Finally, time to get these posts going. I was kind of getting worried that I would simply forget about them and have bought a $10 box of cards for nothing. Anyway, I'll start off with what I think was the worst of the bunch, a pack of 1991-92 Ultimate Hockey Premier Edition.
I've busted one pack of this stuff before with the other $10 mix box of packs. The results were less than spectacular, but hey at least it's something to open. And there are some cards of guys that went on to have decent careers in the NHL. Here's what I got:
The first card was this one featuring former Washington Capitals draft pick Justin Morrison. I couldn't really find much information on him other than a bio on the Kingston Frontenacs webpage. Click here to check it out.
Next was this one featuring Darcy Werenka. He was selected 37th overall by the New York Rangers back in 1991. While he would never suit up for an NHL club, he continued playing professionally in various leagues up until at least the 2010-11 season.
Behind door number three we have former Montreal Canadiens draft pick Brent Bilodeau. He was selected 17th overall in the 1991 draft. He also never made it to the NHL, instead bouncing around the AHL, WHL, IHL, and ECHL between 1991 and 2005.
The fourth card was this one featuring former Edmonton Oiler Steve Staios. He's the first of this pack to actually make it to the NHL, where he still is today, playing for the New York Islanders during the 2011-12 season.
The next two cards are a bit different than the rest in that they focus on only the first round picks. The first was this one again featuring Brent Bilodeau, although it would be hard to see that if the same picture wasn't already used on his other card.
Finally we have one more NHL'er in Phillipe Boucher, who was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the 13th overall pick in the 1991 draft. According to Hockey DB, he last played in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2008-09 season.
Nothing impressive here, but it still made for an interesting break. The one thing I find amusing about these cards is the "Smokey's" getup all of the guys are wearing. Must have been a licensing thing for them to all have to wear something that cheesy, right?
Stay tuned for pack number two...
I think this is one of the worst sets ever made, did a post on it a few years back:
ReplyDeletehttp://shoeboxlegends.blogspot.com/2009/03/1991-ultimate-worst-hockey-set-ever.html
Just awful...
I dedicated an article to one of the cards in this set too (even linked back to shoebox's article in it!):
ReplyDeletehttp://bbbros.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/from-the-world-of-%e2%80%9cwhy%e2%80%9d-photographic-follies-edition-volume-3/
Agree 100%, one of the worst wastes of cardboard in the history of hockey cards. The Stojanov in my article is just mind bogglingly bad!
Smokey's was a card "superstore" in Las Vegas on the strip (it used to be across the street from the old Aladdin). They had 4 stores out there at one time. I always remember seeing their adds in Tuff Stuff magazine back when it was the size of an unfolded newspaper.
ReplyDeleteI had the chance to go there a few times while living out there. It was a fairly big store for a card shop but by that time, they had changed focus to mostly memorabilia instead of cards. At one time, it looked like "Pawn Stars" in there each and everyday. There were always dozens of customers at a time with enough staff to help everyone. In typical "Vegas" fashion, they used to do everything BIG. They would sponsor sporting events, boxing matches, tournaments, and lots card shows back in the 80s and 90s. They even got involved with that preseason Rangers/Kings game in 1991 where they played in Caesar's Palace parking lot in 95 degree heat.
This set came about when they decided to "print their own money", to quote one of the owners. So they rented the rink, paid the players to show up, paid for all the jersey's and equipment, paid for the production, and realized they couldn't afford to do this year in and year out, even with the boom in the card market at that time. So they scrapped the idea.
Eventually, they just got too cocky in what they were doing and were taken down by the FBI investigations into counterfeiting of sports memorabilia. I think I bought a few cards from there and tried to sell them some stuff but I know I never bought any of their auto stuff.
Wow, never knew any of that. Thanks for the info!
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