Golden Knights: Reilly Smith Super Script

Continuing with the Golden Knights theme around here, in addition to the SCE Super Script of Pacioretty, I was able to grab a regular Super Script of Reilly Smith from the same seller.

This one is card #31 in the set and is serial numbered 23/25. I really like the look of that MVP design other than the large black bar they placed behind the signatures. I understand it makes them stand out more, but it would've looked better without it.

Another thing I really like about this one is how they made the MVP logo and the actual serial number in the same rainbow foil as the signature. If only they had done the same thing to the UD logo. That would make it almost perfect.

On a side note, as far as my Golden Knights collection goes, I am leaning towards focusing on the players from the inaugural season. That was when I really got into following this team and it was a great time watching them make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

For whatever reason, I have not really been following any of my teams as closely anymore, which in turn means I've got less interest in picking up their cards. At least with the players from that first season, I have more of a connection to them having followed them all the way to the Final. Same goes for my Predators collection and their 2017 run to the Final.

SCE Tribute Update

Well, its been a little while since my last update on this set. The last one I picked up was all the way back in June of last year. That's ok though as I've been treating this almost as a side project. While I want to get them all eventually, they just are not as high of a priority.

This one actually came paired with another Super Script, which I will share in a separate post later on. It is a Max Pacioretty numbered 06/25.

There are 100 cards in this set and I have three total now, so still quite a ways to go if I want to complete it. From a team perspective, I at least have one third of the Knights from this set. The other two are Marc-Andre Fleury and Mark Stone.

While I really love the idea of this tribute to my favorite set, I feel like they missed on a few things trying to re-create the design. The most glaring difference to me is the cross-hatch pattern extending all the way to the bottom of the card. It just looks off. One of these days I'll put together a post detailing all of these differences.

Golden Knights: Trade Pickups

Once again, my recent trade with The Real DFG brought in some new cards for one of my team collections, this time the Vegas Golden Knights. They are the newest team I've started collecting and I'm always on the lookout for some new base and lower end cards to boost my collection of the NHL's 31st team.

Up first and my favorite of this group is a 2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Retro parallel of Robin Lehner. While I'm still not sure why they acquired him, Lehner seems like a good fit in Vegas and was fun to watch in last year's playoffs. I just wish the photo had his updated Golden Knights themed mask. The one he's wearing is from Chicago.

The next on is from the same set and features Reilly Smith. He's pictured in the Knights road white jersey, which has always looked really nice if you ask me. The white gloves are awesome too. One of these days I need to get myself a replica Adidas jersey to go with my grey one. Although the new gold third and red reverse retro might be higher on my list.

Up next is a regular O-Pee-Chee card of Max Pacioretty. This one is card #426 in the set. I have to say this set design is growing on me. I wasn't a huge fan of it in the mock ups UD posted, but now that I've had some time to look at them they're actually not too bad.

Lastly we have a Shea Theodore base card from 2019-20 Upper Deck. I love the photo on this one as you've got a nice action shot of the VGK defenseman with no one else directly around him. I tend to like these shots more than the ones crowded with opposing players.

So that's four nice new additions to my growing VGK collection. While I don't have much high end stuff, cards like these are great because they showcase the players I currently enjoy watching. Plus, collecting a team adds variety I don't get from player collections.

Box Break: Golden Knights Inaugural Season

While this isn't the same as a traditional box break, it was still a box of cards with at least some randomness to it. I received this Vegas Golden Knights inaugural season box set as a Christmas gift, but never really got a chance to scan everything and show it here. 

In this box you are guaranteed a full 50-card base set as well as five Golden parallels. These were retailing for $19.99 at the time and can still be found for sale at various online retailers. I had always wanted to get one, but never got around to it for whatever reason.

Here is what's available in one of these boxes:

     - 35 Base Cards
     - 15 Season Highlights
     - 5 Golden Parallels
     - Autographs (1:20 boxes)

We'll get things started with the base set. There is a nice selection of players in this set, although now that we are two seasons removed from the inaugural one, some of them are no longer with the team. I chose to show Malcolm Subban here because he was one of my favorite players on the Knights while he was there.

As far as the base design, I actually like the overall look. The only negative would just be the amount of text all crammed together at the bottom of the card. I think it would've looked better with the primary logo instead of the full word mark.

The back of the cards are are very nicely done. I really like the use of both logos here. It's a shame they recycled the photo from the front though. I would've been nice to see a separate photo here, maybe with the player shown in the opposite color jersey.

Interestingly, Subban is one of 5 goaltenders featured in the set, all of whom actually did make at least one appearance for the Golden Knights during that season. Subban played 22 games and helped the team make the playoffs. The others were Marc-Andre Fleury (46 GP), Maxime Lagace (16 GP), Oscar Dansk (4 GP) and Dylan Ferguson (1 GP).

Of the remaining 30 base cards featuring forwards and defensemen, there are some familiar names and some not-so familiar names. Some of the key names in this set are William Karlsson (43G-35A-78P), Jonathan Marchessault (27G-48A-75P) and Reilly Smith (22G-38A-60P), all of whom are still with the team as of right now.

Some of the not-so familiar names would be Vadim Shipachyov (1G-0A-1P), Tomas Hyka (1G-2A-3P) and Stefan Matteau (0G-1A-1P). They combined for 21 games played and are names that I vaguely remember from that first season, but nowhere near as much as the core group that led the team to the Stanley Cup Final.

In addition to the base cards, there were 15 Season Highlights cards featuring significant moments throughout the season. This one focuses on the Golden Knights home opener on Oct 10, 2017. I remember watching this entire game as well as the pregame speech by Deryk Engelland. That game really cemented my fandom of this team.

Design wise these are very similar to the main base cards, just rotated 90 degrees with even more text. The front has a quick note listing the date and describing what is shown on the card. The back has a more detailed write-up as you can see below.

Lastly we have the golden parallels as promised on the box. Of the five I decided to show off Marc-Andre Fleury. These definitely look better than the scan as the gold foil pops a lot more in better lighting. They are not serial numbered or anything like that, they just have the gold foil VGK logo and some fancy decoration on either side.

If it were up to me, I would've gone with the primary logo instead of the word mark. This would work  out nicely for the golden parallels as you could just swap out the standard printing for the gold foil. This would also help cut down on the clutter caused by the current gold foil design sitting above all that text.

Overall I was very happy with this box, especially considering I didn't even have to pay for it myself. Its a nice way to commemorate that first season on cardboard and should be a part of any Golden Knights collection.

Beyond this awesome trading card set, there are some other great ways to relive that amazing first season. While game highlights on YouTube are always fun to watch, I highly recommend checking out the documentary film "Valiant" by Cruz Angeles.

Released in 2019, the film provides an in-depth look at the team's first season in Vegas. I bought myself a copy on Amazon and have watched it multiple times now. If you click on the linked photo below it will take you to the film's website for more information.

Hopefully things can start getting back to normal soon and somewhere down the road the Golden Knights can finish what they started that year and capture the Stanley Cup.

Golden Knights Collection Total: 94

Golden Knights: September Card Show Pickups

Even though we're in the middle of October now, I've been backed up on scans that need to be posted so I still have some stuff to show from my trip to the Troy show in September.

We'll start things off with my favorite of the lot, this Violet Pixels parallel of Max Pacioretty from 2018-19 OPC Platinum. This will go great with the James Neal that I picked up from the show back in August. Now I just need to work on completing the team sets of these.

Up next is a rainbow parallel from the same set. This one shows Jonathan Marchessault during Vegas' inaugural season as evident by the patch. If you ask me these jerseys tend to look better on cards as they don't blend in as much with the white ice and boards.

This one featuring Marc-Andre Fleury is from the 2018-19 SP Authentic Moments set. It is dated Oct 20, 2018 and describes how Flower moved into 10th place on the all time NHL career wins list. Unsurprisingly, the photo shown is from that very game. Click here for a nice recap of the game by SI. This goes nicely with the other two I posted in September.

Sticking with Flower, here is a profiles card from SP, although it is nearly impossible to tell from the scan. The blue foil appears almost completely black and becomes invisible on the black background. Funny thing is I didn't even realize SP was a separate set in 2018-19.

Last but not least is a red parallel of William Karlsson from 2018-19 SP Authentic. These are identical to the base cards except for the red foil on the SPA logo and the player name on the bottom. This one gives me a full team set of Golden Knights for the red parallels.

These five add a couple new sets and bring my Golden Knights total to 39.I've got a little ways to go before catching my Predators collection, but that's ok as these are more of side projects for me. They give me something cheap and easy to look for at local card shows. 

Now that the 2019-20 card season is in full swing, I'm looking forward to hitting up a few more shows to see how many I can find like this. Since neither of these teams are the Red Wings, they are usually in the $0.10 or $0.25 boxes so it is definitely easy on the wallet.

Golden Knights Collection Total: 39

Box Break: 2019-20 MVP

As a birthday present to myself, I recently bought my first actual box of hockey cards in over six years. I was kind of surprised that I needed to go all the way back to February of 2013 for my last hockey box break on here. It really doesn't feel like its been that long. It makes sense for me though as boxes really don't do all that much for my main collecting projects at the moment. I'm better off putting my money towards singles for those. 

However, like most collectors I really do enjoy opening a new box of sealed packs. Even if this was just a retail blaster box, I was looking forward to possibly pulling some of the MVP Stanley Cup Edition tribute cards. Since this was retail, the only shot I had would be the Silver Scripts. The tribute Super Scripts and Colors & Contours are hobby exclusives.

This blaster cost $19.99 and came with 21 packs, 5 cards per pack. Here is a look at the front of the box featuring Red Wings prospect and former 6th overall pick Filip Zadina.

Here is what's available in one of these blasters:

     - Base Set (200 cards)
     - Base High Series SP's (1:4)
     - Puzzle Back Variations (1:8)
     - Silver Script Parallels (1:7)
     - Gold Script Parallels (1:21)
     - Stanley Cup Edition Silver Scripts (1:10)
     - Supernovas (1:50)
     - Net Crashers (1:34)
     - Laser Shots (1:25)
     - Laser Shots Red Parallels (1:100)
     - Rookie Redemptions (1:4000)
     - 2019 NHL No. 1 Draft Pick SP (1:12500)

I'll be happy as long as I get some of the Stanley Cup Edition tribute cards. Based on the listed odds, I can reasonably expect to end up with two of them. We'll see how that goes.

Also, regarding the Gold Scripts. For whatever reason these are not serial numbered anymore. I believe this is the first time for that. As far as I know, all of the Gold Scripts over the years have been numbered, and that's going back to the original set from 1998-99.

Onto the results. Let's start with the base set. Overall this is a nice design. I like how the top and bottom of the card are filled with the grey lines going every which way. Not sure what the six slashes at the top are for, but they look cool. The left and right sides having the photo extend to the edge was a good choice for this set.

The top six shown below are all for my team collections. Looks like this box favored the Preds over my other teams. I also included a checklist and the two regular high series SP's. I believe these are the first cards I've pulled of McDavid and Matthews. That just goes to show you how long its been since I opened any new packs or boxes.

All together there were 88 based cards and no duplicates as far as I noticed. While six out of 88 for my teams isn't the greatest, I'll take it. Now I just need to get some more of the Wings cards to catch up to the my other two teams. Here's a look at the backs.

The back has a big team logo at the top, the players name with pronunciation, their vitals, and up to five years of stats. The lines and shapes mimic the front of the card and help tie the two together. Overall not too bad, kind of what you would expect from MVP.

The other high series SP's were the Rookies. I ended up with four of those, the best for me being Colin Bkackwell of the Predators. I don't know much about him. Apparently he was drafted by the Sharks back in 2011 and has been playing mostly in the AHL ever since. He's had six games of NHL action with the Preds in 2018-19.

The rookies are identical to the regular base cards other than the word "Rookie" replacing the six slashes at the top of the card. I like when base and rookie cards are similar like this with just the one feature that differentiates them. The others I got were Zack MacEwen of Vancouver, Trent Frederic of Boston, and Kevin Boyle of Anaheim.

Next up we have the standard Silver Script inserts. In this case they should be called grey scripts because there is no silver foil to be found. If anything, it looks more like a silver paint marker than anything, so I guess they're ok calling it silver after all. I got three of these including the Nick Ritchie below, a rookie of Ryan Poehling and Brent Burns.

Stepping up one level from the Silver Script we have the lone Gold Script of the break. This one featuring Jared Spurgeon of the Wild is actually a really nice looking card. The facsimile signature is actually gold foil so it really pops in the light. They also changed the top and bottom of the card to a nice gold color. I really need to get some of these for my Golden Knights collection. Gold Scripts for my Golden Knights, talk about a golden opportunity...

In addition to the scripts, I was able to pull three of the puzzle back variation, which actually kind of beat the odds. I probably should have only gotten two. Either way since none of them are my PC teams, it really doesn't matter. I got this one below of Carey Price's blocker, one with Kucherov's mid-section and one with Marchand's right glove.

Before I get to the best of the box, I wanted to show off the two inserts I got. The first was this Net Crashers of Sidney Crosby.

The other was this Laser Shots of Evgeni Malkin.

Now for my favorite part of the break and the reason I bought this box in the first place: the MVP Stanley Cup Edition tribute cards. I was able to get two for my collection. The first was card #63 in the set featuring Alexander Wennberg of the Blue Jackets.

The second was card #75 in the set featuring Jamie Benn of the Stars. These things look great in person, although the bottom edge is really starting to bother me. I wish they would've stopped the net looking patter before the bottom like the original design. Something just seems off with it continuing down to the very bottom edge.

Not bad overall. This was a fun little break for around $20 and I even got a nice variety of stuff for my various collecting projects. Anything other than my PC teams and the tribute silver scripts is available. I'd love to do some team for team swaps of base/inserts as I've got a ton of stuff just sitting around in boxes. Leave a comment below if you're interested.

Also, since I shared all my PC additions in this one post rather than breaking them out, I've included updated totals at the bottom. This is more just for my own tracking purposes.

Updated Golden Knights Collection Total: 34
Updated Predators Collection Total: 79
Updated Silver Script Tribute Total: 3/100

Golden Knights: August Card Show Pickups

In addition to the stack of Predators I got from last month's card show, I was able to find some cool stuff for my Golden Knights collection. If I had to choose between the two, I would say I'm slightly more into the Knights at this point. I feel like I have a slightly better connection with them being a fan from the very beginning. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I am really starting to get into all these different O-Pee-Chee Platinum parallels. This time I was able to get my first Violet Pixels parallel, a James Neal from 2017-18. These things look amazing in person. The scan does not do it justice.

Up next is another one of the same former Golden Knight. This is a red base parallel from 2017-18 SP Authentic. At least that's what they are calling it. I would say it looks more pink than red. Regardless, it is a nice looking card and I'm glad to have it now.

Moving onto something new for this collection: an Authentic Moments card from 2018-19 SP Authentic. These cards are an excellent idea from Upper Deck. Each one chronicles a specific moment. In this case it would be the first hat trick in Golden Knights history. They used a great shot of Karlsson being congratulated by his teammates.

Here's another Authentic Moments base card. This one was a bit more significant as it focuses on how Vegas was able to knock off the Jets to reach the Stanley Cup Final in their first season. I still can't believe they made it that far. Sometimes its fun to watch highlights from that run even if it did end with a loss to Ovechkin and the Capitals.

Sticking with SPA, I was also able to grab some red parallels from the 2018-19 set. I still think they look more pink than red. Must be my scanner doing some funny things to it. Anyway, the first of the three features Alex Tuch.

 

In addition to the Tuch, I was able to get this Marchessault from the same parallel set. I like this one a bit more since they are showing Vegas' home jersey. You can tell it was from their inaugural season by the patch above the crest.

I think if I had to choose a single player on the Golden Knights to collect, it would have to be Marc-Andre Fleury. I love goalie cards and he's been the man there since the beginning, except of course for all that time he missed due to injury in year one.

Moving on from SPA, I was able to get my first Knights cards from the 2019-20 season thanks to the recent release of MVP. These all came from a dime box and up first is Mark Stone. Hopefully Stone can tear it up in his first full season with the team here soon.

The more that I see this latest version of MVP, the more I like it. Even though there are quite a few lines going every which way, the overall design works really well for this type of set. Up next is Jonathan Marchessault.

The last of the MVP pickups was this Paul Stastny. Upper Deck really likes to show off the Knights' white jerseys it seems. I would love to see more of the home grey jerseys. They would probably look great with the colors of this design.

Time for some 2018-19 UD Series 1 now. I was able to find a nice trio of cards in one of the dime boxes and made sure to grab them. Up first is this one featuring former Kinghts defenseman Colin Miller, who was traded to the Sabres this summer.

Here's a really cool shot of Jonathan Marchessault on the second card.

To finish things off, here is my new favorite Golden Knights base card. This Marc-Andre Fleury has been on my radar for a while now after seeing it on COMC months ago. It's got an amazing shot of Fleury leading the team out of the tunnel at T-Mobile Arena. This was during the 2018 Stanley Cup Final as evident by the patch on his jersey. 

 

The only way this shot could be any better was if they captured Fleury emerging from the giant knight helmet they lower onto the ice at T-Mobile Arena.

That's it for this round of Knights pickups. I like how this project is progressing so far. I've got a nice variety of base cards, which makes flipping through the pages of these things quite enjoyable. I've even got some fun parallels and inserts mixed in.

Golden Knights Collection Total: 32

Golden Knights: February Card Show Pickups

Along with the Predators cards from my last post, I was able to snag a nice group of base cards for my Golden Knights collection as well. While there is nothing amazing among these, it is still nice to get a variety of sets and at great prices too. The card shows I go to are always in metro Detroit so any base cards that aren't Red Wings never cost much. 

Up first is my favorite card of the bunch, a Marc-Andre Fleury from 2017-18 SP Authentic. I feel like if I had to put a priority on any one Golden Knights player it would be Fleury. I never liked him during his time with the Penguins, but once he became the guy in Vegas my opinion has changed. Plus I love goalie cards, so that makes it even easier.

 

The second of three from SPA was this one of Reilly Smith. I always forget that he is the brother of former Red Wings Brendan Smith. I guess Reilly has become the better of the two based on the last couple of seasons. He's been excellent for the Knights.

To finish off SPA, there was this one featuring James Neal. I have to say I don't understand why some people had such a problem with the whole white glove thing Vegas went with for the away jerseys. I think they work pretty well with the overall look. 

I showed off a couple of these Trilogy cards in my previous Preds post and the same thing I brought up there is true here. This would look a whole lot better if Fleury was pictured in the dark jersey. And is it just me or does the cropping look a bit odd on all of these?

I think this is my first non action shot on a Vegas card. The photo on this one from 2017-18 Upper Deck featuring Brayden McNabb appears to be from the 2017 Expansion Draft. He was there in person along with several other players including Marc-Andre Fleury.

Moving onto 2018-19 Upper Deck we have this one featuring one of the newer Golden Knights, Max Pacioretty. He is pictured skating against the Minnesota Wild. Notice the camera guy and the huge camera in the background?

Up next is Paul Stastny. Not sure which team they are playing in this one. Who knows, maybe its the same game as the Pacioretty above.

Then there was this Brayden McNabb, tying him with Fleruy for the most cards in this post so far. He is shown skating against the Sabres. Upper Deck must really like Vegas' away uniforms. All but one of these have shown it so far.

Here's an interesting close-up shot of William Karlsson. I'm assuming he's looking up at the jumbotron or something. One neat detail that you probably wouldn't see on a standard shot is the gold accent on the corner of his visor. Don't see that every day.

Continuing with the white jersey trend, there was this one featuring defenseman Nate Schmidt. Hopefully he can play the entire year this upcoming season after being suspended to start last season. He is an important part of their defensive core.

Finally, back to the awesome home gray jerseys. These are still my favorite in all of the NHL at the moment. I've only bought one brand new jersey in the last 10 year or so and it was this one right here. I can't wait to see what they do for their upcoming third jersey.

Not a major. That's all I can think of now whenever I see Cody Eakin. If you're wondering, I'm referring to the major penalty he received back in round 1 against the Sharks this year. I don't blame him at all for what happened, it was just an unfortunate series of events. Thankfully the Sharks stuck to their ways and didn't win much after that anyway.

My Golden Knights collection is coming along nicely now. It's great having a couple of other teams to chase now after 20 years of collecting nothing but Red Wings stuff. Even though none of these new Knights cards are really high-end, I'm glad to have them in my collection representing my second favorite team. 

Golden Knights Collection Total: 19