We Take a Break From the Playoffs to Check Out Some Cards

It's time for another CheckOutMyCards quasi-blaster. Flush with some PayPal funds and the need to polish off the 1983 Topps set I fired up the browser and went searching for some more cards to make the shipping worth it. Since you'll see pictures of the front, let's also highlight some notes on the back.

1983 Topps George Brett All Star

The back of the card recounts the 1935 All-Star Game held in Cleveland. Jimmy Foxx drove in 3 of the AL's runs in the 4-1 win. Lefty Gomez picked up the win by pitching 6 innings. Imagine a starter in the All Star game going six innings nowadays? The internet would lose its collective mind. Also, we need more people named “Arky” in pro sports. Arky (given name Joseph Floyd) Vaughn scored the lone National League run.

1983 Topps Rickey Henderson

Hey, Rickey was born in Chicago! Didn't know that. Also, through the 1982 season, his 4^th in the majors, he already had successfully stolen 319 bases. The current active stolen bases leader in the majors right now is Ichiro with 500. However, it took the Japanese superstar 16 seasons to get there. Which means he should tie Henderson's record of 1,406 sometime around 2045.

1983 Topps Pete Rose Super Veteran

In '83, Rose had 20 years of service time in the major leagues. Right now the only active players to eclipse that mark are Alex Rodriguez (22 years) and David Ortiz (20 years). Ortiz is planning on retiring after this year and Rodriguez after next. Who knows if anyone else will get close to that number anytime soon?

1983 Topps Randy Jones

In 1974 Jones lost 22 games for the San Diego Padres. The next two years he won a combined 42 and pitched 600 innings and won the Cy Young award in 1976. That workload took a toll on his arm and he never recovered from a nerve injury he suffered in the last start of that year. In fact, he never posted a winning record in his remaining 6 seasons and finished with an overall losing record of 100-123.

2012 Topps Heritage James Shields

Shields had 11 complete games in 2011. He is still the franchise leader for the Rays with a total of 19 (also with 8 shutouts). The closest current Ray is Chris Archer with 3. Shields is currently tied with Clayton Kershaw for 4^th among active leaders with 22. If you're looking for records that are never going to be broken Cy Young's 749 complete games has to be number one.

2015-16 Nikita Kucherov O-Pee-Chee Retro Variant

The information is a little sparse on the back of this one despite the fact that everything is in English and French. Kucherov is listed as being born in Maikop,Russia. It appears to be a small typo as a quick search lists the town name as “Maykop”. The name translates to “Valley of apple trees”. That's nice.

1983 Topps Ozzie Smith

Woo-hoo! Set complete! Ozzie is shown in a Cardinals uniform as he was picked up from the Padres in a trade on 2-11-1982. The trade was Smith, Steve Mura, Luis DeLeon to the Padres for Sixto Lezcano, Gary Templeton and Al Olmsted. According to The Sporting News the trade almost fell apart due to Smith's demand for a higher salary. The negotiations led to a great quote from then St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog, “Ozzie is a great fielder and baserunner. I'd like to have him. But if he doesn't want to come to St. Louis, I don't want him. No .220 hitter is worth what he's asking [$750,000]”. Restrosimba has a great post on the troubled trade.

(ed note – Upon further review. The set is not complete. Apparently I still need a Robin Yount. Damn my fading memory.)

2012 Topps Heritage Eric Hosmer

Hosmer played two seasons in the Carolina League for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. My parents live in Wilmington, North Carolina. It's a nice little city just a hop, skip and a jump from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Another awesome fact – it was where Dawson's Creek was filmed.

2013-14 Panini Contenders NHL Link Ondrej Palat Autograph

A poorly worded anecdote on the back:

Palat was on a road trip with his AHL club in Hershey, Pa., when he received a call on March 3, 2013 telling him he'd be playing WITH the Penguins that night. His team had a casual dress code, so Palat had to run to a store in Hershey to buy a suit before jumping in a car for the three-plus-hour drive.

OK. So there are two issues with that description. The glaringly obvious one being that Palat played against the Penguins not with them. Also, the game was played on the 4^th, not the 3^rd. Tighten your fact checking game, Panini.

In case you were wondering, Palat picked up an assist on a Tom Pyatt goal in the 4-3 loss to the Penguins.

2014-15 Upper Deck Premier Rinks of Honor Autographed Booklets #RH-JD

Not a bad card for less than a lunch in the city. I didn't realize it was an autograph until I read the back of the card. Drouin signed it in gold ink and it looks really, really nice. It doesn't show up on the scan, but in person it's quite nice.  Now I just have to figure out if I want to display it or just throw it in the Lightning box. I'm going to say that depends on what happens in the offseason with young Mr. Drouin.

According to the back of the card the official seating capacity of the Amalie Arena is 19,204. Upper Deck did check it's facts as the official Amalie Arena website confirms that number. For the 2015-16 season the Lightning averaged 19,092 fans for their home games, good enough for 8^th in the league. And they said hockey wouldn't work in Florida.....

1983 Topps Pete Rose Super Veteran

Wait, what? Yup. I managed to order the same card twice in one order from COMC. Looks like it was left in my cart from a previous visit to the site. Make sure to check your orders, kids. That's $.60 I could have spent on another card.

So that's another quasi-blaster break from our friends at Check Out My Cards. Seriously, check them out and buy something.

https://retrosimba.com/2012/02/12/how-the-cardinals-deal-for-ozzie-smith-almost-fell-apart/

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442795

http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

Ravens Lose a Close One So I'll Rip Some Hockey Cards

I just realized that it has been almost three months since I’ve posted anything about hockey/baseball cards.  For a blog that receives the bulk of its web traffic from the Sports Card Blogroll that is damn near unacceptable. So consider the schneid officially off and enjoy a “retro” hockey break.

Last week I managed to get four out of five days off from the hotel.  Not only that, but The Duchess was also out of town for most of that break.  So what does a middle age guy with days off and a quasi-bachelor weekend do in Chicago with his time?  Well, this guy works on his hockey card collection.  Yup, multiple hours of updating photos on Zistle and organizing trades.  Woo-hoo.

One of the drawbacks of organizing the chaos and getting cards sorted and put away is the desire to buy new cards to sort and catalog. Unfortunately, the new Upper Deck (double rookie class!) isn’t coming out for a few more weeks.  And while I do have an income these days, the fiscal wallet squeezing from my unemployed days still looms over my purchasing habits.

However, the urge to buy was too great to be satiated by a value pack from Target, especially once I received the weekly specials email from Dave and Adams.  So, I went online card shopping.  After perusing the bargain isle I decided on a box that offered at least four hits for under 50 bucks. Not a bad value.  So here we go with The Hopeful Chase Box Break Review of:

2011-12 Panini Rookie Anthology

Ten packs, five cards per pack with 2 autographs and 2 relic cards “guaranteed” along with a BONUS back that contained an auto or relic.  So umm….why not just advertise five hits?

Anyway, I left the bonus pack till last and got to ripping. 

Base cards:

I must say they are pretty clean looking cards.  The simple white background with angled borders focuses attention on the player photo.  I like that the borders coincide with the team colors. It makes for a well put together card that feels and looks a little like SP Authentic.  With only 100 base cards, putting together a full set hopefully won’t be too difficult.

Non fancy inserts

Each pack featured an insert of some sort.  Anthology gets its name by incorporating inserts from other Panini sets. At least I’m pretty sure that is where the name comes from. Sprinkled among the base set were inserts from Crown Royale, Pinnacle, Certified, Contenders and Luxury Suite.

Rookies:

All of my rookies were inserts – with four of them being Pinnacle Dufex inserts. Excuse me, I mean Nufex inserts:

Out of the four I guess Louis Leblanc is the best of the lot.  At least he’s not playing in Germany or Finland. I’m not a fan of the Nufex cards, just a little too busy and hard to make out details.  Some folks love ‘em, though.  Go figure.

Calder Candidate

Serial numbered out of 999.  That’s nice.  Mike Murphy is a number one goalie…..in Charlotte. With Cam Ward still stopping pucks and Justin Peters as his heir apparent it would probably behoove Murphy to find a new organization (I hear Edmonton could use a goalie).

Rookie Royalty:

I’m a sucker for die cut cards, especially ones that look like a crown.  The player could have been better, as Kytner is currently playing in the Czech League after appearing in one NHL game in his career.

The Hits

Leaf Certified Freshman Signature Brett Bulmer.  I’m watching the Lightning play the Wild as I type this up.  Bulmer is not playing.  At least not for the MINNESOTA Wild. He’s apparently he’s toiling for the Iowa Wild these days (2 goals in 2 games – maybe he’ll get a call up).

Draft Year Combos Devin Setoguchi and Marc-Edouard Vlasic

I’ve been eyeing the Vinny Lecavalier/ David Legwand version of this card for a few years now. I like the concept and the execution.  Two white swatches are kind of meh, but overall a nice card.  I think I know someonewho might enjoy this card.

Rookie Rivalry Tomas Kubalik/Ryan Ellis

Another nice dual relic card.  I’m not a big fan of the layout, if they went horizontal with this look I think it would be a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Rookie Treasures

Another card with multiple pieces of sweater on it rounds out my 4 guaranteed hits.  Panini slapped a sticker autograph on the bottom which makes up for them yet another two white swatches.  Is it me or does Da Costa look like he just saw a ghost?

THE BONUS HIT!

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting much out of the bonus pack.  I’m usually not that lucky.  I was thinking that it would be a nice card of some guy that I had kind of heard of, but was playing in the KHL these days.  Instead I got this…..

Three colors!

Autographed!

Numbered to 99!

Someone I’ve heard of!

A name that is really hard to spell!

Look it’s hard to have a “perfect” hockey card.  However, the only reason I would knock points off of this card is that it is a sticker autograph. If this was hand-signed I might have to put this in the Perfect Card Hall of Fame.

Even with the slight blemish, this card really made my day.  Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet.

Overall this was a fun break.  I think Dave and Adam http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2011-12-panini-rookie-anthology-hockey-hobby-boxstill has boxes for about $47 online. Even with 2011-12 not being the strongest of rookie classes it’s still a fun box to rip.  I’ll probably be getting another one and seeing if I can put the base set together….or get enough dupes to send some out for TTM autographs.

Anyone else rip this one back in the day?

I'm Calling Them Out

Panini
Upper Deck
In The Game

If this isn't on a slab of cardboard next year then someone dropped the ball.

Photo by Phil Ellsworth/ NHLI via Getty Images

For the record I think it was an iffy penalty at best. Skinner's  Brandon Sutter's only option was to stop and Stamkos still would have plowed him into Garon. Then, again if the 'Canes hadn't blown a two-goal lead they wouldn't have been in overtime in the first place.

My Pappy used to tell me, if you're in a position where an official decides the game then you don't deserve the win. I think it was my dad, sounds like something he would say since he was a umpire and all.

C'mon Panini!

Even though I’m no longer a set builder I like to keep an eye on the products that the companies are releasing just to see if there is anything novel.  Last week Panini, one of two companies that have a NHL license, released some images from their upcoming 2011-12 Limited Hockey set.

Panini, long known in the U.S. for their sticker yearbooks, jumped back into the hockey market last season with mixed results.  They revived several defunct brands such as Score, Pinnacle, and Donruss while also offering collectors an alternative to Upper Deck’s monopoly.  They also flooded the market with thousands of pointless parallel versions of cards and inserts upon inserts. 

One of the new inserts for Limited Hockey is Back to theFuture. The card will feature autographs from two players from a team.  From their post they think the cards are a “compelling insert {that} unites one current superstar with one all-time great (along with their respective autographs)”.  That’s not a bad idea for an insert set.  Although I don’t collect vintage cards, it’s nice to see cards that tie the past with the present.

Their website features some pre-signed versions of the cards.  Some of the pairings are pretty cool: Brad Marchand/Ken Linesman, Claude Giroux/Tim Kerr and Jeff Skinner/Ron Francis. These cards should be a big hit for team collectors, especially since it appears the cards will be hand-signed.

As I was scrolling through the images I was delighted to see the Lightning represented in the set.  Even though I would be classified more as a player collector than a team collector since I focus most of my collecting budget on Vincent Lecavalier, it’s still nice to see the boys from Tampa included. 

The “current superstar” half of the card is Steven Stamkos.  As the most prolific goal scorer over the last three years, that’s pretty much a no brainer.  Stamkos is the best player on the team and does have appeal outside of the Tampa Bay area (enough so that he made the cover of NHL12). 

Look at the flowing locks! - From Panini's site

So who, out of the almost 20 year existence of the organization, did Panini pick to represent the “all-time great”?  None other than Steve Yzerman.  Holy crap do I have a problem with that selection. Not just a little problem, but a large-probably-overreacting-taking-too-personally-problem with it.

I don’t disagree with the notion that Yzerman is an all-time great, just not for the Lightning.  If you want to put his autograph in the set, put it on the flipside of Pavel Datsyuk.  Yzerman has done a good job of putting a professional product on the ice in Tampa, but he never donned the uniform for Tampa Bay.  Heck, he hasn’t even been with the team as long as Stamkos has. 

Sweet Suit Stevie - From Panini's site

Despite what some people in the media and in the stands believe, the Lightning existed before they drafted Steven Stamkos in 2008.  Hundreds of players, some good, a lot not-so-good, have skated for them since the franchise debuted with Chris Kontos banging in 4 goals against Chicago on October 7, 1992.  It strikes me as lazy and a bit of a shot at the organization that Panini would chose Yzerman to represent the other half of the card.

So who should Panini have tracked down to sign the cards instead of Yzerman? From looking at the other pairings it appears that Panini matched up players with similar skills, or at least ones that played the same position.  So that rules out Darren Puppa (and as a novelty, Manon Rheaume) since he was a goaltender.  Chris Gratton was more of a big, physical center, not the gifted scorer that Stamkos has developed into.  Rob Zamuner, Alex Selivanov and Dave Andreychuk were all wingers so despite their contributions to the team they’re out as well.

That leaves, as the only logical choice, Brian Bradley. The center from Kitchner, Ontario was the first true scoring threat, some would say the only threat, for the Lightning. He played 328 games for the Bolts from 1992 to 1998 and tallied an even 300 points.  He scored 111 goals in a Lightning uniform and provided some legitimacy to the organization in its infancy.

Overall in his career he also played for Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, logging 652 games and 503 during that time.  He retired during the 1997-98 season, a season prior to Vincent Lecavalier joining the team.  I wonder if Lecavalier’s transition to the NHL would have been smoother if Bradley had been around to help him out.

I don’t know why Panini chose Yzerman.  If someone over there reads this, feel free to let me know.  They imply that this insert is for team collectors so it would be nice if they actually picked someone who skated for them in the past.  They might not know it, but there those of us that remember folks who played for them prior to 2008.

If they were worried that no one outside of Tampa would know, or want to collect a card with Brian Bradley on it at least chose an organizational figure that has been tied to the team longer than a season and a half.  Throw Phil Esposito on the other half of the card and I would understand.  Like Yzerman, Espo never played for the Lightning, but unlike the current GM, he has been around since day one.

Either guy would be better, especially in those uniforms - Photo from St Pete Times

I would be remiss not to mention that the cards Panini posted on the website aren’t the complete set.  There is a chance that there is a second card that represents an actual player from the Lightning’s past. After all, the Alex Ovechkin card shown features Mark Messier as the other signer and while that is a cool card, not entirely indicative of Washington’s past. 

Despite being in the same area for 20 years having a hockey team in Florida still seems to be a bit of a novelty for the rest of the hockey world. That holds true for the collecting world as well.  Throwback sets rarely feature Lightning players, even if they feature other players from the 1990s.  Cards like the one Panini is producing don’t help the cause. 

The Pinnacle of My Day

I did something today that I haven't done all summer. I bought a pack of cards. Things have been a little slow on the pack/box buying because of our current economic situation. I was in Target doing the normal daily shopping (yes I grocery shop everyday, because well it gives me something to do instead of staring at a computer) and saw that they had a very slim selection of loose hockey cards, as in they had none.

So I dug around the value box to see if there was anything worthwhile in there. There were a couple of packs of Pinnacle (not marked down) and a couple of packs of 08-09 Upper Deck. I went with the Pinnacle simply because I hadn't busted any of it this year and wanted to see what my luck would be in one retail pack.

I know my luck. I wasn't getting a Tough Times autograph or a City Lights Materials card. The only thing I was looking for was a Vincent card. Or any Lightning card for that matter. Well, let's get right to it and see how I did.



Not a bad way to start. Alex Ovechkin freight-training Tomas Plekanec. Or as the back of the card says he's "more than willing and able to play the role of the rough and tumble".

I'm not really digging the way that was written.




Scottie Upshall celebrating a goal. Or the fact that he wouldn't have to move to Winnipeg.



Tyler Ennis pulling a Bobby Orr against the Penguins. Or is it the Panthers? Nope, it's the Blue Jackets. Hey NHL teams, how about we stop with the dark blue uniforms and circle crest in the middle.



Wow, I really do not like this card. Let's see why:
A. East Coast Bias prevents me from liking Detroit.
B. The Phoenix player gets absorbed by the border.
C. This probably would have been sweet as a horizontal card.
D. Hank Zetterberg sucks.
E. All of the above.
F. A,B,C,D

That's right it's F!



As much as I disliked the Zetterberg card, I really liked this one. Doesn't Pavelic just look happy to be playing hockey and not, say, unconscious in his goal crease?




Patric Hornqvist getting stopped by Carey Price. I flipped through this pack about 4 times on the bus ride home (grown man looking at hockey cards and I'm not even one of the top five weirdos on the bus! Love the Big City!) and it wasn't until I scanned the card until I noticed it was an "Artist Proof" parallel. Way to make your inserts stand out!




Bryan McCabe. No jokes here. It feels like I would just be piling on.



Daniel Alfredsson. Nothing to striking about this card other then the look on Alfie's face. Almost as if he's surprised he scored. Take a look at the fan under his left armpit.



Man? Woman? Brett Michaels? Even looking at it a day later I'm not sure.

And the final card in the pack!



Boom! Lightning player! Big Vic Hedman. Not only does it look like he's doing an excellent job of obstruction Daniel Alfredsson, it also looks like he's thumbing Popeye in the eye. Good job Vic!

There ya have it. For $2.99 I got 9 cards, wait what? Nine cards? The pack says I should have gotten 10 Cartes De LNH a Collectionner. Why those no good, scruffy-looking.....

Panini's Big Pull

As I was whiling away the hours on Wednesday I took a gander at Panini's site and noticed they had posted a preview of 2011-12 Certified Hockey. Normally, I'm not one to comment on card previews as I think it's hard to judge a product without seeing it in hand. However, one of the inserts that they have included in next season's set is Big Pulls





Pretty cool. An insert with a fairly large autograph on some sort of textured background (not sure if it's a relic or not). And who doesn't like Jeff Skinner? No really, is there anyone that doesn't like him?

But wait! There's more!



The autograph actually slides out of the card, hence Big Pull becomes a devilish play on words.

I'm not going to lie, me likey this insert. As in I might break my $15.00 per card self-imposed eBay limit should a certain center that hails from Ile Bizard be featured in the checklist.

It will also be interesting to see if this set evolves in future generations. For instance, perhaps include an action photo in the space behind the auto so that when it's pulled out there isn't white space showing.

Honestly, an insert like this does more for me then a video trading card. Nice to see Panini bringing something new to the table. At least I'm assuming they're bringing something new...does anyone else know of a similar product from the past?

(photos pulled directly from Panini's blog, please don't sue!)

Our First Hockey Product of the Year!

It's July, the draft is over and free agency Christmas is over. That means it's time for companies to release their upcoming product. The first notice I received in my in-box was from our friends at Panini. Their first foray into hockey with their new NHL license is 2010-11 Panini Certified.

I don't know if it's because we've only seen Upper Deck product for the past few seasons, but I am intrigued by this offering. It's not in my price range at the moment (SRP is $10.00 for a five card pack), but I will be scouring the internets for Vinny's cards.

The product slicks advertise 10 packs per box (8 boxes per case) and each box should contain the following:

 

• 1 Autograph
  
• 2 Memorabilia Cards
  
• An additional Auto or Memorabilia Card
  
• 1 Mirror Red Parallel
  
• 4 additional parallels or inserts
  
• 50 super-premium cards per box
  

The release date is posted as September 22^nd (or roughly the same time Ilya Kovalchuck makes a decision), just in time to catch the buzz of the season is opening.

Based on what I see I like this product. It looks like Panini is coming out of the gates strong with their new license. I'm not sure if they are using sticker auto's or not. If they are, then they've done a good job of incorporating them into the design based on the examples below.

 

New Panini Platinum Release Information

It's kind of funny. I haven't watched a single basketball game until this past weekend. It's not that I don't like the NBA, actually it is because I don't like the NBA. However, since I'm living in a town with a team in the playoffs it only seems fair that I give it a shot. I did and, hopefully, Chicago is eliminated soon. Four games might be the max number of games I can watch.

What makes it humerous is that today I received an email from Panini (as I'm sure a lot of other bloggers did) with a press release for their new NBA product - Panini Platinum. Make of it what you will....



RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2010
CONFIGURATION: 5 CARDS, 18 PACKS, 12 BOXES
PACK SRP: $5.99

BOX BREAK
2 Autographs, 3 Rookies, 2 Prizm Green, 1 Jam Masters, 1 Future Stars, 1 The Franchise, 4 Others

HIGHLIGHTS
Exclusive Kobe Bryant on-card Autographs!
The Franchise Prizm Green Signatures numbered to 49 or less!
Rookie Prizm Gold signatures numbered to 24!
Rookie Prizm Blue Signatures numbered to 49!
Rookie Prizm Red Signatures numbered to 199!




Prizm Black parallels numbered to 1!



JAMMASTERS!



Common!



Prizm Green Signatures