Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
“Captain America: Civil War,” the new Marvel movie comes out today, and oh man, am I excited. The movie features Captain America, who was my favorite comic book hero growing up. (Yes, I self-identify as “lawful good.” Deal with it!) It’s got Iron Man and Spider-Man and all the other superheroes we love. My first-ever … Continue reading “Hockey and Superheroes: A Bizarre Team-Up”
Upper Deck has upped their game with this year’s release of Black Diamond Hockey. Over the past decade, Black Diamond was one of those $100-per-box, impossible-to-complete sets that most collectors bought just for the hits. So, in 2015-16, Upper Deck has made Black Diamond all about the hits. Seems like an obvious idea, but it was a … Continue reading “Box Break: 2015-16 Black Diamond Hockey”
Trading card company Action Packed really wanted to make hockey cards in the mid-1990s, but they couldn’t get the license to do so from the NHL. At the time, the league was limiting how many companies were making NHL trading cards, so Action Packed did the next-best thing and attempted to launch four different lines of … Continue reading “CoaStars: A failed set of collectible hockey drink coasters”
Mark Gessner has scored his dream role. A lifelong hockey fan, the New York-based actor plays Dickie Litski, a hard-drinking hockey player, on the new IFC comedy series “Benders.” Or more specifically, he plays a really bad hockey player on a really bad beer league hockey team. Ironic, considering that Gessner, 35, has played hockey since … Continue reading “Interview: Mark Gessner of IFC’s hockey comedy “Benders””
It was the end of an era as we knew it. Actually, it was the end of several eras. The 1989-90 Topps Hockey set marked the last time that Topps was the only game in town when it came to hockey cards in the U.S. It was the fourth, and final, year in a row … Continue reading “Review: 1989-90 Topps Hockey”
Twenty-five years ago today was the first — and last — Chicago Hockey Show. This two-day, noting-but-hockey event was truly ahead of its time, almost two decades before the Chicago Blackhawks started holding their own annual summertime convention. Held on August 25 and 26, 1990, the Chicago Hockey Show gave fans an opportunity to meet … Continue reading “Remembering the 1990 Chicago Hockey Show”
I love cards that use paintings instead of photos. Sets like the Hall of Fame postcards from the 1980s, Donruss Ice Kings from the 1990s and 2010s, and even the Upper Deck Hockey checklists from the early 1990s were all “must haves” for my collection. There’s just something awesome about seeing your favorite player rendered … Continue reading “Box Break: 2014-15 Masterpieces Hockey”
Upper Deck, unarguably, hands down, without a doubt, has the BEST picture for their Series 1 and 2 sets over any other card company. I always look forward to buying a hobby box or two when they come out just for the photograph and candid shots they somehow get. Seriously, I marvel at the angles … Continue reading “Best of the Worst: 2014-15 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey”
The Lost 10 Point Night: Searching for My Hockey Hero, Jim Harrison is not your typical biography. Instead of the usual formula — early days, career and post-career with current reflections woven throughout — this is a story about both the subject and the chronicler, liberally flip-flopping between past and present. The result is a … Continue reading “Book Review – The Lost 10 Point Night: Searching for My Hockey Hero . . . Jim Harrison”
Have you ever looked at an old hockey card and wanted to know what the story was behind the photograph? Or wondered what the player thought of their own card? That is exactly what author Ken Reid thought when he wrote his new book, “Hockey Card Stories: True Tales from 59 of Your Favorite Players.” … Continue reading “Book Review: Hockey Card Stories”