Card of the Month - November 2011

For the fourth straight month now I've managed a Card of the Month post...I'm really on a roll! Every so often I browse the hockey or baseball card auctions on eBay just to see if there are any real bargains about to end that I can snipe at the last minute. This month's card is the result of one of those last minute bids, and in my opinion it was an absolute steal for the price:

2008-09 Upper Deck - #235 - Claude Giroux - Young Guns RC

Claude Giroux has emerged as one of the top two-way forwards in the league over the past couple of seasons. When he first broke into the NHL I always thought his game was very similar to David Krejci's, in that he had amazing puck possession skills and that every touch of the puck seemed to have a purpose. In fact, I believe Krejci and Giroux played together for Gatineau in Juniors. Fast forward a couple of years and I think most everyone can agree that he has become a better player than Krejci. If I were an NHL GM and had to select one of those two players to build a team around, I hate to say it but I'd be going with Giroux.

With very few exceptions, it seems to take the game's young stars a season or two to get comfortable at the NHL level. We've seen it with Steven Stamkos, who had more goals in his second season (51) than he did points in his rookie campaign (46). Tyler Seguin is another example, as he's currently sitting just a point out of the top 10 in league scoring, and just 21 games in has already surpassed his goal total from his rookie season. I would put Giroux in this same category. After about half a season of action in 2008-09, Claude registered 47 points in 2009-10, his first full season. Last year he really broke out though, crossing the 25-goal and 50-assist plateaus and falling just short of a point per game scoring pace (76 points in 82 games). Those 76 points were good for 11th place in the league's scoring race.

2011-12 has been even better for Giroux so far. Thanks in large part to great chemistry with linemate Jaromir Jagr in the early part of the season, Giroux's 13 goals and 16 assists in 22 games have him second in the NHL in both goals and points at the time of this post (just one point behind Toronto's Phil Kessel for top spot). Claude is generally successful regardless of who's he's paired with though. Even with Jagr missing some time lately, Claude has racked up 2 goals and 5 assists in his last 5 games. The Canadiens suffered at his hands just last night, when he scored two goals himself and made an amazing stick-handling play on the game-winning goal by Jakub Voracek.

After an off-season where the Flyers made some controversial moves including signing Jagr, and letting both Jeff Carter and Mike Richards go, Giroux has really answered the call and stepped up his game. Aside from being one of the league's top scorers so far, he consistently plays 24+ minutes a night and hasn't missed a game in over 2 1/2 seasons.


Given what the Young Guns rookies of some other top stars go for, I was amazed that I was able to win this auction for just over $7 ($10 shipped)! Giroux is definitely one of the game's future stars and I think this card has the potential to be worth much more than $7 someday.

I'm Just Not a Player Collector...

Lately I've been spending some time really analyzing my collecting habits, looking at where my collection is currently at, at where I want it to be, and at what the best way is to get there. One thing that I came to a realization on is that I'm just not a player collector. I'm a set collector at heart. As much as I feel an affinity towards certain players, I just don't have what it takes to keep up with a player collection. Constant eBay searching, scouring every new checklist that gets released...at some point it feels more like a chore than a hobby.

So, going forward I will continue to be a player "accumulator" for Tony Esposito, David Krejci, etc. This means that I will gladly accept any cards of these players and will pick them up myself when I see them on the cheap, but will not be pursuing them as a top priority or trying to track down every new card that comes out.

As luck will have it, just as I was making this evaluation I was contacted out of the blue by a reader who was interested in a few of my David Krejci cards. We went back and forth and ultimately I decided to part with 8 of my Krejci's at a price that we both found fair:









I had no problem sending these away knowing that they became part of a Krejci collection that was far superior to mine (over 135 unique Krejci cards and counting!). While a couple of these were among my better Krejci cards, I've still got over 40 left including some great rookies and autos that I don't plan to part with.

The best part is that I used the funds from this transaction to add two awesome cards to my hockey collection. Both cards that I picked up are superstar rookies, and one has been on my "white whale" list for quite some time. I will be showing them here as soon as they arrive, and you can decide how you think I did.

Are you a player collector? Have you ever given up on a player collection? If so, what did you do with all the cards?

Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza - The End!!!

I've added quite a few new cards to the collection lately that I'm anxious to show off, and have a couple of other posts in the works that I've been meaning to get to as well, including the remainder of my Top 20 Under $25 countdown. Before I get to those though, it makes sense to close out the Dominion Brass Bonanza posts. Here's the tenth and final card in the set:

#1 - Bobby Hull (#'d/24)

I guess this may have been an obvious choice to some as the final card in the set (in fact 1967ers correctly guessed in the comments a few posts back that Hull was included). While Bobby played only 9 games with the Whalers (the final 9 of his career), his is one of a very select group of former Whalers in the Hall of Fame (along with Gordie Howe, Dave Keon, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis and Mark Howe).

610 career goals in the NHL, and another 303 in the WHA, yet the elder Hall-of-Fame Hull scored just 2 while wearing a Hartford sweater. A cool card nonetheless, and the signature itself is my favorite out of all ten cards in the set. I knew this one would be the toughest to track down at just 24 copies, but I am extremely pleased to have Bobby represented in my autograph collection.


So that's a wrap for the Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza auto set. Here are all 10 cards in order for your viewing pleasure:

#1 - Bobby Hull (#'d/24)

#2 - Brendan Shanahan (#'d/24)

#3 - Keith Primeau (#'d/50)

#4 - Nick Fotiu (#'d/50)

#5 - Paul Coffey (#'d/50)

#6 - Ray Ferraro (#'d/50)

#7 - Tiger Williams (#'d/50)

#8 - Daryl Reaugh (#'d/50)

#9 - Ron Francis (#'d/50)

#10 - Pat Verbeek (#'d/50)

This set is definitely a cornerstone of my Hartford Whalers collection. I'll enjoy these for years to come, and in total the entire set cost me less than I would have paid for a single box of Dominion. I hope you enjoyed the cards, I'll be moving forward with some non-Whalers posts later this weekend...

Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza - Pat Verbeek

Time for the penultimate card in my Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza set. Today's card is none other than the great Pat Verbeek:

Mr. Verbeek here is truly a worthy subject for this set. It may sound odd, but I think I was more excited to add Pat's auto to my collection than almost any other from this set. Verbeek was always one of my favorite Whalers, in fact he was my younger brother's all-time favorite Whaler. In my opinion he is one of the under-rated players from the 80s/90s era, if not of all-time. He's got a pretty nice autograph as well, complete with his number 16 inscribed inside the 'P' in his first name. Throw a mullet into the mix and this is a pretty sweet card indeed!

Pat was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 1982 entry draft. After appearing in 6 games in 1982-83 he became a mainstay with the club, playing in all but a handful of the Devils' games over the next 6 seasons. 1987-88 was without question his best season in a Devils sweater, as he scored a career high 46 goals while helping New Jersey to its first playoff berth. Those 46 goals were a team record at the time, although that has since been bested by Brian Gionta who tallied 48 in 2005-06.

After the 1988-89 season, Pat was dealt to the Whalers for Sylvain Turgeon. This was one of the very rare trades where the Whalers actually came out on top, and it's also the reason for this airbrushed disaster from the 89-90 set. It didn't take Verbeek long to become a fan favorite in Hartford. In his very first season with the club he played in every single game, and led the team in scoring with 44 goals and a career-high 89 points! The next season he would again log 40+ goals and 80+ points.

The best part about Verbeek was that he could not only score goals, but he was an absolute annoying pest to play against. He logged a whole lot of penalty minutes just about every year. In his first two years with the Whalers, he not only surpassed the 40-goal mark both times, but he accumulated more than 200 penalty minutes in each of those seasons as well. All told, Pat would spend over 5 years with Hartford, including some time as team captain, before the team dealt him to the Rangers during the 1994-95 season.

After a couple of seasons with the Rangers he would go on to win a Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. He would even play a couple of seasons with Detroit towards the end of his career.

While with the Wings, Verbeek surpassed both the 500 career goal and 1,000 career point milestones. He would return to Dallas for one final season in 2001-02 before hanging up the skates for good.

Pat Verbeek is the epitome of a hard-nosed, grind-it-out hockey player. Years of pretty much injury-free, scrappy play combined with a goal-scorer's touch resulted in an amazing career. Over 1,400 games played, 500 goals and 1,000 points when all was said and done. His 522 goals rank 33rd on the all-time list. In total he had 13 20-goal seasons, 8 30-goal seasons and 4 40-goal seasons.

If you asked the average hockey fan who the only player in NHL history to record 500 career goals and 2,500 career penalty minutes is, how many would correctly guess Pat Verbeek?

The final card in the Brass Bonanza autograph set is coming later this week!

My Set:

#2 - Brendan Shanahan (#'d/24)
#3 - Keith Primeau (#'d/50)
#4 - Nick Fotiu (#'d/50)
#5 - Paul Coffey (#'d/50)
#6 - Ray Ferraro (#'d/50)
#7 - Tiger Williams (#'d/50)
#8 - Daryl Reaugh (#'d/50)

#9 - Ron Francis (#'d/50)
#10 - Pat Verbeek (#'d/50)

Another Card from Casey's Contest

I guess the prize package that I received a few weeks back from Casey at Drop the Gloves will be revealed slowly over time here. A couple of weeks ago I showed the few football cards that were included. Today I figured it was as good a time as any to show another card from the bubble mailer:

2010-11 Pinnacle City Lights Auto - #82 - Zach Hamill (#'d/100)

Thanks in part to what appears to be a nagging injury to forward Rich Peverley, and in part to Daniel Paille's smashed nose, Zach Hamill was able to crack the Bruins lineup for the first time this season on Thursday night in the game against the Oilers. Hamill recorded an assist in 9 minutes, 27 seconds of ice time. This was his 5th career NHL game, and his 3rd career assist. Seems he makes the most of his limited opportunities at least...

I'm not sure if Zach will be in the lineup again tonight against Buffalo, but I think it's likely. In any event, thanks for the card Casey!

The Ultimate Hockey Card Set - Card #211

I haven't done an entry for The Ultimate Hockey Card Set yet this month, so it's about time I got around to one of these. Today I'm selecting card #211. Like the Steve Yzerman rookie that made the cut last month, today's selection wasn't too difficult, at least based on the 11,000+ hockey cards I've got sorted, scanned and added to my collection on Zistle so far.

There was one particular card that I had in mind from the outset, in fact it's the reason I chose to select card #211 next for the set. In the end, that card did indeed win out. In fact, it had only one serious competitor:

1974-75 Topps - Quarter-Finals Bruins vs Maple Leafs

I'm a huge fan of 1974-75 Topps. I've been working on accumulating all 264 cards for at least a couple of years now, and after the quarter box haul I posted the other day am now just 27 cards shy of finishing it off. This particular card came into my collection back in the summer as part of my COMC Hobby Box (in the same "pack" as a card of the Fonz!).

Great photo that I believe depicts Don Marcotte of the Boston Bruins and Ron Ellis of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a struggle for the puck (can someone confirm this?). Truly a worthy runner-up.

As I said though, in the end I ultimately chose the card I had in mind to begin with:

1995-96 Upper Deck - #211 - Martin Brodeur

"The Championship to New Jersey! The Devils Win the Stanley Cup!"

1995-96 Upper Deck is all about the photo, with very little going on in terms of design element. With Upper Deck's quality of photography being so high though, this doesn't bother me like it does some collectors. In fact, 1995-96 may very well be my all-time favorite flagship Upper Deck set.

This particular photo is among the best in the set. Actually, it may be among the best photos used on any hockey card in my collection. I think the expression on Martin's face really conveys how difficult (and ultimately rewarding) a journey it is to actually come out on top of the NHL playoffs. Talk about a great shot of Lord Stanley's Cup too! Hoisted above the ice in all its sparkling glory, you can see a reflection of the crowd in the stands, the ice, and even Brodeur himself within its rings. Hands down this is the best trophy out of the four major North American sports. I don't see how you could even make an argument against that? The Commissioner's Trophy? The O'Brien trophy (I've held this thing in hand in a suite at a Celtics game a couple of years ago, and I think it's the worst of the four)? Even the Lombardi Trophy, like the first two I just mentioned, is recreated each year for the winning team. This card belongs in The Ultimate Hockey Card Set for its depiction of hockey's ultimate prize alone.

The other thing I really love about this card is that it captures a significant and identifiable moment in time. I love the history of both baseball and hockey, in fact I think it's the primary reason I collect cards. To me, my collection is like a history of the game, written out on cardboard and stored in monster boxes in my office closet. Some "chapters", like the late 80's and early 90's, are fairly robust and deep. Other chapters, like the 1950's...not so much, but that's where there's the room for growth that makes collecting so much fun. Okay, I'm straying off topic here, but you get the point.

This photograph represents the end of the 1994-95 season, but it also represents a return to normalcy for hockey. A lockout had caused fans to go without NHL hockey deep into the 1994-95 season. In fact, maybe I should just call it the 1995 season, because by the time things got settled and the first game was played it was January 20th, 1995. After a shortened, 48-game season the playoffs commenced in the standard format and a few weeks later the New Jersey Devils managed to beat a stacked Detroit Red Wings team for the championship. Pretty impressive given that the Red Wings managed 70 points in the 48-game regular season, with a record of 33-11-4!

The Devils swept the Wings, Marty lifted the copy, and hockey was back...


This brings The Ultimate Hockey Card Set to 9 cards, which can be viewed here.

'70s Hockey and the Quarter Box

For the first time in a couple of months I stopped off at the local hobby shop late last week. Boy was I glad I made the stop too, as the 1970s hockey monster box had been loaded up with fresh cards since I had been there last. I kept my cost in check by sticking mainly to quarter cards. I'll save the rest of the goods for another post later this week, but here is the entirety of my quarter box haul, over 60 cards in total...

The majority of the cards came from the 1973-74 Topps set. 1973-74 has long been ignored in my vintage hockey collection, I think I had less than 20 of these beforehand, with quite a few of them in poor condition.

#5 - Penalty Minute Leaders Jim Schoenfeld/Dave Schultz

The first 6 cards in the set are these league leader cards, but with names like the Esposito brothers, Bobby Clarke and Ken Dryden on the others this was the only one available for a quarter. The goons never seem to get much collector love.

#13 - Keith McCreary

I chose the 50+ 73-74s I ended up with largely based on condition. While I'm not actively chasing this set yet, I'd eventually love to complete all of the 70s and 80s Topps sets. With few exceptions the cards I grabbed are crease-free, gum stain free, wax stain free, have four good corners, decent to perfect centering and good overall visual appeal. These are cards that will go into my set binders and for the most part never need to be replaced or upgraded. Can't complain for a mere quarter!

#14 - Ted Harris

#15 - Garry Unger

Unger's card was one of those "few exceptions" I just referred to as far as condition. Its only flaw is that it's badly mis-cut, I couldn't leave it behind just because of that. Interesting perspective used in this photo, that's got to be one of the largest hockey pucks on any card I own.

#19 - Andre Boudrias

I think I've said this before, but to me the 73-74 set has always been one that is either hit or miss. Some of the staged, posed shots bore me to death, but there are some really great horizontal cards featuring in-game action photos that are just fantastic. I love that the average kid opening this pack 30+ years ago had no way of telling which player Andre Boudrias even is in this crowded photo.

#23 - Ed Johnston

#28 - Cliff Koroll

#29 - Rey Comeau

#30 - Barry Gibbs (All-Star)

The All-Star cards are one of the things I like most about this design.

#33 - Henry Boucha

One of my favorite things about cards from the 1970s is looking at the impact that culture and fashion had on the athletes. Just look at the transformation undergone by Henry Boucha between his 1973-74 Topps card above a his 1974-75 card from just a year later:

#35 - Bobby Schmautz

#47 - Barclay Plager

Interesting shot of Plager making his case to the ref.

#48 - Mike Corrigan

This photo is pretty close to the one used on Corrigan's card the following year.

#53 - Richard Lemieux

#63 - Fran Huck

#65 - Gary Bergman

#67 - Ed Westfall

Ed's was one of the few cards I picked up that I already owned, but it's definitely an upgrade over my other copy:

#69 - Don Tannahill

#78 - Fred Harvey

#86 - Jim Schoenfeld

One of the tough guys featured on the PIM Leaders card that led off the post.

#98 - Los Angeles Kings

Pretty badly off-center but I was sold when I saw Rogatien Vachon staring at me from the lower right corner.

#99 - Minnesota North Stars

I believe that's the one and only Gump Worsley in the first row far right. Doesn't get much better than vintage team cards.

#105 - St. Louis Blues

#109 - Tom Reid

#111 - Don Lever

#117 - Bob Leiter

#124 - Tim Ecclestone

#125 - Jude Drouin

#129 - Dale Tallon

What an airbrushed mess. Isn't there supposed to be a 'Hawks logo somewhere on that sweater?

#131 - Randy Manery

It might be a bit off-center, but this is much better than my previous, significantly more wrinkled copy of this card:

#134 - Bob Plager

#137 - Jacques Laperriere

#142 - Jocelyn Guevremont

Another cool action photo. Is everyone airbrushed in this one?

#152 - Curt Bennett

#158 - Bill Collins

#167 - Gary Dornhoefer

#168 - Steve Durbano

#169 - Jacques Richard

#173 - Dennis Kearns

#174 - Red Berenson

#177 - Dennis O'Brien

#179 - Rick Kehoe

#180 - Bill White (All-Star)

#183 - Andre Dupont

Had this one already, but again this card is a gigantic upgrade condition-wise. My former copy had some serious wrinkling going on:

#184 - Gary Sabourin

#185 - Larry Romanchych

#188 - Gilles Marotte

#190 - Mickey Redmond (All-Star)

In addition to the huge chunk of 73-74 Topps cards, I also had my want list handy and managed to knock a handful of cards off towards my 74-75 and 79-80 Topps sets. For 1974-75 we have...

#13 - Syl Apps

#128 - Ken Hodge (All-Star)

#209 - Quarter-Finals Flyers vs. Flames

#217 - Joe Watson

Joe's card is pretty significantly diamond-cut. Oh well, good enough for now.

#229 - Bob Pulford

#247 - Prince of Wales Trophy Boston Bruins

Here are the 79-80s:

#12 - Rene Robert

#122 - Jim Rutherford

#212 - JP Bordeleau

#218 - Orest Kindrachuk

Admittedly not the most exciting four cards from 1979-80 Topps, but I'm four cards closer nonetheless. That's not all though, I saved my favorite 8 cards from the box for last:

1973-74 Topps - #151 - Phil Roberto

It's not everyday that you get a quality scrum captured on cardboard.

1974-75 Topps - #132 - Gilles Gilbert (All-Star)

Any card with a great mask like that in the quarter box is coming home with me.

1973-74 Topps - #103 - Philadelphia Flyers

This team card is especially significant as the Broad Street Bullies would win their first of two consecutive Cups in the 1973-74 season.

1979-80 Topps - #180 - Gilbert Perreault

A Hall-of-Famer from one of the greatest vintage hockey sets ever released for a quarter? This is where it started to feel almost like stealing...

1973-74 Topps - #135 - Rick MacLeish

Easily one of the better cards in this lot, great stuff.

1974-75 Topps - #9 - Emile Francis

I love the coach cards from 74-75 Topps, and Emile Francis' card is particularly nice since he went on to work in the Hartford Whalers organization. I picked these cards up last Thursday, and the very next day Michael over at Collecting for Kicks posted his own Emile Francis card, a sweet auto if I do say so myself.

1973-74 Topps - #132 - Darryl Sittler

I know it's off-center, but for this card to be in the quarter box is absolutely criminal. If there were ten of these in there I would have grabbed all ten. Finally, the absolute steal of the day...

1973-74 Topps - #149 - Dave Schultz (RC)

I had to do a triple-take when I came across this one in the pile. The rookie card of one of the decade's top enforcers. This card doesn't even belong in a dollar box much less a quarter box. If my extremely old Beckett can be relied on, this one's got a book value of $12.

All said and done, that's 53 1973-74 total Topps cards, better than 1/4 of the 198-card set. On top of that, I knocked 8 cards off of my 1974-75 Topps want list and got another 5 towards my 1979-80 set. 66 cards total, for what should have come to a total of $16.50. Because it had been a while though, and because the shop owner is just that kind of guy, he gave me the lot for $10. $10!!! That may have been my all-time best raid of the quarter box!