Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
I took a two-week hiatus but I’m back. Hockey news did not stop while I was away. The most notable news was that the NHL will allow the players to return to the Olympics in 2022. That’s incredibly exciting. In this week’s column, I’ll also explore some offer sheet drama, one of my favorite uniforms, and an unfortunate retirement.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: NHL Players Return to the Olympics”
Sal Barry and Tim Parish discuss the NHL’s decision to allow advertising patches on jerseys. Is this a great new way for the teams to make money, the beginning of the end, or both? Plus, they talk about how Fanatics acquisition of the Major League Baseball trading card license will affect the trading card industry — including hockey cards. Also: Henrik Lundqivst, the PWCC-eBay feud, and the time Wayne Gretzky hosted Saturday Night Live. It’s one hour and 38 minutes of hockey goodness!
Show Notes, Links and Images:
NHL team jersey fronts can have ads starting in 2022-23 season (ESPN)
Solitaire 2.0 cards (President’s Choice Trading Cards)
Video: Henrik Lundqivst blocks pies on The Tonight Show (YouTube)
Video: Henrik Lundqvist playing guitar on The Tonight Show (YouTube)
Video: Car commercial starring four Pittsburg Penguins (Puck Junk)
Video: Wayne Gretzky on Conan O’Brien (YouTube)
Fanatics Acquires Baseball Card Licenses (Sports Collectors Daily)
Here’s that Red Wings card that has a piece of a manufactured “Buy War Bonds” patch…
This is the patch that was used on this card:
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
One of the biggest pet peeves in the trading card hobby is the so-called “tape loader” — a perfectly-good trading card top loader that has clear tape stuck to the top of it. This is done to keep a card from sliding out of the top loader when sent in the mail. While that seems courteous of the sender, the problem is that it pretty much ruins the top loader. Peel off the tape and it leaves behind a sticky residue that will transfer to other top loaders that it is stored with. Leave the tape on and it becomes a trading card supply that you don’t want to look at. Either way, it’s pretty much useless. Price tags adhered to top loaders also cause a similar conundrum.
Many times, I’d just throw out a sullied top loader. That made sense when a 25-pack of top loaders cost $4 or $5. Who wants to spend time trying to salvage something that could be replaced so cheaply?
But now, standard-sized top loaders cost upwards of $10 per pack — if you can find them. Top loaders for jersey and game-used cards cost more. Top loaders are too expensive to throw out these days and are actually worth cleaning and re-using.
Here is how you can get rid of tape and tape residue from top loaders and make them as good as new.
Continue reading “How to Remove Tape from Trading Card Top Loaders”
Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk all about the 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series Hockey card set; what’s great about it, and what missed the mark? They also pay tribute to Blackhawks goaltending legend Tony Esposito, who passed away last week. Plus, Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange’s retirement, the Dave Parker “hockey” baseball card, upcoming releases, and more. It’s an hour forty-five of hockey goodness!
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Goodbye and Thank You, Tony Esposito (Puck Junk)
My Quest to Own a Tony-O Rookie Card (Puck Junk)
Ted Lindsay: Remembering a Legend (Puck Junk)
Why Dave Parker wore a goalie mask (Puck Junk)
Sal’s 3 Box Breaks of 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended (first, second, third)
The Topps Project70 Dave Parker card with him wearing a goalie mask:
Some images from 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series Hockey:
Zdeno Chara (base card)
Braden Holtby (base card)
Connor McDavid – All-Star Game (base card)
Alex Pietrangelo (“Plain Clothes” photo variant)
Bobby Ryan (French parallel variant)
Arthur Kaliyev (Young Guns rookie card)
Mika Zibanejad (2005-06 Tribute insert)
Auston Matthews (Ovation insert)
Mathew Barzal (SPX Finite insert – Spectrum parallel)
Bowen Byram (Rookie Class SE insert)
Ryan O’Reilly (UD3 insert)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Podcast opening and closing music by Jim “Not the Goalie” Howard.
Subscribe to the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podchaser, PocketCasts, Castbox , Castro,
Overcast, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Love hockey? Join the Puck Junk Facebook Group and subscribe to Puck Junk on YouTube.
Support this podcast and buy a shirt from the Puck Junk Online Shop. ■
Can you have too much of a good thing? Maybe so. My third and final box — for now, anyway — of 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series gave me some new surprise insets, as well as inserts that I’ve already grown a bit tired of.
As much as I love the retro-esque inserts in Extended Series, I seem to get the same types over and over, while there are other types of inserts that I have yet to see. And I don’t mean that I’m getting doubles of any insert cards. Collation for Extended Series has been great overall, and I did get a few types of insert cards that I didn’t get from my previous two boxes.
So, let’s take a look and see what surprises were inside my third box of Extended Series.
Continue reading “2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series Hobby Box Break #3”
Since I am “all in” on building a set of 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series, I know that I will need at least two boxes to build the 200-card base set. Extended Series also has a plethora of insert sets designed to look like popular late 1990s Upper Deck releases such as HoloGr-FX, Ovation and Ultimate Victory, among others. (Click here for my first box break of 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series and for more general information about this set.)
Since the inserts you get in 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series can vary from box to box, I’ve decided to post another box break so you can see some of the inserts that I didn’t get in my first box.
Continue reading “2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series Hobby Box Break #2”
As the offseason continues to roll on, it gives the NHL time to get their affairs in order, too. Last week, the NHL released its vaccination requirements for all league and team personnel. I’ll start with my thoughts on those requirements this week. As promised, the remainder of my takes will examine some major offseason transactions over the last week or two.
Happy Monday!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: NHL Releases Vaccination Requirements”
Chicago Blackhawks legend Tony Esposito passed away on Tuesday at the age of 78. Like practically every other hockey fan, I had no idea that he was ill. And like the rest of the hockey world, I was shocked, surprised, and saddened by the loss of the man known as Tony-O.
This week’s main headline is Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild’s contractual stalemate. Will the Russian phenom really return to the KHL? I’ll add my two cents this week on the matter.
I’ll also continue catching up on a few of the major trades and acquisitions from the last few weeks.
Have a great Tuesday!
I was excited when I learned that 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series — a.k.a. “Series 3” — was coming out this summer. The Upper Deck flagship set has been my favorite hockey card set to collect over the past 30 years, and I think that expanding the set from its usual 500 cards to 730 cards makes a great thing even better.
Upper Deck Extended Series consists of 200 base cards and 30 Young Guns rookie cards — instead of the usual 50 Young Guns per series like there are in Series One and Series Two. A lot of the cards in the 200-card base set picture players from the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, which took place about six weeks before the league shut down in March 2020 due to COVID-19. Like Series One and Series Two, there are eight cards in a foil pack and 24 packs in a box.
Making Extended Series really appealing to myself and other old school hockey collectors is the inclusion of numerous insert sets based on popular sets from the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as HoloGr-FX and Ultimate Victory.
I recently purchased a hobby box of 2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series. Here is what I got.
Continue reading “2020-21 Upper Deck Extended Series Hobby Box Break”