15 years in the making

Many of you who read the $30 a week habit blog are well aware of my foolish fascination with various types of parallels.  Serial numbered or not, I've chased many of these ever since the mid 90's.

There have even been a handful of parallel sets I've liked so much that I have chased the entire set.  The 1999-00 Upper Deck MVP silver signature set is one of them.   Today, I finally acquired the last remaining card I've needed for a long time, Mike Richter.

I've been searching eBay for this card for the past couple of months (off and on), and the few copies that I did find were about $1-$1.50 apiece, plus about $3 shipping (most were from Canada).  I really didn't want to pay that kind of money just for one card.

Then I remembered a web site that many, many other people out there have used for a long time, but for some reason I have stayed away from.

COMC.com 

I decided to give it a try for the first time, and ordered the Richter along with 10 other SPs I needed to finish another set.  8 days after the order was placed, the cards arrived and I will say that my first foray into the COMC world was a great success.  

It makes me wonder why I waited so long.  Hopefully the next attempt at putting together a silver signature set will take less than 15 years....

thanks for reading, Robert

Box break: 2012-13 In the Game Between the Pipes

If you take away two things about me from my time spent writing on the blogs, you should know that:

1.  My preference is licensed over un-licensed products
2.  I have a hard time turning down a good deal.

When it comes to hockey cards, these two things can sometimes lead to internal conflict.   That's how it was when I spotted a great deal on a hobby box of 2012-13 In the Game Between the Pipes on the Dave & Adam's website.  For less than half the normal cost, I decided to give this product a try.

I was pleasantly surprised.

For me, the junior goalie cards are OK.  I don't know most of the players, but sometimes that's what is good about cards, you get a bit of an education.

One of the more famous junior teams in Ontario is the London Knights, and I found a history of the team here.  I haven't followed junior hockey in Canada on a regular basis since I was a teenager.   Maybe it's time to get back into it a little more.  Some of the logos and jerseys are fabulous.

Being a part time goaltender myself when I was younger, some of the cards that feature vintage masks are great.

History lessons are always good, so these cards that feature goaltenders from the original six days are a treat for me as well.

Even today's stars are part of the mix:

There's also no shortage of goodies in the box.   One of the more popular inserts over the years has been the Masked Men cards, and I was fortunate enough to pull 3 of them out of the box.

Naturally, the Felix Potvin becomes an instant favorite for me.  These cards scanned tremendously; they are really beautiful in hand.

As far as hits, I received 6 total.  The 3 autographs consisted of one junior player, and two goalies who had careers that lasted just under a decade apiece.

The names on the jersey cards I pulled were a lot more notable.

The dual jersey was of Ed Belfour and Brandon Whitney.  Whitney is a BlackHawks prospect, drafted in the 7th round in 2012.

The other two cards feature a goalie that earned his 300th victory this season, Henrik Lundqvist.

A great way to finish up the box. 

At $47, this box was a great rip.  The original price was over $100, which for me would be a bit too steep for an unlicensed product.  If ITG BTP was priced in the $70-80 range, I might be more tempted to pick up a box when it first comes out. 

I now know what everyone has been raving about over the years.  ITG does a great job for a company without a NHL license.  With Upper Deck owning an exclusive license by the NHL, it appears that ITG will be limited in what it can do for the foreseeable future.

thanks for reading, Robert

5 down, 1 to go

Like many of the older baseball sets that I've completed since I started the habit blog almost 3 years ago, I want to start trying to complete a lot of the older hockey sets that I've left unfinished for years.  One of those is the 1999-00 Upper Deck MVP silver signature set.

Both of these guys were Leafs at one time or another during their great careers

This set is as basic as it gets.   Silver signatures were inserted one per pack, and with only 220 cards in the set, this was a very realistic set to complete, even back then.

There weren't even any big RCs in the set (Jochen Hecht was the priciest, listed at 75 cents), so this parallel set shouldn't have been that difficult to complete, right?

Even with a multiplier of 3x, the Gretzky cards (3 of them) were even affordable.  But over the years the set just got pushed to the side while the latest and greatest came out.

Now, it's finally here.   I'm at the pinnacle.  One card to go.   Mike Richter, #133.   I only see one on eBay right now, but it's in Canada, the shipping is $3.50, and the seller has a nearly 3 week delay before shipping.

I'll keep waiting....after all, I've gone this long, right?

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