Mario Madness!

What's better than a Mario Lemieux rookie card?

TWO Mario Lemieux rookie cards.

Bought these two 1985-86 Mario Lemieux RCs at my local card shop last week. 

Now, you're probably thinking, Sal, does anyone really need two Mario Lemieux Rookie cards?

Well, no...I guess not.

So, If anyone would like to work out a trade for one, drop me a line.

The Jet Effect

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Seriously, what's with all the Jets fans? Where were all you people 15 years ago, when the team couldn't sell out its home games? Back then, the Jets couldn't fill a 16,000-seat stadium. Now they have 3 million fans (give or take).

I call this phenomenon The Jet Effect.  A mixture of nostalgia, along with fan-wagoning has led to legions of  fans to celebrate that Winnipeg is getting an NHL team again. No one likes to share in the pain, but boy they do come out for the party.

I am happy for the city of Winnipeg.

But calling the new team the Jets is a bad idea. That's like naming your new puppy after your old dog that passed away. It seems like a good idea, but in the end it leaves you sad and bitter.

Anyway, the surplus 2,500,000 Jets fans will fade away once they realize that their team is just the Atlanta Thrashers in different uniforms.

As for the remaining 500,000 Jets fans--enjoy your new team.

By the way, I've added a new poll--in the upper-right corner of this blog--about the Jets. Please take a moment to vote.

Some CC for the PC

I know it's been FOREVER since I've last posted--actually 8 days, but I've been so busy that it's felt like an eternity. I've picked up a lot of neat stuff over the past month, but just haven't had the time to blog about it until now. 

Anyway, I normally hate on the jersey cards--but not when they are of my favorite player, Chris Chelios. And one of them is actually a game-used stick card. That's not as bad, right?

The card you see above is from the 2001-02 Pacific Titanium set, has a piece of a SHER-WOOD stick and is numbered 144 / 252.

And this card is from the same set, has a piece of a patch and is numbered 007 / 112.

I have several hundred Chris Chelios cards, but surprisingly very few are jersey and memorabilia cards.

Anyway, this week I should have a bit more free time to show off some of the cool stuff I got recently.

2011 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions Set

Upper Deck is releasing a boxed set commemorating the Boston Bruins victory in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. It is available for order now, but will not ship for a few weeks. Priced at $19.99 (plus shipping), the set will consist of 31 cards. The breakdown is as follows:

• 25 cards featuring the best Bruins during the season
• 5 "Season Highlight" cards
• 1 card of the Bruins celebrating their win after Game 7

Twenty bucks seems kind of steep for only 30 cards. Then again, I love this idea. When the Blackhawks won the Cup last year, I hoped that a set like this would be released commemorating their championship. Back in the day, Pro Set used to put out Super Bowl commemorative sets that featured every player on both teams in the big game; I always wanted a hockey card maker to do the same for the teams in the Cup Finals.

You can buy the set--and find out more about it--here at the Upper Deck store.

I plan on purchasing this set. Is anyone else thinking about buying it?

2000-01 Upper Deck Vintage promo card

I love promo cards like this. Not only does it feature a different photograph of Leafs' goalie Curtis Joseph, but much of the information on the back is different - some even incorrect.
(Full story)

Timmy!

Go ahead, say it...you know you want to.



Congratulations to "TIMMY" Thomas on winning Game 7, winning the Stanley Cup, winning the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP...and for never giving up during the 10 years it took him to make it to the NHL.

Retro Article - I Pray for Ray

Ten years ago, I was finishing my undergraduate degree in multimedia at Columbia College. I was the Webmaster of the school paper, and wrote several hockey articles, ranging from columns and interviews to coverage of the Turner Cup playoffs.

You may recall that the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals were between the New Jersey Devils and the Colorado Avalanche. And just about everyone wanted Ray Bourque--who was with the Avs at the time-- to finally win the Cup.

So for my last article, I wanted to write about Bourque. Pulling an all-nighter--I had other work to do too--I didn't start writing this until 2 A.M. the day it was due. Somewhere between caffeine withdrawal and sleep depravation, I went off the deep end and prayed to the Hockey Gods.

I Pray for Ray (PDF - 239 KB)

1993-94 Classic Pro Prospects promo card

Radek Bonk made waves when, at age 17, he signed with the Los Vegas Thunder of the old International Hockey League. Most kids under 18 play against their peers in junior hockey, but Bonk was competing with men many years older than him. Classic Games, who specialized in making cards of prospects, took notice of this feat. They issued this card of Bonk to promote their 1994 Pro Prospects set. (Full story)

1995-96 Fleer Metal promo sheet

This 4-card panel was issued to promote the 1995-96 Fleer Metal Hockey set. These standard-sized cards are of Felix Potvin, Jeremy Roenick, Theoren Fleury and Richard Park. To one side is a 2-inch strip that has information about the set. The cards are perforated and can be torn apart from one another.(Full story)

2010-11 Artifacts Box Break #4

My fourth and final--for now--box of Artifacts. Here's what I got:

31 Base Cards

Let's hope Big Z and the Bruins can beat Vancouver! By the way, after opening 4 boxes I did not get a complete base set. Boo.

2 Artifacts Rookies

Maxime Fortunus 007 / 999 - Damn! I traded for this card already, a few months ago. But it gets worse...

Kyle Wilson 622 / 999 - Arrrrgggghhhh! Another double that I picked up in the same trade.

2 Artifacts Stars

Ilya Kovalchuk 411 / 999 - I already have this card too.

Jonathan Towes 233 / 999 - Ugh. Yet another double for me. But at least it is of a player I like and collect.


Now what really annoys me is that fellow blogger Joshua (Dodger Bobble) opened a box of Artifacts and got the same 4 short prints, which he then traded to me. Coincidence? Or crummy collation? I'm guessing the latter. Sure, I'm bound to get doubles here and there. But both of us getting the same short prints? Come on, UD...shuffle the deck a little better next time.

1 Rookie Redemption

#234 Wild Card - When I redeem this, it will get me a rookie card of Brandon Piri of the Blackhawks.

Autofacts Autographs

Andre Markov autograph - Well, at least it isn't another Buffalo Sabres' player.

Jersey Cards

Pascal Leclaire (Emerald) 46 / 50 - The bottom edges and logo are green.

Mike Green Frozen Artifacts 035 / 150 - Not sure how I feel about two red swatches on the same card. Seems kind of redundant, don't you think?

But wait...what's this....?

Alexander Ovechkin / Evgeni Malkin Tundra Tandems Emerald jersey card 31 / 35 - Sweeeeeet! A jersey card of Ovie and Gino.

Anyway, the jersey and short print cards (rookies, stars) are available for trade if anyone is interested.