Real Sports Card of the Day

A few months ago I participated in the In The Game He Shoots He Saves Redemption Program which involved sending in 250 points from ITG's Between the Pipes. Every person who sent in 250 points received one of thirty dual jersey cards /20. The cards contained one jersey piece from two different goaltenders.... some great, some good, some with potential. Today, I received my prize. A dual jersey card of two of the greatest goaltenders ever! Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. Considering my recent ITG Made to Order Dual Autograph, it seems fitting that I was lucky enough to receive this matching piece for the collection.

Real Sports Card of the Day

While at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto, I was lucky enough to pull a Made To Order Dual Autograph from In The Game Ultimate 8th Edition. The list of potential autograph signers was impressive and I debated over a combination of Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Jean Beliveau, and Martin Brodeur before deciding on the goaltenders.

After a few weeks of deciding and about 6 weeks waiting for them to create the card, I received it last week. It's a 1/1 dual autograph of two of the best goaltenders ever... but I think they were low on Patrick Roy autographs so it appears to be a sticker auto and not the same as the normal autographs which are normally used on these cards. So while a phenomenal card, it isn't as aesthetically pleasing as I would have hoped. Still... a once-in-a-lifetime card that I shouldn't complain about. :)

Branching Off - Annoyances

I've always been a collector of sports cards. Well, ever since I was six years old. So that makes thirty years of card collecting. It's always been 99.5% sports cards too. But lately I've been making a foray into non-sports cards. I've bought a little here and there over the years, a TV show I'm a fan of here and a cool movie there. But lately I've noticed some hard-signed autos of actors and actresses that I'm a fan of and thought, what the heck.

Now, I'm not a fan of the sticker autographs. I never use to care either way but over the past few years they just seem more and more impersonal. The companies could take those damn autographed stickers and put them on anything... and what happens in 10 years time... or 20 years time when the sticker becomes less sticky. So I've limited myself to hard-signed autos. But my other pet peeve so far seems a little more random. I find that dealers on eBay who sell non-sports cards send the cards they've sold in a very slow fashion. When I win a sports card on eBay, 9 times out of 10, the card is in the mail the next day and in my hands within about 5 days. With non-sports cards, 9 times out of 10, the card takes about 3 weeks to get in my hands.

An extreme example happened recently. I won two non-sports autographed cards on eBay on July 20th from the same seller. 12 working days passed and I still had not rec'd the cards. The next day I rec'd an email telling me that "Congratulations! Your cards have been shipped." Shipped!?!? It took him 12 working days, not including the weekend, to put two cards in plastic holders, toss them in an envelope, and send them off. Yikes! This is an extreme example but I must say my other dealings with non-sports eBayers aren't all that different.

In the end, I still want the cards. I'm a collector... it's what I do. And I'll always be a patient man if it gets me what I want. However, it doesn't mean I can't be a tad annoyed at the service. Luckily, they're not relying on tips.

Sports Card Expo - Next Weekend

I will be attending my 4th consecutive Sports Card Expo in Toronto next weekend, May 1st-3rd. Today, I ordered an In The Game Ultimate 8 SuperBox from ITG Online which I will pick-up at their booth and break. Not only will it be an exciting break with the potential for personal collection-worthy cards, I will also get 3 redemption cards, one of which will be a 1/1.

I've been squirreling away money for the past six months so I'll have quite a few box breaks upcoming. It's always fun to be able to buy the boxes which you wouldn't normally buy. It's Hockey Card Heaven and you're surrounded by similar minded geeks. :) The hot pursuit of the 'whale' you need to spear for your collection. Chatting with experienced dealers and kids who are stunned by the sights. So many cards, so many boxes, so many cool things.

This year, the autograph guests include Jean Beliveau, Denis Savard, Pavel Bure, Al MacInnis, Paul Molitor, Justin Pogge, etc.

Six days away!

Hit of the Month

I went to the local hobby store and bought 5 packs of the new 2008-09 SP Authentic hockey from Upper Deck. Since there were a few collectors in the shop who had been buying packs, I didn't expect too much luck as it was no longer a fresh box. I took my 5 packs and went home. On the couch, opening my final pack, I had one helluva hit. It kept me smiling for the rest of the night.



My first Bobby Orr autograph and definitely a keeper... even for a Habs fan.

One Final Hit

It's nice when your favourite movie and your favourite hobby can cross paths. My two favourite movies are 'There Will Be Blood' and 'Trainspotting.' 'Trainspotting' is about a group of heroin addicts in Scotland. It's funny, it's tragic, and it's very quote-able. When breaking boxes, I've noticed that I've started to talk in a Scottish accent looking for one more big hit.

"All I need is one final hit to soothe the pain"

"One final hit to get us over this long, hard day."

"This was to be my final hit, but let's be clear about this. There's final hits and final hits. What kind was this to be?"

"I want a f$#%ing hit!"

"Better than sex. The ultimate hit."

Of course, in 'Trainspotting', the "hit" is in reference to drugs. But is card collecting anything less than a drug... and am I anything less than an addict?

Upcoming Hockey Card Release Dates

UD Champs: March 17, 2009
ITG Between the Pipes: March 26, 2009
UD SP Authentic: April 1, 2009
OPC Update: April 14, 2009
UD Ultimate: April 29, 2009