Douglas Boosts My Whalers Collection Again

Recently my buddy Douglas from Sportscards from the Dollar Store once again did some shopping on my behalf at one of the big expos up there in Canada.  I've never been to one, but I picture these as similar to the huge card shows I can remember as a kid when the hobby was "booming".  Douglas might be the single most generous blogger out there in terms of the number of people he sends cards to regularly, it seems to me he spends about as much time picking out cards for others as he does for himself.

He actually reached out to me a few days before the show to confirm that my Whalers want list was up to date!  A couple weeks later I received a package with some great additions to my Whalers collection, including this Ulf Samuelsson rookie.  I've basically got all the Topps Whalers cards at this point, but my O-Pee-Chee collection is sort of lacking.

It's in much better shape now though than it was before I grabbed this bubble mailer out of my mailbox.

1987-88 is one set that I actually did have a few cards from, but thanks to Douglas checking my want list on Zistle these three were all new to me.

I also received a trio from that set's predecessor, '86-87 O-Pee-Chee.

Yup, that's definitely way too easy to read to be a Topps back!

This would have been my favorite card in the package had it not been for one other which I've saved for last in this post.

Horrendous airbrushing job on this one, wow!

Some more airbrushing here, what an awkward photo with Richie looking off to the side and an empty arena behind him.

Now that's much better!  So many awesome things about this card, such as:

• So much green
• Cooperalls!
• Denim-on-denim fashion violation occurring in the seats
• Don't recall seeing the "Playing in Europe" designation on too many O-Pee-Chee cards
• Dude's name is Merlin

Maybe I should have ranked that my favorite card in the pack looking back on it...

I swear one out of every two Whalers cards from the '80s is airbrushed.  I do like this one of the current 'Hawks head coach despite that fact.

I think 1982-83 might be my favorite O-Pee-Chee design of the decade.

This Dave Debol represents my very first 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee card.  Same deal as Topps except without the terrible scratch-off-puck gimmick that Topps used that year.

I don't do the best job of keeping up with recent releases, but Douglas sure does.  I can't tell you how many times now he's sent me a Whalers card I didn't even know existed yet.  This would be one such example.

This would be another.  In fact, Douglas has virtually kept me up to date with nearly every Whalers card released in a modern base set for the past couple of years now.  The only shame is that Upper Deck thinks Ron Francis is the only guy who ever played for the team apparently.

This was my absolute favorite card in the package.  I love that it illustrates the team's transition from the WHA to the NHL, since Al is shown wearing his fantastic New England Whalers sweater.  I don't collect memorabilia other than cards, but my one sports jersey is a Gordie Howe New England Whalers sweater just like the one in this picture.  Great logo.

The best part about '79-80s though are the backs.  Best back design of all-time on a hockey card.  That cartoon rules.  I like it so much that I've made it my avatar for the time being, so you'll be seeing it whenever I comment for a while.

Thanks again Douglas!  I sent you off an envelope a short while back but I've already got another stack building up for you.  This package and the recent one from Dave H have really inspired me to get moving with my Whalers collection (and long-neglected blog) again.