Cut from the Bottom of the Box - '89-90 Topps Hockey

I've written a few times here about how the 1989-90 Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey sets were what really kick-started my love of sports cards.  They were some of the first I ever collected as a kid, and I can still recall my Dad coming home with packs after work for my brothers and I.  I've completed the Topps and O-Pee-Chee versions of the set many times over by this point.  Until recently though, there was an element of a master set that was completely absent from my collection:

Those who were collecting back then, or who have this set, will recognize that this is not how Pierre Turgeon's card looked.  That's because this one's a hand-cut box bottom card.  Here's what Pierre's standard card looks like:

I have to say that I prefer the box bottom!  At least it features a helmet and a crowd, rather than Pierre skating around pre-game with a single fan in a white T-shirt watching him.  There were 16 different box bottom cards available for '89-90 Topps.

In order to be featured on one, you had to lead your team in scoring during the previous '88-89 season.  The box bottom cards are numbered alphabetically A-P, so Turgeon here is actual the last card on the checklist.  The backs are fairly basic, just the one year of stats (plus post-season if applicable).

I was able to land a lot of eight of these in really great condition for around $5 delivered.  Let's take a look at the other seven, comparing them against their counterpart from the base set...

On Tim Kerr's box bottom card he's featured with helmet on...

...whereas on his base card those glorious locks are flowing free.

Same with Dave Gagner, in-game action shot on the box bottom card...

...pre-game warm-up on the base card.  So far that's three for three in terms of a better photo on the box bottom.  That's not always the case though, sometimes I actually prefer the base card to the box bottom.

For example, here's Mats Naslund's box bottom.  Not bad, but nothing too exciting...

His base card is actually a much nicer photo in my opinion.

Joe Mullen's box bottom isn't very exciting...

I think I like his standard card better as well.

This Kevin Dineen was actually what drew me to the auction to begin with.  I needed it for a complete master team set, and will definitely be featuring it on my other blog in the near future...

Here's Kevin's base card for comparison.  Dineen was unfortunately just relieved of his position as head coach of the lowly Florida Panthers.

Without a doubt the highlight of the lot for me were the two absolute superstars that were included.  Brett Hull was the man around this time.  This box bottom can never compare with his base card from the set though, which I consider a junk wax classic:

Last but not least, an absolutely mint Gretzky!  Really cool to add this oddball to my humble Gretzky collection.

Not much difference in the photo from Wayne's base card from the set.

Look at those insane numbers, and this was after he'd been in the league for 10 years!  I'm really satisfied with this purchase as it puts me halfway to a set, and whoever cut these had a really steady hand.  The edges are all straight and right on point.

If anyone has any of the eight I'm missing for trade I'd definitely be interested.  How about you, do you have any box bottom cards in your collection?

Adrian Gonzalez, We Hardly Knew Ye - Closer to a Chrome Rainbow!

A few weeks back a card surfaced on eBay that I'd been in search of for well over a year now.  I knew I had to make an effort to snag it at a reasonable price, and thankfully the seller accepted my offer for around the cost of a blaster.  A few days later this arrived in my mailbox:

This would be the yellow printing plate used to make Adrian Gonzalez' 2012 Topps Chrome card.  I'm interested in any new cards from Adrian's short time with the Red Sox, and this also gets me one plate closer to my goal of 10 by year's end.

So what's so special about this plate that I was willing to fork over around $20 for it?  Well it fits quite nicely in with my other 2012 Topps Chrome Gonzalez cards...

...standard base card...

...standard refractor...

...purple refractor...

...orange refractor...

...x-fractor...

...blue refractor, numbered to 199 copies...

...black refractor, numbered to 100 copies...

...sepia refractor, numbered to 75...

...gold refractor, numbered to 50 copies...

...red refractor, limited to 25 copies...

...atomic refractor, numbered to 10...

...dynamic die-cut insert...

...cyan printing plate...

...and magenta printing plate.

With the yellow plate now in hand, I'm missing only the black to give me all four from this set.  Who knows if it will ever surface, after all it took me well over 12 months of searching to find the yellow one.  It's a good feeling to have it in hand.  Here's an update on my Adrian Gonzalez Red Sox collection:

Adrian Gonzalez Red Sox Cards - Count

Total Cards - 85

#'d /2011 - 1
#'d /999 - 1
#'d/562 - 1
#'d/199 - 1
#'d/100 - 2
#'d/99 - 1
#'d/75 - 1
#'d /60 -2
#'d/50 - 2
#'d/25 - 2
#'d/10 - 2
1/1 - 9
Relics - 2
Silk - 1
Autographs - 3
Printing Plates - 8

That's Why I Don't Buy Blasters - Volume III - 80 Year Old Cardboard

Tonight let's take another look at what came about from $20 that I could have spent on a retail blaster like this one:

The first couple of these posts involved stand-up cards, one from 1964 and then a trio from 1934.  This time, we're going even further back with a piece of cardboard that is now 80 years old:

John Welch here is my second 1933 Goudey card, both of them Red Sox.  This one's graded a VG 3 by PSA.  Fine by me, I don't really care about the grade on pre-war cards like this, just want to know that it's authentic.  Here's a closer look at John:

Some rounded corners, but crease-free with good overall centering and visual appeal.  More than acceptable condition for me!  I couldn't find much information out there about Welch.  I did find one interesting, brief write-up, but what I can't seem to learn is how he met his untimely death in 1940 at just 33 years of age.  Does anyone know?

UPDATE:  According to this site, it looks like he died of illness (tuberculosis and meningitis)...

Here's a look at the back of the card.  To me these are some of the most interesting vintage Red Sox cards having been printed in Boston, which you can see towards the bottom.  There are only 8 Red Sox cards on the checklist, so with two in hand I'm a quarter of the way to a team set.  I'm definitely going to prioritize picking up the remaining six if I can find them at a good price like this.

1933 Goudey John Welch - $20
Shipping - $3
Total - $23

1953 Topps Project - Hank Edwards

Time to focus on another addition to my growing 1953 Topps set.  Today's card features Hank Edwards of the St. Louis Browns:

I confess that I don't know much at all about Hank here.  He played 11 seasons in the Majors with quite a few different teams including the Indians, Cubs, Dodgers (Brooklyn), Reds, White Sox and finally, the team you see him depicted with here, the St. Louis Browns.  His 65 appearances with the Browns in 1953 would constitute the final season of his career.

Edwards' big claim to fame seems to be that he led the AL in triples back in 1946.  On an average year he'd appear in maybe half of his team's games, sometimes as an outfielder sometimes as a pinch hitter, hit between .250 and .300 and maybe give you a handful of doubles and/or home runs.  To me, the most interesting thing about this card is just how much Hank resembles the creature in the St. Louis Browns logo!  Is it just me, or is there some real similarity between Edwards and Brownie the Elf there?

So there you have it, one card closer to '53 Topps completion.  Welcome to the collection Mr. Edwards...

Set Progress:  58 of 274 (21%)

Signature Sundays - Three New Hockey, File Under 'L'

This past week completely beat me down.  All I did is work, from early morning 'til late night, and sometimes until the wee hours of the next morning.  What little time I had to myself was needed for sleep, so other than reading a few posts on some other blogs I didn't even think about cards last week.  That included working right through Monday night's World Series Game 5.  I was at least able to free myself up on Wednesday evening though, and had the pleasure of watching my favorite team win it all from the comfort of my couch with a cold beer in hand.

The upcoming week should get a little easier, at least in theory, so I hope to squeeze a few posts in.  To kick things off, here's another trio of autographs from my 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures collection.  All three players enjoyed some great success at the NHL level, and all three have last names that begin with the letter L... 

Steve Larmer might not be a Hall-of-Famer, but he had a solid career racking up some nice accolades as well as some impressive statistics.  Larmer kicked things off with a 90-point Rookie of the Year campaign in 1982-83, then finally captured a Stanley Cup near the very end with the Rangers in '93-94.  In between, he was a model of consistency playing in 884 consecutive games for the Blackhawks, an NHL record for consecutive games played with the same team.  In his final season with the New York Rangers he played in his 1,000th career game, and also registered his 1,000th career point.

John LeClair was an autograph that I was really excited about when I saw the checklist for this set.  The Whalers were always my team growing up, but the thing about rooting for them was that they basically never made the playoffs.  When it came to post-season hockey I had to choose someone else to root for, and for me one of the most exciting teams was the Philadelphia Flyers.  What I liked most about the Flyers was the "Legion of Doom" line of Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.  I know LeClair had already won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens before coming to the Flyers, but he really became a first-class player with Renberg and Lindros at his side.

As the back indicates, he was the first American player to score 50 goals in three consecutive seasons.

Last but not least, here's Ted Lindsay.  Ted's the only Hall-of-Famer from today's trio, elected all the way back in 1966!  There's no way I have the time to pay an appropriate tribute to Ted's long and successful career here, but I'll point out a few highlights.  Four-time Stanley Cup champion.  Art Ross Trophy winner.  Scored close to 400 goals and over 850 points in an era with historically lower offensive numbers.  He left his mark on the game in a number of ways; he was the first player to lift the Stanley Cup and skate around the rink with it, and was instrumental in the formation of the NHL Players Association, just to name a couple.

It seems almost criminal to get an on-card autograph of this Hall-of-Fame great who first took the ice for an NHL game in 1944 for just $6.82.  Unbelievable.

These three bring me to 43 autographs and counting from this set...