War Room - March 2, 2010

The March 2 episode of Got 'Em! Need 'Em! took place way before the trade deadline, so we talked about how card companies dealt with traded players--from airbrushing uniforms to issuing updated/traded sets.

Some of the cards that we discussed are:

• Ed Olczyk
• Wayne Gretzky
• Martin Havlat
  
• Peter Marsh

This week's clip is 11 1/2 minutes long.


If the above player does not work, you can get the clip here. Just right click on the link, and select either "Save As..." or open it in a new tab or window.

Thanks to the great guys at XM Home Ice for providing me with the clip.

War Room - Feb. 24, 2010

The February 24 installment of Got 'Em! Need 'Em! was lengthy! First, we discussed sticker sets like Panini and Esso. Then, the talked about the best and worst hockey card trades we made "back in the day."

This week's clip is just under 18 minutes. Go grab a sandwich and a tasty beverage, and give it a listen.


If the above player does not work, you can get the clip here. Just right click on the link, and select either "Save As..." or open it in a new tab or window.

Thanks to the gents at XM Home Ice for providing me with the clip.

2009-10 Champ's Hockey box break #2

(Can you find the hockey player on this box? What about the sailboat? No? Keep looking...)

On Monday, I posted my first box break of 2009-10 Champ's Hockey, as well as some general info about the product. Read that post before continuing this one. I'll wait...

Done? Good. Let's see what I got in my 2nd box of CHAAAAMMMMPPPP'S:

49 base cards.

Out of 98 possible cards between the 2 boxes I bought, only 8 were doubles. Still wish that 2 boxes would have merited me 1 complete base set (1-100), so I can get on with my life. Either way, I enjoy the abundance of oldschool players like Mario Lemieux here.

5 light blue parallel cards

Yep, enjoying the oldschool players...but not all the stupid variants.

2 orange parallel cards

Hey Roy, where's Sigfried?

1 yellow parallel card

Each of these stupid parallels could have instead been a base card that would have completed my set.

17 mini cards

It would take you 12 boxes of Total Champ's to get 192 mini cards.

1 "red back" mini parallel - Same as a standard mini card, but the ink on the back is red instead of black. Not even going to waste my time scanning such a stupid variation.

5 mini rookies

5 rookies per box IS depressing. That's one for every 4 packs.

6 Natural History

Give me that Fillet-O-Fish...give me that fish!!!

3 Historical Figures

Now Canadian kids can learn about U.S. Presidents, and U.S. kids can learn about Canadian Prime Ministers. Who says hockey cards can't be educational.

1 Wonders of the World

Oh great....the Great Pyramids.I remember hearing that there were 7 wonders of the world, but somehow Upper Deck managed to make this "Wonders" set 28 cards. Are there really 28 wondrous things?

All right, then. Let's check out those hits!

Mini Jersey - Patrick Sharp

SHARPIE! A red swatch of a Blackahwks player. Being a 'Hawks fan, I can't complain about this one.

Mini Jersey - Jordan Staal

Yes! A black swatch of a star NHL player. Another awesome card...er, that is if you like jersey cards.

Mini Jersey - Steve Shutt

Hey, waitaminute....why did I get 3 jersey cards? Well, you get four "hits" per box, at least 1 being an autograph. My previous box had 2 'graphs and 2 jersey cards. Shutt is in the Hall of Fame, but the swatch is white--that looks a bit garish against the beige-colored card.

Mini Autograph - Tim Kennedy

Ugh! What's with all the autographs of noobs? After playing in 1 NHL game during the 2008-09 season, Kennedy is currently a regular with the Buffalo Sabres. At least it isn't a card of some guy who's now playing in Europe.

After opening two boxes, it seems that the jersey cards are pretty top-notch, while the autographs are mediocre. Of course, two boxes (8 "hits" total) might NOT be a large enough sample to make such an assessment. Perhaps I'll purchase another box, but only because I really want to get one of those one-per-case prehistoric artifacts cards like I did last year.

If you are a causal card collector, you might just want to try to pick up a base set on eBay or at a show. The mini cards--including the Historical Figures and Rookies--are another story. Getting all of those will take a lot of work--and money.

Anyone collecting these? If so, let's trade. Check out my Want List and Trade List.

Upper Deck renews hockey trading card license

Upper Deck was granted a licensing extension with both the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association on Thursday (press release here)

This is surprising, given Upper Deck's recent legal troubles. First, they were sued by Konami for making counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards. Upper Deck settled out of court on January 10 of this year. In early March, Upper Deck settled out of court with Major League Baseball after being sued for copyright infringement.

Then again, Upper Deck--through their exclusive licensing arrangement--has grown the hockey card hobby within the past 5 years. You can find hockey cards in Wal-Mart and other chain stores, and rookie cards--though sometimes hard-as-hell to find--do retain their value for the most part.

And though the company does a lot of things that piss off hockey card collectors (short prints, sticker autographs, and such), they do for the most part make great products.

Has any company innovated sports card collecting as much as Upper Deck over the past 20 years? Upper Deck has vastly improved sports trading cards, including better photography, better printing and that little hologram on the back to thwart counterfeiting (ironic, huh?)

Still, part of me would have liked to see what would happen if another company was given the license, like In The Game or Topps. ITG could go back to making "real" hockey cards, and Topps could go back to making "real" O-Pee-Chee sets.

Meanwhile, Upper Deck is copping a smug attitude on their blog, acting as if a shared exclusive with Panini won't hurt their business. Here are some of the more quote-worthy bits--along with my commentary:

But this time around we’ll be sharing the stage with Panini America, maker (for the most part) of collectible stickers.

"Maker...of collectible stickers"? Sounds a bit condescending, as if stickers are not real collectible items. Upper Deck glosses over the fact that Panini owns Donruss, which has been making sports cards since 1981. Plus, Panini owns the Score, Leaf and Pinnacle brand names. Those, along with Donruss, all have some degree of equity with hockey card collectors.

In fact, due to some of our grassroots campaigns to grow the hockey card market, the powers-that-be at the league offices figured it was time to open things up to allow for two hockey card manufacturers since the audience continues to grow.

Or maybe the "powers that be" saw Upper Deck lose millions of dollars in two out-of-court settlements and decided to not put all their money on one pony.

Will opening things up to include more than one licensed hockey card manufacturer be the best move for collectors? We’ll all have to take a wait-and-see approach, but Upper Deck is comfortable with the arrangement.

Do we really believe that UD is comfortable with going from the only game in town to having to actually compete for our hobby dollars?

Are we nervous about the competition? Not in the least. In fact, we say: “Bring it on.”

This sounds cocky. Cocky, but believable. Upper Deck should be nervous about having to TRY for the first time in 5 years. But when UD does try, they usually succeed.

Final thought: One company having exclusive rights to make NHL trading cards is bad. At least with two companies, they'll try to one-up each other--and the collectors will come out on top.

Panini gets NHL trading card license

On Wednesday, it was announced that Italian card manufacturer Panini was granted a license to make NHL trading cards starting next season. Beckett had two different stories on the matter:

Panini adds NHL license

NHL Executive Dave McCarthy: 'This Was a Difficult Decision'

For the better part of the past two decades, Panini has manufactured hockey sticker albums in the U.S., Canada and Europe. They also purchased the Donruss company, strengthening their position as a major player in the trading card market. Currently, they have exclusive rights to make trading cards for the National Basketball Association.

This is great news for hockey card collectors. For the past 5 years, we have lamented the fact that Upper Deck had a monopoly on both the NHL and NHLPA licenses. Whereas Upper Deck had to try to be competitive with the other major sports, they had pretty much cart blanche when it came to hockey. For example, a pack uf Upper Deck baseball cards costs $3 and have 18 cards so as to compete with Topps. On the other hand, Upper Deck hockey cards also cost $3, but only have 8 cards. And let's not forget redemptions, sticker autographs, mismatched jersey swatches, and all the other things that fans have perennially complained about. Upper Deck had no real competition when it came to hockey, so why would they even try?

Panini getting a hockey license gives Upper Deck a reason to try. This fall, Score hockey cards will return for the first time in over a decade (Score is one of the brand names owned by Panini/Donruss). I never thought I'd look forward to buying Score hockey cards again.

Likewise, going up against an established hockey card manufacturer like Upper Deck gives Panini reason to do their best too? Who will have better looking cards?

Who will offer more cards per pack at a better price? Which brand will offer the best inserts? Autographs? Other incentives to collect?

Competition is a good thing, my friends. 

However, there is some bad news in this. Thus far it has been implied that no other companies will be granted official hockey card licenses.

That is a shame, as In The Game is deserving of such a license. In the past 5 years, ITG has made hockey cards despite not having a license from the NHL or NHLPA, instead focusing on retro-themed sets, upcoming prospects or international competition. (Really, what else can you do if you can't show current players or NHL logos?)  ITG seems to be the only company that really knows--that really cares--about hockey. Unfortunately, they don't have the "up front" money to be taken seriously by the League.

In a perfect world, Panini, Upper Deck, In The Game and Topps (remember them?) would all be granted licenses to make official NHL trading cards, and collecting would return to the hockey card utopia that was the 1990s.

2009-10 Champ's Hockey box break #1

Chris Chelios adorns the front of this year's Champ's Hockey set.

• 20 packs per box
• 5 cards per pack (3 standard-sized cards, 2 mini-sized cards)
• 4 "hits" per box (jerseys and/or autographed cards)
• Between $65-$70 per box

I thoroughly enjoyed last year's Champ's Hockey set. Sure, some of the cards--of dinosaurs and passenger pigeons and such--were a bit odd. And the rookie card mini set was nearly impossible to put together. But the standard set itself had a classy, early 20th century look that I enjoyed.

This year's Champ's set looked just as cool--and boxes are around $70, instead of $100 like they were last year. So I decided to jump in with both feet and purchase two boxes.

This is what I got in the first box:

49 base cards

This year, the base cards have a muted blue border. In fact, none of the jersey or other colors are bright, either. If he subdued colors don't bother you, then you'll probably like this design. Personally, I like the muted hues because it adds to that old-timey feel. 100 of these make up the base set.

5 light blue parallel cards

Unfortunately, this year's Champ's set is heavy on the parallels. You get one light blue bordered parallel card in every four packs. But if that isn't bad enough...

 2 orange parallel cards

 ...then there's also orange-bordered parallels, falling one in every ten packs. And yes, I did get the normal (blue), light blue and orange versions of Nikolai Khabibulin in this box...which would be great if I collected variants of Russian goalie cards, or something to that extent. 

1 yellow parallel card

 Does anyone else see the uselessness of these parallels. I'd rather be 8 cards closer to completing a base set than get 8 cards with variant border colors. These yellow variants come one in every 20 packs. I guess that matters if you have a fetish for yellow-bordered cards. 

18 mini cards

The mini cards are closer in size to the cigarette cards from a century ago.There are 192 of the mini "non rookie cards", so it will take you some time to put together this set.

1 "blue back" mini card parallel - the only difference is that the ink on the back is printed in blue instead of black. A dumb variation that is not even worth scanning. 

5 mini Champ's Rookies

This year's Champ's set skips out on the regular sized Champ's Rookies, and instead only offers the mini-sized rookie cards. The slightly shiny gold border of these mini rookie cards somewhat betrays the early 20th century design. Also, only 5 rookie cards per box is kind of depressing if you think about it.

5 Natural History

For some inexplicable reason, I like these cards. Yeah, they are kind of pointless in a hockey set. Maybe that's why I enjoy them.

4 Historical Figures

Presidents and Prime Ministers? Apparently, Lester B. Pearson was a Canadian Prime Minister, and not just a trophy name. I learn something new every day.

1 Wonders of the World

Why? Seriously--why? Oh, and at one per box, you know some idiots will be trying to get $10-$20 for one of these on eBay.

Mini Jersey - Chris Osgood

Osgood has played a long time, and red-colored Red Wings jersey swatches are quite plentiful. So, it's not like this card is super rare or anything. Nonetheless, Osgood has had a mighty fine NHL career.

Mini Jersey - Daniel Alfredsson

Rockin'! And it's a black swatch too--which looks a lot nicer than a white swatch against the tan card background.

So that's two decent-looking jersey cards of two stellar NHL players. Onto the autographs, then...

Mini Autograph - Oscar Moller

Uh oh....you know you're in trouble when you pull a signed card of a guy you've never heard of. Of course, people in Los Angeles know who this guy is, but until now I didn't. Maybe I'll get an autograph of a "known player"...

Mini Autograph - Andrew Ebbetts

Andrew Ebbett? Come on! Yeah, I know this guy...he played 10 games for Chicago this season--a season where he started in Anaheim, went to Chicago and is now currently with Minnesota. Sorry if I can't get too excited about pulling this signature (FYI, I wrote to Ebbett a few months back, and he is very fan friendly with TTM autographs).

Balancing out the two decent jersey cards are two mediocre autograph cards. You'd expect 'graphs of these guys in lower-end sets, but in Champ's? Of course, at the $65-$70 range, Champ's is more of a "mid-range" product now; a step above Upper Deck proper, and a few steps below Black Diamond or Artifacts.

Later this week, I'll post what I got in my other box of Champ's, as well as some other goodies I scored at the card show this past Saturday.

Rookie Card Haul

I picked up a TON of rookie cards at the card show on Saturday. OK, sure--a ton is a bit of an exaggeration. It was 55 to be exact. Some of them are pretty good too. Here' s what I got:

Two (2) 2002-03 Upper Deck Young Guns for $2.25. The Curtis Sanford card cost me $2; the other one (Chris Bala) was only a quarter. 

Six (6) 2003-04 Upper Deck Young Guns. Jordin Tootoo, Antoine Vermette, Joni Pitkanen, Matthew Lombardi, Anti Miettinen and one scrub. Total spent on these 6 cards: $11. 

One (1) 2005-06 Upper Deck Young Guns. Eventually, I will pick away at these--cheaply--until all I need is Ovechkin and Crosby. In the meantime, this Valtteri Filppula card brings me a step closer. Cost: $5

Five (5) 2005-06 Fleer Ultra Rookies: Brent Lebda, Jussi Jokinen, Andrew Alberts, Patrick Eaves and one scrub--all for $4.

Eight (8) 2007-08 Upper Deck Young Guns. Drew Miller and 7 others for $18. Only 17 more YGs, and I'll have the complete '07-08 Upper Deck set.

Fifteen (15) 2008-09 Upper Deck Young Guns for $29. No one super-notable, though I did pick up former Chicago Wolves (and current Atlanta Thrasher) Boris Valabik.

Twelve (12) 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Marquee Rookies for $18, including Kyle Okposo. 

Six (6) 2008-09 Champ's Rookies for $22, including Luke Schenn, Robbie Earl and Shawn Matthias

Unfortunately, I did not complete any of the above sets--though I am 17 away from having all 100 Champ's Rookies, and just 6 cards away from finishing the 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Set (the high number set is a different story).

This week, I'll post a few of the other cool things I picked up.

I'll be tweeting from the card show

Today--Saturday, March 20, 2010--I am attending my favorite twice-annual card show: The Sun-Times Sports Collectibles Convention (link).

I love this show. It is like a twice-a-year religious experience for me. I have a routine to this now that involves getting a cheap breakfast at Burger King (I know, I know) and jotting down a few items that I am going to look for that day (one vintage card, X amount of Young Guns, etc.).

When I get to the show--usually around when the doors open--I roam the floors, checking out every table, pack on my back and want list in hand.

I always end up getting some stuff that I need, and some stuff that I didn't know that I needed. And of course, there's always a bunch of stuff I can't afford to get.

This time, I'm going to do some Twitter updates from the show. Just to get into the habit of  Twittering. You can check my Twitter page, or check my Twitter status updates on this page here. 

And next week, I'll post pics of some of the cool cards I pick up.

War Room - Feb. 17, 2010

Have I really fallen a month behind in posting my appearances on XM Radio's "The War Room"? I guess I have. Truth is, the past few weeks I've been so busy that I didn't have time to update this blog. Now that the art show has opened--with much fanfare, and without any problems--and my final projects are done, I can get back to blogging. 


Anyway, Olympic hockey cards were the theme of the February 17th episode of Got 'Em! Need 'Em!.

This week's clip is about 11 1/2 minutes. Enjoy!



If the above player does not work, you can get the clip here. Just right click on the link, and select either "Save As..." or open it in a new tab or window.

Thanks to Mick and Pete of "The War Room" for sending me the clip.

'Hawks on Leno

Although I am still angry that Conan O'Brien was pushed off the air by Jay Leno, I still watched the Tonight Show on Tuesday because the Blackhawks made an appearance. Check it out--it's pretty funny, and only a minute-and-a-half long.



EDIT: This embedded video does not seem to be working right now, so try this link.

PuckJunk - now on Twitter

I just joined Twitter. Follow me, and I promise to tweet about hockey cards and collectibles. In fact, I'm going to a sports card show this weekend, and plan on tweeting about all the cool stuff that I see / buy / can't afford.

My Twitter page can be found here. You can also see my latest updates in the right-hand column of this blog.

After the weekend, I should be back to updating this site more frequently. But right now, I still have to finish writing an 8-page paper (due Thursday).

A few random things...

A few odds and ends that I want to mention...

War Room: This week, I will be on "The War Room" on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Since Wednesday is the trade deadline, "Got 'Em! Need 'Em!" is being bumped to Tuesday. But just for this week. For those of you who have XM Radio, the show is on Channel 204 at 10 AM CST. And if you don't, I have an archive of my radio appearances here.

New Members: Thanks to David Jameson, Mariner1 and Wax Wombat for becoming the newest "Puck Junkies." This blog now has 34 members.

Welcome to the Blogroll: I've added a few hockey blogs to my reading list. The Real DFG, maintained by Tim, is a blog about hockey cards and the Pittsburgh Penguins. A Little Chippy, maintained by Katherine, is a blog that focuses on the Chicago Blackhawks, but also touches on cards and collectibles.

New Blogs: The hockey card blogging niche just got a little bigger, with Open Ice Hits and Drop the Gloves! adding their two cents on the hobby. I've also linked to them from my blogroll.

Free Hockey cards March 2: The Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins will all give away free hockey cards at their respective home games on Tuesday, March 2. The first 10,000 fans at each game will be given a pack of Upper Deck hockey cards that contains 5 exclusive cards of that particular team. Anyone who finds themselves with an extra set they'd like to trade, please contact me.

Art Show: On an unrelated note, those of you in Chicago may be interested to know that I am curating an art show called Art of Play, which is about video games, traditional games and toys. Want to know more? Check out the show's website.

And finally...due to the art show I'm curating, as well as final projects in my two grad classes, I may be a bit scant on posts over the next two weeks. Once I get this show, a final paper, a final presentation, a final photography project and a final website behind me, I'll be back to doting over this site like I normally do.

Career in Cards: Mark Johnson

Before changing our focus from the Olympics and back to the NHL, I thought it would be fitting to do one final Olympics-themed article about Mark Johnson. 

Johnson played on the "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic team in 1980, and was the coach of the silver-medal winning U.S. Women's team in 2010. He also had a fine career in the NHL too, playing 11 seasons with the Penguins, North Stars, Whalers, Blues and Devils.

 

1979 Panini Stickers #213 - Mark Johnson played in the 1979 World Championships for Team USA. This predates his "real" rookie card by a year.

  

1998 Sports Illustrated for Kids #666 - The card was released in 1998, but it shows Mark as a part of the "Miracle on Ice" team that won the gold medal in 1980. Johnson scored 5 goals in the tournament--including 2 in the upset game against the Soviets.After that, he went on to join the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

EDIT: I was informed that the above card actually pictures Mark Wells and not Mark Johnson. 

  

1980-81 Topps #69 - Johnson's rookie card. Notice the USA Hockey logo in the upper right. All of the "Miracle "players who appear in this set have that logo on their cards. Pretty neat, since it acknowledges their Olympic accomplishment. He played the full season with Pittsburgh.

1981-82 - Neither Topps nor O-Pee-Chee made a card for Johnson this year. He was traded to the Minnesota North Stars at the end of the season, but wouldn't stay there long.

  

1982-83 Topps Sticker CUSTOM - Another year without an official card. O-Pee-Chee did not include Johnson in their 1982-83 set, while Topps didn't even make hockey cards that year. However, Topps did produce a set of 263 hockey stickers. This custom sticker I made "pretends" that there was a 264th sticker of Mark Johnson, who joined the Hartford Whalers right before the season started. As you can see, that sticker set has a no-frills design.

  

1983-84 O-Pee-Chee #140 - Johnson was named team captain that year, and led the Whalers with 87 points. He also played in the 1984 NHL All-Star Game, scoring 3 assists.

  

1984-85 O-Pee-Chee #72 - Johnson put up good numbers--roughly a point per game--before getting traded to the St. Louis Blues in February 1985. He and goalie Greg Millen were traded to the St. Louis Blues for goalie Mike Liut. Johnson's time with St. Louis--just like with Minnesota--would not last long. 

  

1985-86 Topps #44 - Johnson ended the previous season with the Blues, but played the entire 1985-86 season with the New Jersey Devils...

  

...and thus was included in the 1985-86 New Jersey Devils Postcard Set. (More about this set)

  

1986-87 O-Pee-Chee #112 - Johnson scored 25 goals and 26 assists in 68 games that year.

  

1987-88 Topps #101 - His third year with the Devils.

  

1988-89 O-Pee-Chee #45 - Johnson scored 38 points in 40 games that season. I like how colorful this card is.

  

1989-90 New Jersey Devils #12 - His 5th and final season with the Devils.This card is part of a set that was given out at Devils games during the '89-90 season.

  

1990-91 Upper Deck #180 - Johnson was not in the NHL this year. He played in Italy and Austria that season, and then called it a career. At least as a player.

1995-96 - Johnson coached the Madison Monsters of the Colonial Hockey League, and was named Coach of the Year.

1996-97 to 2001-02 - He then served as the Assistant Coach to the University of Wisconsin Badgers (NCAA).

2002 to present - Johnson is the head coach of University of Wisconsin's Women's hockey team.

2010 - Johnson coached the U.S. Women's team to a silver medal in the Olympics. 

Overall, Johnson played 11 seasons in the NHL, scoring 508 points (203 G & 305 A) in 669 games. He played in the Olympics once, the Canada Cup tournament 3 times, and the World Championships 9 times.