deepbluejacket
Verified Trader,
2004-05 Pacific was their final release and it was one with a very light parallel footprint. Just reds and blues, and the blues were numbered to a whopping 250. It was the rare issue where a master set was conceivable and I entertained doing it.
Then I told myself, "Dude, it's just Pacific. Don't waste your money." And so I didn't. But I did decide to put together the 45 card jersey set. Well, at least 44 of them. The first 44 cards had print runs ranging from 250 to 850, mostly the latter. But card #45 was limited to just 100 copies. And it had two jersey swatches. And an autograph. And it immediately entered...
Beckett Hell
Card #45 features the trio who tied for the league lead in goals, with a frankly pathetic total of just 41 each. This was the last year of the dead puck era. It was the lowest non-lockout total since 1963, when Gordie Howe ruled the league with 38. The card front featured jersey swatches of Ilya Kovalchuk and Jarome Iginla, while the back featured an autograph from Rick Nash. It actually is a good looking card in person.
But Beckett priced it between $75-200, and then left it there for a decade plus. The trouble was, the hobby was changing, and better configurations were coming out with smaller print runs. But if you were lucky enough to have pulled this card, you weren't going to give it away. After all, Beckett says... ugh.
So I completed my 44 card set (I don't remember when, 2005?) and that was that. I didn't even set an alert on #45. I'd look for it from time to time, but as far as I was concerned, I was done.
Then COVID hit. And I couldn't go anywhere. But I was still working. And shouldn't I be doing something to help the economy? So I looked the card up - found it - and pulled the trigger. Here it is:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-05-PA...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
The buyer is me. With the exchange rate tilted in my favor, what the heck, right? And this is the card that's been on a long strange journey through customs, but it finally arrived today, and I must say, it's a fine looking card.
But while we're here, let's take a look at the whole set (images from COMC, but I have only used images where the swatch matches my own):
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #34 - Mario Lemieux /850 [Noted]
Courtesy of COMC.com
Superstars
This set is loaded with superstars, and they're all quite reasonably priced. Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman are the elder statesmen of the set, but there are a ton of players who came into the league during the early 90s boom: Joe Sakic, Martin Brodeur, Eric Lindros, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Bure, Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Mats Sundin, and Ed Belfour. That's a murderer's row of superstardom. Later HOFers include Paul Kariya and surefire future inductees Roberto Luongo and Joe Thornton, should he ever retire. We've also got Vincent Lecavalier, Daniel Alfredsson, Alexei Kovalev, Ryan Smyth and the much maligned Alexei Yashin.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #36 - Peter Sejna /850
Courtesy of COMC.com
Future Stars
Unfortunately, this block mostly flamed out. The only blue chipper from the 2003 draft class included is Patrice Bergeron. Other youngsters in this set included Peter Sejna, Vaclav Nederost, Mark Bell, Kris Beech, Brent Johnson, and Krys Kolanos. Not exactly a winning mix, although Martin Havlat was pretty good for awhile.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #13 - Jason Williams /850
Courtesy of COMC.com
Randos
Pacific knew this was it, so they were clearing out the warehouse. So we got some oddballs thrown in. I think the oddest oddball is Mike Eastwood. The 37 year old had just wrapped what ultimately proved to be his final season in the NHL with Pittsburgh. He had 4 goals. His jersey swatch was from a St. Louis uniform, where he hadn't played in 2 seasons.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #19 - Alex Kovalev /575
Courtesy of COMC.com
*Okay, my jersey swatch is black, but I had to show this one off.
The Kovalev is my favorite card in the set. The swatch is from Pittsburgh, he's depicted as a Ranger, and the card proclaims him a Canadien. But at least Pacific would tell you all this.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #19 - Alex Kovalev /575
Courtesy of COMC.com
See? Jersey is from 4 seasons ago. It's a nice touch. Which brings us to trivia:
What year is the oldest jersey from? Answer at bottom.
Bonus Box Breaks!
2004-05 Pacific is typically a pretty cheap box because the only thing potentially in it is ol' card #45 up top. But you could manage to pull a gold parallel jersey card numbered to 50, all of which are trapped in Beckett Hells of their own. So I decided to take a chance and bought two boxes before I bought #45. The boxes say I am guaranteed two jersey cards.
Box 1
4 blue parallels (including Brett Hull and Felix Potvin)
16 reds (including Yzerman)
14 insert cards, none of which are important
3 jersey cards! Jason Williams, Jeremy Roenick, and Alexei Yashin (all serialed to 850)
Box 2
4 blues (no one of consequence)
16 reds (including Chara and Messier)
14 inserts (2 Lemieuxs)
3 jersey cards! Mark Bell (# to 335), Martin Brodeur, and Todd Bertuzzi
I did not manage to get a complete base set between the two boxes. Not really close either.
Happy with Brodeur, but didn't pull a gold and certainly didn't pull a #45.
Trivia answer: If you guessed 1998-99, a tie between Rico Fata and Derian Hatcher...then you are wrong. It's Super Mario, whose jersey is from the 1989-90 season. The Yzerman and Modano jerseys do not give dates, but realistically, only Yzerman could give challenge as the Modano looks like the modern colors.
And there you have it.
Mike
Then I told myself, "Dude, it's just Pacific. Don't waste your money." And so I didn't. But I did decide to put together the 45 card jersey set. Well, at least 44 of them. The first 44 cards had print runs ranging from 250 to 850, mostly the latter. But card #45 was limited to just 100 copies. And it had two jersey swatches. And an autograph. And it immediately entered...
Beckett Hell
Card #45 features the trio who tied for the league lead in goals, with a frankly pathetic total of just 41 each. This was the last year of the dead puck era. It was the lowest non-lockout total since 1963, when Gordie Howe ruled the league with 38. The card front featured jersey swatches of Ilya Kovalchuk and Jarome Iginla, while the back featured an autograph from Rick Nash. It actually is a good looking card in person.
But Beckett priced it between $75-200, and then left it there for a decade plus. The trouble was, the hobby was changing, and better configurations were coming out with smaller print runs. But if you were lucky enough to have pulled this card, you weren't going to give it away. After all, Beckett says... ugh.
So I completed my 44 card set (I don't remember when, 2005?) and that was that. I didn't even set an alert on #45. I'd look for it from time to time, but as far as I was concerned, I was done.
Then COVID hit. And I couldn't go anywhere. But I was still working. And shouldn't I be doing something to help the economy? So I looked the card up - found it - and pulled the trigger. Here it is:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-05-PA...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
The buyer is me. With the exchange rate tilted in my favor, what the heck, right? And this is the card that's been on a long strange journey through customs, but it finally arrived today, and I must say, it's a fine looking card.
But while we're here, let's take a look at the whole set (images from COMC, but I have only used images where the swatch matches my own):
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #34 - Mario Lemieux /850 [Noted]
Courtesy of COMC.com
Superstars
This set is loaded with superstars, and they're all quite reasonably priced. Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman are the elder statesmen of the set, but there are a ton of players who came into the league during the early 90s boom: Joe Sakic, Martin Brodeur, Eric Lindros, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Bure, Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Mats Sundin, and Ed Belfour. That's a murderer's row of superstardom. Later HOFers include Paul Kariya and surefire future inductees Roberto Luongo and Joe Thornton, should he ever retire. We've also got Vincent Lecavalier, Daniel Alfredsson, Alexei Kovalev, Ryan Smyth and the much maligned Alexei Yashin.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #36 - Peter Sejna /850
Courtesy of COMC.com
Future Stars
Unfortunately, this block mostly flamed out. The only blue chipper from the 2003 draft class included is Patrice Bergeron. Other youngsters in this set included Peter Sejna, Vaclav Nederost, Mark Bell, Kris Beech, Brent Johnson, and Krys Kolanos. Not exactly a winning mix, although Martin Havlat was pretty good for awhile.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #13 - Jason Williams /850
Courtesy of COMC.com
Randos
Pacific knew this was it, so they were clearing out the warehouse. So we got some oddballs thrown in. I think the oddest oddball is Mike Eastwood. The 37 year old had just wrapped what ultimately proved to be his final season in the NHL with Pittsburgh. He had 4 goals. His jersey swatch was from a St. Louis uniform, where he hadn't played in 2 seasons.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #19 - Alex Kovalev /575
Courtesy of COMC.com
*Okay, my jersey swatch is black, but I had to show this one off.
The Kovalev is my favorite card in the set. The swatch is from Pittsburgh, he's depicted as a Ranger, and the card proclaims him a Canadien. But at least Pacific would tell you all this.
2004-05 Pacific - Authentic Game-Worn Jerseys #19 - Alex Kovalev /575
Courtesy of COMC.com
See? Jersey is from 4 seasons ago. It's a nice touch. Which brings us to trivia:
What year is the oldest jersey from? Answer at bottom.
Bonus Box Breaks!
2004-05 Pacific is typically a pretty cheap box because the only thing potentially in it is ol' card #45 up top. But you could manage to pull a gold parallel jersey card numbered to 50, all of which are trapped in Beckett Hells of their own. So I decided to take a chance and bought two boxes before I bought #45. The boxes say I am guaranteed two jersey cards.
Box 1
4 blue parallels (including Brett Hull and Felix Potvin)
16 reds (including Yzerman)
14 insert cards, none of which are important
3 jersey cards! Jason Williams, Jeremy Roenick, and Alexei Yashin (all serialed to 850)
Box 2
4 blues (no one of consequence)
16 reds (including Chara and Messier)
14 inserts (2 Lemieuxs)
3 jersey cards! Mark Bell (# to 335), Martin Brodeur, and Todd Bertuzzi
I did not manage to get a complete base set between the two boxes. Not really close either.
Happy with Brodeur, but didn't pull a gold and certainly didn't pull a #45.
Trivia answer: If you guessed 1998-99, a tie between Rico Fata and Derian Hatcher...then you are wrong. It's Super Mario, whose jersey is from the 1989-90 season. The Yzerman and Modano jerseys do not give dates, but realistically, only Yzerman could give challenge as the Modano looks like the modern colors.
And there you have it.
Mike
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