Goaltending Gallimaufry: Card Show Pickups Pt. I

Gallimaufry [gal-uh-maw-free] - A hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley.

One of the things I like about this project is the fact that it's unique, at least I think it is. So far the only people who have seen and know about it are you guys, until my recent card show trip that is. After scoping the place out I settled in at one particular table ready to thumb through thousands of dime and quarter singles. 

Midway though, I was the only one left at the guy's table and he asked me if I was looking for anything in particular and I told him I really wasn't. Then he looked at some of the cards I had set aside and asked me why I chose them, as they're a pretty random mix. I told him about the criteria for the project, photos of mismatched equipment, and he seemed kind of dumbfounded at first, but quickly said, "hey, that's actually a pretty cool idea, I've never heard of that before" or sometning similar. 

I thought that was pretty cool. Not only did the guy take an interest in what I was looking for, but we ended up talking for a good half hour while I continued to thumb through monster box after monster box. I'm not normally one to talk much to dealers, but this guy was alright and it made the buying experience that much better.

Okay, I'm sure you've read enough of that by now, let's get to why you really came here, the dime and quarter box "gallimaufry" pickups from the Gibraltar show last weekend.

The first one is this Kevin Nastiuk from 2005-06 MVP. As you can see, Nastiuk is pictured with the Hurricanes, but his gear is obviously a mismatch with all the black and orange. That's because he came from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL before suiting up with Carolina after being drafted in the fourth round in 2003. 

Next we've got one of Johan "Moose" Hedberg from his days with the Penguins. When he burst onto the scene in 2001, he was wearing his blue Manitoba Moose mask, hence the nickname, and it stuck with him for a while, resulting in plenty of cards like this one from 2001-02 Top Shelf. As far as I'm concerned, this one is perfect for the project.

Here's another one of "Moose" with his blue mask, this time from 2001-02 SP Authentic. These ones are a bit of an oddity for the set, if there is such a thing, because Hedberg purposely stuck with the mismatched mask if I remember correctly. That is until he debuted the Penguin-colored version of the mask the following season I believe.

I've got one more of these, and boy is this one shiny. It's another "Moose" from 2001-02 Pacific Heads Up. I think this is the set that came with bobble heads in every box, but I could be wrong, 2001-02 was such a long time ago ;)

 

This next on features a goalie that's already part of the collection, Olivier Michaud of the Montreal Canadiens. Check out that post here. This one's not much better or worse than the first one, although it does give a better overall look at his equipment mismatch. It comes from the 2001-02 Topps Young Stars set, which is actually a pretty sharp looking design.

Here's another one of Michaud, this time from 2001-02 MVP. Not much different here, only this time you see him in the home white uniform, which if you ask me, makes the equipment mismatch a little less noticeable. 

I managed to find one more of Michaud at this table and it's pretty much the same as the MVP one above, although it comes from the 2001-02 Victory Prospects subset. That makes four Olivier Michaud's in the collection, which I think gives him the lead by one.

Now for the last of this first group, and I think I saved the best for last. It's a Jim Carey Future Game Winners card from the 1995-96 Pinnacle McDonald's set. As you can Carey is picured with the Capitals, but his equipment was a holdover from the Caps original red, white, and blue look. Doesn't go to well with the blue, black, and copper does it? And is that a tiny Marty Brodeur I see in the background to the left?

So there you have it, I actually found a use for some of those unwanted dime and quarter box cards that seem to go completely untouched by most collectors at most shows. Everyone is so caught up with the high-end hullabaloo that they forget about the foundation of this hobby, base cards like these. Whatever, I'll take it and I'll continue to enjoy looking for more cards for this project.

I'd say I did pretty good for around $2, wouldn't you? 

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 40