Puck Junk

I Had a Blast at the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention

I Met Great People & Got Some Great Cards, Too!

Puck Junk Podcast hosts Tim Parish, Clemente Lisi, and Sal Barry.

About six weeks ago, I was disappointed to learn that my usual booth space at the National Sports Collectors Convention would no longer be available. With the show only weeks away, there was zero chance for me to get a booth for the 2025 convention.

So, once I got over the initial disappointment, I decided that I would go to the National as a fan. I purchased a 5-Day VIP pass and updated my want list.

And boy, did I have fun!

This year, I had time to hang out with friends at the show, including Puck Junk Podcast co-hosts Tim Parish and Clemente Lisi, who have a knack for helping me find things I am looking for. I got to talk with many listeners of the podcast, as well as readers of the Puck Junk newsletter and blog.

I also had tons of time to look around and find new treasures for my personal collection. This is pretty much impossible to do when I am tied (figuratively speaking) to a booth at the National. Instead, I got to roam freely around, get a few autographs, and buy some great hockey cards.

Here are some of my best pickups from the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention. Continue reading “I Had a Blast at the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention”

Puck Junk Podcast: 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention Recap

Episode #222: August 5, 2025

Sal Barry, Tim Parish, and Clemente Lisi give their giant-sized recap of the biggest National Sports Collectors Convention in history. The show was over 600,000 square feet and had over 600 vendors. While there weren’t many hockey autograph guests, there were still plenty of hockey cards. The guys also share some of the cool items they found at the National. It’s 141 minutes of hobby goodness. The YouTube version of the podcast features video and pictures – including many of the great items we got at the show.

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Follow Sal Barry on X @PuckJunk, Instagram @PuckJunk & Bluesky @puckjunk
Follow Tim Parish on X @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on X @ClementeLisi.
Podcast music by Retro Game Remix – follow them on YouTube.

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Clemente’s Corner: Hockey Cards a Surprise Hit at the 2025 National

The 45th edition of the National Sports Collectors Convention at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on July 30 to August 3, 2025, was expected to be dominated by baseball.

And it was.

With nearly 700 vendors and record-breaking attendance, the five-day bonanza in Chicago was a massive showcase for cards and memorabilia.

What I didn’t anticipate – and was happily surprised by – was the large presence of both vintage and modern hockey cards across the show floor. Continue reading “Clemente’s Corner: Hockey Cards a Surprise Hit at the 2025 National”

How Should You Invest in Cards?

Here’s Two Things to Know if You Invest in Cards

Earlier this week, I was a guest on the XM Radio talk show NHL Morning Skate LIVE, talking about hockey cards, as well as the upcoming National Sports Collectors Convention. Host Mick Kern asked me an interesting question – one that I do not get asked too often.

He asked what I would tell someone if they asked how they can get started investing in trading cards. Continue reading “How Should You Invest in Cards?”

Making Lemonade from Lemons

I’ll be at the National This Year – But Not as a Dealer

A few weeks back, I got some disappointing news. The vendor that I set up with at the National Sports Collectors Convention over the past four years informed me that they sold their booth space for the upcoming National to another company.

That means that I will not be setting up to sell hockey cards and collectibles at the National this year because it was way too late for me to get a booth on my own.

Initially, I was disappointed. Heck, I was bummed. I jokingly told a friend that it felt like getting dumped, minus the crying.

But then I asked myself, would going to the National as a shopper – not as a seller – this year be such a bad thing?

Continue reading “Making Lemonade from Lemons”

Puck Junk Podcast: The Upcoming 2025 National Convention

Episode #221: July 18, 2025

Sal, Tim, and Clemente talk about the upcoming 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention, which is taking place in Chicago from July 30 to August 3. Topics include what to expect at this year’s biggest-ever National Convention and how to make the most of your time at the show. Clap on! Clap off! It’s 88 minutes of hockey goodness.

Links
National Sports Collectors Convention website

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Connect with us and other hockey fans on the Puck Junk Facebook Group.

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Email Newsletter and the YouTube Channel.

Support
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■

2024-25 Upper Deck CHL Hockey Box Break

Spotlighting many future NHL draft picks, the 2024-25 Upper Deck CHL hockey card set features the best players from the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The set consists of 300 base cards and 100 short-printed cards.

A box of 2024-25 Upper Deck CHL contains 12 packs and costs around $70. Each pack has 14 base cards, one short print “Star” or “Star Rookie” card, and one insert or parallel card. Each box contains either an autographed card or an Outburst parallel card.

I recently opened a box of 2024-25 Upper Deck CHL hockey cards. Let’s see what I got:

Continue reading “2024-25 Upper Deck CHL Hockey Box Break”

Clemente’s Corner: The Sharks, Rollerblades and a Time Machine to the ‘90s

We collectors do love nostalgia. It’s a way to connect our memories about legendary teams, players and games to the present using small pieces of cardboard. It’s a wonderful pursuit and the reason why so many of us have binders full of cards on our shelves and in our closets from the 1980s and ‘90s.

Another way to connect with the past is through books. One book that will take hockey fans back to that analog time is Brad Porteus’s “Roll With It.” It’s a heartfelt and humorous memoir that delivers exactly what its subtitle promises: “A trip back to the ‘90s – Gen X style.”

Continue reading “Clemente’s Corner: The Sharks, Rollerblades and a Time Machine to the ‘90s”

2024-25 SPx Hockey Box Break

Upper Deck changed its configuration for SPx with its 2024-25 SPx set. Once upon a time, a box of SPx had more than just a handful of cards. Back in 2015-16, a box of SPx hockey cards had 10 packs, each with four cards, for a total of 40 cards. The next season, SPx downsized the number of cards you got in a box significantly, lowering the quantity while raising the quality. Here’s how many cards SPx had over the past seven seasons:

- - 2016-17 SPx – four cards per box
  - 2017-18 SPx – four cards per box
  - 2018-19 SPx – four cards per box
  - 2019-20 SPx – four cards per box
  - 2021-22 SPx – four cards per box
  - 2022-23 SPx – five cards per box
  - 2023-24 SPx – five cards per box

As you can see, you didn’t get a lot of cards for your money, but all of the cards were some sort of “hit” – be it an autograph, a jersey card, a low-numbered insert, or the like.

This year, Upper Deck upped the number of cards in a box of SPx, including many more base cards in a box so you can actually build the base set. A box of 2024-25 SPx contains eight packs, each with three cards, for a total of 24 cards. Each pack has one base card plus two other cards – be it a rookie card, parallel, or insert.

Let’s see what was inside my box of 2024-25 SPx Hockey:

Continue reading “2024-25 SPx Hockey Box Break”

Rookie Cards of Every NHL 1st Overall Pick

Which Top Picks Were Booms – or Busts?

The 2025 NHL Draft took place last weekend, and defenseman Matthew Schaefer was taken first overall by the New York Islanders. If Schaefer makes his NHL debut this fall, collectors will undoubtedly be looking for his Young Guns rookie card when it appears in 2025-26 Upper Deck Series Two. And depending on how good the young d-man plays, collectors may even buy his RCs found in other sets like O-Pee-Chee Platinum or SP Authentic.

In fact, ever since 1990, hockey collectors have anticipated a first-overall pick’s rookie card, usually buying like crazy when their RCs first hit the market. Such was the case with Connor Bedard in 2023-24, Connor McDavid in 2015-16, Sidney Crosby in 2005-06, and numerous other first-overall picks.

I recently wrote a story for Sports Collectors Digest about every first-overall pick since 1963 – the year the NHL implemented a draft – and their rookie cards.

Do you know who the first-ever first-overall pick was?

How about the first goalie taken first overall?

The first American?

The first European?

Which first-overall pick got a rookie card two years before his NHL debut?

Or did not get a rookie card until four years after his NHL debut?

If you want to know the answer to these questions and more, you can read my article here at the Sports Collectors Digest website.

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Follow Sal Barry on Bluesky @PuckJunk and on X/Twitter @PuckJunk. ■