Pack Break: 2009-10 MVP

Let's get back into the packs that came out of the Meijer mystery cube I bought recently. The fourth pack I opened was from 2009-10 MVP, which I have opened several of in the past. I never got anything spectacular and expected more of the same here. 

The main draw for any of the MVP sets has been the script parallels, and in this case there are golds numbered to 100 and supers numbers to 25 like previous iterations. Not sure if you can even get these from retail pack though, anyone know either way?

First, here's a look again at the wrapper:

Here's a look at what was inside:

As expected, nothing spectacular, but I did manage to at least get one of the MVP Rookies. I have to say this is one of my least favorite MVP base set designs. I wish they would've never switched to including the silver signatures on the base cards, what was wrong with the way it used to be? Would you prefer the base cards to have nothing but the MVP logo?

Jimmy Howard: A Pair of Parallels

Gotta love coming home from work to another bubble mailer and knowing what's waiting inside. These two additions to my Jimmy Howard collection once again come from the bay thanks to another great deal. The second was actually just a "bonus" to the first one which was in the title of the listing. I got both for just $1.99 plus shipping.

The first and more limited of the two comes from 2012-13 Panini Limited, specifically the silver version of the base set. It is clearly serial numbered 18/49 in the upper left corner. I have to say I love the look of this set in person. The only thing that would make this card better would be Howard shown in the home red jersey.

The second one is an unnumbered red hot parallel from 2010-11 Panini Zenith. This card looks so much better than the scan. Its really cool to see the different ways it reflects light off the surface. I'm definitely glad they went with the road white on this one.

The cool thing about this one is that it completes another rainbow for my Howard collection. Here is a look at it alongside the base and white hot parallel.

Who doesn't love rainbows? This one may not be the greatest with all the 1 of 1's out there, but its still a pretty neat accomplishment for a player collector like me. This makes two of these now, the other being from 2010-11 Victory.

I've got a few others rainbows like this started, but none are that close to completion yet. The only one I really want to finish is 2010-11 Black Diamond, where I already have the platinum 1 of 1 and just need the gold version to finish it. 

Pack Break: 2008-09 Collector's Choice

Time for pack number three from my recent Meijer mystery cube. This time it is once again UD Choice, although here is it back to being called Collector's Choice and is exactly ten years newer. I've posted at least one pack of this stuff before and it went pretty well with a Choice Reserve rookie card of Darren Helm for my Red Wings collection.

Since I didn't get around to posting the stated odds that time, I will do that now. Here's what you can get from these packs: Subsets (1:1), Parallels (1:1), CupQuest (1:6), and Stick-Ums (1:18). Nothing too spectacular, but it's just right for an entry level product.

Here's another look at the wrapper:

And here's a look at what was inside:

Well, I got the expected parallel card with the Choice Reserve Fedorov and the expected subset with the Boston 3 Star Selections. Along with that there were three base cards, two of which are goalies so that's cool. Then I managed to hit one of the Stick-Ums that come 1:18 packs. Now if only it were one of the Red Wings this pack would be perfect.

Pack Break: 1998-99 UD Choice

Time for pack number two from the Meijer mystery cube. This one is once again from the late 1990's and comes from the 98-99 edition of Upper Deck's Collector's Choice set. Actually scratch that, at that time it had been changed to just "UD Choice" instead. 

There are six cards per pack and there were several "inserts" to chase after. They included Bobble Heads (1:4), Star Quest Blue (2:1), Star Quest Green (1:7), Star Quest Red (1:11), Star Quest Gold (/100) and Choice Reserve (1:6). 

Here's a look at the wrapper:

Now here's a look at what was inside: 

As you can see I ended up with the two Star Quest Blue cards as stated on the back. Then there were three regular base cards and the one World Junior Showcase card. Gotta love those old Tampa 3rd jerseys shown on the Ysebaert and the picture on the Sakic base card is just awesome even if it does get a bit blurry.

Pack Break: 1997-98 Limited

This was the oldest pack that came out of my recent Meijer mystery cube. I've never opened a pack of this stuff as far as I can remember, so its kind of neat to at least have something different this time around. Apparently this is the "most limited NHL base set in the hobby to date" according to the wrapper. 

The back of the wrapper lists the different subsets including Counterparts, Double Team, Star Factor, and Unlimited Potential/Talent. Apparently there is a Limited Exposure parallel set numbered to 25 each. Finally, there are the Fabric of the Game inserts that fall 1 in 5 packs. These things were printed on either canvas, nylon, or wood.

Here's a look at the wrapper:

Now here's a look at what was inside:

I wasn't even sure what this set looked like until I opened the pack. I ended up with five of the counterparts cards where the front has a silver foil finish and the back is just glossy. After all, these make up half of the 200 card base set, so I guess this would be pretty common.

Super Script Update

Now this is more like it, two Super Scripts just a couple of days. I could get used to a pace like that. The Moran that I showed in my last post was the 49th in my set, making this the 50th, a pretty nice milestone if you ask me. While I already pass this mark with my Gold Script set, there is just something a bit more satisfying doing it with this set.

This one goes back to the main part of the base set and adds another Dallas Star to the project. It features defenseman Brad Lukowich and is numbered 10/25.

Like I said earlier, this makes 50 of these things now. I've definitely come a long way from the four that I had when I started this blog back in late 2009, man has it really been that long already? As far as 2013 goes, this is the 10th one I've picked up in just under four months, which only leaves me with eight more to catch up to my total from last year.

SCE Super Script Update

In one of my recent thoughts posts, I mentioned that I had a couple of deals that were incomplete after a significant amount of time since sending out my end of each one. Well, I guess it was a good idea to say something in that post about them miraculously showing up in my mailbox as one of them finally did.

As you probably noticed from the title, this one was another for my MVP Stanley Cup Edition Super Script project. It's another one of the CHL subset cards, this time featuring former Calgary Hitmen center Brad Moran. It's #203 in the set and numbered 18/25.

 

This is the fourth CHL Super Script I've been able to pick up for my set, the others being Branislav Mezei, Brett Lysak, and Brian Kazarian. It is also the 49th Super Script that I've gotten overall. That means the next one will be a bit of a mini-milestone for this project.

Pack Break: Meijer Mystery Cube

Recently I posted a 100 card jumbo rack pack from Target. That didn't turn out so well, but it was still fun to open. Now its time for another one of these retail grab bags, one that was a bit more satisfying. This one came from Meijer and included the following inside a nice card-sized storage cube: 50 assorted cards, 5 random packs, and 10 bonus sticker packs.

The five packs included the following:

     - 2010-11 Upper Deck Series 1
     - 2009-10 MVP
     - 2008-09 Collector's Choice
     - 1998-99 Collector's Choice
     - 1997-98 Limited

The ten bonus sticker packs were made up of:

     - 2009-10 Panini NHL Stickers (x6)
     - 2008-09 Panini NHL Stickers (x4)

I've busted most of these same packs before from previous repacks, but never the 1997-98 Limited, so it's kind of cool to get something new there. The stickers are also a new thing for me. I was never really into them so I haven't ever busted a pack of them, until now. I even got two different sets between the ten packs, so that's even better.

I will sort through the 50 cards and pick some to show off in an upcoming post. I will also go through all of the packs and likely put together a post for each one of the five, then two summary posts for the two sets of sticker packs. Hopefully I can get to all this by the end of the week, but only time will tell.

Metal Universe: What Could've Been...

Since Upper Deck did not include my favorite player in their recent Fleer Retro set, specifically the Metal Universe inserts, I thought I would take a few minutes and come up with my own. I will admit that I took a few shortcuts with this one, the main one being the image that I already had cropped from another custom set I did a while back. Otherwise I just reused the same template from the set of Metal Universe cards I posted in January.

Here's what I came up with:

If you remember the post I did with nine of these things, you will notice a few differences from that iteration to this one. I did those designs before the new Fleer Retro cards were released, so I just kind of threw something together when it came to the fonts. Here you will notice that I inverted the text colors to better match the real thing.

Another small change was switching the text on the year above "Metal" to read 2012 instead of the 2012-13 like in my previous design. For whatever reason, it just looks a little bit cleaner this way. Do you agree?

Have you ever had a set that you thought your player should've been included in? If so, have you ever gone ahead and designed your own card like this?

Pack Break: Target 100 Card Jumbo Rack Pack

We were out shopping at Target yesterday and of course I wandered down the card aisle on our way out just to see if there was anything that would catch my eye. Normally I only look for the repack boxes because I love opening packs. I found myself with two options: a 10 pack mix box for $11.99 or a 100 card jumbo pack for $4.99. 

Since I've done several of the mix boxes in the past, I thought I would do something different and go for the jumbo pack. I knew not to expect much, but it did say on the front that it would contain five rookie cards and a memorabilia card in every third pack. 

Let's just say I got what I expected: a bunch of junk. But that's not the point, it was something I hadn't opened before and its always fun to look through a bunch of 90's cards and see the names that you grew up watching on television. 

Instead of scanning everyting, I thought I would pick a top five and leave the rest to your imagination. Think lots of 1990-91 Score and 1990-91 Bowman to get an idea.

The first one was my favorite from the pack and features former Islanders goaltender Tommy Salo. This was the only Black Diamond card I got and one of the newest ones in the pack. The best part is the fisherman jersey, love those things.

The next one is a bit older coming from 1992-93 Upper Deck, but features an awesome action shot of the great Patrick Roy with the Montreal Canadiens. I know I've seen this one posted on other blogs before, but it's still nice to see again.

The third one was one of the promised rookie cards featuring former Ducks center Sean Pronger, brother of Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger. Nothing special about this one, other than it's shiny and one of the newer cards in the pack.

The next one is a minor league card, similar to this one I posted back in November. It is a team specific card featuring the Victoria Cougars with a generic player and an artist's rendition of a cougar on the front of the card. The back has some basic info about the team like the team colors, current coach and GM, as well as NHL alumni.

The last one features three things that should not go together: hockey, mullets, and tuxedos. This one shows former first round pick Glen Murray. I don't know much about the set other than it was produced by Arena Holograms, Inc and the back is all in French.

Have you ever given in and bought one of these kinds of packs? Even when you knew that you would most likely get nothing but junk from it? I think they're kind of neat just because I get to see a lot of the cards and players that got me started on collecting.

What Would You Buy with $1,600 on eBay?

Have you ever wished you could go on a huge card spending spree without having to worry about hurting your wallet? Thanks to the latest contest over at Drop The Gloves! that can be done, well kind of. Click here to see more about this and how to get involved.

If I had the $1600 to spend on eBay in 30 minutes, there are a ton of things I would want to get, but given the time constraints I just took a quick look and came up with some cool pieces that would fit into mainly my Jimmy Howard and Dominik Hasek collections.

2005-06 The Cup #136 Jimmy Howard (BIN $500) = $500 Total

This one sits atop my want list and is probably the one card on this list that I will make sure I track down someday. These have become the key RC for players that debuted during or after the 2005-06 NHL season.

2005-06 SPx Xcitement Rookie Auto #XRJH Jimmy Howard (BIN $150) = $650 Total

This one is an autographed (clearly a sticker though) parallel of the Xcitement rookie card that I have in my Howard collection. The key here though is that it's numbered to just 5 copies and nearly impossible to find.

2005-06 SP Authentic Future Watch Auto Patch #155 (BIN $130) = $780 Total

This one definitely stood out with a sharp design and a nice piece of letter/number from Howard's jersey. On the plus side, it's numbered to 100 and appears to be hard signed.

2011-12 BTP Franchises Gold #F07 Detroit (BIN $100) = $880 Total

This one would fit in either my Howard, Hasek, or Red Wings collections. If I had a say, Terry Sawchuk would've been the third goalies on this one, but Crozier works too.

2011-12 Prime Seams Incredible #33 Jimmy Howard (BIN $80) = $960 Total

I chose this one because its something different and its numbered to just seven copies. While I wish they would've done a better job working the shape of the piece of jersey seam into the card, it still looks pretty sweet.

2008-09 BTP Auto Emblem #AEDH Dominik Hasek (BIN $150) = $1110 Total

I've always like the look of this set from BTP with the crisscross pattern and the placement of the different design elements. Add to that a nice looking patch, and this was a no-brainer.

2010-11 BTP Stick and Auto #SA-DH Dominik Hasek (BIN $90) = $1200 Total

This one is similar to the last and would make for an excellent piece in my Hasek collection. I like the two colored stick piece and the fact that Hasek has somewhat of a nice signature. 

2011-12 Dominion Crazy Eights #2 (BIN $400) = $1600 Total

This one is just awesome. How can you go wrong with eight solid patches from eight solid goaltenders? I could do with the Fleury patch, but can deal with it since Howard is in there.

So there you have it, $1600 for eight cards, man I wish I could do that for real. If I gave myself more time I would probably go nuts with a ton of cheaper cards, but that didn't seem like the fun thing to do here. These are cards I will likely never have in my collection, but one can always hope, right?

Thanks to Casey at Drop the Gloves! for putting on another great contest. Since this is only open to those of us with blogs, what are you waiting for if you don't have one? They are so easy to get started now and simple enough to maintain. Not sure how everyone else feels, but I love to see new blogs pop up as it keeps things new and interesting.

Thoughts: Lost Cards

Before you read any further, know that this post has nothing to do with the TV show Lost, I just thought the picture made sense here. Anyway, have you ever made a trade or bought something on eBay only to never have it show up? I can say this has happened to me for the first time, for now anyway. I've got one trade in progress where I sent my end of the deal and haven't received any cards or communications for a few months now. Then I have one card I bought on one of the hobby message boards that seems to be lost in the mail.

Both are from Canada, so I kind of expect things to get held up at the border once in a while, and I have no problem with that as long as they show up eventually. Hopefully these two packages will just appear out of nowhere now that I said something about them...

How often does thing kind of thing happen to you? Also, what are your experiences with something taking a bit longer than expected to cross the border? I'm not sure if waiting a month is long enough to get worried or not.

Metal Universe: Past and Present (Part 2)

After a little searching, I found that there are actually 13 more players that are featured in both the 1996-97 and 2012-13 Metal Universe sets. Since these just came out, it was actually pretty easy to track down scans of all the new stuff on eBay. Between these and the other three I showed, this would make a cool little side project, or at least a good way to start going after the 2012-13 cards.

Here are both versions featuring Dominik Hasek. They both show him with the Sabres. It looks like the new version has a picture of him from a later season based on his equipment.

Martin Brodeur is one of the few from the original set that still play in the NHL. His original is one of my favorites from the set and the new one is pretty cool too.

The next pair features Pavel Bure of the Vancouver Canucks. It looks like the 2013 version has an older picture than the original, based on seeing the 75th anniversary patch.

Similar to the Bure, the 2013 version of Ray Bourque's card has an older picture than the original. In this case I have to say I like the original background a bit more than the new one.

The next pair both have Doug Gilmour with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In this case, I can't tell if the picture on the newer version is from the same season or not.

Here we have Brett Hull, shown with the St. Louis Blues on the original card and with the Dallas Stars on the new version. I kind of like the look of the new one a bit more in this case.

Here's another one where two different teams are featured. Unlike the Hull, I think I prefer the original background for this one. The colors are just a bit more vibrant and stand out nicely. Plus its always fun seeing a mullet on a card.

Yet another pair featuring two different teams. Koivu was originally shown with the Canadiens where he started his NHL career, but now is with the Ducks. I'd give the new version the edge here when it comes to the background design, but just by a little bit.

Here's another one where I just love the background on the original. This is what these cards should look like. Seeing the new version, which is still pretty nice on its own, next to this one makes it seem that much better, doesn't it?

Messier is another good example of the differences between these two sets. On the left you have a sweet looking castle wall looking background with smoke rising from the bottom. On the right is a simpler design that still complements the picture quite well.

The original Sakic is an example of a design that was repeated, as evident by the Lemiuex from my last post. Not sure if any of them were repeated in the new set, although it appears they are all unique. That makes sense since the new set is just 60 cards.

Here is an example of a night and day difference between the two versions of this set. The original Selanne on the left has a bright and obnoxious background, while the new one is darker and bit more subdued.

The last pair features Mats Sundin, shown with Toronto Maple Leafs on both versions. In this case I have to give the edge to the new version, just because of the better picture choice and a more diverse looking background. 

After seeing all of these side by side, it seems like they tried to tone down the background designs a bit for the new versions, would you agree? I also noticed that none of the new ones seem to cover up any of the player image, where several of the original ones did. The best example is probably the laser headset on the original Marty Brodeur card.

Metal Universe: Past and Present

Now that Upper Deck's Fleer Retro has been out for a little while, I've finally gotten a good look at the new Metal Universe inserts and I can't wait to start going after them. While they are not as cool as the originals from 1996-97, they are still pretty sweet in a time where it seems like people have lost interest in simple insert cards. 

I am just three cards away from completing the 1996-97 set, but have decided that I want to add the 2012-13 version to my want list. I will of course wait for the prices to come down a bit before trying this set, especially considering the product just came out. 

Since I had really nothing else ready to post today, I thought I would do a quick side-by-side comparison of the past and present Metal Universe sets, as there are a few players featured in both. The first one I noticed was Mario Lemieux.

The next one I noticed was Patrick Roy. 

The third one I could find for now was Wayne Gretzky.

I have to say I still like the originals more, but these new designs are just awesome. I have to give the designers at Upper Deck credit for this, they look amazing. Now I just need to go out and get some for myself to see what they are like in person. What do you guys think of the new version? Anyone else going to go after the set?

Goaltending Gallimaufry: New Additions (Part 5)

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

Well, this is it, the last of the show and tell posts of the stuff I got from My Hockey Card Obsession. There were some excellent additions to my collection, many of them coming from this project. This time there are 12 cards to show since I did not want to break it up into separate smaller posts.

The first one is from 1995-96 Parkhurst International and shows Rick Tabaracci with the Calgary Flames. He is pictured in their road red jerseys with primarily black and red equipment. The mismatch comes from his mask though, on which you can clearly see stars and stripes as well as an image of Mount Rushmore. 

The next one also features Tabaracci with the Flames, this time from 1996-97 Pinnacle. Nothing different here in terms of mismatch, just another look at his mask. 

One more for Tabaracci, this time from 1995-96 Donruss. 

Now let's move onto another goalie that's been featured here before. This one from 1996-97 SkyBox Impact shows Damian Rhodes with the Ottawa Senators. He is shown in their road black jersey with a plain white mask and blue pads. This was a result of him being traded from Toronto during the 1995-96 season. 

Another one for Rhodes is from 1995-96 SP, this time showing him in the home white uniform. This one definitely makes the blue stand out more.

This one from 1991-92 Parkhurst features Rick Wamsley of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is shown in the home white uniform with a plain white mask, blue pads, and a red and white blocker. The mismatch on the blocker is likely from his time with the Calgary Flames before being traded to the Maple Leafs in 1992. 

The next one is from 1993-94 Score and shows Jeff Reese with the Hartford Whalers. He is pictured in the home white jersey with a plain white mask along with red, white, and yellow pads. These are likely from his time with the Flames before being traded to Hartford. 

Another one for Reese, this time from 1994-95 Leaf. All that is left as far as a mismatch here is his catching glove with the red trim. 

The next one is another goalie that's been featured here before. This one from 1993-94 Donruss shows Jocelyn Thibault with the Quebec Nordiques. There is a clear mismatch between the yellow on his pads and the red, white, and blue of the Nordiques uniforms. 

Here's one more of Thibault, this time from 1993-94 Parkhurst. 

This one is from 1994-95 Donruss and shows Ron Tugnutt playing for the Montreal Canadiens. He is pictured in their road red uniform, but is wearing equipment from his time with the Mighty Ducks. This is clearly evident by the large logo on the side of his mask as well as the purple and teal on this catching glove. 

The last one for now comes from 1993-94 Leaf and shows Tugnutt with the Mighty Ducks. You can see the pads and gloves from the last card on this one, only here he is shown in a mask from his time with the Edmonton Oilers. 

That's it for now. There was definitely some great stuff in these last five posts as I've added a ton of new goalies to the project as well as bumped the total for a few others. I have to say I am liking this project more and more with every new post. The best part is that all the cards from these five posts all came from another collector. Thanks again Brett!

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 161