Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Yes, we are already one month into 2022, but I wanted to take a look back at hockey card collecting in 2021. Just like the year before it, almost every story in 2021 was affected in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic. But not all of it was bad! More people got involved — or re-involved — with card collecting. This led to some new ideas and opportunities. Here are the top 10 hockey collecting stories of 2021.
Continue reading “The Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2021”
In this episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk all about the 2020-21 Allure Hockey card set. They also talk about eBay’s new “card authentication service” that will be mandatory for all trading cards worth $750 and up. Plus, Keith Yandle sets the record for most-consecutive regular season games in the NHL, and more.
Show Notes and Links:
Keith Yandle Sets Record For Consecutive NHL Games (Flyers)
Leon Draisaitl / James Matheson Argument (YouTube)
eBay Card Authentication Service (eBay)
Marx Card Group Grading Submission Controversy
2020-21 Allure Hockey Box Break & Images (Puck Junk)
2020-21 Allure Hockey Checklist (Cardboard Connection)
Career in Cards: Chris Chelios (Puck Junk)
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk & Instagram @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG & Instagram @therealdfg66.
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. ■
Not long before the 2021-22 season started, Upper Deck released 2020-21 Allure Hockey. All of Upper Deck’s hockey card releases have been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is sometimes an odd feeling to open last year’s hockey cards during this season — especially when you pull a card of someone who has since changed teams.
Anyway, a hobby box of 2020-21 Allure Hockey contains eight packs. Each pack contains eight cards. A box is guaranteed to have one jersey card and one autographed card. Boxes of Allure debuted at around $160 per box but are now selling for around $140 from online retailers based in the U.S.
I’m a bit late to the party here, but I finally had a chance to open a box of 2020-21 Allure Hockey. Let’s see what I got.
Happy New Year, loyal Puck Junk readers. Before we get into new content for 2022, I wanted to give a recap of Puck Junk’s most-read articles of 2021, and a brief update about what has been going on with this website.
As we all know, the trading card hobby has experienced a resurgence in interest over the past two years; much of it as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic making more people stay at home and spend their money on other activities besides sporting events, concerts, and travel.
As a result, Puck Junk has experienced it’s highest readership of all time. In fact, traffic on this site has grown 75% between 2020 and 2021. And as I’ve always said, it is more gratifying when more people read this site. I still remember how excited I was back in late 2007 when I finally had an article read by 10 people. Yes, just getting to double-digits was such an accomplishment back then. So, I am very grateful today that thousands of people read and enjoy what I write.
Likewise, listenership of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast has increased 35% between 2020 and 2021. Again, it is great to see more people engage with the podcast that myself and Tim — and many times Blake and Jim — work on. We don’t always get an episode up every week, but we try. Hopefully, we will increase our output of podcast episodes in 2022.
Anyway, below are the 10 articles published in 2021 that were read the most. So, take a look at this list and be sure to check out any articles that you missed the first time.
In this episode of the Puck Junk Podcast, Sal Barry and Tim Parish talk all about the 2020-21 Skybox Metal Universe set. What makes it great — and not so great? Then, the guys talk about how the prices of hobby and retail boxes are getting out of hand. It’s 1 hour and 8 minutes of hockey goodness.
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Chicago Sports Spectacular (show website)
Bridgeview Card Show & Autograph Signing (show Facebook page)
VintageGraphs: Sports Autographs & Collectibles (Facebook page)
2020-21 Skybox Metal Universe checklist (Cardboard Connection)
The horrible Mel Bridgeman hockey card (Puck Junk)
The equally-horrible Glen Hanlon hockey card (Puck Junk)
The “Lettuce Head” Bryan Pitton hockey card (Puck Junk)
Puck Junk Podcast #21: The Worst Insert Sets from the 1990s (Puck Junk)
Puck Junk Podcast #78: Brian Slagel Interview (Puck Junk)
Puck Junk Podcast #14: 1996-97 Fleer Metal Universe (Puck Junk)
Some images from the 2020-21 Skybox Metal Universe set:
Elias Pettersson – base card
Auston Matthews – retro insert
Carey Price – Intimidation Nation insert
Alex Ovechkin – ALON insert
Patrick Kane – Platinum Portraits insert
Finally, here’s the Ryan Getzlaf card that Tim was talking about:
2013-14 Upper Deck #171 – Ryan Getzlaf…making an entrance indeed!
What do you think of the 2020-21 Skybox Metal Universe set? Are you collecting it? Leave a comment and let us know!
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. ■
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”
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”
Puck Junk Podcast hosts Sal Barry and Tim Parish are joined by Tim’s wife Jessica. The three of them share their perspectives on the 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention. Sal talks about being a dealer at the world’s biggest card show, while Tim and Jessica recap their experience trying to find hockey cards. The episode is one hour and thirty-five minutes, so get comfy before pushing that play button.
Show Notes, Links and Images:
Dictionary.com entry for ubiquitous
Info about the Chicago Sports Spectacular in September (show website)
A few pictures of the Puck Junk booth at the 2021 National:
Shout Outs to…
Justin Zang of Zang A Pang Cards on Instagram
Arthur a.k.a. “Polish Warrior 79” on Twitter
Zackary Soof of Zack’s Hockey Box on YouTube
Mark Petree of Tree’s Collectibles
Greg McLaughlin from the Rebel Base Card Podcast
Jeff Baker from the TTMCast podcast
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Follow Tim Parish on Twitter @TheRealDFG.
Follow Jessica on Twitter @WifeOfDFG.
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. ■