Red Wings: Card Show Pickups

Today's post is all about the Detroit Red Wings. Lately I've decided that I would more actively pursue any and all Wings cards for my PC and by that I mean strictly base and low-end stuff. They are my team and I always like finding new cards of the guys I grew up watching in person and on television.

As with any of the card shows around here, there is never a shortage of Wings cards. The only downside is that most of them are overpriced for what they are. However, sometimes there are good deals to be had and the nine cards below are a good example of that. All but one of them cost me just $0.10 and the other was only a quarter.

 

My favorites are the Lidstrom and Giacomin. There is just something cool about the design of that revolution set and who doesn't love a good close up shot of an old school mask? Another cool one is the Osgood SPx, from back when SPx cards were actually fun to collect with the die cuts and holograms.

That's nine more for the Wings PC to go along with who knows how many I already have. That will be another one of my goals for 2013. I'd like to get my Wings PC sorted and organized, more importantly I want to get an idea of the total number of cards in it. 

That brings up a question for you guys. For a team collection, do you sort them by player or by year and set? I'm leaning towards the set option, but it would be pretty neat to have all the cards of a given player in one place.

Metal Universe Update

Time to show off a few more cards from the Gibraltar show over the weekend. These three were a nice surprise when I found them sorting through a $0.50 box. These are all regular versions of the "Lethal Weapon' insert set from 1996-97 Metal Universe.

Although its kind of hard to tell in the scans below, this is actually a really nice looking design. I like how the players really stand out against the darker background even if the "Lethal Weapon" and player name text overlap them a bit.

The first one featured Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers.

 

The second one features Ron Francis of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The last one features Pavel Bure of the Vancouver Canucks.

These three bring the insert set total to five for this one. There are 20 cards total in the set, so at least I am 25% of the way there now. The cool thing about these coming from the show is that I don't have to pay the shipping I would on eBay, plus you can't beat the price for these kind of inserts.

Jimmy Howard: Card Show Pickups

Usually when I go to a card show around here I am on the lookout for Jimmy Howard stuff. Most of the time there is plenty of it because of the focus on the Red Wings around here, but with that comes the hometown price hike. I never want to overpay for anything so sometimes its hard to find a good deal on any of his stuff. 

My latest trip to the Gibraltar show was a nice surprise though because I managed to find two new cards for my Howard collection at a pretty decent price, and that price would be just $0.20 each. The first was a Net Cam insert from 2012-13 Score.

The second one was this base card from 2011-12 Elite. I already have the Gold Status die-cut, so now I just need the Red Aspirations die-cut to complete the three card rainbow. It would look pretty nice having all three of them together.

Going into the show I didn't really expect to come home with any Howard stuff by sticking to dime and quarter boxes, but I was pleasantly surprised by finding these two. Now if only I could've found a few more of his more recent base cards.

Card Show Haul: Gibraltar Trade Center 1/6/13

First card show of the year, and it only took me six days. Nice way to start off the new year if you ask me. I once again made it out to one of the Gibraltar Trade Center shows this weekend. While I was there, I was mainly on the lookout for dime and quarter boxes to help fill in some of my PC projects. While it's tedious to do sometimes, I still love sorting through these boxes because you never know what you'll find and its just fun to see things you've never come across in the past. 

I managed to get a little bit of almost everything as far as my PC projects go. There were some nice inserts in one of the $0.50 boxes and a ton of great base cards in the $0.25 and $0.10 boxes. Here is a quick summary of the how I spent my money at this show:

Parking/Admission = $2.00
(10x) $0.10 Box pickups = $1.00
(20x) $0.20 Box pickups = $4.00

(8x) $0.25 Box pickups = $2.00
(8x) $0.50 Box pickups = $4.00
(1x) $1.00 Box pickups = $1.00

While the total isn't all that impressive, I'm not really one to go into a show like this planning to throw down hundreds of dollars on high-end stuff or boxes and packs. Just because the stuff I get isn't very expensive, doesn't mean that it's not important to me. I actually love the fact that I can come home from a card show fully satisfied by only spending $14. I got some cool stuff for a handful of my PC projects, got to chat with a few other collectors, and will have plenty of stuff to write about here on the blog.

Now I need to get to work scanning and writing up some posts for these cards. Should be plenty of updates for my various PC projects, so stay tuned for those.

Dominik Hasek: Donruss Gold Press Proof

This will be the first Dominik Hasek card I've picked up since deciding to restart my collection back in November. Since then I've been on eBay looking for great deals on some of his lower end inserts and parallels. In this case, I consider that to be anything that would cost just a few bucks including shipping. 

The card you can see below definitely fit this description as I ended up getting it for just $0.99 with free shipping. It's a great looking die-cut Gold Press Proof from 1997-98 Donruss. On the back of the card it says it's numbered 1 out of 500.

This is the 34th insert or parallel card I've been able to add to my Hasek collection. I still need to work on scanning and cataloging the rest of them as most have been sitting around in my general collection for years.

While I don't have anything else to show for the PC today, I plan on heading out to one of the local monthly card shows this weekend to hit up the dime and quarter boxes for more Hasek stuff. I'm not sure what that will result in, but I should be able to at least find a few cards I don't already have.

Thoughts: The History of Hockey Cards

Haven't done one of these posts in a while, so I thought why not when I stumbled upon the topic for this post. The other day I was surfing around the internet and came across a neat video over at Cardboard Connection. It's a nice look at the history of hockey cards.

Pretty neat, eh? You've got everything from the tobacco cards all the way through The Cup and Dominion. Cards have definitely changed over the years haven't they? Most of the stuff in this video is far before my time, but I can still appreciate it as a collector.

What are your favorite sets highlighted in the video?

Red Wings: Greg Stefan BTP Jersey

Here we go, first post of the new year. I've got one carry over show and tell post from 2012, and it's yet another part of the trade I made with Kevin. It was for this Greg Stefan jersey card from BTP. I actually didn't look at a scan of this one before it was sent out so the first time I saw it was when I opened the package. Pretty nice looking card if you ask me.

There are a few things going on here that make this card look great. One, the red jersey swatch goes perfectly with the trim and the red mask/jersey combo that Stefan is wearing in the picture. Two, the swatch window is shaped like a crease, so that goes well with the theme of the set. Three, it's just a coincidence but the window is also shaped like a "D" and goes right along with the "Detroit" on the front of Stefan's mask.

This is the last of the stuff I landed in the trade and one of my favorite parts of it. I'm hoping to add some more nice Wings stuff like this in 2013, but we'll see. This project is a bit lower on the priority list and its hard to find a great deal on Wings cards around here with the "hometown markup" that you always run into.

A Look Back at 2012 + Goals for 2013

It's hard to believe we're already coming up on the start of another new year, 2012 just went by way to fast, right? Anyway, I thought I would put together a quick summary of my collection over the past year. Here's a quick update on my main PC projects (all 10 of them) for 2012 and my goals for these projects for the new year:

Jimmy Howard: 

Still my primary player collection, which shouldn't change anytime soon. Only 29 new cards in for the PC in 2012. Not as much as I would like, but I'm still only on the lookout for great deals on Howard stuff and refuse to overpay for anything. For 2013, I'm hoping to continue what I've been doing by looking for great deals and I'd also like to get more of these through trades if possible, so I'm not wasting as much money on shipping with eBay.

Dominik Hasek:

One of my two secondary player collections. No new cards for the PC in 2012, only decided to restart the project back in November. For 2013, I think I'm going to focus primarily on base and low end inserts with this one and see what I can grab at the local card shows from dime and quarter boxes. Hasek has a ton of high-end stuff that is way out of my price range, so why even waste time trying to track any of it down.

Patrik Stefan:

My other secondary player collection. 30 new cards for the PC in 2012. This is another project I started in 2012 and hope to continue with in 2013. Stefan has a bunch of cards from 1999-2006 and they can usually be found in the dime and quarter boxes around here, so that's what I'll be doing for this project in 2013. 

MVP SC Edition:

My primary set collection and part of the reason I started the blog. I think I made a pretty good dent in the want list this year: 18 Super Scripts, 8 Gold Scripts, 18 Silver Scripts, 2 Clutch Performers, 2 Golden Memories, 1 Cup Contenders, 2 Second Season Snipers, 1 Playoff Heroes, and 1 GU Souvenirs. Some of this was from another hobby box I busted. Anyway, that's 53 new cards for the project, the highest total of any of my projects for the year so far. For 2013, I plan to continue what I've been doing scouring eBay for Super and Golds then hoping to land the rest at card shows or through trades.

Metal Universe:

This is my secondary set project and has been one of my favorite base sets since I first saw it back in 1996-97. This year I managed to get 8 new base cards through trades and contests, but in addition to that I also busted a hobby box that brought me a bunch of much needed base cards and 2 lethal weapons inserts. Right now I just need 3 cards to complete my base set. For 2013, I'd like to track down those three and start working on the insert sets and maybe even the Super Power parallel insert sets. 

UD Showcase:

This is currently my tertiary set project and I've kind of just been grabbing singles when I see them for cheap. In 2012, I managed to get 6 new Rookie Showcase cards including a Sidney Crosby for just $10. In addition to the Hockey Showcase cards I got back in 2005 with the UD promotion, I have 26 out of a possible 76 cards for the combined set. For 2013, I'd like to keep looking for good deals on cards for both sets.

Masks:

This is more of a side project than anything. If I see any Mask card and the price is right, I'll get it because who doesn't love goalie mask cards? I only ended up getting 2 new Mask cards in 2012, and both only cost me just $1. For 2013, I'd like to do the same, if the price is right I'll pick these up but otherwise they're not exactly my top priority.

Red Wings:

The Wings are the team I grew up with and they will always be my favorite, so I'm always on the lookout for Wings stuff on the cheap. 2012 brought in a ton of cool stuff for the PC, so much that I don't feel like trying to count it up. For 2013, I'd like to continue what I've been doing and go for anything that catches my eye as long as the price is right.

Goaltending Gallimaufry:

This has become my favorite side project and I love the variety it provides. I never know what set the next card in the project will come from, which makes it that much more fun. 2012 brought 48 new cards to the project, bumping the total from 59 to 107. For 2013, I'd like to keep looking for these at card shops and card shows as dime and quarter boxes are the best place to find them.

Captured on Cardboard:

This is my other side project and has not moved along as fast as Goaltending Gallimaufry, but is still a fun one. 2012 brought 5 new cards to the project, bumping the total from 7 to 12. For 2013, I'd like to keep looking for these in the dime and quarter boxes at the local card shops and shows, they're just a bit harder to find than the Gallimaufry cards.

Collecting in General:

As far as collecting goals in general for 2013, I would really like to work on getting rid of the stuff that has no place in any of my PC projects. I've got hundreds of autos/jerseys/inserts/parallels that I need to inventory and add to my trade lists. On top of that, I probably have two 5000 ct boxes worth of base cards from 1990-2012 that I could go without. I'm hoping to start work on cataloging those too, but we'll see.

My other main goal is to make it up to Toronto for the fall expo. I've been wanting to do that for years now and every year I plan on going, something seems to come up. This time I am determined to go and will do whatever I can to make sure it finally happens. 

All in all, 2012 was a good year for me and my collection. I love blogging and I still enjoy collecting cards as much as the day I started this blog. Thanks to everyone that stopped by this past year and I wish the best of luck to you and your collections in 2013. 

Happy new year everyone!

Goaltending Gallimaufry: Lightning in Dallas

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

Man this trade just keeps on going doesn't it? I've got another card to show from Kevin over at Kevin's Collection that came as part of the trade we worked out recently. This one is for my Gallimaufry project and features former Stars goaltender Johan Holmqvist. 

The reason for this card making the cut is the blue and white you can see on Holmqvist's pads, gloves, and stick. Definitely does not work well with the black, green, and gold of the Stars' jerseys, does it? The reason for the mismatch: Holmqvist spent most of 2007-08 in Tampa Bay before being traded to the Stars at the trade deadline. 

This is the only card I have to show for the project today. Its another great example of whats out there as goalies are constantly changing teams. I wonder if there are many other cards with Holmqvist and his blue and white gear in Dallas along with the plain black "I've just been traded" mask. Who knows, maybe this is the only one.

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 107

Patrik Stefan: ICE 1st Rounders Jersey

Yesterday I posted about a trade I made with Kevin over at Kevin's Collection that brought me two new Jimmy Howard cards. Also included in the deal was a nice piece for my Patrik Stefan collection, a 2000-01 Upper Deck ICE 1st Rounders jersey.

This is my new favorite Stefan card. It an acetate card from back when ICE was actually a cool looking and feeling set. I like how you can see through the area behind the ICE logo and that you can see the back side of the jersey swatch from the other side of the card.

The other cool thing about this card is the way the jersey swatch window is cut in the shape of a number one. Its also a plus that it comes from the maroon portion of the Thrashers jersey as that is a bit more scarce than either the dark blue or white.

This one makes for 7 auto/memorabilia cards in my Stefan collection and is the 60th different card of his I've been able to track down. Not as impressive as my Hasek and Howard numbers, but it'll get there one of these days as his stuff is usually dirt cheap and there is almost zero demand for it.

Jimmy Howard: 2011-12 Between the Pipes

Thanks to a trade with Kevin from Kevin's Collection I now have two new Jimmy Howard base cards to knock off the want list for the PC. They both came as part of a trade he and I worked out over the last little while.

The first was this base card from 2011-12 Between The Pipes. This is one of those types of cards that I refuse to throw down a few bucks plus $3 for shipping on eBay when I can eventually grab it in a trade like this.

The other one was also from 2011-12 BTP, this time from the Stars and Stripes subset. It features some of the great American goaltenders both past and present including Mike Richter, Jim Craig, and Jonathan Quick among others.

These two are nice because the have great close-up shots of Jimmy's last two mask designs. The regular base card has his mask from 2010-11 and the Stars and Stripes has his mask from the 2011-12 season. I think its kind of neat that they carry the same basic card design through the main set and the various subsets. It gives the overall set a more consistent look. What do you think?

They also bring my Howard base card total 36. That doesn't seem like much, but the way I see it is I have plenty of time to track them down and its not like they're that rare anyway.

Thanks again to Kevin for the trade!

Goaltending Gallimaufry: The Net Detective

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

It's been a little while now since I've been able to put together a post for this series. While I haven't made any purchases towards the project in a while, I have had a nice stack of cards waiting to be scanned that were in my collection all along. Today's trio features "The Net Detective" Jim Carey of the Washington Capitals. 

The first one comes from 1995-96 Pinnacle Zenith Edition. This one has Carey pictured in the Capitals new (at the time) home jersey with his red and white gear from Portland. You can even still see the Pirates logo on the top of his mask.

The next one comes 1996-97 Upper Deck and features Carey in the Capitals new road jersey. The only difference between this and the Zenith is his mask. Here he is sporting a mask with an eagle, which is definitely more in line with the jersey than the pirates mask.

The last one comes from a set that I remember collecting as a kid, 1995-96 SkyBox Emotion. This one is the same as the Zenith other than the color of the jersey. 

That's it for now. I'm slowly chipping away at the stack of these things I have waiting to be scanned from my collection of 90's card I accumulated as a kid. I'm a little past the 100 mark now, but I'm really interested to see how far I can take this project.

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 106

Cards for Christmas

It's rare that a Christmas goes by without me getting at least some hockey cards. This year was almost an exception though, until I got to one of my last presents yesterday. Normally I end up with a few packs or even a blaster box from Target, which is perfect because how can you turn down free cards? 

While I didn't come away with any packs or boxes this year, I did end up getting two nice cards from my parents. While they don't really fit into any of my PC projects, I still like them and as with everything else this time of year, it's the thought that counts, right? 

Here's a look at what I got:

Did you get any cool cards for Christmas this year? Also, do you tell people that you want them as gifts when they ask? I find it hard to ask people to get me cards because there are so many out there that's its hard for non-collectors to get exactly what I am looking for.

Jimmy Howard: OPC Sticker

Stickers are hit and miss with me. For whatever reason, I really like the ones featured in this year's OPC release, but at the same time I'm not really a fan of the Panini stickers. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the OPC ones are actually card-sized and come from packs of actual cards, where the Panini stickers are their own standalone set. 

Regardless, my guy Jimmy Howard is featured in both sets and now, thanks to Sal over at Puck Junk, I can cross the OPC sticker off my want list. Here's a look at it:

Definitely not going to miss this one when sorting through my stack of Howard inserts. On top of the bold contrast between the yellow border, this card has an excellent low-angle shot of Jimmy guarding the Wings net. Together it makes for a sweet addition to the PC.

Outside the Box: My Dry Cell Collection

I'm sure most of you, like myself, have plenty of interests other than hockey and hockey cards. Anyway, after reading some of the "Outside the Box" posts over at My Hockey Card Obsession, I thought I would take a crack at this and bring something completely different to the table today, so know that before reading further.

You may have noticed that I added a "Song of the Day" box to the bottom of the sidebar. I did that because music is probably my next biggest interest after hockey. I like all kinds of music, but I'm particularly into modern rock, that being late 90's through today. If I had to chose a favorite band from this time period, it would have to be a now defunct group out of California, known as Dry Cell. Not surprisingly, there is a tie-in with hockey.

I first heard them on the Red Wings 2002 Stanley Cup championship DVD where they have two songs featured, one in the opening montage and a music video tacked onto the end of the video. Soon after seeing the DVD, I looked up who they were and they immediately became my favorite band. It was hard to find a song of theirs that I didn't like. This was all the way back in the summer of 2002.

They were supposed to be release their debut album "Disconnected" late that summer through Warner Bros, the company responsible for the Red Wings DVD. Long story short, due to a dispute between the band and the label, the album was scrapped and never released until many years later as a digital download on iTunes.

Backing up a little bit now, the band broke up around 2004 only to reunite again in 2007. At that time there was talk of another new album and they did in fact record several new songs. But, after all the talk of new music and new albums, nothing ever materialized and as of today the band is officially done. I don't know much about what the rest of the band is doing at this point, but if anyone is into watching "X Factor" then you might be surprised that the band's lead singer Jeff Gutt was featured on the show this past season (his rendition of "Hallelujah" can be seen here). Its a real shame he didn't get to take his talents more mainstream with Dry Cell. They had all kinds of potential as a group, but no one will ever know how far they could've gotten.

Ten years later, although completely non-existent now, this band is still by far my favorite. That being said, I have always been on the lookout for any kind of Dry Cell memorabilia. While my collection of stuff isn't very big, it still means a lot to me to have at least something commemorating my favorite band. Now it's time for a little show and tell. 

As with any band, there are always CD's to collect. That being said, at the moment I have four different albums. That may not seem like much, but considering none of these were never "officially" released on a mass scale, it's a nice little collection.

First I have a very generic looking 3-track sample CD:

Then there is this 3-track promo CD:

Then there is this single for the track "Body Crumbles":

Lastly there is the advance version of the "Disconnected" album:

I have a few other cool pieces of memorabilia too. The first one is this 8x10 black and white press photo that I picked up for a few dollars on eBay.

Then there is this cool 12" x 12" poster of the "Disconnected" album cover. Some people think it's creepy, but I love the picture they used for this one.

The last piece is my favorite so far. It's a test print of a Dry Cell poster from back in the day. The coolest part is that its uncut from the original print. You can see it has a title block in the lower right hand corner with some information about the design. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this on a music poster site a while back and got it for under $10. Needless to say, I've never seen another one of these and I'm glad to have it in my possession.

So there you have it, a break from the usual here. Hopefully it wasn't to boring of a read. I'm sure everyone else in the hockey card blogosphere has interests other than hockey, and I think it's fun to share things like this once in a while, don't you?

Do you have a side collection for your favorite singer or band? Also, have any of you ever heard of the band Dry Cell? If not and you're into modern hard rock, I encourage you to check them out, even if they are no more.