Signature Sundays - Ulf Samuelsson

Time for the year's first Signature Sundays post.  Today, in the wake of some really great news, we're returning to a set that I featured a couple of weeks back, 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures.  I've already shown off the Pat Verbeek auto, but he's not the only Hartford Whaler on the checklist.  Next up we have Ulf Samuelsson:

I have to be honest, Ulf is far from my favorite Whaler.  I wasn't the biggest fan of his "playing style", and he's certainly been a part of some ugly incidents during his career.  On top of that he was involved in the worst trade the Whalers ever made, getting shipped along with Ron Francis to Pittsburgh, who promptly went on to win consecutive Stanley Cups.

All of that being said, he was a core member of Hartford's defensive unit for many, many years, including during my first years as a Whalers fan.  Because of that I've wanted to pick up an auto for some time, and I'm grateful that Panini made that possible.  Like the Verbeek this card has a really great in-game action photo.  What I love most about the card is the signature itself though.  Ulf was clearly very enthusiastic about getting an autographed card, that is one of the largest on-card autos I've seen.  The 'F' in Ulf goes right off the bottom border of the card, I love it!

Still really digging the back design as well.  I said this in the Verbeek post and I'll say it again; while this set may be getting poor reviews from collectors because of the price point, there are some awesome cards to be had on the secondary market.  I totally agree that I'd be bummed about pulling an Ulf Samuelsson auto from a $159/box product, but this is still a beautiful card.  It set me back all of $7.01, plus a couple bucks shipping.  Small price to pay to knock a card off of my Whalers auto want list.

Well, that's all for today.  Enjoy your NFL playoff football, and soon NHL hockey again!