Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
The NHL offseason is officially on fire after all of the high-profile RFAs have signed. That’s not the only news around the league. The NHL announced a major partnership that will go against the grain. We also saw one of the bigger trades of the summer and a new captain was announced. Read on to find out why this week’s set of takes is about muffins.
(Player not working? Listen to the Puck Junk Podcast on SoundCloud.)
DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK! OK, maybe you can call it a comeback. It’s the long-awaited return of the Puck Junk Podcast, with your hosts Sal Barry and Tim Parish. In this episode, Sal and Tim talk about the 2019-20 Upper Deck MVP Hockey Card Set, the end of Panini Hockey Stickers, the upcoming Topps Hockey Sticker Set, and more. Play time is 1 hour 5 minutes, so get comfy before pressing that play button.
And if you enjoyed this podcast, leave a comment and let us know!
Follow Sal on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast intro music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Like this podcast? Support the site and buy a shirt. ■
(Player not working? Listen to Collectors Corner on SoundCloud.)
In this episode of Collectors Corner, Ron Barr and I talk about the “PVC Scare” of the early 1990s. Collectible supplies that contained PVC — polyvinyl chloride — was found to damage coins, and many feared that nine-pocket pages containing PVC in the plastic would damage sports cards. So, what were the long-term effects of PVC on trading cards?
Collectors Corner airs Friday nights at 9:25 p.m. CST. Find a nearby radio station that carries Sports Byline USA here, or stream online here. You can also listen to past episodes here.Special thanks to Sports Byline USA for providing the audio clip.
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Sports Byline USA on Twitter @SportsBylineUSA. ■
The dominos continue to drop around the league as another few RFAs finally broke their respective stalemates. I’ll give my takes on those deals, the great, the good, and the decent. There was also some huge news that could prevent another lockout. The NHL offseason is exciting once again!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Dominos Continue to Fall”
Today, after several months of inspired and feverish work, I would like to finally announce the launch of the Puck Junk Shop, an online store for this site. I’m excited that everything came together to make this happen.
Currently, the Puck Junk Shop is selling hockey t-shirts that feature original designs that my girlfriend and I created. Hopefully, the Shop will soon expand to sell other hockey-related merchandise.
Do you collect hockey cards? Do you play hockey in a recreational league? Do you love all things hockey? Then check out the Shop, which has six different hockey t-shirts — in multiple colors — with more creations in the works.
The Puck Junk Shop is currently taking pre-orders, with shirts expected to ship the first week of the hockey season. Place an order between now and October 1 and save 10% off your first order with coupon code SHOPLAUNCH at checkout.
Even if you don’t buy anything, please help spread the word about the new online Shop, and consider signing up for the mailing list. This is something that I’ve dreamed about doing for a long time, and every share, like, retweet and repost will help. Also, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think about the designs — or what hockey shirt designs you’d like to see. Wish us luck, and thank you for your support! ■
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
(Player not working? Listen to Collectors Corner on SoundCloud.)
Last week Thursday was National Video Game Day, so Ron Barr and I talked about sports video games, from Tennis for Two and Pong, to Double Dribble and NHL ’94, all the way to current games like Madden 20.
Collectors Corner airs Friday nights at 9:25 p.m. CST. Find a nearby radio station that carries Sports Byline USA here, or stream online here. You can also listen to past episodes here.Special thanks to Sports Byline USA for providing the audio clip.
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Sports Byline USA on Twitter @SportsBylineUSA. ■
How many synonyms can I use for the word extension? You will have to keep reading to find out because this edition of Blake’s Takes is all about extensions. Mitch Marner finally signed an extension. Many of the other big-name RFAs followed suit, making last week one of the most memorable weeks of the summer in the hockey world.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Marner Bomb Drop and Other Extensions”
Yesterday, I posted a break of Upper Deck Chronology Hockey Volume 1, a box that has just four cards. Today is a break of another four-card box, this time of 2018-19 Ultimate Collection Hockey by Upper Deck. The set came out about three weeks ago and costs around $140 for a box. Let’s see what that gets us.
All the cool kids on Twitter and Instagram were opening boxes of Upper Deck Chronology Hockey Volume 1, and showing off the cool autographed cards they got.
Chronology is a “living” set that will be ongoing over multiple releases. Volume 1 was released at the end of July 2019, while Volume 2 is slated to come out in summer of 2020. This is an interesting concept, as there are thousands of retired NHL players, making the sky the limit for who might be included in this set.
A box of Chronology costs around $120 to $140 USD and contains FOUR CARDS. But three out of four are promised to be hits, so that’s enticing.
I finally got my hands on a box of Volume 1, and wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
During The National last month, I purchased a box of 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee Premier Hockey cards for $5. It seemed like a fun retro break to do. The set is small, at just 198 cards, and seemed relatively easy to put together. Plus, I already had some doubles in my collection, so I thought if anything, I’d get a set out of the deal. I was wrong.
