It's Opening Night!

Ahhh.... it's good to have hockey back. With only football on tv right now, it's great to have another sport going on week nights.
Of course we also have a new tv deal in place. Which means the dreaded "exclusivity" word is going to be talked about ad nauseam.
From what I can tell, in true Canadian tv spirit, what we were told six months ago when the deal was signed and what is actually happening are quite different.
We were told, ``NO MORE BLACKOUTS!``
What we have is.... a LOT of blackouts.

ugh.

So to celebrate... uh... oh yeah, the season starting, I`ll show off a few recent card pickups.

first, a little P.K. to start the day.
this is a mini tall boy card, only available via the OPC wrapper redemption. You send in 50 hobby wrappers and you get a pack of 6 cards. Five are red bordered parallels and one is a mini tall boy.

 I managed to get Mr Subban here at the last card show in a larger deal for $2.

Also from the current set is the black bordered foil parallel /100
I overpaid at $4, but I don`t mind. That`s what you get when you buy the day after the product comes out.

The foil parallel of Carey Price set me back $1. A no brainer.

Here`s a card that I traded for at the last trade night. I hardly ever see relics or autos of Bob Gainey so when I saw it, I knew I had to trade for it. Thankfully the previous owner is an easy trade partner and a deal was soon struck.

The rest of `em are all Mask cards.
A Brian Hayward from 12/13... I now only need two to finish my set. Irbe and Quick.

And a set I`ve really just started on, the 13/14 Masked Men 6 set.

I picked these up for between $1 and $1.50 each over the last two shows, plus trade night.

I`ve said it before, and I`ll say it again... I don`t like junior goalies in my Mask set.

But Mr Grahame here gets bonus points... Boobs!

another newish feature are the goalies with their International masks. I don`t think I like this either..

 but it is more acceptable than having the juniors included

Thanks for taking a peek.

It's good to have friends looking out for you...

that post title is not only true in life, but in the card world as well. (Yes, there IS a difference. Acquiring cards is NOT an important factor of a good life. It's just one of the perks)

 

My wife and I  were out driving to the opposite side of the city last Saturday (my wife wanted a milkshake from a particular place located about 45 minutes from our house. What my wife wants.... she gets.) when I received a text message from our friend bamlinden from My Hockey Card Obsession.

 

He was at our local monthly card show and was asking what card numbers I needed to complete the 2013 In The Game Masked Men 5 insert set. We both love the goalie mask cards long time.

Being where I was doing what I was doing, I couldn't answer. But I told him I'd get back to him later.

 

Fast forward to late afternoon on Sunday, and I get another text message. He managed to grab a "couple" of cards for me.

 

A couple = thirteen, by the way.

 

 

Here they are, in glorious pinky-red refractory shiny goodness. After this, I only need three more to finish off my 50 card set.

 

The Eagle!

 

for some reason, Fleury is both card #9 AND #10 in this set. Two different masks, but still....

one of the least deserving members of the Hall of Fame. Grant Fuhr? Really???

Grattoony the Looney!

Speaking of looney...

CUJO! WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!

Olie the goalie.

One of my faves, Denis Herron

Bobby Lou in a retro turned current mask. How's the weather down there?

Kirk McLean. I got nuthin'.

Never liked this guy. Too bad I missed his final year which was with the Habs.

Speaking of never liked..

and finally, Damian Rhodes! Um.... yeah.

 

 

Thanks Brett! A great swap for sure. First time I've ever traded food for cards, but whatever works.

Now does anyone have Brian Hayward, Arturs Irbe or Jonathan Quick???

Kraft dinner!

my first Check Out My Cards order arrived a couple of weeks ago. 113 cards. Of which, 8 were of the hockey variety.

Only 8? Yeah... hockey cards are just a wee overpriced on comc. Must be a lot of Calgary sellers on there or something. Maybe they think it's an online showroom or something...

 

Anyways,

 

I picked up one card to go towards one of my sets, the other seven cards went into my player collections.

 

The first card I went for after attending our hopefully annual huge card show here in Big C. The seller had a graded 10 copy of it, and also a hefty $30 price tag.

 

I grabbed a mint, sharp cornered, well centered version for $0.35 cents. It's a 1986 Kraft Dinner card of Chris Nilan.

 

 I like mine better.

For Knuckles, I also obtained a 1991-92 Stadium Club for $0.60....

 and a snazzy 91-92 Bowman for $0.50

 Keep in mind I would never pay these prices in person, but on comc I sell crap I don't want dirt cheap, then use that to purchase cards I do. So I don't mind paying a little more.... a little.

Sticking with the same theme.... I got four cards of Lyle Odelein as well.

A gold parallel from 1994-95 Parkhurst SE for $0.63

and a copper parallel from 2000-01 Paramount for $0.70

Jersey card alert! 2000-01 Titanium Draft Day for $1.25. I can't believe how thin this thing is...

and an on card auto from 1995-96 Be A Pplayer for $1.25 as well.

a single card of Carey Price that no one around here would ever trade me. From last year's Fleer Retro set, the metal parallel for $1.00 It doesn't scan very well...

and finally a mask insert for the 2013 ITG:BTP mask subset.for another $1.00.
I'm slowly building this set... these are hard to find at realistic prices.

So there they are... I had fun shopping for them. And they all look fantastic in their respective binders.

Who are those Masked Men?

There was a trade night at one of the local shops last night. Not a lot of trading due to the lack of new product... as I've said, a lot of collectors around here don't recognize or want cards more than 3 weeks old.
I need to write a book called "The Life, Trials and Tribulations of a Set Collector." Woe is me.

Anyways... despite the lack of trading, I did make a purchase.

The shop had 9 of the 2013 Masked Men inserts from In the Game's Between the Pipes.

I scooped up all 9, plus an autograph, for $20. That's $2 per card for you English majors.

Let's gawk at the shiny goodness.

Gary 'The Cobra" Simmons. LOVE IT!

Dan Bouchard. I wish ITG could find a pic of Bouchard's teammate Yves Belanger. Another awesome mask. A huge replica hangs on the side of the Saddledome here in Big C.

Gerry Cheevers. His mask necessitates inclusion in every mask set, every year. Or so it seems.

Marc-Andre Fleury. Again we see the ITG card on the side of his mask.

Domink Hasek. The Dominator... this time with Ottawa.

Jimmy Howard. Nice Mustang Jimmy.

Manny Legace. Wait. Manny Legace???

Gilles Meloche. One of my all time faves.

and Semyon Varlamov. I wonder if he misses Washington?

the final card to round out the purchase was this auto of Oilers goalie, Eddie Mio.

Eddie came over to the Oil in the Gretzky swap. He was also Wayne's BFF and best man at his wedding.


Thanks for looking... I now have 12 of the 50 Masked Men 5 insert set. If you have any to help me out, let me know. I'm always looking to swap.

Randomness...

Trade night at the local shop was last night... lots of good discussion and catching up, despite the best efforts of the idiots in New York who are trying their best to destroy our National Pastime.

 

Of course it's also Xmas time... and despite some amazing sales going on... I held fast and didn't purchase any boxes, just some much needed supplies. Hopefully I'll have some cash left over in January to spluge on cards. Hopefully.

 

I only pulled off a couple of trades. The first was on a set that I've been working on since the day it came out. 2012 ITG BTP Masked Men Ruby Die Cut.

 

Jonathan Quick has joined the party.

 Now only four more to go. #'s 1, 29, 30 , and 41.

Do you remember when I acquired this?

 Did I show this off? I can't remember... Anyways... I managed to trade off Taylor in exchange for
another Ultimate auto, this time Guy Carbonneau....

 and a Tough Times auto of Terry O'Reilly. Terry is #/250.

 The only other acquisition was a gift. A buddy gave me this 2009/10 Fleer Ultra eX insert of Carey Price. It is a sweeeeeeet card. Acetate, diecut, and in full relief. Beauty!

 I also got a handfull of basecards from that same set....

That's my randomness for today.... there's a card show tomorrow. I wonder if I'll be able to go and NOT spend any money.
We'll see.
Any odds?