Of course the first card I pulled out of a box at the National was a hockey card

Yes, even with all the cards I'll show off on the other blog in the near future, the first card that struck my eye and wound up in my collection is this beauty.

73-74 Topps Bobby Orr all star card.  For me, it was a steal at $8 and it is the only Bobby Orr card that I own.  Another thing that I noticed this year at the show was my tendency to pick up Topps hockey cards, which is the complete opposite of what I've done in the past. 

Maybe finding a gem like this was the encouragement I needed to start grabbing Topps....

thanks for reading, Robert

Shark Tank

I took a look through the 2nd half of a Sportlots purchase I had made last weekend, and among the hockey cards that were in the lot was this one.

1998-99 Pacific #102

A baby faced 19 year old Joe Thornton, then with the Boston Bruins.  I made me immediately think of the disaster that was the San Jose first round exit this year at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.

I heard the GM say that the coaching staff shouldn't take the fall for the demise of the team in the playoffs.  Interesting.

This team has been built to win for quite a while now.  They've made it to the 3rd round of the playoffs just one time in the past decade.  Every other season has been 1st or 2nd round exits.

With a team loaded with talent like this, you have to wonder when the proverbial "axe" is going to fall.   It doesn't appear that management feels the need to shake up the club.   It's going to be an interesting summer in San Jose, because I believe a shake up is needed, only the difficult part is where do you begin?

thanks for reading, Robert

2008-09 Upper Deck Masterpieces

I bought a couple of boxes of these back at the November Expo for $25 apiece.  I opened them not too long after that, but never posted a word about them until now. 

These cards are incredible.  Similar to the baseball releases, these artistic cards feature some of the greats of the game in some memorable poses.

How about the Cup presentation ceremony in '94 for the Rangers?

Even though Bettman is in the drawing, it's still a memorable moment.

Don Cherry's greatest player of all time, Bobby Orr, looks great in the '76 Canada Cup.  I can still remember Darryl Sittler's overtime goal to beat the Czech's. 

How about a pair of all time greats in the cage for the blue and white?

One of these days I will own actual vintage cards of both of these guys.  I still love watching interviews with the "China Wall" Johnny Bower. 

This set even includes a couple of cards depicting Lord Stanley and Lady Byng.

A history lesson never hurts when it comes to cards, especially when the people portrayed are responsible for part of the game's history.

The framed cards are also very cool.   I pulled a couple of Oilers from their 80's dynasty teams.

Finally, the jersey card that was in the box features a great red swatch from the "Big Bird", Larry Robinson.

One of these days,  I should be able to get these 2 boxes sorted and see if I have at least one set, if not 2. 

Thanks for reading, Robert