A little bit here, a little bit there

A good portion of my recent COMC order was spent on hockey, almost 40% of the order was puck related.

Much like the post from the other day, this post features cards from a lot of different sets.  The only difference is there is a mix of old and new.

The 2012-13 & 2013-14 O-Pee-Chee set builds that I'm working on are like any Topps Heritage set, full of SPs that have some expensive cards and take an extended time to build.  I guess I'm also describing any vintage set as well, so maybe modern and vintage sets aren't so different?  The 6 cards you see above are all short prints; between the two sets I have about 90 SPs still to pick up.

Two mid 90's parallel sets that I've barely touch over the past several months are featured above.  I honestly can't remember the last time I pulled any 94-95 Electric Ice cards; I grabbed the Hasek and Hull cards on the cheap and maybe sometime in the near future I'll grab some more.

The Players Club parallel card of Red Wings Keith Primeau features a Mighty Duck player in the classic uniform from the 90's.  I'd love to see these brought back as a 3rd uniform or maybe worn in an outdoor game in the years to come.  The teal and purple was a great combo back then and had a lot more pizazz than the current black and orange sported by the Ducks.

The 9 cards above from the 76-77 OPC set above a quite representative of the 49 cards I have left to complete the set.  Very few commons, some star cards like Brad Park and Reggie Leach, some big name players like Marcel Dionne, and a few team cards such as the Kings card on the bottom. 

With less than 50 to go, this might be a set that I start focusing on in the short term in order to get it out of the way.   The only major RC left is Tiger Williams, which is a card that in NM condition is going to run around $25.  Other big name cards that I still need are Guy LaFleur and Ken Dryden, both of which will cost about the same.  Compared to a lot of other sets I'm building, finishing this one will be comparatively cheap.

Interesting that the Polis and Morrison cards feature the players in jerseys without a number

Cool mix of the old high and tight hair with the free flowing longer hair

Finally, the 71-72 OPC set is one that I'll enjoy building for quite a long time.  I know that the big name Rookie Cards such as Dryden, Lafleur and Dionne will cost a small fortune (potentially a couple of car payments for those 3 alone) and a lot of the bigger names will run $10 and more so I'm not putting any pressure on myself to pick these up quickly.  The set size being only 264 cards will make things a bit easier; I'm already 20% of the way through and haven't spent a whole lot of money so far. 

Sometimes it's interesting what you realize while writing a post; knowing that I'm as close as I am to finishing the 76-77 set that it should be something I focus on in the short term.

The next post will be the biggest chunk of the COMC order, '59 Topps.  That set may be #2 on the hit list....

Thanks for reading, Robert

My Top 10 PC cards for Joe Sakic

Nothing like leaving a contest entry to the last minute, right?  As many of you may know, Joe Sakic has been my longest running, and favorite Player Collection.  I haven't counted in a while, but I'm sure that 600 cards is a good estimate for what I have that features Sakic right now.  Lots of parallels in varying colors, shapes or signature styles (think MVP) account for quite a few of those cards. 

Limiting this post to 10 was tough.  But I managed to do it, and here they are...

2010-11 Score #1  Joe Earns a Spot in the Rafters

Colorado didn't delay raising Joe's #19 into the rafters, retiring his number opening night October 1, 2009.   Part of Joe's history with the Nordiques/Avalanche was the great battles that they had with their Western Conference rivals the Detroit Red Wings, featured on the next two cards.

1993-94 Upper Deck Next In Line #NL3

A pair of 19's, both the leader of their franchises.  If only Upper Deck knew what was coming over the next decade, they could have named this card differently.  Yzerman was the reason that Joe wore #91 for Canada in international tournaments.

2013-14 Panini Totally Certified Red #CC-YS

What better way to show off a pair of legends than with a piece of their jerseys!  I picked this up not too long ago from COMC for less than $10, and I'm very happy to add it to my Sakic collection. 

1994-95 Upper Deck Electric Ice #404

One of the cards that suckered me into the parallel collecting monkey that still exists today for me.  As I mentioned earlier, I have so many different parallels of Joe they probably account for a 1/3 of my Sakic collection.  But this is one of the first, and will always be one of my favorites.   I'm still trying to collect that set.

2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro Rainbow Parallel #369

Getting this card from fellow blogger GCRL (Jim) was one of the highlights of my holiday season last year.  Upper Deck going out on a limb and using one of Topps designs was also a great thing to see.  The 79-80 Topps/OPC hockey set was one of the best designs of all time, and seeing Sakic on one of those cards is just awesome for me. 

2003-04 Topps Lost Rookie Cards #LRC-JS

I had Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown make me a custom card using this design as well.  I loved the push pin set from 88-89 and would love to see a company re-use it a la Topps Heritage. 

1994-95 Parkhurst You Crash the Game Gold #19

I was never very big on redemptions, my mistrust of the Postal Service having a lot to do with that.  But getting a gold set of these back in the day was one of the biggest joys of my collecting career, and having the Sakic was the icing on the cake.

1996-97 Upper Deck #240

Here's what it's all about, raising Lord Stanley.  How can you not like a card featuring your favorite player raising the greatest trophy in sports. 

2006-07 Upper Deck MVP Gotta Have Hart #HH5

Look at the hardware on the table in front of Joe.  Stanley Cup.  Hart Trophy.  Lady Byng Trophy.  What shocks me about the whole thing is that this is on a MVP card.  MVP was never known for their great insert sets, but this card to me is something else. 

1989-90 OPC #113

Have to end this post with the ultimate Joe Sakic card, his OPC rookie.  I once had about a dozen of these, but in need of money a long time ago, I sold a bunch of them.  I don't regret the decision as I kept this one, the best of the bunch.  It's also one of a few cards that feature him wearing the #88, which he did only in his rookie season before switching to #19 in year 2. 

A quick thanks as well to the Collecting Cutch blog for the contest and allowing me a chance to go over my Sakic collection again.   There's a lot of good stuff there and any chance to look over it is well worth the time for me.

thanks for reading, Robert

#300 for the Sakic PC arrives today

Floating through eBay the other day afforded me the opportunity to pick up an older Joe Sakic parallel on the cheap.

Little did I know that this card would turn out to be # 300 for the PC. 

You may or may not know that I am currently putting together (for the past 18 years anyhow...) the regular Players Club parallel version of this set.  The platinum version, which isn't numbered but supposed to be a little more difficult to pull, just happened to fall in my lap while doing a Joe Sakic search. 

The 300 total doesn't include the jersey cards that I own of Sakic (3 so far).  I've only been counting the various base, parallel and insert cards that I have.  It actually feels pretty good to get this collection growing again. 

While browsing the same seller's other auctions, and still feeling in a "Nordiques" kind of mood, I picked up this card for the 94-95 UD Electric Ice set I'm building as well.

Getting this card of a very young looking Peter Forsberg for a fraction of the price was also a bonus.  Still a long way to go for the Electric Ice set, and these cards aren't the easiest to find at shows.

Hopefully, #400 for the Sakic PC comes a little bit quicker....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Electric Ice? It's so hot in Boston the ice is probably on fire....

I started writing this post just a few minutes before the start of tonight's Game 6, anticipating a great Stanley Cup Final match in what is going to be a hot box in Boston.

Let's just say, I don't envy the 40 players that are going to be going full tilt tonight.  Now I know that the ice isn't going to be on fire tonight (I do have some understanding of the laws of physics), but I bet that the atmosphere in the TD Garden is going to be electric.

Speaking of electric, part of my Sportlots purchase last week was 11 Electric Ice parallel cards from the 1994-95 UD hockey release.  These were the first parallel set I ever started to build, and almost 20 years later these 11 cards are probably the first cards that I've picked up since the set was new.

I will not show you all 11, but it worked out great that there's a card from each of the participants in tonight's game.  I can at least show you those....

First, the Hawks Patrick Poulin

Patrick was part of the 1991 draft class that featured Eric Lindros.  Poulin went 9th to the Whalers, and wound up playing 634 games while scoring just 101 goals in his career.  Just imagine if the Whalers had taken either Alex Kovalev (15th) or Markus Naslund (16th) with that pick instead.

The Bruin that I have to show you is a little more notable...

Adam Oates was probably one of the quietest starts in the NHL from the late 80's to the mid 90's.  Being overshadowed by goal scoring right wingers in St. Louis (Brett Hull) and Boston (Cam Neely), Oates quietly racked up the point totals over a 19 year career.  Oates' best season was 142 points in 92-93, and that still was only good for 3rd in league scoring behind Mario Lemieux and Pat LaFontaine.

I miss those days of run and gun hockey, give someone 142 points next year, and I guarantee that he'll lead the league in scoring by 30 points.

I still have a long way to go to complete this parallel set, and with a lot of star cards still to pickup, it's not going to be cheap either. 

Not unlike a lot of other things in one's life, you always remember your first.

Thanks for reading, Robert