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

Duplicity #5: Alex Auld

Duplicity - The quality or state of being double or twofold. 

Time for another Duplicity post, although this one is a bit different than the last few. By that I mean these two cards would've also looked great in my Goaltending Gallimaufry project with the mismatch between Auld's gear and the Canucks uniforms. 

The one on the left is from 2002-03 BAP First Edition and the one on the right is from 2002-03 BAP Memorabilia. The only real difference between the two is the one on the right is a bit more zoomed in. If I had to choose though, I would take the First Edition card because there is less cropping of the image.

Once again this is a pretty straightforward duplication of images. I don't understand how this can still happen today, even back 10 years ago when these sets were released. There had to be more than just one picture of Alex Auld that ITG could have used. 

I know if I were to see this as a player collector, I would be slightly annoyed about the lack of variety, especially considering both cards came from the same company. It's one thing when say UD and Panini happen to have the same picture, I understand that way more than this. Unless there is a legitimate reason, this is just pure laziness if you ask me.

Duplicity #4: Sebastien Centomo

Duplicity - The quality or state of being double or twofold. 

Instead of going with back-to-back-to-back Goaltending Gallimaufry posts, I thought I would squeeze one of these in today. This is the last of the PC projects that made up the big box of cards I got from Brett over at My Hockey Card Obsession. This is also my newest side project, so it's nice to get two new additions to it. 

This time we have former Leafs goalie Sebastien Centomo. The card on the left is his 2002-03 Upper Deck Young Guns RC. The card on the right with an enlarged version of the same picture comes from 2002-03 UD Foundations set.

It's pretty easy to tell that this its the exact same picture on both cards, unless there is some minuscule difference like the use of two different shots that were taken back-to-back by the same camera. For all intents and purposes, it's the same and that's all that matters.

Technically I could say the Young Guns card is a candidate on its own with the same image used twice on the front of the card, but that's not what this project is about. Maybe it will get an asterisk or something since I can see three of the same picture between two cards.

Goaltending Gallimaufry: New Additions (Part 4)

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

Time for part four of my latest round of Gallimaufry posts. This one has a bit less variety that the last few and you will see why as you scroll through this one. 

The first one is from 1997-98 Pinnacle Certified and shows Jim "The Net Detective" Carey playing with the Boston Bruins. He is pictured in their black road jersey with black and white pads and gloves. The one thing that sticks out on this one is his patriotic mask featuring a large bald eagle, definitely not Bruins related. This is from his time with Washington before being traded to Boston in a deal that sent Bill Ranford to the Caps. 

Here's where the lack of variety gets started. This one also features the exact same mismatch as the first one, only it comes from 1997-98 Pinnacle Inside, the set that came inside sealed cans instead of packs. 

More of the same here, just with a different jersey. This one is from 1997-98 Leaf. 

 One more for The Net Detective, this one coming from 1997-98 Pacific Paramount.

Now onto something different, this one from 1993-94 Fleer Ultra shows Craig Billington playing for the Ottawa Senators. He is shown in the black road jersey with a full set of gear that seems to match that. Well, if you look closely at his mask, there is a distinct devilish look to it, which is where he played before being traded to the Senators in June of 1993. 

Back to the repetition again, this one is from 1993-94 Upper Deck.

More of the same here from 1994-95 Upper Deck. Not sure why he still has a Devils mask a year later, unless Upper Deck was lazy and just used and old picture. Anyone know?

Another one from the previous year, this time from 1993-94 Score.

One more for Billington, this time from 1993-94 Parkhurst. 

The last one for today adds a third goaltender to this group, but is another one that's been featured in this project before. This one from 1999-00 MVP Stanley Cup Edition shows Mike Vernon playing for the Florida Panthers. It's harder to see on this one, but he is still wearing his teal leg pads and glove from his time with San Jose. 

That's it for this post. Not as much of a variety as some of these posts have, but still some solid additions to the project. I wonder how many other cards of Billington and Carey are out there at this point showing their respective mismatches. I think it would be kind of neat to have every card of a given goalie that features a specific mismatch, almost like a rainbow. 

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 149

Goaltending Gallimaufry: New Additions (Part 3)

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

Now that I've got myself a little free time again, I thought I would get to another one of these posts. This is the third of five posts I have planned for the Gallimaufry stuff I got from Brett over at My Hockey Card Obsession. Now let's take a look at the next ten cards.

This first one goes way back to 1991-92 Upper Deck and shows Bill Ranford playing with Team Canada in the Canada Cup. He is pictured in Canada's red jersey along with all of his white, orange, and blue Edmonton Oilers gear. This one is similar to the Trevor Kidd Team Canada card I posted a while back, click here to see it.

The next one is from 2003-04 Upper Deck Honor Roll and shows Jamie Storr playing for the Carolina Hurricanes. He is pictured in their road white jersey with matching pads and mask. The mismatch though is from his glove and blocker, which both still have purple accents from his time with the Los Angeles Kings. 

This one is from 1994-95 Flair and shows Guy Hebert playing for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He is shown in the road jersey, but has reddish looking pads, glove and blocker. For whatever reason, I cannot seem to figure out why this was the case. He was picked up in the expansion draft from St Louis, where I can't find a picture of him with these pads, so I have no idea where they came from. Any ideas? 

The next one also features Guy Hebert, this time from 2001-02 Pacific showing him with the New York Rangers. He is shown in their road blue jersey with a plain blue mask, but still has his Mighty Ducks colored leg pads, glove and blocker. He was claimed off waivers midway through the season by the Rangers, so it makes sense that he wouldn't have changed all his pads for just a few games in New York.

This one is from 1996-97 Pinnacle and shows Curtis Joseph with the Edmonton Oilers. He is shown in their dark blue and orange road jerseys, but appears to be wearing black pads along with a light color blue on his catching glove. This is another case where I'm not sure what the mismatch is all about. Any ideas on where this equipment would've come from? 

 

The next one is from 1993-94 Fleer Ultra and features Jim Hrivak of the St. Louis Blues. He is shown in their dark road jerseys with matching pads and gloves. The only mismatch is his mask that was from his time with the Washington Capitals, as evident by the red, white and blue as well as the eagle. Click here to see this same mismatch in a previous post on here.

This one is from 2001-02 SPx and shows Felix Potvin playing for the Los Angeles Kings. He is shown in their black road jerseys with pads and a mask that feature a touch of red, which is nowhere to be found in the Kings uniform. A little searching online shows that the red was from his time with the Vancouver Canucks. Click here to see this gear with the Canucks.

The next one is from 1995-96 Bowman and shows Eric Fichaud playing with the New York Islanders. He is shown in the Islanders infamous fisherman jersey, which I actually happen to like. The obvious mismatch is the light blue and white dolphin/whale on the side of his mask. This is from his time with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL.

This one from 1994-95 Leaf also features Eric Fichaud, this time playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs where he was originally drafted. Once again, he is wearing the same mask with the dolphin/whale mask, which does not go well at all with the blue and white of the Leafs uniforms. The black on his pads is also a good mismatch.

The last one, a rare sideways card for the project, is from 1997-98 Omega and shows Sean Burke playing for the Vancouver Canucks. He is pictured in the home jersey, but there is a good amount of red on his pads and an obvious Hurricanes themed mask. This is because he was traded from Carolina in January of 1998 in a deal that sent Kirk McLean the other way.

That's it for now. I like doing these in 10 card increments as its just enough to get a great variety, but not so much that it gets boring. Now I've just got two more of these lined up then I'll need to get out to some card shows to find some more good stuff.

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 139

Jimmy Howard: Limited Jumbo Jersey

I would've posted this earlier, but I just got home from my first roller hockey game of the spring season. It was a close game, but in the end we came away with a 5-3 win. The best part is that I scored 4 of those 5 goals for my team. Anyway, just one card to show today, and it's another one that I got from eBay for just $0.99 plus shipping.

This one is another nice jersey card from Panini. It comes from the 2011-12 Limited Jumbo Jersey set and is numbered 23/99 on the back of the card. Here's a look at it:

I love the size of the swatch on this thing, even if it is just plain white. I also like that this one show Howard in his short-lived "Doc Oc" mask from a few years ago. Click here to see a closeup of that mask. Other than that this is a pretty solid looking card, expect for maybe all the dead space below the jersey swatch.

Hopefully I'll be getting back to the rest of my Goaltending Gallimaufry posts tomorrow, although sometimes its good to break things up with something like this.

Goaltending Gallimaufry: New Additions (Part 2)

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

Time for ten new cards for my favorite side project. There is a nice mix of mismatched masks and equipment in this group. Some of them are making their second appearance in the project and others I haven't even seen before.

The first one is from 2000-01 BAP Memorabilia and shows Mika Noronen playing for the Buffalo Sabres. He is pictured in the Sabres home white uniform with matching glove and blocker, although there is a clear mismatch between the bright blue and white pads and the rest of the equipment. This is from his time with the Rochester Americans.

  

This one from 2000-01 Parkhurst also shows Noronen with the Sabres along with the exact same equipment setup. I kind of like having multiple cards of the same setup like this. It's a good way to have multiple looks at the same thing, even if it does seem to get repetitive.

  

The next one takes us back a little ways to 1994-95 Leaf, which shows Ron Hextall in a home white Philadelphia Flyers jersey. He's also wearing the "I just got traded" plain white mask along with blue and orange gear from this time with the New York Islanders.

Just like the Noronen, I've got another card that has a different look at the same mismatch in equipment for Hextall. This one is from 1994-95 Pinnacle and simply has a closer look at his mask and bright blue pads. It does look like he's got a black blocker, I wonder why that's the only piece up to date at that point in time.

Now it's time for one that doesn't have a second copy to go with it. This one is from 1995-96 Pinnacle Summit and features Jocelyn Thibault with the Montreal Canadiens. He is shown in a home white jersey with black and dark blue equipment from his time in Colorado. The best part is the Avalanche mask with Canadiens stickers plastered all over it. 

 

Here's another example of a mismatch that's already been featured as part of this project. This one from 1996-97 Score shows Jose Theodore with the Montreal Canadiens. He is shown in the red road jersey with clearly mismatching black and grey pads and mask. These are from his time with the Hull Olympiques.

This one is again another example of one that's been featured here before. It's from 1997-98 Donruss and shows Jean-Sebastien Giguere with the Hartford Whalers. He is shown in the road blue jersey with red, white and green equipment from his time with Halifax.

Next is another one showing the same mismatch. It comes from 1997-98 Pinnacle Inside. These were the first hockey cards to come sealed in a can. I remember getting a few of these cans as a kid and I thought it was the coolest thing.

This one from 1994-95 Parkhurst is new to the project and features Jon Casey of the St. Louis Blues. He is shown here in the Blues dark away jersey with all black equipment, a pretty nice contrast with the blue and yellow. This is from his time with the Boston Bruins.

The last one for this post is another featuring Jon Casey with the same mismatch, this time from 1994-95 Upper Deck. Not sure why he is still wearing all black with the Blues as he would've had all off-season to get new Blues colored gear.

So there you have it, ten more cards of goalies and their mismatched gear. I wonder how far this project can go, especially considering how many candidates I was able to find in just a few minutes on my lunch break the other day. Who knows, maybe the 200 mark will get here quicker than I thought.

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 129

Goaltending Gallimaufry: New Want List

I was reading one of the "Masked Mondays" posts over on Sportscards from the Dollar Store and saw a couple of great candidates for this project. The first was a Mike Smith from 2008-09 Victory and the other a Dwayne Roloson from 2010-11 Pinnacle.

Obviously these cards are not mine, so that got me thinking that I should put together a list of cards to track down as I see them on other blogs, forums, etc. With that in mind, I decided to jump on COMC and take a look at what was there based on a few of the names already included in this project, including Ed Belfour, Chris Osgood and several others. 

Here's what I came up with after about 15 minutes of searching:

     96-97 | Flair | Ed Belfour | #83
     96-97 | Select Certified | Ed Belfour | #11
     97-98 | Donruss Elite | Sean Burke | #39
     98-99 | Revolution | Jocelyn Thibault | #32
     01-02 | BTP | Chris Osgood | #72
     01-02 | Crown Royale | Chris Osgood | #90
     01-02 | Parkhurst | Chris Osgood | #204
     01-02 | SP Authentic | Chris Osgood | #51
     01-02 | UD Challenge for The Cup | Chris Osgood | #55
     02-03 | Mask Collection | Jeff Hackett | #8
     02-03 | Parkhurst Retro | Jeff Hackett | #195
     07-08 | Artifacts | Martin Biron | #49
     07-08 | Be A Player | Mike Smith | #175
     07-08 | MVP | Martin Biron | #123
     07-08 | OPC | Martin Biron | #360
     07-08 | Ultra | Martin Biron | #56
     07-08 | Upper Deck | Martin Biron | #128
     08-09 | OPC Retro | Mike Smith #338
     08-09 | Victory | Mike Smith | #22
     10-11 | Pinnacle | Dwayne Roloson | #78

Now, if you have any of these cards laying around and no longer have a need for them, I would love to get some trades going for these. Or if you have seen cards that would fit in this project, feel free to send me whatever you've seen and I'll add it to the list. 

I'm hoping to have the next round of Gallimaufry cards from My Hockey Card Obsession scanned and posted by tomorrow, so stay tuned for that.

Goaltending Gallimaufry: New Additions (Part 1)

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

This has become my favorite side project now, just because of the variety of things I've been able to come up with for it. This latest batch is no different and brought some really great pieces to the project. I've got close to 50 new cards to show, here are the first 10. 

This one from 2002-03 Upper Deck Mask Collection, shows Jean-Marc Pelletier playing for the Phoenix Coyotes. While his mask appears to be designed for the Coyotes color scheme, his pads, glove and blocker are all red and white. From what I can tell, this is from his time with the Lowell Lock Monsters, the farm team for the Carolina Hurricanes at the time.

The next one is from 1993-94 Score shows Rick Knickle playing for the Los Angeles Kings. He is sporting an all white mask and pads that all all black with red trim. Based on his career stats, it appears these would be from his time with the San Diego Gulls of the IHL. 

 

This one from 2002-03 Between the Pipes, shows Chris Mason playing for the Florida Panthers. He is pictured in a white Panthers jersey with matching glove and blocker. His leg pads and mask however, are clearly from his time with the Nashville Predators. 

This one from 1997-98 Pinnacle Certified shows Bill Ranford playing for the Washington Capitals. He is shown in a home white Capitals jersey, but the rest of his equipment is black and yellow from his time with the Boston Bruins. 

The next one is from 1999-00 Pacific and shows Kevin Hodson playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is shown here with a Tampa themed mask, but the rest of his equipment is bright red and white. This is from his time with the Red Wings before being traded at the 1999 trade deadline in exchange for Bill Ranford.

This one from 1998-99 Black Diamond shows Felix Potvin playing with the New York Islanders. He is shown here in a home white Islanders jersey with blue, white, and black equipment. This is from his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he spent his entire career before that time. 

The next one from 1995-96 Select Certified, shows Don Beaupre playing for the Toronto Maples Leafs. He is picture in a home white uniform, but there is a clear mismatch between the black and red on his pads, glove, and blocker. These are from his time with the Ottawa Senators before being traded to Toronto.

  

This one is from 2003-04 Pacific and shows Craig Anderson, although his name is misspelled Andersson, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. There is a pretty clear mismatch between the blue and yellow of his equipment and the red and black of the Blackhawks uniforms. This is from his time with Norfolk Admirals of the AHL.

This one is from 1999-00 Dynagon Ice and shows Kevin Weekes playing for the Vancouver Canucks. He is pictured in their home white jersey with a generic mask and pads that appear to have an orange-ish red trim. This is most likely from his time with the Florida Panthers before being traded. Click here to see a picture of him in these pads with the Panthers. 

Last but not least, we have this one from 2006-07 Between the Pipes showing Jimmy Howard playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins. I've noted before that Howard is a perfect candidate for this project, but before I put any of his cards in this binder they go to my box of Howard stuff. This one would be a double so I figured why not? The mismatch with his mask comes from his college days at Maine. 

That's it for part one. I will have at least a few more of these posts as there were a ton of great cards for this project included in the box. I'm well over the 100 mark with this project now, which is amazing because I never thought it would really get this far. You never know until you try something I guess, right?

Goaltending Gallimaufry Count: 119