Snowstorm Hockey Cards

Snow's coming down at a pretty good pace today.  At noon, I could see my lawn.  Six hours later and I've got about six inches of snow down.  I'm not complaining, it's the first significant snowfall of the year here so far, and at least it came on a weekend.

Having worked twenty five hours plus in the two days leading up to the storm, it was a little difficult to get prepared, and I certainly had no time for blogging or even reading other blogs.  Things came together in the end though and I've got plenty of gas for the snowblower, plenty of food in the house, and even some free time to enjoy the latest batch of hockey cards sent to me by my friend Douglas Corti of Sportscards from the Dollar Store.

A snowstorm feels like the perfect time to look at some hockey cards, and this PWE had nine new ones for my collection.  For starters, the David Pastrnak above and this David Krejci finish off my Bruins team set from the latest Upper Deck release (still need a couple of Young Guns though).

I'm relatively certain that's Miroslav Satan in the background, which almost makes it as though Marc Savard has a small Satan on his shoulder like you'd see in cartoons back in the day.  Just missing the angel on the opposite side.

I'm a fan of the 2013-14 Score set, but I did not have this really nice horizontal Seidenberg yet.  Love the photograph chosen for this one.

A very young Patrice Bergeron brought to you by Upper Deck Victory.

I'm still not sure whether Bruins fans liked or despised this guy.  It's probably somewhere around an even split I guess.  Looks like Michael's NHL days may be finished, as he's an unrestricted free agent and has yet to sign with any team for the ongoing 2015-16 season.

It wasn't all Bruins in the envelope though, as he seems to do almost every time Douglas included some new Whalers for my collection as well.  Three of them to be precise, all from the glorious height of the junk wax era, 1991-92.  This Parkhurst Rob Brown is the French version.

As are this pair of Pro Set cards that close out the package.

Douglas, thanks for the delivery as always.  This one has me on the precipice of 1,500 unique Whalers cards, a mark I should now be achieving any day.

Thanks to this snowstorm I should be able to get the next trade package out of the queue tomorrow.  Until then...

One Card Post - Shiny Blue

What:  2012 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor #207 - Mike Aviles (#'d /199)
Where:  COMC
How Much?:  $.69

Why?:  The combination of shiny refractor and perceived scarcity was too much to overcome at less than seventy cents.  So one night, in a moment of weakness, and most likely from the comfort of my living room couch, I pulled the trigger.  That's really it.

These Red Sox Brought to You By Tony Burbs

Today's trade package comes courtesy of Tony Burbs of the great blog Wrigley Roster Jenga.  Tony's been on the blogging scene for a while now, but somehow our paths never crossed until towards the end of last year.  When I learned he was starting to collect Chicago Blackhawks cards I sent him a whole bunch, and in return he crafted a sweet return bubble mailer chock full o' Red Sox.

Tony cross-referenced my collection on Zistle before shipping, which means he batted a thousand in terms of the cards being new to my collection.  I'm kind of embarrassed to say I didn't have a copy of the '89 Upper Deck Boggs you see above previously.  Glad Tony rectified that before I had to turn in my Red Sox Team Collector Badge.

There was a huge variety to be found among the goods that Tony sent.  This MLB Showdown game card featuring longtime Sox captain Jason Varitek is a perfect example of just how random this delivery was.

Always happy to add another new card of the greatest player I've ever seen pitch for Boston.

I've nearly completed this past season's Archives team set, but hadn't managed to find a copy of this Ortiz yet.  Haven't even thought about those pesky short-prints, and probably won't bother.

My favorite two players on the current team are young stars Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts.  Any package that adds a new card of either to my collection is automatically a winner.

Like I said, some real variety here.  Seven cards into the post, seven different sets represented.

Here's a nice one from the last true Upper Deck baseball set (in my humble opinion, the 2010 set where they did a half-ass job of hiding logos doesn't count for me).  Upper Deck was releasing some absolutely giant sets around this time; this is card number 953 in the 2009 set.

As I've stated many times, I'm a total sucker for minor league cardboard, so I was very happy to find this Anthony Ranaudo featuring him with the Red Sox AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs in the stack.

Believe it or not, this is my second David Mailman card, though it is the first that was delivered by my actual mailman.  David never made it past A-ball, but he sure has an interesting name.

Che-Hsuan Lin actually got into a handful of games with Boston back in 2012.  This is my first card of his too, another name off of the all-time Red Sox checklist!

Here's another great Portland Sea Dogs card, featuring pitcher Abe Alvarez.  This is from the 2004 Just Prospects set.  Random fact, Abe was called up to start a single game in 2004, and thus received a World Series ring!  He's now retired and serving as a pitching coach in college.

The minor league cards keep on coming, with this 1999 Team Best Dernell Stenson.  This one's a bit on the depressing side, as Dernell was brutally murdered at age 25 while playing in the Arizona Fall League.

On a more positive note, here's a nice Toys 'R' Us purple parallel of Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  These parallels in particular seem to really command a premium, and since I haven't stepped foot in a Toys 'R' Us in probably a decade, I have precious few in my collection.

Will Middlebrooks, what could have been.  I'll still enjoy this nice Gold Sparkle parallel of his rookie card, even if his career has really tanked in the few seasons since it was printed.

These Opening Day Stars 3D cards are just awesome in hand.  I can't believe I never bothered to track down the Red Sox before, but it's not a problem...

...since Tony hooked me up with both of them in this package.  Two of my favorite cards in the entire package for sure.

These 'When They Were Young' inserts are a little strange to me, but it is comical to see that David Ortiz had the swagger that he's known for from a young age, apparently.

This one is from the 2008 Topps Trading Card History insert set.  Interesting seeing Josh on a '64 Topps design...

...but give me the real thing any day!  This one's way up there on the checklist too, number 526 in the set.  My previous highest-numbered card from this set was 352.  Do I care that Lou Clinton has been gently loved over the years?  Not in the least!

Finally, the oldest card Tony set, and another pretty high number.  Ray Webster here is number 452 in the '60 Topps set.  Just awesome.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Tony's blog, now's the perfect time to hop on over there and congratulate him on getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend.  Tony, thanks for the great package of Sox, and sorry that it took me so long to give them their proper appreciation in the form of a post.  I really appreciate you taking the time to pick out and ship me these gems.

Ten Great Hockey Cards

Free time has been a rare commodity lately, and I'm falling severely behind in thank you posts as a result.  I can think of half a dozen people off the top of my head who have sent me cards in the last couple of weeks that I've yet to thank.  Please bear with me, I assure you I haven't forgotten and the fact that I'm dragging my feet does not mean that I appreciate the cards any less.

In the meantime, here's ten random hockey cards that I already had scanned, from a Sportlots order back at the beginning of December.  The best of the bunch might be the Canvas card of the latest member of the 500 goal club above.  It's the most expensive card in this post at an even $1, a price I was happy to pay for such a unique card of such a talented player.

I've professed my love for early Fleer Ultra inserts many times over, and since this seller had quite a few that I needed at the minimum price allowed by the site, I decided to plug some holes in my collection after all these years.

These Premier Pivot cards scream mid-'90s.

There are ten cards in the insert set.  I had only one prior to this order (Sergei Fedorov); this trio leaves me with half a dozen to track down including Wayne Gretzky.

From the following year's Ultra set, here's a Red Light Special insert of the man still lighting the lamp in the NHL this season!  Jagr is quickly becoming one of my favorite players of all-time due to the fact that he just continues to produce points after so many years in the league.  If the Bruins don't win the Stanley Cup this year, then I really hope the Panthers do.

Another set that takes me right back to my childhood collecting days, Skybox Emotion.  Without really trying, I seem to be accumulating quite a few Joe Sakic cards lately.

Playing hockey myself as a kid, I was enamored with the powerhouse Flyers teams of the '90s.  Some of my favorite players to watch, and collect cards of, were guys like Lindros, Leclair, and Mikael Renberg here.  Couldn't resist adding a new one for $.18.

Finally landed a copy of this great Canvas insert of my favorite Boston Bruin for about the past eight years and counting now.  I like the appearance of a Red Sox cap in the foreground on this one.

My obsession with the 1994 Rink Collection/Museum Collection parallels continues.  Ron Francis is in my top five favorite players of all-time, and though I wish he was still with the Whalers when this set was printed up this is a fine card regardless.  I've always thought Ron was one of the most criminally under-rated players when it comes to the value of his cards.  It's amazing how little cash it takes to acquire his rookie, or certified autographs, compared to other players of his caliber.

Here's the last card for tonight, a really nice addition to my Stanley Cup on cards collection.  What an awesome moment captured on cardboard.  I can't imagine the feeling of elation Ray must have felt at this exact point in time, finally hoisting the Cup after more than 1,600 games played in his long career...

Shoebox Legends World Headquarters - The Card Chest

In an effort to get myself motivated with the blog here in year nine, I'm going to be featuring some "behind the scenes" posts this year.  A look at what happens here at Casa de Shoebox Legends beyond the keyboard to help produce the stunning, award-winning blog material that maybe 100 people will read (and that's a good post lately!).

For the first of these posts, we're looking at this relatively empty corner of my office/hobby room.  This photograph was taken probably a year ago, or maybe even longer now.  Sadly, my pal Eli there in the foreground is no longer around to protect the place with bark and bite.  What I want to focus on today though is that little end table.

The table served as the end table next to the bed in my very first apartment, when we eventually upgraded I claimed it for my hobby room.  It's nothing special, in fact I'm pretty sure it came from Target, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that two row monster boxes fit so nicely on the lower shelf!  Those three boxes hold the majority of my autograph collection, plus some other really significant cards.

What always bothered me was the top of the table, it was a little too low for a guy my height since it's meant to be a bedside table, and not very ornate or interesting looking.  Well, browsing around an antiques store with my wife one weekend I found the perfect solution...

A card chest!  Pretty cool, huh?  All four drawers pull out and are completely removable.  This thing is solidly constructed and much more interesting to look at than the plain tabletop.  Obviously it was not created with the intention of storing sports cards though.  Any guesses?

As you can see from this photo of a removed drawer, this was actually used to store sewing needles back in the day.  I think it's awesome that the label is still (mostly) intact, I'm definitely leaving it just the way it is.  You can click the image for a larger view, but according to the label this stored Wilcox & Gibbs sewing needles.

I don't count "sewing enthusiast" among my many hobbies, but in researching it Wilcox & Gibbs seemed to be the big names in the business (along with Singer) in the very early days after the sewing machine was invented.  The Wilcox & Gibbs company produced machines from the late 1850s all the way through the 1940s.  I don't know how old this particular chest/cabinet is, but it's certainly safe to say it's a lot older than I am.

Here's a drawer loaded up with cardboard.  As you can see, there's plenty of height when the cards are placed in vertically, but the width isn't perfect.  Slanting the cards just a bit does the trick.  I only put sleeved cards in here, and I keep one of those "pack searcher decoy" thick cardboard slabs at the front and back of each row.  When the drawers get a little empty, I drop a hockey puck right in the back.  It fits perfectly, has a good amount of weight to it, and easily slides up or down to hold whatever cards are in the drawer in place snugly.  Seems to work great, haven't had a single damaged card yet.

Here's a look at the drawer full of cards from above.  I sound like an old crank saying this, but this chest is from an era where they just plain made better quality stuff.  There's not a piece of metal or a screw anywhere on this thing, just good old fashioned workmanship and jointed wood.  No particle board either!

In the top two drawers, I keep cards from COMC.  In the bottom two, cards from the quarter box at the local hobby shop.  Anytime I get back from the shop, or the few times a year when a COMC package arrives, I shuffle up the contents and drop them all randomly into their appropriate drawers.

Whenever I'm pressed for time, or looking for something a little more unpredictable and exciting, I pull open a drawer and select a couple of cards at random.  They may have been placed in there just weeks before, or maybe many months, and it won't be long before I can say years.  Usually I've forgotten I even had the cards I end up pulling, so it's almost got that "grab bag" element, except that I know they'll all be cards I hand selected and obviously like.  My "Quarter Box Quartet" posts all come about in this manner, and for times when I've got just a couple of minutes for the blog the COMC drawers make for great One Card Posts.

Here's the corner now.  It's unbelievable how well the chest fits, it's practically the exact length and width of the table I had, and the color's not too far off either.  I couldn't be happier with how this turned out.  It's not saying much but this is far and away the best $75 I ever spent on a piece of furniture.

As a working example of the card chest in action, I went ahead and grabbed a single card from the left COMC drawer for the conclusion of this post.  It ended up being a damn good one too:

This is one I definitely did not forget purchasing.  It's one of the only times I ever spent more than $10 on a single card on COMC (though just barely).

Anyway, that's a wrap.  That old sewing chest, combined with a little bit of patience, should provide me with a lot of entertainment for years to come.  There are hundreds if not thousands of cards stocked up in there at this point, I could stop filling it today (more on that soon) and still have enough content to blog for years.

How about you?  Are you storing any of your cards in something that was never designed for that purpose?  If so, I'd love to hear about it in the comments...