Predators: February Card Show Pickups

Better late than never with these. I meant to scan and post these back in February when I got them at a local card show, but never got around to it. Rather than breaking this up into multiple posts for each set as I was doing recently, I thought it would be easier to throw the rest of my new Preds cards all into a single post. 

Up first is my favorite photo of the bunch. This Pekka Rinne is a base card from 2017-18 Upper Deck. Normally net cam shots are during play and all you see is the back of the goalie, so this is kind of neat to see Rinne from the front here.

Next we have another card from the same set, this time with a great shot of Predators Captain Roman Josi just before entering the rink. Its kind of nice how he has been isolated in this shot as there are no fans or other players visible in the shot.

This Calle Jarnkrok, also from 2017-18 Upper Deck, is another example of the excellent photography we've come to expect from the flagship set. The only downside to this one is that the white helmet, jersey and socks all blend right in with the boards.

Up next is Filip Forsberg from the same set. This one has a great shot of Forsberg after what I assume was a goal for the Predators. I wonder if it was Forsberg who actually scored it, hard to tell for sure here. Still a nice looking card though.

Now onto the first card of a former Predator. Here Kevin Fiala is shown skating with the Preds during the 2016-17 season. He was traded to the Wild back at this year's trade deadline in exchange for Mikael Granlund. Not sure if this was the best move though as Granlund didn't do a whole lot for the Preds down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Then there was this one of Austin Watson. He's had some ups and downs with off-ice issues the last couple of years, but appears to be back with the team for good and on the right track now. Hopefully that will remain true for as long as possible.

Its not very often that you see players shown on a card without a helmet. If they are it is probably during warm-ups like this one featuring Scott Hartnell.

Switching gears now, we have this Ryan Ellis from 2018-19 Upper Deck. This is a great shot of Ellis defending his team's end in front of Pekka Rinne.

Up next is this one with a great shot of Nick Bonino ready for a face off against what would appear to be the Carolina Hurricanes. The centering is excellent on this one and gives us a great look at one of the of the non-action moments of a game.

Here's another nicely centered shot, this time of Filip Forsberg. Those gold jerseys sure do look good on cardboard. As much as a prefer the previous gold jersey design, these things are staring to grow on me and I might even want to get myself one at some point.

If I had to choose a second favorite picture after the Rinne, this would be it. Here we've got a shot of P.K. likely right after he or one of his teammates scored against the Oilers.

This next one has a great close up shot of backup goalie Jusse Saros. The only thing that would make this better is if the two skaters were not in the background on the left. I get that these are supposed to be in-game action shots, but sometimes I feel like it would be more aesthetically pleasing if the player was isolated.

Viktor Arvidsson was the last of my pickups for 2018-19 Upper Deck. Here we've got another nicely centered action shot, this time with Arvidsson looking as though he is either expecting to receive the puck or just sent out a pass.

Going back a year now, I was able to get this excellent Pekka Rinne card from 2017-18 O-Pee-Chee Platinum. I don't have many cards from these sets in my collection so it was defintely a nice addition. The Preds gold jersey from that season really pops off the card.

The other card from this set featured Vikor Arvidsson. Its interesting to note that he is shown here wearing #38 during the 2016-17 season. He switched to wearing #33 the following season and has ever since.

The final set represented here is 2017-18 Upper Deck Trilogy. I don't know much about this set so it was nice to be able to add a few cards from it to the collection. I was able to get two of them and the first was this one featuring Ryan Johansen.

To finish things off, here is another Trilogy base card, this time featuring P.K. Subban. While these cards have a real nice premium feel to them, I feel like they would've looked a little better if they all used images of the players in dark uniforms. This is a good example of the white blending in too much with the card design.

Well, that's it for my Predators additions for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get back out to another card show here soon for some more. Now that I know there are several monthly and bi-monthly card shows locally that should be a little easier to accomplish. I just need to come up with the spare time for it somehow.

Predators Collection Total: 61