Mistaken identity

I received this ebay package last Friday, thinking that it was my end of the TCDB trade that I chronicled the other day.  The package was a lot larger than I expected, as I only ordered a Joe Sakic jersey card to go along with the Pacific Atomic card that I showed off a few days ago.

I expected only one card from this seller, but got quite a bit more than that.   The envelope was stuffed...

Half a dozen 2012-13 Leaf Certified cards.  Nice stuff, Zetterberg probably the biggest name of the bunch.   Free.

I didn't notice until I started writing this post, these 8 cards are about 1/2 of the Nashville Predators from the 2008-09 OPC set.  Don't need any of them though, as I have that set completed.   Free.

2013-14 Score.  I do believe that I have a bunch of these in one of my boxes in the card closet.  I like this design, nothing flashy but each card features the team colors which I like.  There's also a gold bordered Mark Giordano in the lot as well...

Oh, by the way there is the Joe Sakic card which was the actual purchase.

$2.99 + shipping.   I'll take these all day at that price.  If you feel like throwing in a couple of dozen extra hockey cards along with it, feel free.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Price, Kolzig and Fernandez

No, Price, Kolzig and Fernandez isn't your latest law firm trying to get you to enter one of their class action lawsuits on late night TV.  These are the 3 goalies I'm going to show off today for the goalie frankenset that I started on last week.

Using a bear on a Bruins mask is a good but easy call, and Manny Fernandez pulls it off on his 2008/09 OPC card.  I also like the partial spoked B on the right hand side of the mask to fill in what the scary bear doesn't use.  Manny will be card #490, unless a better one comes along. 

Goalies like Fernandez will also be good for this set, as Manny played quite a few years in the league and with a couple of different teams.   Here's hoping I can find some other Fernandez variations.

Ollie the goalie played all but the final 8 games of his career for the Capitals, but I don't remember him ever wearing this mask with the Uncle Sam on the forehead.  Mind you, this card is from the 94-95 Upper Deck set, so my memories of every mask from back then aren't that great. 

Still, this is a great addition to the set, and will be card #486.

Carey Price isn't shy about switching designs on his mask.  This one is a little tough to figure out for me, aside from the Canadiens logo on his forehead and the 31 on his chin.  Maybe there's a Canadien fan out there that will recognize the mask and shed some light as to what's on the side and above the team logo.

None the less, this is card #459 from the 2012-13 OPC set and will be a part of the set unless something else comes along.

For those of you who voted in the Luongo/Essensa vote earlier this week, Bob Essensa won 6-2, so his card #265 from 1992-93 Pro Set Platinum (remember that set?) will be in the set and Bobby Lu will have to find another spot.

Thanks for reading, Robert

A new franken set: Showing my love for the goalie mask

Anyone who reads this blog knows my love for hockey.   It's hard when you're Canadian by birth not to love hockey.  A bit part of hockey for me has always been the goalie masks.  The art on them is especially fascinating for me, and has been ever since I saw this mask back in the late 70's.

Leaf fans will remember one of the most exciting goalies to don the Blue and White during my lifetime, Mike Palmateer.  I even tried to paint my goalie mask with the same design, with very poor results.

Nearly 40 years later, my fascination for goalie mask art is still great, and thus I've decided to put together a set of cards devoted to goalie mask art.  500 cards, all based on the card number on the back.  No serial #'s needed. 

I love photos such as this one of Ron Hextall, card #41 from the 90-91 OPC Premier set:

Love the arrow on his forehead pointing down between his eyes, as if daring players to shoot the puck between his eyes.   That one is a keeper. 

I'm sure that anyone who is a hockey fan remembers the Hartford Whalers.  Here's Kay Whitmore's mask from the 91-92 OPC Premier set, card #182.

Would love to see the Whalers logo comeback.  How bout it Hurricanes, maybe a throwback night?

I'm primarily looking for cards with the mask/cage combo.   Most of the cards with the helmet and cage combo for goalies don't feature artwork.  There are exceptions, such as this Dominik Hasek card from 2008-09 OPC.

Card #290 from the 08-09 OPC Set

I'm sure by now you get the idea.  I'd like to build a set of 500 cards, #'d 1-500 (of course).  No rules, cards can be from any set, any team.  The better the photo, the more I'll enjoy it.  Hopefully you will as well when I show off the cards on the blog.  I've found about 5 dozen cards so far, and some of them have the same card number.  

For example, I have two cards with the #285 on the back.  Roberto Luongo of the Canucks, and Bob Essensa of the Winnipeg Jets.

Both cards have great shots of their mask, so which do I keep?  I figured to have some fun I'd post the cards on twitter along with a poll and let the universe (as small as my universe may be) decide the fate of these two cards.  The poll will be live by the time you read this, so go and find it and vote!!  (Here's the link, just in case)

I'm also going to post a list of cards I have on a separate page on the blog, so if someone out there finds something that might be of some use to me, they can send it my way.

I hope you'll have as much fun with this as I'm going to.

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