

– Daniel Briere (Philadelphia Flyers)

– Jarome Iginla 3 (Calgary Flames)

– Jonathan Cheechoo (San Jose Sharks)

– Nicklas Lindstrom 2 (Detroit Red Wings)

– Vesa Toskala (Toronto Maple Leafs)

– Daniel Sedin 2 (Vancouver Canucks)

You can read the full article on the McFarlane Toys website here.