Puck Junk Podcast: The Mount Rushmore of Hockey Cards

Plus: The NHL ’23 Video Game Cover
Episode #127 – September 2, 2022

This week, Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss and debate what four trading cards are THE most important, most significant, most iconic pieces of cardboard to depict a hockey player. Or rather, what four cards should be on the “Mount Rushmore of Hockey Cards.” Sure, you have to have the Wayne Gretzky rookie card up there. But what would the other three be? Plus, the guys talk about the upcoming NHL ’23 video game and how it will feature two cover athletes — including, for the first time, a woman hockey player. It’s one hour and 25 minutes of hockey goodness! 

Show Notes & Links:
I Was a Teenage Card Show Promoter (Sports Collectors Digest) 
Five Examples of the EA Sports NHL Cover Curse (The Hockey News)
1952 Mantle Sets Record at $12.6 Million (Sports Collectors Daily)
Zegras, Nurse Grace NHL 23 cover (ESPN) 

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard (Instagram @flyingV2112)

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or Transistor. Subscribe to the Puck Junk Channel on YouTube.  

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Puck Junk Podcast: 2022 3ICE Patrick Cup & World Junior Championship Recap

Episode #126 – August 25, 2022

Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about two recent hockey tournaments: the 3ICE Patrick Cup Championship and the 2022 World Junior Championship. Plus, should Upper Deck make hockey cards from the World Junior Championships like they did way back in the 1990s? It’s one full hour of hockey goodness! 

Show Notes & Links:
Inside 3ICE 3-on-3 Hockey’s Revolutionary First Season (ESPN)
3ICE Official website (link)
Brandon Hawkins Amazing Penalty Shot Goal (YouTube)
2022 IIHF World Junior Championship website (link)
1983 Canadian National Junior Team set (Puck Junk)

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard (Instagram @flyingV2112)

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast,  PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher, and Transistor. Subscribe to the Puck Junk Channel on YouTube.  

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

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

Puck Junk Podcast: The Last of the 2020-21 Hockey Card Sets

Plus: 3ICE and NHL Free Agency
Episode #125 – August 18, 2022

Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk about some of the very last hockey card sets from the 2020-21 season: Ultimate Collection, Premier, and SP Authentic. Plus, a look at the 3ICE hockey league’s season and its upcoming tournament this Saturday and recent NHL free agent signings. It’s 90 minutes of hockey goodness. 

Show Notes & Links:
The LUDEX Card Show at the Skyline Room on August 27 (Facebook)
The Great Hockey Card Comeback (The Hockey News)
3ICE Website (link)
Puck Junk Podcast #121: Interview with Craig Patrick (Puck Junk)
Box Break and Images of 2020-21 Ultimate Collection Hockey (Puck Junk)
Box Break and Images of 2020-21 Premier Hockey (Puck Junk)
Box Break and Images of 2020-21 SP Authentic Hockey (Puck Junk)

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on Twitter @ClementeLisi.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard (Instagram @flyingV2112)

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast, PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher, and Transistor. Subscribe to the Puck Junk Channel on YouTube.  

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

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

2020-21 SP Authentic Hockey Box Break

SP Authentic is perhaps best known for its popular Future Watch autographed rookie cards — and its sparse, mostly-white base card design. Like many of Upper Deck’s other hockey cards from 2020-21, SP Authentic also had a very late release. In fact, SP Authentic was not released until June 29, 2022 — three days after the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals concluded. 

Fortunately, though, SP Authentic was not cancelled like other sets for the shortened 2020-21 season. And that’s a good thing, because personally, I’ve always liked SP Authentic’s clean base card design and  on-card autographs. And the Future Watch autographed rookie cards may be second in popularity only to Upper Deck Young Guns when it comes to hockey rookie cards among collectors. 

However, SP Authentic is more expensive now, costing around $300 for an 18-pack box. Each pack has five cards, and each box guarantees two autographed cards. 

I recently got a box of 2020-21 SP Authentic. Let’s see what cards were inside. 

Continue reading “2020-21 SP Authentic Hockey Box Break”

2020-21 Premier Hockey Box Break

Premier Hockey is another high-quality, premium set by Upper Deck, similar to Stature and Ultimate Collection, which offer just a handful of cards per box. And like Stature and Ultimate Collection, the 2020-21 Premier Hockey set came out almost a good year after intended, as it was released towards the end of the 2021-22 season. This is great if you are still hoping to get rookie cards of Kirill Kaprizov, Alexis Lafreniere, or other players who made their debut during the shortened 2020-21 season. 

2020-21 Premier Hockey costs around $400 for a six-card box. Every box should net you three autograph and/or memorabilia cards, plus an acetate autographed patch card. Well, that last card has me intrigued; it has an autograph, a piece of jersey patch AND is an acetate card, a la “Clear Cut.” I can’t wait to see what that looks like! You also get an additional numbered rookie card and a base card — or a parallel of either. 

OK, let’s open this bad boy up and see what we’ve got! 

Continue reading “2020-21 Premier Hockey Box Break”

Puck Junk Podcast: 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention Recap

Episode #124 – August 11, 2022

Sal Barry and Tim Parish are joined by new Puck Junk contributing writer Clemente Lisi. The three of them talk all about the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention that was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sal shares his experience of being a dealer at the National, while Clemente gives his perspective on being a convention attendee. It’s 87 minutes of hobby goodness! 

Show Notes & Links:
Recapping the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention (Puck Junk)
How Trade Nights became fun, popular after-hours events for card collectors (Sports Collectors Digest)
With 2022 World Cup approaching, collectors get their kicks as soccer cards rise in popularity, value (Sports Collectors Digest)
Review: 2012-13 Rockford IceHogs Team Set (Puck Junk)
Podcast: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention Recap (Puck Junk)

The old (left) and new (right) “variations” of Sal’s business card.

Puck Junk stickers were a big hit with the kids — and some adults, too — at the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention. 

Follow
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk. 
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
Follow Clemente Lisi on Twitter @ClementeLisi.
Podcast music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard (Instagram @flyingV2112)

Subscribe
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Overcast, PlayerFM, PocketCasts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher, and Transistor. Subscribe to the Puck Junk Channel on YouTube.  

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

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

2020-21 Ultimate Collection Hockey Box Break

The 2020-21 Ultimate Collection hockey set was released towards the end of the 2021-22 season; about a year after it should have come out. But better late than never, as they say. Even though many hockey card collectors had already turned their attention to the new crop of rookies found in the ’21-22 sets, like Trevor Zegras and Moritz Seider, Upper Deck wasn’t done enticing us with last year’s rookies — players like Kirill Kaprizov, Jason Robertson, Tim Stutzle, and Alexis Lafreniere. 

A box of 2020-21 Ultimate Collection Hockey cots around $240 per box and contains four cards. I recently got a box of Ultimate Collection. Let’s see what $240 gets you. 

Continue reading “2020-21 Ultimate Collection Hockey Box Break”

Clemente’s Corner: Recapping the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention

What Was There and What Did You Get?

If you attended the 42nd edition of the National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, then you’re probably still dealing with sore feet. 

I found myself soaking those dogs a day after walking the showroom floor for seven straight hours. My feet did hurt for a day – but you couldn’t take the smile off my face for days.

In 2020, my plan had been to attend my first National, scheduled to take place that summer in Atlantic City. COVID-19 upended the planet. The event, like everything else, was canceled.

Two years later, I got my chance to attend the NSCC, albeit for a day (on the Friday) following a three-hour bus ride from New York City. I finally got the chance to take in all the buzz and enthusiasm that comes with such a massive show. Aisle after aisle lined with tables made it disorienting at times. I couldn’t even find the exit at one point!

There was plenty of buzz and enthusiasm. Indeed, from July 27-31, all hobby eyes were fixated on the coastal New Jersey resort famous for its casinos. In a summer where I attended both the Toronto Sport Card Expo and Chicago Sports Spectacular, I was truly in awe of the National’s size (750 exhibitors spread out across 460,000 square feet!) and variety of collectables inside the Atlantic City Convention Center. It also seemed as if nearly every breaker and YouTuber was at the show.

I got to see a SCG 9.5 Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card, a bat used by Babe Ruth and a game-worn autographed Lionel Messi jersey. While the cards, autographs, ticket stubs and pennants for sale at the National was the big draw, it’s also the chance to meet up with friends, talk about the hobby and get away from the realities of everyday life.

In addition to hockey, I collect baseball and soccer cards. In that regard, the show did not disappoint – although hockey typically gets the short end of the stick at the five-day show.

Here’s my recap of this year’s National.

Continue reading “Clemente’s Corner: Recapping the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention”

Visit Puck Junk at the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City

Puck Junk will be at the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention this week in Atlantic City, New Jersey, July 27 to July 31. I will be splitting space with AU Sports (Booths 900/904), located directly behind our friends at Memory Lane (801/805). Here’s a map that shows where I will be at. 

 

Or, just look for the giant Memory Lane sign hanging from the ceiling near the entrance. I will be set up right behind them.

Drop by my booth, say “hi”, and check out the awesome hockey t-shirts and sports cards that I’ll be selling. 

The National Sports Collectors Convention starts Wednesday, July 27 and runs until Sunday, July 31. Click here for more information about the NSCC and to buy tickets. 

If you do make it to the National, be sure to stop at Booth 900/904, check out what I’ve got for sale, and talk some hockey! 

Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group, subscribe to Puck Junk on Apple Podcasts and  YouTube, and support this site at the Puck Junk Online Shop. 

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk. ■

The Great Hockey Card Comeback

The hobby of hockey-card collecting has been reinvigorated by a global pandemic, an abundance of free time and…Michael Jordan? So you might want to dig through your closet to see if you’re sitting on a million-dollar rookie card.

A lot has changed with hockey-card collecting over the past 30 years. Heck, a lot has changed in the past two years. Those small pieces of cardboard we grew up with haven’t been this hot in three decades.

Collecting hockey cards was a modest little hobby until 1990, when it exploded in popularity. “To me, 1990-91 was the peak of the golden era of hockey cards,” said

Jason Masherah, president of Upper Deck, a company that makes trading cards licensed by the NHL and NHL Players’ Association. “You had the culmination of incredible rookies, new licensees, huge print runs and Wayne Gretzky was playing in the United States. That level of interest in hockey cards had never been seen before.”

But by the mid-1990s, hockey cards had settled back down to a niche hobby, more popular in Canada, less so in the U.S., and only really appealing to diehard fans. Then it boomed again in 2020, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, the 2019-20 NHL season was paused while the league figured out how it could operate during a pandemic that had spiralled out of control. Next, people were asked to shelter at home, to help slow the spread of COVID, while governments determined what to do. Concerts, vacations and other plans were cancelled. Many people, with money to spend and no place to go, turned to at-home hobbies. For some, it was drawing, baking bread or working out. Others discovered – or rediscovered – sports-card collecting. “The idle time renewed their interest,” said Joe Daley, owner of Joe Daley’s Sports and Framing. “People had time on their hands, had money to spend and, for whatever reason, got back into the cards they had stored away in their youth and decided they should do that again.”

Daley, a former NHL and WHA goalie from 1968 to 1979, opened his sports-card shop in Winnipeg in 1988 – just before hockey cards first spiked in popularity. And hockey-card collecting hasn’t been this popular in 30 years. “Until the pandemic hit,” he said, “we haven’t seen this type of flurry in the card industry since the early 1990s.”

Continue reading this article at The Hockey News.

Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.