Recently I found an eBay seller with a nice selection of dollar cards and free shipping provided you purchase 20 or more. I sort of thought of it as the online equivalent of a good dollar box at a card show. I've already gotten one post out of my haul, and I've got a few more to come still, but this evening I've got some Starting Lineup hockey cards!
There were a good number of Starting Lineup cards available from various years, but my favorites are these 1993s. Probably because these were released during the height of my childhood hockey fandom. In fact, I even had a couple of these Starting Lineups as a kid, and still had both of the Lindros and Jagr cards in my collection prior to this.
There were twelve subjects in the set in 1993, and each player had two cards included in the packaging with their figure; a standard card like the Mario Lemieux above...
...and a variation like this "Superstar Scorer" Brett Hull. Yup, these are just awesome, and so '90s as far as the design goes.
Landed both the standard and variation Super Mario cards.
Couple of close-up shots of Jeremy Roenick...
...and Brett Hull on their standard cards.
Stevie Y!
Ray Bourque's base card wasn't available but I did score his "Hit Man" variation card. I think I might actually have the base one in a box somewhere waiting to be processed.
One of the reasons that I jumped at these is that they're not all that easy to find in my experience. As I said the only ones I had prior to this were my original copies from childhood.
Quite a few of the ones I've shown here aren't even available to purchase on COMC right now for example, and the few that are are selling in the $3-4 and up range.
Pretty sweet "dollar box" finds indeed if you ask me! This little $10 spending spree has me at more than 50% of the 24-card set now, I may have to search out the remaining cards I'm missing at this point.
You hockey card collectors out there...did you have any Starting Lineup figures or cards back in the day? Do you have any in your collection now?
6 comments:
I loved Starting Lineups when they were being produced, and I still have fond memories of them. I of course hadn't discovered hockey yet during their original issuance but I know a store that has some locally still factory sealed. I keep telling myself, no, you're retired from action figure collecting, spend money on cards...but I may break down and get them at some point. If I had a better way to display them (The NBA and NASCAR figures are in plastic boxes in my closet, the same ones they've been in since the 1990s) I am sure I would. I do still pick up an NBA figure from time to time, most of them are pretty reasonable. I actually completed the 1996-97 release which was no small feat, and meant to write about it but never did.
Shortly after Gordie Howe passed away I found a Howe Starting Lineup figure cheap at a local show. It was probably cheap because the box was beat up a bit. It really isn't a part of my collection, but I figured somebody would want it someday so I bought it.
Oh man, I love that Roenick....I need to pick up all his SLU cards (with the Blackhawks).
<heads to COMC)
The 1993 design is pretty awesome! My favorite is that Bourque.
Nice pickups Shane.
I only owned one Starting Lineup figure when I was a kid, it was Ron Francis in a Pens jersey. I bought a carded Gretzky several years ago at a flea market and just recently donated it to the thrift shop because I was downsizing and didn't have a need for it - but I did open it up and take the card out. Headliners (also mini figures) were more of my thing back in the day, still love them.
Oh man, these bring back some great memories. I loved SLU right from the start; it's crazy how many figures and accessories I had (or wanted to have) I used to have serious arguments with my mom when she'd only let me buy one and I couldnt choose between two I absolutely had to have (in my defense, I was 8)
When the hockey figures came out I might have had one or two..but years later I bought almost the whole '93 set from the LCS I ended up working at. I think I pad $5 a figure.
A while ago, I researched the 87-88 NHL season and did a mock checklist of what players would have had SLUs had Kenner produced hockey figures when they started on the other sports. Unfortunately I lost that list somewhere, but if I ever find it I'll post it on the blog. (btw-I miss your league leaders series. bring it back soon!)
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