Signature Sundays - Calle Johansson

We're back this week with another autographed card from the set that started it all for me on the hockey side of the house, 1989-90 Topps/O-Pee-Chee!

I have both the '89-90 Topps and O-Pee-Chee complete sets these days (they're cheap enough and easy to find), plus my original binder of childhood cards as well.  Since this was before the days of tough-to-find hits and inserts, I'd pretty much collected these two releases as much as anyone could.  A while back I got to thinking though, and as a new way to enjoy these sets all over again I've been picking up some autographed cards here and there.

This "Super Break Certified" Calle Johansson is my latest example, at $2.50 with free shipping courtesy of eBay.  While he may be a name that modern fans of the game don't instantly recognize (unless they happen to collect junk-wax-era hockey cards), Calle carved out a lengthy 17-year career manning the blue line at the NHL level.  He may never have been the top defenseman on a Capitals team that had some great ones over the years (Scott Stevens, Rod Langway, Al Iafrate to name just a few), but he was an integral part of the team for a decade and a half nonetheless.  They don't keep you around that long unless you're providing real value.

Man, these card backs take me back!  Calle was a Valentine's Day baby, meaning my buddy Douglas of Sportscards from the Dollar Store collects him as part of his shared birthday collection.

A nice signature from Calle here in bold, blue marker.  Very pleased to add this one to my slowly growing collection of these '89-90 autographs.

For the first time I tallied these up earlier this morning, and I'm now up to 17 autographed 1989-90 hockey cards in my small sub-collection.  For those who are curious, I've started a Google Photos album to keep track of them as I (hopefully) get more over time.  You can see the current set of 17 here.

Have you ever started a collection of autographed cards from a particular set?  If so I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments.  Thanks as always for stopping by, and enjoy your Sunday!