Signature Sundays - A Trio of Panini Classics

I have officially fallen hard for the 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures autos.  For today's Signature Sundays post we've got a trio of them, recently won from the same eBay seller.

First up is Brian Mullen.  I always picture him with the New York Rangers, given that he's depicted with them in the very first hockey card set I ever collected, 1989-90 Topps/O-Pee-Chee.  Brian broke into the league with Winnipeg though, and was a solid scorer before health issues forced him out of the game in the early '90s.  You could pretty much count on Mullen to provide you with 20-30 goals and 25-40 assists year in and year out.  This one will pair nicely with the Dave Babych I showed from this set a couple of weeks back since he's also shown with the Jets.

Next we have a tough guy, The Grim Reaper.  This one set me back just $2.84 if you can believe that.  I was happy to acquire this card because Stu did spend a single season with the Whalers (the very last before their move to Carolina).  Stu is featured with the Whalers on one of the insert autographs from this same set, but until I track that one down the autographed version of the base card will suit me just fine.  Remember those awful Mighty Ducks sweaters?  I am glad the team has moved away from that whole gimmick.

Panini did a nice job with the write-ups on the backs of these.  Did you know that Grimson pursued a legal career after hockey?

Rounding out the trio, we have goaltender Darren Pang.  I was sold on this one because I really like the photo, and because like Brian Mullen, Darren here was on the checklist for the first set I ever collected.  Someday, when I have more time, I'll have to sit down and see how many of the players from that set are represented with autographed cards in my collection.  Darren's got a very nice signature, definitely my favorite of these three.

Of course, as the back states, younger hockey fans are probably more familiar with Darren's work as a commentator than his time in pads.

These three cards set me back a grand total of $12.65, with shipping included.  They're the 7th, 8th and 9th autos I've tracked down from this set, but with prices like this they certainly won't be the last...