2015 Leaf Best of Hockey Case Break - Part Two

Continuing on with the final four hits from my 2015 Leaf Best of Hockey case break, we start with some vintage goodness.

Unfortunately, it wasn't vintage greatness.

From 1960-61 Parkhurst comes this PSA Graded 7 card of Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio. Although a great player in his day, this card is from about 600 games into his career. His rookie was much earlier... 1951-52 Parkhurst. It's a nice grade on a vintage card but this card will be hitting eBay as it doesn't really fit into my collection.

From 2007-08 Upper Deck Fleer Ultra comes this BGS Graded 9.5 short-print Ice Medallion rookie card of Jonathan Toews numbered to /100. Captain Serious is one of the best in the game and this card is almost perfect. Although I really like the card, I think another collector would appreciate it much more than I would... so it will be put up for auction as well.

From 2012-13 Panini Crown Royale comes this Silhouette Materials Signature card of Mario Lemieux. One of the greatest to play the game, the scan doesn't do the card justice. It's never a bad day when I add another Lemieux hard-signed autograph to my personal collection.

And the final hit.

The big hit.

And the hit that was perfect for me to get...

From 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee comes this PSA Graded 9 rookie card of Patrick Roy. My favourite player on my favourite team as I grew up, this is one heck of a pull. I already have two Patrick Roy rookie cards in my collection... one that my mother bought for me as a birthday present in 1991.... and one that I pulled from an unopened pack a few years ago at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto. This card, my first graded Patrick Roy rookie card, will stay with me forever!  :)

2015 Leaf Best of Hockey Case Break - Part One

I've always been a fan of re-packaged products so I thought I'd take a chance on a 4-box case of 2015 Leaf Best of Hockey. The product contains one slabbed buy-back card as well as one In The Game Best Of Hockey 1/1 foil-stamped buy-back card.

In this post, I'll reveal the 4 ITG foil-stamped buy-back cards... and save the bigger hits for the next blog post.

Ready, set, go!

Originally from 2006-07 ITG International Ice comes this dual jersey Teammates card of Mario Lemieux and Martin Brodeur. When first released, this card was the silver version and numbered to seventy but now it features the 1/1 Best of Hockey foil stamp. Not a bad start!

Originally from 2009-10 ITG 1972 The Year In Hockey comes this nice Jersey Gold card of Russian Boris Mikhailov. A long-time captain of the Soviet National team, Mikhailov won Olympic gold medals in 1972 and 1976.

Originally from 2009-10 ITG Between the Pipes is this Game-Used Emblem Gold card of Glenn Hall. Nicknamed 'Mr. Goalie', the card features an emblem from Hall's St. Louis Blues jersey. He was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.

And last, but definitely not least, is my favourite card of the four.

Originally from 2009-10 ITG Between the Pipes comes this Pad Save Gold card of Patrick Roy. As shown on the back of this card, it was a 1/1 to begin with and now features a 1/1 Best of Hockey stamp on the front. The thick piece from Roy's Colorado Avalanche goalie pad is bursting out of the card. A picture just cannot do it justice.

The first three will be placed on eBay. The Pad Save card will find a home in my personal Patrick Roy collection.

Next time... the four slabbed buy-back cards!

December - A Cut Above The Rest

In December, I decided to treat myself to some boxes of 2010-11 In The Game Enshrined and some boxes of 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures. Both products are rich in hard-signed autographs. Both products are rich in Hall of Fame players and stars of the past.

In the 2010-11 ITG Enshrined, I was lucky enough to pull one of the 1/1 Enshrined PaperCuts. The card features a cut signature of Neil Colville.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967, Colville joined the Rangers' farm team in 1934 and quickly made his way to the pros by 1936, as centre for the "Bread Line" with his brother Mac, and Alex Shibicky. Colville won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1940. He also won the Allan Cup in 1942. He passed away on Boxing Day in 1987 at the age of 73.

In one of my boxes of 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures, I set aside a larger than normal pack until the end as I had never found a thick pack in the product before. Inside was a 1/1 Bill Cowley cut signature from the Original Cuts subset.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1968, Cowley finished his career with 195 goals and 353 assists for 548 points in 549 NHL games. At the time of his retirement in 1947, he was the NHL's all-time leading point scorer, and the last active player from the St. Louis Eagles roster. Cowley died on New Year's Eve in 1993 at the age of 81.

It's pure chance to find a 1/1 cut in most products... but two in one month is just insane... especially when they're both NHL Hall of Famers!

Hit of the Month - November 2014

The Sports Card Expo in Toronto always brings the opportunity for a big find or a nice hit.

This year, I opened a few boxes of 2013-14 Upper Deck Ultimate Hockey at the UD booth in return for their Priority Signings program. In one of those boxes on Friday evening, I came across this beauty.

A Nathan MacKinnon Ultimate Rookies Autograph rookie card numbered to 99!

As I'm not a rookie collector or a MacKinnon collector, I had no trouble parting with this card for a tidy sum of $750 CDN!

The buyer is happy... and so am I.

2012 Topps Archives - 1956 Relics Set Complete!

As I get closer to completing my low-grade 1956 Topps Baseball set, I thought the 2012 Topps Archives Baseball Relics set would be a nice addition to it.

Created in the same design as the classic vintage set, it includes some current players as well as some Hall of Famers including the great Roberto Clemente. Fittingly, it contains 56 cards with either jersey swatches or pieces from game-used bats.

Rarely do I attempt to complete insert sets. Often, the only sets which I complete are due to the fact that a single box includes all of the base cards in a set and it's just a matter of putting them in numerical order.

It's rewarding to find a design and subset that you like and then put the time and effort into finishing it. This 56-card set took me about two years to finish!

Awesome Card of the Week

Normally, I'm not a fan of cards with sticker autographs. In general, I find them to be eye-sores and I don't have many in my collection. However, there are exceptions to every rule.

A recent box break of 2013-14 Panini Contenders Hockey had this beauty in it.

A quadruple autograph of 3 Hall of Fame players (Brett Hull, Grant Fuhr, and Dale Hawerchuk)... and Chris Pronger, who will be in the Hall of Fame someday himself.  And as a bonus, it's numbered to only /20.

This one will be staying in my collection... regardless of my dislike of sticker autographs. I'm not warming to sticker autographs but let's just say it's not an 'all-out-war' anymore!

2014 Leaf Legends of the Diamond Case Break

This product intrigued me.

2014 Leaf Legends of the Diamond contains 4 boxes per case with 2 cards in each box. Each box contains one 1/1 sketch card of a Hall of Fame baseball player and one pre-1970 graded card of a Hall of Fame baseball player (or a player who could be argued should be there).

With only 250 cases, I thought what the heck. It's fun to take a chance on a risky product now and then. Also, being a fan of vintage cards, it was a chance to get some unique cards in my collection.

My sketch cards were:

1. Martin Dihigo (inducted 1977) - sketched by Matthew Amor

According to Wikipedia, Dihigo's combined Dominican, American, Cuban, and Mexican statistics resulted in a lifetime .302 career batting average with 130 home runs (eleven seasons worth of home run totals are missing) and a 252-132 pitching record.

2. Jim Palmer (inducted 1990) - sketched by Daniel Gorman

Jim Palmer (268-152 with 2,212 Ks) has been considered one of the best pitchers in major-league history. Palmer is the only pitcher in big-league history to win World Series games in three decades.

3. Cool Papa Bell (inducted 1974) - sketched by Jay Pangan

Bell is considered by many baseball observers to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the game.  He ranked 66th on a list of the greatest baseball players published by The Sporting News in 1999.

4. Miller Huggins (inducted 1964) - sketched by Brian Kong

Huggins played second base for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. He managed the Cardinals and New York Yankees (1918–1929), including the Murderers' Row teams of the 1920's that won six American League (AL) pennants and three World Series championships.

My favourite sketch card is the Huggins. I have a few Brian Kong sketches which he did for 2013 Leaf Best of Hockey and I really like his black-and-white style.

As for the four pre-1970's cards, I didn't hit the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle but I did get some really impressive pieces to add to my personal collection.

1. Pete Rose - 1967 Topps #430 (PSA/DNA certified autograph)

This would be one of the cards mentioned in Leaf's advertising caveats... it could be argued that he should be in the Hall of Fame. Of course, despite his impressive MLB stats, Pete Rose will probably never be elected to Cooperstown regardless of his 4,256 hits. As a nice added surprise, this Pete Rose slabbed card has his certified autograph.

2. Jim Bottomley - 1933 Goudey RC #44 (SGC 55 Grade)

Inducted to Cooperstown in 1974, Bottomley set the major league record with 12 RBIs in a single game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1924 (since tied by Mark Whiten in 1993). In 1928, he hit .325 with 31 home runs and 136 RBIs, leading the league in home runs and RBIs. He also became the second MLB player in history to join the 20–20–20 club. That year, he won the League Award, given to the MVP of the National League.

3. Duke Snider - 1951 Bowman #32 (PSA 5 Grade)

In Snider's 18-year career he batted .295 with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBI in 2,143 games. Inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1980, Snider was also known as a popular and respected TV/radio analyst and play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1971 and for the Montreal Expos from 1973 to 1986.

4. Mel Ott - 1933 Goudey RC #207 (PSA 3 Grade)

In his 22-season career with the New York Giants, Ott batted .304 with 511 home runs, 1,860 RBIs, 1,859 runs, 2,876 hits, 488 doubles, 72 triples, 89 stolen bases, a .414 on-base percentage, and a .533 slugging average. He passed Rogers Hornsby to become the all-time NL home run leader in 1937 and held that title until Willie Mays passed him in 1966. Inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1951, Ott also has the distinction of being the first manager to be ejected from both games of a doubleheader, when the Giants lost both games to the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 9, 1946.

So those are my eight cards.

I was quite pleased to get two graded 1933 Goudey rookie cards. The Mel Ott RC shows a Beckett value of about $400 so it is definitely the 'hit' of the case. Being a Canadian and growing up watching the Expos, it was great to see the Duke Snider card from one of his first seasons too. The Pete Rose autograph was a great bonus as well.

2014 Leaf Legends of the Diamond is not for everyone and is probably 'hit or miss' depending on the box or case. However, I'm quite pleased with my results.

Things I like... things I don't...

The more you collect, the more you learn about your tastes.

I've been collecting sports cards since I was six years old. I still collect and I always will.

But as the years have passed and many collecting options have appeared, I've learned what I enjoy and what I just don't care about.

I like:

• Cards with hard-signed autographs
• The person actually held the card and signed it
• Autographed baseballs
• I love the feel of an official MLB ball with an auto on it
• Collecting an old set
• I always loved the 1956 Topps Baseball design and now I'm putting it together
• Non-sport/celebrity autographs
• Actors, actresses, and celebrities from shows and events I've enjoyed... and of course, as noted above, hard-signed.
• Team collecting
• Go Habs Go!
• Player collecting
• Choose a player and go all-in... although it's easier when they're not a superstar.

I dislike:

• Cards with sticker autographs
• I have yet to see a sticker autograph on a card that looks nice.
• Group breaks
• When a box is opened, I want all the cards for myself... and group breaks have increased the availability of rare cards therefore decreasing their value. They cause a glut of cards to just be dropped into the market place.
• Tape on top-loaders
• Put the top-loaders in a team bag if you're shipping cards! Stop ruining top-loaders!
• Cards with signed fabric
• Sooner or later the ink will bleed into the fabric
• Most cut-autograph cards
• It's possible to collect some impressive autographs thru cut-autographs products but so often the design is lacking.

These are the first things which come to mind.

How about you?

321/342

And a little bit closer!

With an additional 11 cards, I am now 93.9% complete of my 1956 Topps Baseball set.

To get from 310 to 321, I made my first purchase from the Check Out My Cards website.

Although I had known of this site for years, it was my first order from the site. A place where you can acquire many items from many different sellers yet pay only one shipping price, it was a simple way to acquire more of the low-grade 1956 Topps Baseball cards that I needed.

With only 21 cards remaining, it feels pretty darn cool getting this close. Although there are some commons remaining, there are also some important cards remaining too, including Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, and Warren Spahn.

Hit of the Year!

I purchased a box of ITG Ultimate Hockey recently and opened it as an early Xmas present. Luckily for me, Santa Claus must have put me on the nice list this year.

I'll let the picture do the talking...

From 2012-13 In The Game Ultimate:

It's hard to top a pull like this any year!

Thanks Santa!

310/342

With the acquisition of 9 more 1956 Topps Baseball cards, I've now completed 90.6% of the set (including two checklist cards)

Although none of the 9 cards which I acquired are high-end players, they had eluded me nonetheless until now. Most of the cards are in quite good shape (as shown in four of the cards below) and would grade quite well except for being off-centre.

With only 32 cards remaining, I've decided to test my luck with the Check Out My Cards website. I've selected some cards that I need and we'll see what I end up with. The cost of the cards were quite reasonable and it's handy to be able to get cards from different sellers in one single shipment.

I'll update my set progression in the next few weeks when the package arrives.

It's exciting that I'm getting so close and it's fun to try to build an older set.

Trading Up.... (By Selling and Buying)

When collecting trading cards, trading is a great way to get rid of cards that you don't want and acquire cards that you need. Unfortunately, trading isn't always as easy as it seems. Some collectors are difficult to trade with, it's not always possible to find you need, and you may not have what other collectors need. While the internet has given rise to the number of possible traders out there, trust can also be an issue with someone that you've never met.

To upgrade my collection, I sell on eBay. When buyers pay me through PayPal, I use that cash (and only that cash) to acquire new cards for my collection. By only using that money, it's as if I've traded my sold cards for the purchased cards.

With eBay's 50 free listings per month, it's a great opportunity to list some cards which have no place in my collection. It's surprising to see what you can sell and then buy at virtually the same price.

My past 10 sales on eBay have been:
2011 Paini Prime Cuts Kevin Matthew Auto - $2.79
12-13 Fleer Retro Chet Pickard Autograph - $2.29
2009 Panini Contenders Kory Sheets Auto - $11.83
08-09 ITG BTP Brian Elliot Autograph - $1.99
07-08 UD McDonald's Joe Sakic Insert - $1.69
06-07 UD SPA Ryan Shannon FW Auto - $1.49
09-10 UD SPA SOTT Andrew Cogliano Auto - $1.89
12-13 ITG H&P Daniel Altshuller Jersey - $1.89
09-10 UD Young Guns RC Lot (7) - $3.99
07-08 ITG H&P Cody Franson Auto - $1.79

Total sales - $31.64

My past 10 purchases on eBay have been:
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Pat Stapleton Auto - $3.13
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Doug Wilson Auto - $3.03
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Steve Larmer Auto - $3.55
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Rick MacLeish Auto - $2.53
00-01 UD Retro Epic Signatures Pat Verbeek Auto - $3.01
00-01 UD Retro Epic Signatures Keith Tkachuk Auto - $1.85
00-01 UD Retro Epic Signatures Denis Potvin Auto - $2.30
10-11 Donruss Tough Times Ron Hextall Auto - $3.50
04-05 UD Legendary Signatures Ted Lindsay Auto - $6.59
11-12 Panini Prime Signatures Mark Scheifele Auto - $4.03

Total Purchases - $33.52

There's always a little give and take on shipping charges but, on this occasion, I was on the good side of about two dollars.

When I look at what I sold on eBay, I see some autographs of rookies who never made it, some rookie cards of average players, an insert of a star, and some sticker autographs. Nothing which really fits into my collection.

When I look at what I purchased on eBay for basically the same amount of money, I see 10 hard-signed autographs of stars and minor stars from the past few decades, multiple 1,000 point scorers, multiple Hall of Famers, and an autographed rookie card of a highly-rated young player.

If I placed my ten (sold) cards in front of another collector do you think I'd be able to acquire the ten (purchased) cards. In my opinion, I think I'd be lucky to acquire 2 or 3 of the cards which I bought.

I still enjoy trading. It's nice to make a deal. However, by selling my cards for $30+ dollars and then buying the others for $30+ dollars, it's a way to upgrade my collection with a little more ease.

Hockey Hall of Fame - Collector's Corner

The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario has a Collector's Corner sponsored by Upper Deck. The walls in the back corner showcase a wide array of tickets, coins, games, dolls, apparel, pennants, and food items from around the world. In addition, there is an Island of Cards.

Although it's great to see a tribute to hockey cards and collectibles in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was somewhat disjointed and without much detailed information. On the Island of Cards, hockey cards seemed mostly just randomly dropped into slots. There was no description of what or why these particular cards were chosen.

As a fan of the hobby, it would be nice to see the whole area revamped. I'd love to get to Cooperstown and see how it compares to the baseball card collection there.

301/342

With a few pick-ups at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto this weekend, I was able to pass the 300 mark in my quest to complete a low-grade version of the Topps 1956 Baseball set.

Picking up Minnie Minoso, Bob Feller, Bill Skowron, and Elston Howard, I now have put together 88% of the set.

Obviously, it will be harder and harder to finish this set off at a reasonable cost but I'm quite proud to only need 40 more base cards and 1 of the 2 checklists.

500 NHL Goal Scorers - Project Complete!

One of the bonuses of completing the 1,000 NHL Point Project is that the list contains most of the NHL's 500 Goal Scorers. It definitely reduced the need for finding a lot more hard-signed hockey cards.

In the history of the NHL, 42 players have scored 500 goals in their career. Luckily for me, 40 of those players finished their careers with over 1,000 points.

The only two players to score 500 goals but not reach 1,000 points are Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard and Peter Bondra.

Peter Bondra scored 503 goals and 892 points in his career. Long remembered as a Washington Capital, he holds many team records. A five-time NHL All-Star, Bondra twice won the Fastest Skater Competition on All-Star weekend. Although he never scored 90 points in an NHL season, he twice scored 50 goals.

From 1995-96 Upper Deck Be A Player comes this Global Training hard-signed autograph of Peter Bondra. Pulled from a pack years ago by myself, this card is easily available for only about $5.

Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in one season, doing so in 50 games, and the first to score 500 goals in a career. He finished his career with 544 goals and 965 points. He added another 82 goals in 133 playoff games. Inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, Richard won 8 Stanley Cups as a player.

A legend in Montreal, Maurice Richard was famous as a member of the 'Punch Line' with Elmer Lach and Toe Blake. He is also remembered for the Richard Riot in 1955 and the classic story 'The Hockey Sweater' by Roch Carrier.

From 1994-95 Signatures Rookies comes this hard-signed autograph of Maurice Richard from the Cool 5 subset /1050. Although quite plentiful, the card often sells between $50-$100 and I was lucky enough to win an auction for one on eBay in the $60 range.

And Project Complete!

With the Bondra and Rocket autographs, I now have hard signed autographed hockey cards of all forty-two 500 goal scorers and, as mentioned previously, all seventy-nine 1,000 point scorers.

On to the next project...

Project Complete!

Success!

Project Complete!

In my collection, I now have at least one hard-signed hockey card of all 79 NHL players who have scored over 1,000 points in their career.

I even blogged about each and every player as I counted up the list from Ray Whitney to Wayne Gretzky. Sometimes it seemed like it was a losing battle but I'm proud of myself for successfully finishing a large project.

Next up?

500 Goals Scorers? Top point-scoring defensemen? Winningest goaltenders?

I think all three are likely choices.

I'm also debating trying to collect hard-signed baseball cards of every Toronto Blue Jay who played during the back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993.

I've learned that I enjoy projects... especially if they're challenging and feature subjects that I thoroughly enjoy.

1,000 Point NHL Player Autographs - #1 Wayne Gretzky

The Great One!

With 2,857 points (894 goals, 1,963 assists) in 1,487 games, Wayne Gretzky was in a class of his own. In a sense, Gretzky was the fastest and the second fastest 1,000 point player as he scored his second 1,000 points (the only player ever to reach 2,000 points) in only 433 games after scoring his first 1,000 points (424 games).

The only player to score 200 points in a season, he did it 4 times!

After his retirement in 1999, Gretzky was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide, making him the only player to receive this honour.

Involved in the most famous trade in NHL history in 1988 (Edmonton to Los Angeles), Gretzky won four Stanley Cups before the trade and none after.

From 2005-06 Upper Deck SP Authentic comes this dual hard-signed Prestigious Pairings /50 featuring Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky. One of the best card I've ever pulled from a pack (as mentioned in the Gordie Howe post), it happened at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto about 4 years ago.

Another one of my biggest pulls was a pack that featured Gretzky as well. However, the Legendary Linemates card from 2004-05 Upper Deck Legendary Signatures featuring Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Glenn Anderson was sold by myself back in 2006. It would be nice to have it still in my collection.

1,000 Point NHL Player Autographs - #2 Mark Messier

The Moose or The Messiah.

Regardless of his nickname, his resume speaks volumes.

Mark Messier is considered one of the greatest NHL players of all time. He is second on the all-time career lists for regular season points, playoff points (295) and regular season games played (1,756). He won six Stanley Cups and is the only player to captain two different professional teams to championships.

With 1,887 points (694 goals, 1,193 assists), Messier ranks only second to Wayne Gretzky in career scoring. Inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, Messier was awarded the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2013.

Although Messier scored the 2nd most points in NHL history and won two Hart Trophies, he never won a scoring title during his career.

From 2007-08 Upper Deck The Cup comes this Stanley Cup Signatures /25 hard-signed autograph card of Mark Messier. I personally pulled this card from my only tin of The Cup that season and it remains the only Messier autograph in my collection. Definitely a great one to have.

1,000 Point NHL Player Autographs - #3 Gordie Howe

"Mr. Hockey"

There's not much to write about Gordie Howe which hasn't already been written. The 23-time NHL All-Star won 4 Stanley Cups, 6 Art Ross Trophies, and 6 Hart Trophies.

A recipient of the Order of Canada, he stands as the 3rd highest scorer in NHL history with 1,850 points (801 goals, 1,049 assists) in 1,767 games. He played professional hockey from 1946 to 1980 and scored another 508 points while in the WHA in the mid-1970's.

Inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, Gordie Howe became good friends with Wayne Gretzky, who had idolized Howe as a young player, and who would later break many of Howe's scoring records.

From 2005-06 Upper Deck SP Authentic comes this dual hard-signed Prestigious Pairings /50 featuring Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky. One of the best card I've ever pulled from a pack, it happened at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto about 4 years ago. I've also been lucky enough to meet and talk to Gordie Howe on one occasion. I even pulled on a Red Wings jersey and had a photo taken with him... borderline sacrilegious for a Montreal Canadiens fan but I made an exception for Mr. Howe.

1,000 Point NHL Player Autographs - #4 Ron Francis

Skill, leadership, and longevity.

Three words which describe Ron Francis. Any player who stands second all-time in career assists behind Wayne Gretzky with 1,249, third in games played (1,731), with 2 Stanley Cup championships is worthy of many compliments.

With 1,798 points (549 goals, 1,249 assists), Ron Francis ranks 4th all-time in NHL scoring. Although he never scored more than 32 goals in a season and only had three 100+ points seasons, Francis was consistently good on every team he played for.

A three-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy, Ron Francis was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

From 2011-12 Panini Certified comes this hard-signed autograph of Ron Francis from the Eternals /25 subset. It shows him in his Penguins jersey from his championship seasons with Pittsburgh. I pulled this card from a pack at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto in 2012.