Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
I’ve wanted an Antti Niemi “XRC” for some time now. Even though Niemi had numerous cards during the 2009-10 season — recognized by Beckett as his true rookie cards — he did have a few cards released the prior season, like these two from the 2008-09 Be A Player Hockey set. There’s also a version … Continue reading “Two Niemi XRCs, One Low Price”
I am back in the pages of Beckett Hockey this month. “Looking Back at Action Packed” is my latest article. It is on pages 4-7 in the March 2014 issue (#259), and recounts the many attempts former card company Action Packed made to try and break into the hockey card market. They failed, but issued … Continue reading “Read my latest Becket article FREE online”
A joint press release — issued by Upper Deck, the NHL and the NHLPA — hit the hockey card industry like a ton of pucks yesterday when it was announced that Upper Deck has signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with the NHL and the NHLPA. The agreement, which starts in the 2014-15 season, makes Upper Deck … Continue reading “Upper Deck signs exclusive trading card license with NHL, NHLPA. What now?”
Thirty-three cards o’ Trots Released in 1985, this set of cards highlights the career (up to that point) of New York Islanders legend Bryan Trottier. The set sponsored by the New York Islander News and, according to Beckett, was issued by the Port Washington Police Department. The card fronts show photos of Trottier from various … Continue reading “Review: 1985 Islander News Bryan Trottier”
Things are good, but they can always be better. That’s probably what someone at the O-Pee-Chee card company thought in 1990, when they were looking to improve the quality of their hockey cards. Sometime that year, OPC experimented with a new type of paper stock that was brighter and whiter than the tan-colored stock they … Continue reading “1989-90 O-Pee-Chee Tembec Test prototype hockey cards”
Puck Junk celebrated its 6th anniversary this weekend. And by “celebrated,” what I really mean is “did not get updated for over two weeks.” Yeah. That said, I’m still “all-in” when it comes to the hobby of collecting hockey cards. A few things have kept me away from this bliggity-blog, including playing in a low-level … Continue reading “Puck Junk is 6…and Love Junk is 25”
Truth be told, I did not enjoy the 2013 National as much as I enjoyed the 2011 National.This was because I had less money to spend this time around. However, there was far less hockey this time around too. So, I had less to spend — and less to spend it on. I couldn’t be … Continue reading “Cards I purchased at the 2013 National”
Saturday, July 27, 2013 The second day of the Chicago Blackhawks Convention is also the longest, starting at 9 a.m. and going all the way to 7:30 p.m. One of my “big goals” for this convention was to get as many retired players as possible to sign this book:
In 1995-96, the Playoff Corporation released a 330-card collectible card game (CCG) called One on One Hockey Challenge. The game cards featured the top NHL players at the time, and contained instructions at the top and stats at the bottom that were used for the game. Sometime before the release of the actual game, Playoff … Continue reading “1995-96 Playoff One on One Hockey Challenge prototype cards”
Just a quick heads-up about a few magazine articles I have coming out this month. First up is One and Done, published in Beckett Hockey issue #250. (June 2013, on sale now). The three-page article discusses five hockey card sets from the 1990s — both awesome and awful — that lasted only one year, never … Continue reading “Magazine Mentions for June 2013”