2008-09 Champ’s Hockey box breakdown

Back in April, I purchased a box of 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey. It was somewhat of a weak moment. I had just received my income tax return, and I went to a new card shop that I had never visited before. The dealer told me that he’d sell me a box of Champ’s for $100, including tax, if I paid him in cash.

Now, normally I don’t buy high-end stuff. I’m the guy who’s on the sidelines, watching some other schlub open up expensive packs and boxes and getting the good autograph cards, while I seldom buy anything more expensive than regular Upper Deck. For once, I wanted to open an expensive box of something, and I was intrigued by this Champ’s product, with all the dinosaur bones and whatnot.

So, like the beer drinker who for once had enough to buy a bottle of fine scotch, I bought a box of Champ’s. I meant to post this box breakdown sooner, but got sidetracked and then forgot. Today, I found the post-it note that listed what was inside this box:

Post It Note

As you can see, I got three “hits” in this box. First the autographed cards:

How about that? I got a hard-signed autograph card of Steve Stamkos, who was probably the most anticipated rookie from the 2008-09 season. No, he did not win the Calder, but getting a Stamkos ‘graph is pretty awesome, and preferable to an autograph of, say…

…Jon Filewich. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of this guy. I sure didn’t until I got an autograph of him. He played 5 games in 2007-08 for the Penguins, and has been in the minors ever since. Maybe in 5 years he’ll become the next Maxime Talbot. Or not.

But speaking of Penguins, I got a pretty rad jersey card:

I nearly lost it when I got this Mario Lemieux jersey swatch card. I normally detest jersey cards, because I never get any good ones. Well, I think this one is pretty impressive.

Getting a Stamkos autograph and a Lemieux jersey card made this a worthwhile break. Too bad the other autograph was not of a more, ahem, significant player–but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, right?

As for the other cards (base, minis, etc.) nothing really stood out in my break. Overall, I like the set, but wonder why the mini set has more cards than the standard-sized set.

I still need quite a few base, rookies, mini rookies and Natural History–yes, I am crazy enough that one day I will own the entire mini set, including all 191 of the Natural History cards. (Plus, I need an extra copy of C295 African Wild Dog to give to my girlfriend, who did a report and presentation in college recently about the wild dogs).

I’ll write a set review once I complete the standard-sized set.

Until then, I leave you with a card of arguably the second greatest goalie ever. Arguably.



1963-64 Parkhurst #43 – Pete Goegan

Another card for my fledgling 1963-64 Parkhurst set. Admittedly, I am a bit disappointed in its condition. In the eBay auction, it looked OK, but once I received it I see it has a lot of creases, even more than the Gordie Howe card that I bought last year. Most likely, I did not scrutinize the photo in the eBay auction as good as I could have. No matter, as I paid a grand total of $3.24 for this card, including shipping. Yes, it is not the greatest-looking card in the world, but I am a collector on a budget. Not to sound defensive, or anything.

And this makes 5 cards out of 99.

Daddy Dearest

2004-05 Upper Deck card #196 – Denis Brodeur

2004-05 Upper Deck card #196 - Denis BrodeurDuring the 2004-05 lockout, Upper Deck was at a loss for “Young Guns”. Since the NHL “wasn’t happening” that year, there was no fresh infusion of talent to depict on their hockey cards. At a loss for players to include in their “Young Guns” subset, Upper Deck made an interesting move, and created cards of people who were long overdue for one. Some of the cards – such as those of Lord Stanley, Hobey Baker and Cammi Granato -made sense. One interesting, if not questionable, inclusion in that year’s “Young Guns” set though was a card of Denis Brodeur – the father of New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. Continue reading “Daddy Dearest”

Video – Mario Lemieux’s first retirement


When Mario Lemieux retired for the first time in 1997, he went out on a high note, winning the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. Here is a tribute video that was shown during the 1997 NHL Awards, followed by Lemeiux’s acceptance speech for the award. He is introduced by former teammate Bryan Trottier.

Check out more hockey related videos at the Puck Junk Channel on YouTube.

Review: 2003-04 Topps C55 Hockey

Really, really, really old school design makes for an interesting distraction

2003-04 Topps C55 #68 - Jaromir Jagr

Retro-themed sets based on early 20th century design – such as Upper Deck’s “Champ’s” brand of hockey cards, or Topps “Alan & Ginther” baseball cards – are a popular trend with collectors right now. While few can afford the original cards of Art Ross or Georges Vezina, many still can appreciate the look and feel of current cards that base their designs on these old sets. Earlier this decade, Topps made an initial attempt to make a set of neo-retro hockey cards, naming it “C55” and basing the design on a set of cards that is almost a century old. Continue reading “Review: 2003-04 Topps C55 Hockey”

Whole Lotta Hossa

Dale Tallon must be out of his mind.

Yes, the Blackhawks General Manager did “manage” to sign this summer’s hottest free agent, Marian Hossa.

The problem is, he signed Hossa for twelve years. Twelve years. Let’s think about this for a minute, shall we? In 12 years, it will be the year 2021–which sounds like the title of a Rush album or an Arthur C. Clarke novel–and Hossa will be 42. Continue reading “Whole Lotta Hossa”

Thanks Brandon!

A belated “Thanks!” to Brandon Wagner for sending me some hockey cards. Brandon maintains a blog aptly named Cardboard Hockey, ETC., and usually posts about packs of hockey cards he’s opened recently.

Not only did he hook me up with a bunch of 2008-09 Artifacts cards I needed for my set, he also threw in some cool miscellaneous cards, including two packs of 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee and this 2008-09 Collector’s Choice Jonathan Toews card.

OK, Toews isn’t really miscellaneous. He’s the team captain of the Blackhawks, and was a starter in the All-Star game this year. This card shows him in the ‘Hawks second game from the 2008-09 season, against the Washington Capitals.

As for those 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee packs…maybe I’ll open them up and see if the gum still tastes as good as it did 18 years ago.

Mother Ducker

1999 Sports Illustrated For Kids card #792 – Paul Kariya

1999 Sports Illustrated For Kids card #792 - Paul KariyaSports Illustrated for Kids is a spin-off of the magazine Sports Illustrated, but aimed at the younger set. Each issue includes a sheet of nine trading cards featuring athletes from various sports. The magazine’s editors decided to have some fun, and put “April Fools’ Day Cards” in the April 1999 issue of SI for Kids. This card shows Anaheim Mighty Ducks captain Paul Kariya skating on the ice with other ducks – real ducks. Continue reading “Mother Ducker”