The Great Zo
Verified Trader,
This is my favorite type of mail post -- one that is focused mainly on player collection items, which I still see as the heart of my collection. The final card in the post has been at the top of my wantlist since it was released, but before I get to the end, there are several other great cards to show first.
Mail Post #3 for 2015
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada Header Card (x2)
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD1 Sidney Crosby
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD2 Steven Stamkos
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD3 Ryan Getzlaf
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD4 Evander Kane
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD5 P.K. Subban
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD6 Bo Horvat
I'll begin with a batch of National Hockey Card Day cards I received from Norm (trekrun). Norm shipped me these cards free-of-charge, because that's just the kind of guy he is.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD7 Sam Reinhart
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD8 Aaron Ekblad
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD9 Jonathan Drouin
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD10 Curtis Lazar
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD11 Joe Sakic
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD12 Patrick Roy
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD13 Terry Sawchuk
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD14 Bobby Orr
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD15 Wayne Gretzky
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD16 Jonathan Toews
I noticed an interesting quirk to the checklist -- the header card lists NHCD7 as Corban Knight, but the actual card uses Sam Reinhart instead.
The Jonathan Toews card was an additional card only available with another purchase, but it's the key addition to complete the set.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD2 Steven Stamkos
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD9 Jonathan Drouin
Finally, here are doubles of the two cards I wanted most -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and top prospect Jonathan Drouin. This is actually my first NHL card of Drouin, and though it may end up as the first of few, I sure hope it's not the last.
Thanks a ton for the help with these cards, Norm!
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Pinnacle City Lights Henrik Zetterberg (036/299)
I've always loved cards with pictures of a city's skyline in the background, and although I'm certainly no Red Wings fan, I'll pick up anything along these lines with the city of Detroit being featured. It took me a while to get this one, though, because I held out for a copy with a red swatch. Most copies of this card have a plain white jersey swatch instead.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Panini National Treasures Jeremy Morin (95/99)
Jeremy Morin was acquired by Columbus from the Chicago Blackhawks, and this maybe-RC is one of his best rookie-year cards. It's not terribly exciting, but it was cheap.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Ultimate Collection Sergei Bobrovsky RC (200/299)
This card is probably one of Bobrovsky's nicest RCs, though it may not be among the most expensive. I've seen copies sell in the $20-$25 range, but I got this one for under $10.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Hardware Heroes Martin St. Louis (03-04 Hart Trophy) (059/100)
I hate to feature The Traitor in a mail post, but my goal is to collect all award-commemorative cards featuring the Lightning, and this goal does not make exceptions. It's a reminder of good days, sure, but there may be even better days to come for the Bolts.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Championship Rings Alec Martinez
Martinez appeared in the 2012-13 Black Diamond Championship Rings insert set, and appeared again here in 2014-15. These cards are inserted at 1:60 hobby packs, and to be honest, this card was pretty easy to find.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Alec Martinez
Martinez made his first base-set appearance of 2014-15 in Black Diamond.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Orange Alec Martinez
The orange parallel uses holofoil light-FX, one of my absolute favorite card technologies! The bright orange background also makes it stand out. These orange parallels were inserted in the bonus packs, one of which was found in each hobby box. There's no stated print run, but based on what I've seen on ebay, I'd guess that there are a couple hundred copies of each.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Ruby Alec Martinez (24/50)
The ruby parallel also uses holofoil light-FX, and unlike the orange version, this one is numbered. Only 50 copies were produced.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Emerald Alec Martinez (07/10)
How about one more parallel from Black Diamond? Here's the emerald version, which is my favorite of the four! This is a really nice card to look at, especially when viewing the holographic elements in direct sunlight. Only ten copies of this card were produced.
I have yet to see the Sapphire 1/1 version, but I'd love to complete this rainbow. I did complete the rainbow for Martinez in 2009-10, the last time he appeared in a Black Diamond base set.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Ultra Road to the Championship Alec Martinez
-- Division Finals (May 14, 2014)
I doubt I'll ever own all 12 of the Martinez cards from this Ultra Road to the Championship set, but with this card in hand, I now have six of them. Halfway isn't bad, but the rare cards are the ones I'm still missing.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs (full set) (damaged)
It was only by luck that I ran across this promotional set on ebay. I'm not exactly sure how it was distributed, but I think it may have been sold at the Kings team shop, or perhaps given out at a game. I couldn't find any information about the set online.
Unfortunately, my first attempt to buy the set was unsuccessful. You simply can't get away with mailing a pack of thin cards by tossing it in an envelope with no protection and hoping for the best. Though it's not obvious in the picture, the entire thing is badly creased, having been folded across the center.
I received a refund and went out to find another set.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Jeff Carter
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Drew Doughty
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Dustin Brown
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Jonathan Quick
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Anze Kopitar
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Marian Gaborik
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Mike Richards
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Justin Williams
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Bailey (Mascot)
Thankfully, it wasn't too tough to find another one. Here are nine of the set's ten cards. As should be obvious, they use a unique design -- a slight variation on the 14-15 Upper Deck theme -- and with pictures not found in the regular UD set. The cards are unnumbered, but have the Bailey's Buddies logo on the card back.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Alec Martinez
Here's the final card from the set -- Alec "Jazz Hands" Martinez celebrating his cup-clinching overtime goal!
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 National Treasures Press Plates (1/1)
-- 12-13 Titanium Game-Worn Gear 2 Alec Martinez (Magenta Plate)
This is my second Alec Martinez press plate from the behemoth 13-14 National Treasures release. I also own the yellow version of the same card.
Martinez was also in the 12-13 Panini Certified Path to the Cup set, which had plates in NT. However, I have yet to see any copies of that Martinez plate, so I can't confirm whether or not they were included.
-------------------------------------------------------
2012 Pinnacle NHL All-Star Game Tim Thomas
2012 Panini NHL All-Star Game Stamped Cards
-- 11-12 Panini Certified Masked Marvels Tim Thomas (5/5)
Moving from Alec Martinez to Tim Thomas, here are a few promo cards from the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. I already own several copies of the first card, but the main reason I made this purchase was for the Masked Marvels stamped promo. While I'm not specifically chasing these down, I've been picking them up when I can get them for under $5. So far, I own four different Tim Thomas inserts from the 2012 All-Star stamped promos.
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Panini Certified Materials Mirror Blue Tim Thomas (36/99)
This isn't one of the toughest Tim Thomas cards from 11-12 Panini Certified, but since he had 55 different cards in the product, it makes sense that I missed a few of the easier ones along the way. So, here's the Mirror Blue jersey card, with a plain black swatch.
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Between The Pipes Decades Quad Jersey Gold D-12 (/10)
-- Carey Price (White Seam / Red Jersey)
-- Ryan Miller (Grey Jersey)
-- Roberto Luongo (White Seam / Green Jersey)
-- Tim Thomas (Yellow Jersey / White Jersey)
I've somehow never picked up the Silver /50 version of this card, but here's the Gold /10 parallel! The swatches on this card, with one exception, are pretty nice. Even the Thomas swatch is thick, with a seam under the two jersey pieces.
ITG products ended up relying way too heavily on cards like this one, with very similar designs and player selections. Although the concept definitely got a little stale, I think this is one of the better cards of its type, and all four goalies are among the best of the era.
-------------------------------------------------------
12-13 Panini Certified Mirror Emerald Tim Thomas (5/5)
Panini Certified is a set known for its parallels, and this Tim Thomas card is one of eight versions of his base set (Masked Men subset) card. I'm up to six of the eight! Here's how the progress has gone so far.
* Base #/999
* Mirror Red #/100
* Hot Box #/75
* Mirror Blue #/50
* Mirror Gold #/25 (not owned)
* Mirror Emerald #/5
* Mirror Black 1/1 (not owned)
* Mirror Ice Tag 1/1
There are only two more to go, but one of them is a 1/1, so I don't know if I'll ever complete the entire batch. However, it's quite a boost to get this Mirror Emerald version, with only five copies made! This is the last numbered of the five.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Topps KHL Stars 230 Kristian Kudroc
It wasn't easy to find out very many details about this Topps KHL set, but the first thing I can confirm is that it does appear to be a legitimate, licensed release. It looks like it's part of a collectible card game, but I certainly have no idea how it works.
I only saw a few copies of this card on ebay, and eventually had to overpay for one just to make sure I didn't miss out. The card has a full foil front, which looks better in person than it does in a picture.
Kristian Kudroc is a former member of the Detroit Vipers and Tampa Bay Lightning. After suffering a concussion in August 2014, it appears that he has not resumed his playing career.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck 25th Anniversary Buybacks 90 Brad Shaw (23/25)
14-15 Upper Deck 25th Anniversary Buybacks 327 Brad Shaw (14/25)
This is not the first time that Upper Deck has released anniversary buybacks of their inaugural hockey set. In 10-11 Upper Deck French, specially-stamped buyback cards were released -- and although print runs were not disclosed, I estimated about 25-30 copies of each. I picked up the Brad Shaw cards from that release, and can now add these English buybacks from 14-15 Upper Deck to the stash.
Here's the question I have to ask -- how was it the 20th anniversary in 2010, but the 25th anniversary in 2014? Someone at UD needs a refresher on arithmetic.
-----
Now, on to the final card in the post, and it's a big one.
In late 2013, ITG released Decades 1990s. Among the 90s-era NHL stars in the set was Sergei Samsonov, who began his career in North America with the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 1996-97. However, it was another former Viper in the product who really caught my attention -- Gordie Howe.
Howe made history with the Vipers on October 3, 1997, when he signed a one-game publicity stunt contract, skating a single shift against the Kansas City Blades. That shift made Howe the only person to play in six decades of professional hockey, a feat I'm sure will never be matched.
When ITG announced Howe's appearance in Decades 1990s, I knew immediately why he was in the set. Howe appeared on three cards, and I acquired his base set and Gold #/30 cards quickly and painlessly. Unfortunately, I knew it would be a different story with the autograph. Howe's health was not at its best, and I knew he wouldn't be signing very heavily. The autograph card was listed as a short print by ITG, though not a SSP, which I found strange. Based on what I've seen on ebay and elsewhere, I'd estimate a print run of 10-15 copies.
It was painful to watch the first few copies hit ebay, and subsequently sell for prices that just didn't make sense for my collection. One copy even cracked the $500 mark! I'm sure that a combination of scarcity, Howe fans, and set builders drove the prices through the roof. Still, how many collectors wanted this card specifically due to the connection to a defunct International Hockey League franchise?
I was patient, and though it took some time, additional copies gradually continued to hit the market. When the time and the price were right, I moved in and took care of business.
13-14 ITG Decades 1990s Autographs A-GH Gordie Howe (SP)
The text from the card back:
Howe made history once again when he became the first player to play a professional game in six different decades during the 1997-98 season when he took to the ice for a single shift with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL.
In case there was any doubt, Howe's wearing the Vipers' home uniform, and that's the Palace of Auburn Hills in the background. I don't know why ITG didn't use the Vipers logo anywhere on the card, since the trademark has long since expired. They did end up using a full shot of the Vipers logo on a Heroes and Prospects base card of Sergei Samsonov -- a card I still haven't acquired, for whatever odd reason.
Here's something interesting I noticed just as I was putting this post together. Check out the copyright on the Howe card -- 2012. ITG Decades 1990s was released in late 2013, and the other cards I own from the set list a 2013 copyright on the back. That tells me that they were planning way ahead for this Gordie Howe card. If they had waited until 2013 to get his signatures, it might not have even been possible!
It's fitting that as I prepared to post this card, NHL.com released a long-form article about the history of the "forgotten" Detroit Vipers. I caught a few factual errors in the article text, but none more egregious than the one in the headline.
Forgotten?
Not here.
-----------------
News and notes:
** I'll be on vacation for most of the rest of March, so any messages may not get a response right away.
** In my last mail post, I celebrated picking up two nice patch/auto RCs of Brett Connolly and Cam Atkinson. Atkinson, who I figured would be traded, signed an extension with Columbus. Connolly was traded by Tampa Bay to Boston, where he promptly broke his hand. The deadline is strange.
That'll be it. Thanks everyone!
--Andy
http://www.thegreatzo.com/cards/
-------------------------------------------------------
Mail Post #3 for 2015
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada Header Card (x2)
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD1 Sidney Crosby
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD2 Steven Stamkos
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD3 Ryan Getzlaf
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD4 Evander Kane
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD5 P.K. Subban
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD6 Bo Horvat
I'll begin with a batch of National Hockey Card Day cards I received from Norm (trekrun). Norm shipped me these cards free-of-charge, because that's just the kind of guy he is.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD7 Sam Reinhart
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD8 Aaron Ekblad
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD9 Jonathan Drouin
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD10 Curtis Lazar
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD11 Joe Sakic
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD12 Patrick Roy
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD13 Terry Sawchuk
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD14 Bobby Orr
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD15 Wayne Gretzky
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD16 Jonathan Toews
I noticed an interesting quirk to the checklist -- the header card lists NHCD7 as Corban Knight, but the actual card uses Sam Reinhart instead.
The Jonathan Toews card was an additional card only available with another purchase, but it's the key addition to complete the set.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD2 Steven Stamkos
14-15 National Hockey Card Day Canada NHCD9 Jonathan Drouin
Finally, here are doubles of the two cards I wanted most -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and top prospect Jonathan Drouin. This is actually my first NHL card of Drouin, and though it may end up as the first of few, I sure hope it's not the last.
Thanks a ton for the help with these cards, Norm!
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Pinnacle City Lights Henrik Zetterberg (036/299)
I've always loved cards with pictures of a city's skyline in the background, and although I'm certainly no Red Wings fan, I'll pick up anything along these lines with the city of Detroit being featured. It took me a while to get this one, though, because I held out for a copy with a red swatch. Most copies of this card have a plain white jersey swatch instead.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Panini National Treasures Jeremy Morin (95/99)
Jeremy Morin was acquired by Columbus from the Chicago Blackhawks, and this maybe-RC is one of his best rookie-year cards. It's not terribly exciting, but it was cheap.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Ultimate Collection Sergei Bobrovsky RC (200/299)
This card is probably one of Bobrovsky's nicest RCs, though it may not be among the most expensive. I've seen copies sell in the $20-$25 range, but I got this one for under $10.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Hardware Heroes Martin St. Louis (03-04 Hart Trophy) (059/100)
I hate to feature The Traitor in a mail post, but my goal is to collect all award-commemorative cards featuring the Lightning, and this goal does not make exceptions. It's a reminder of good days, sure, but there may be even better days to come for the Bolts.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Championship Rings Alec Martinez
Martinez appeared in the 2012-13 Black Diamond Championship Rings insert set, and appeared again here in 2014-15. These cards are inserted at 1:60 hobby packs, and to be honest, this card was pretty easy to find.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Alec Martinez
Martinez made his first base-set appearance of 2014-15 in Black Diamond.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Orange Alec Martinez
The orange parallel uses holofoil light-FX, one of my absolute favorite card technologies! The bright orange background also makes it stand out. These orange parallels were inserted in the bonus packs, one of which was found in each hobby box. There's no stated print run, but based on what I've seen on ebay, I'd guess that there are a couple hundred copies of each.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Ruby Alec Martinez (24/50)
The ruby parallel also uses holofoil light-FX, and unlike the orange version, this one is numbered. Only 50 copies were produced.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Black Diamond Emerald Alec Martinez (07/10)
How about one more parallel from Black Diamond? Here's the emerald version, which is my favorite of the four! This is a really nice card to look at, especially when viewing the holographic elements in direct sunlight. Only ten copies of this card were produced.
I have yet to see the Sapphire 1/1 version, but I'd love to complete this rainbow. I did complete the rainbow for Martinez in 2009-10, the last time he appeared in a Black Diamond base set.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Ultra Road to the Championship Alec Martinez
-- Division Finals (May 14, 2014)
I doubt I'll ever own all 12 of the Martinez cards from this Ultra Road to the Championship set, but with this card in hand, I now have six of them. Halfway isn't bad, but the rare cards are the ones I'm still missing.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs (full set) (damaged)
It was only by luck that I ran across this promotional set on ebay. I'm not exactly sure how it was distributed, but I think it may have been sold at the Kings team shop, or perhaps given out at a game. I couldn't find any information about the set online.
Unfortunately, my first attempt to buy the set was unsuccessful. You simply can't get away with mailing a pack of thin cards by tossing it in an envelope with no protection and hoping for the best. Though it's not obvious in the picture, the entire thing is badly creased, having been folded across the center.
I received a refund and went out to find another set.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Jeff Carter
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Drew Doughty
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Dustin Brown
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Jonathan Quick
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Anze Kopitar
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Marian Gaborik
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Mike Richards
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Justin Williams
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Bailey (Mascot)
Thankfully, it wasn't too tough to find another one. Here are nine of the set's ten cards. As should be obvious, they use a unique design -- a slight variation on the 14-15 Upper Deck theme -- and with pictures not found in the regular UD set. The cards are unnumbered, but have the Bailey's Buddies logo on the card back.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Champs Alec Martinez
Here's the final card from the set -- Alec "Jazz Hands" Martinez celebrating his cup-clinching overtime goal!
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 National Treasures Press Plates (1/1)
-- 12-13 Titanium Game-Worn Gear 2 Alec Martinez (Magenta Plate)
This is my second Alec Martinez press plate from the behemoth 13-14 National Treasures release. I also own the yellow version of the same card.
Martinez was also in the 12-13 Panini Certified Path to the Cup set, which had plates in NT. However, I have yet to see any copies of that Martinez plate, so I can't confirm whether or not they were included.
-------------------------------------------------------
2012 Pinnacle NHL All-Star Game Tim Thomas
2012 Panini NHL All-Star Game Stamped Cards
-- 11-12 Panini Certified Masked Marvels Tim Thomas (5/5)
Moving from Alec Martinez to Tim Thomas, here are a few promo cards from the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. I already own several copies of the first card, but the main reason I made this purchase was for the Masked Marvels stamped promo. While I'm not specifically chasing these down, I've been picking them up when I can get them for under $5. So far, I own four different Tim Thomas inserts from the 2012 All-Star stamped promos.
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Panini Certified Materials Mirror Blue Tim Thomas (36/99)
This isn't one of the toughest Tim Thomas cards from 11-12 Panini Certified, but since he had 55 different cards in the product, it makes sense that I missed a few of the easier ones along the way. So, here's the Mirror Blue jersey card, with a plain black swatch.
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Between The Pipes Decades Quad Jersey Gold D-12 (/10)
-- Carey Price (White Seam / Red Jersey)
-- Ryan Miller (Grey Jersey)
-- Roberto Luongo (White Seam / Green Jersey)
-- Tim Thomas (Yellow Jersey / White Jersey)
I've somehow never picked up the Silver /50 version of this card, but here's the Gold /10 parallel! The swatches on this card, with one exception, are pretty nice. Even the Thomas swatch is thick, with a seam under the two jersey pieces.
ITG products ended up relying way too heavily on cards like this one, with very similar designs and player selections. Although the concept definitely got a little stale, I think this is one of the better cards of its type, and all four goalies are among the best of the era.
-------------------------------------------------------
12-13 Panini Certified Mirror Emerald Tim Thomas (5/5)
Panini Certified is a set known for its parallels, and this Tim Thomas card is one of eight versions of his base set (Masked Men subset) card. I'm up to six of the eight! Here's how the progress has gone so far.
* Base #/999
* Mirror Red #/100
* Hot Box #/75
* Mirror Blue #/50
* Mirror Gold #/25 (not owned)
* Mirror Emerald #/5
* Mirror Black 1/1 (not owned)
* Mirror Ice Tag 1/1
There are only two more to go, but one of them is a 1/1, so I don't know if I'll ever complete the entire batch. However, it's quite a boost to get this Mirror Emerald version, with only five copies made! This is the last numbered of the five.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Topps KHL Stars 230 Kristian Kudroc
It wasn't easy to find out very many details about this Topps KHL set, but the first thing I can confirm is that it does appear to be a legitimate, licensed release. It looks like it's part of a collectible card game, but I certainly have no idea how it works.
I only saw a few copies of this card on ebay, and eventually had to overpay for one just to make sure I didn't miss out. The card has a full foil front, which looks better in person than it does in a picture.
Kristian Kudroc is a former member of the Detroit Vipers and Tampa Bay Lightning. After suffering a concussion in August 2014, it appears that he has not resumed his playing career.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Upper Deck 25th Anniversary Buybacks 90 Brad Shaw (23/25)
14-15 Upper Deck 25th Anniversary Buybacks 327 Brad Shaw (14/25)
This is not the first time that Upper Deck has released anniversary buybacks of their inaugural hockey set. In 10-11 Upper Deck French, specially-stamped buyback cards were released -- and although print runs were not disclosed, I estimated about 25-30 copies of each. I picked up the Brad Shaw cards from that release, and can now add these English buybacks from 14-15 Upper Deck to the stash.
Here's the question I have to ask -- how was it the 20th anniversary in 2010, but the 25th anniversary in 2014? Someone at UD needs a refresher on arithmetic.
-----
Now, on to the final card in the post, and it's a big one.
In late 2013, ITG released Decades 1990s. Among the 90s-era NHL stars in the set was Sergei Samsonov, who began his career in North America with the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 1996-97. However, it was another former Viper in the product who really caught my attention -- Gordie Howe.
Howe made history with the Vipers on October 3, 1997, when he signed a one-game publicity stunt contract, skating a single shift against the Kansas City Blades. That shift made Howe the only person to play in six decades of professional hockey, a feat I'm sure will never be matched.
When ITG announced Howe's appearance in Decades 1990s, I knew immediately why he was in the set. Howe appeared on three cards, and I acquired his base set and Gold #/30 cards quickly and painlessly. Unfortunately, I knew it would be a different story with the autograph. Howe's health was not at its best, and I knew he wouldn't be signing very heavily. The autograph card was listed as a short print by ITG, though not a SSP, which I found strange. Based on what I've seen on ebay and elsewhere, I'd estimate a print run of 10-15 copies.
It was painful to watch the first few copies hit ebay, and subsequently sell for prices that just didn't make sense for my collection. One copy even cracked the $500 mark! I'm sure that a combination of scarcity, Howe fans, and set builders drove the prices through the roof. Still, how many collectors wanted this card specifically due to the connection to a defunct International Hockey League franchise?
I was patient, and though it took some time, additional copies gradually continued to hit the market. When the time and the price were right, I moved in and took care of business.
13-14 ITG Decades 1990s Autographs A-GH Gordie Howe (SP)
The text from the card back:
Howe made history once again when he became the first player to play a professional game in six different decades during the 1997-98 season when he took to the ice for a single shift with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL.
In case there was any doubt, Howe's wearing the Vipers' home uniform, and that's the Palace of Auburn Hills in the background. I don't know why ITG didn't use the Vipers logo anywhere on the card, since the trademark has long since expired. They did end up using a full shot of the Vipers logo on a Heroes and Prospects base card of Sergei Samsonov -- a card I still haven't acquired, for whatever odd reason.
Here's something interesting I noticed just as I was putting this post together. Check out the copyright on the Howe card -- 2012. ITG Decades 1990s was released in late 2013, and the other cards I own from the set list a 2013 copyright on the back. That tells me that they were planning way ahead for this Gordie Howe card. If they had waited until 2013 to get his signatures, it might not have even been possible!
It's fitting that as I prepared to post this card, NHL.com released a long-form article about the history of the "forgotten" Detroit Vipers. I caught a few factual errors in the article text, but none more egregious than the one in the headline.
Forgotten?
Not here.
-----------------
News and notes:
** I'll be on vacation for most of the rest of March, so any messages may not get a response right away.
** In my last mail post, I celebrated picking up two nice patch/auto RCs of Brett Connolly and Cam Atkinson. Atkinson, who I figured would be traded, signed an extension with Columbus. Connolly was traded by Tampa Bay to Boston, where he promptly broke his hand. The deadline is strange.
That'll be it. Thanks everyone!
--Andy
http://www.thegreatzo.com/cards/
-------------------------------------------------------
!
