The Great Zo
Verified Trader,
No big intro this time. On to a bunch of rookie cards and a few other items!
Mail Post #2 for 2015
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11-12 Panini Certified Shirt Off My Back (05/25)
-- Steve Yzerman (Red Jersey) / Steven Stamkos (Black Jersey)
This card is, as I recall, one of the first cards to feature both Steven Stamkos and Steve Yzerman. I've had it on my wantlist for a while, but didn't want to pay too much for it, since it was sort of a lower priority. This one came to me inexpensively, and I think it's pretty nice! It also might be the only Yzerman jersey card that I have in my collection.
-------------------------------------------------------
03-04 BAP Ultimate Memorabilia Nathan Horton RC (64/100)
Well, Nathan Horton's time in Columbus is over, meaning that I won't be putting much effort into getting his RCs anymore. This one may be among the last I go after, but it's one of his better rookie issues, so it's not a bad thing to own it.
I haven't seen a single copy of this card with a Horton autograph that doesn't go way outside of the window. I guess he never learned to color within the lines. Some might say that's a good thing, but not particularly for trading card signatures.
This card is still sealed in the ITG holder.
-------------------------------------------------------
base cards
Here are two random base cards I received with the next item.
-------------------------------------------------------
02-03 BAP All-Star Edition Steve Eminger RC (49/100)
Steve Eminger is one of a class of players with a rookie card wantlist that just goes on forever, especially when compared to my interest in actually collecting his cards. What made this one a must-purchase was the fact that it's from one of my favorite RC sets of all time. I'm a huge fan of the BAP All-Star rookie cards, and I even own four of the Gold 1/1 parallels.
Despite the length of his wantlist (41 RCs by my count) I actually only have one more tough Eminger RC remaining -- this card's #/100 sibling from ITG Used.
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07-08 O-Pee-Chee Premier Jack Skille RC (047/299)
Jack Skille is a former Blue Jacket, and also a current Blue Jacket. He's also an out-for-the-rest-of-the-season Blue Jacket, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has followed the team this season.
This is about as good an example of an OPC Premier RC as can be. The card has four swatches with three colors -- white, black, and two red.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Panini Prestige Chris Bosh
Here's another random base card included with an item, although this one is a basketball card. It looked neat, so I took a picture of it.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Zenith Jeremy Morin RC (386/999)
The card the Bosh arrived with is this Jeremy Morin RC. Morin was picked up on waivers by the Blue Jackets, but he too has been out of the lineup.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Ultimate Collection Anders Lindback RC (089/299)
Acquiring Anders Lindback was one of the few big mistakes Steve Yzerman has made as General Manager of the Lightning. He was once thought of as a #1 goalie in the making, but the Nashville effect was in full force. Lindback has now been hand-selected by Tim Murray to lead the Buffalo Sabres into the most obvious tank job in recent history. So, in essence, I have no clue why I purchased this card -- but here it is!
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Panini Luxury Suite Brett Connolly RC (92/99)
Brett Connolly is starting to look like he's on track to be a classic semi-bust. He was a high pick (#6 overall) who hasn't put together anything to show he can be a top offensive threat, but he's starting to show good effort as a skilled and tenacious lower-line player. He still has a ceiling well above his current level, and he's young enough to not give up on.
This card was an elusive one to track down with the two features I wanted most -- a multi-color swatch and a fully-contained autograph. There were a few copies floating around ebay with those specifics, but they were re-listed dozens of times for prices that were not at all realistic.
Patience paid off, and I finally got one that fit into my collection. The swatch on this card has three layers -- white patch, blue patch, and silver patch.
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 The Cup Cam Atkinson RC (243/249)
Cam Atkinson has been a subject of trade talks for the Blue Jackets, and by the time I post this message, he may already be on his way out. Nothing is guaranteed, though, until 3PM has come and gone! Here's one of Atkinson's very best rookie cards, and it has an awesome three-color swatch -- white patch, red patch, and dark blue jersey. It took me a few years to get a nice copy of this card down into a price range I was happy with. I still need the Ryan Johansen card from the same set, but the chances of me ever making that purchase are pretty small.
-------------------------------------------------------
12-13 Panini Luxury Suite J.T. Brown RC (79/99) (White Jersey)
Though I'm no fan of the white swatch, I'm pretty sure every copy of this J.T. Brown "maybe-a-RC" had one. Nothing too special here, but it's rare and it was cheap, so I made an easy purchase.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Radko Gudas (02/66)
Now, here's another run of Titanium draft parallel cards from last season. I'll start with Radko Gudas, who was selected by the Lightning in the third round (#66 overall) of the 2010 draft. Gudas will miss the rest of the 2014-15 season after undergoing knee surgery. There's a small chance that he could be available for the playoffs.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Alex Killorn (21/77)
Alex Killorn was picked by the Bolts in the third round (#77 overall) of the 2007 draft. He stayed with Harvard University for four years, graduating in 2012 with a major in government and a minor in French. He's a fixture in the Lightning's top three lines.
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13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Ondrej Palat (087/100)
Ondrej Palat is one of the best draft steals in Lightning history. He was selected by the Bolts in the seventh round (#208 overall) of the 2011 draft. He's exceeded expectations at every level, and now plays wing on the infamous "Triplets" line that has been the most consistent for Tampa Bay all season. He was nominated for the Calder Trophy in 2014.
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13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Tyler Johnson (017/100)
Palat's center is fellow Calder Trophy nominee Tyler Johnson, who was never drafted at all. Johnson leads the entire Lightning team in scoring, and has spent most of the season in the top ten in the entire NHL. That's not bad for a player who was signed as a free agent out of Spokane (WHL) in 2011.
I'd love to pick up more Tyler Johnson RCs, but the prices have simply gone crazy.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Retail Boone Jenner RC (175/299)
Shortly after 13-14 Titanium was released, I made short work of acquiring the multitude of Retail RCs I needed for my projects. Why? I figured they'd end up very hard to find in the future, with a rather limited print run and retail-only distribution.
As it turns out, most of the cards have remained fairly easy to find on ebay -- but not this one. For some strange reason, the Boone Jenner RC just didn't hit the market. I can't really explain why. Eventually, one showed up, and it wasn't expensive at all. I now own all of the original Blue Jackets and Lightning RCs from 13-14 Titanium Retail.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Rookie Anthology Alex Killorn RC (028/249)
Many of Alex Killorn's RCs from Rookie Anthology had two swatches of identical colors. Only about 10% had both white and blue, and I waited patiently until I could purchase one of those.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Rookie Anthology Cory Conacher RC (066/249)
Here's another card from Rookie Anthology, as my quest to pick up all of Cory Conacher's RCs continues. This card has two red jersey swatches.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Prime Kevin Connauton RC (062/199)
Kevin Connauton has been one of bright spots for the Blue Jackets in an otherwise difficult season. He was picked up from the Dallas Stars on waivers, and has shown quite a bit of offensive ability.
This RC from Panini Prime isn't very interesting -- it has four white jersey swatches.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Select Kevin Connauton RC (105/199)
This card isn't much nicer, but I'll always enjoy the chrome / prizm finish on a card, even if the sticker autograph makes it look kind of ugly.
Panini decided to get a little bit confusing with the extra Select RCs inserted into Rookie Anthology. In the Select base set, autographed rookie cards were limited to 399 copies, and jersey/autograph cards were parallels -- not true RCs. In the update set, jersey/autograph cards were part of the base set, which is why this Kevin Connauton card is a RC.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Select Prizms Jerry D'Amigo (42/99)
Here's another confusing issue Panini created. After months of searching, I can say with a fair bit of certainty that the base version of this card does not exist. Jerry D'Amigo's Select autograph card was supposed to have a regular RC version, but it appears that only the parallels were released. Since there's no base version of this card, I decided to buy the Prizm parallel.
In December 2014, D'Amigo was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Luke Adam.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Boxing Day Absolute Ryan Murray
This card was released as part of Panini's 2013 Boxing Day promo. Although it just looks like a plain base card, it's actually very thick!
I will keep this for my Ryan Murray collection, and I have added another card from the set (Boone Jenner) to my wantlist.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Contenders Ryan Murray RC
Here's another Ryan Murray card -- his main base set card (and thus RC) from Panini Contenders. This card features Murray in the Blue Jackets' third jersey.
According to Panini, this card is a SSP, with a print run of less than 200 copies. I'm not sure what the actual print run is, but it's certainly at the higher end of that range (maybe 150-200).
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Contenders Variation Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray also appeared on a variation card in Panini Contenders, where he is pictured wearing the regular Blue Jackets home uniform. In addition, the card back text is changed from the base version.
According to Panini, the print run for each variation card is 50 copies.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 SP Game Used Cody Kunyk (12/28)
Who is Cody Kunyk?
As of right now, this is the only hockey card Cody Kunyk has ever appeared on. He was an undrafted free agent who played four years at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Lightning won the bidding war for his services, and signed him to a deal near the end of the 2013-14 season. He played one token game with the Bolts -- the final game of the reguar season -- in April 2014. Since then, Kunyk has been in the AHL, and he hasn't exactly set the world on fire for the Syracuse Crunch.
For some reason, Kunyk is one of several hold-over players that Upper Deck never produced any RCs for. It's very strange that his only appearance has been in the high-end SP Game Used set, especially considering that old-timer hobby purists like myself don't consider jersey-numbered cards to be legitimate RCs. Is it possible that Cody Kunyk will never earn a typical rookie card? Isn't he the exact kind of fringe player that a set like O-Pee-Chee was built for?
Done with the RCs -- let's close with something shiny and familiar-looking.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Prizm Finite Prizms Tim Thomas (1 of 1)
If this looks like a repeat of my last post, it should. I closed that post with the Select Black Prizm 1/1 of Tim Thomas, which was released as part of Panini Rookie Anthology. I acquired its sibling in much the same way -- originally missing out on the card on ebay, and later purchasing it for a lower price than it sold for the first time!
The two cards are very similar in appearance, and they use the exact same underlying prizm holofoil -- little squares with rotating holographic elements, all set on a dark teal background. Of course, the design of the Prizm base set is a little busier than the Select base set. I also find it interesting that Thomas is pictured as a Panther on this card, but as a Star on the other one. Both cards were released at the same time, but perhaps they weren't manufactured together.
This is the 78th true 1/1 in my Tim Thomas collection. If I ever get to 100, I'll have to find a way to celebrate.
-----------------
News and notes:
** Two mail posts in two full months? It's pretty obvious that things are slowing down for me in terms of cards. No big reason for that, positive or negative -- just buying a little less and spending time on other interests also. No plans to quit any of my collections, but as retirements have gradually wound things down with my player collections, a slower pace is fine with me.
** The one exception to the above is Alec Martinez, who I knew would become impossible to continue collecting seriously after his heroics in the 2014 playoffs. He was a low-end defenseman with a local connection that I decided to begin collecting in 2010 just for the fun of it, expecting that he'd earn some RCs and never be seen on cardboard again. Well, now he has memorabilia cards in SPGU selling for hundreds of dollars, and a "bobblehands" doll released by the Manchester Monarchs that can't be had for any less than $50. So, I'll just be reasonable with this collection, only picking up what makes sense to me financially.
That'll be it. Thanks everyone!
--Andy
http://www.thegreatzo.com/cards/
-------------------------------------------------------
Mail Post #2 for 2015
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Panini Certified Shirt Off My Back (05/25)
-- Steve Yzerman (Red Jersey) / Steven Stamkos (Black Jersey)
This card is, as I recall, one of the first cards to feature both Steven Stamkos and Steve Yzerman. I've had it on my wantlist for a while, but didn't want to pay too much for it, since it was sort of a lower priority. This one came to me inexpensively, and I think it's pretty nice! It also might be the only Yzerman jersey card that I have in my collection.
-------------------------------------------------------
03-04 BAP Ultimate Memorabilia Nathan Horton RC (64/100)
Well, Nathan Horton's time in Columbus is over, meaning that I won't be putting much effort into getting his RCs anymore. This one may be among the last I go after, but it's one of his better rookie issues, so it's not a bad thing to own it.
I haven't seen a single copy of this card with a Horton autograph that doesn't go way outside of the window. I guess he never learned to color within the lines. Some might say that's a good thing, but not particularly for trading card signatures.
This card is still sealed in the ITG holder.
-------------------------------------------------------
base cards
Here are two random base cards I received with the next item.
-------------------------------------------------------
02-03 BAP All-Star Edition Steve Eminger RC (49/100)
Steve Eminger is one of a class of players with a rookie card wantlist that just goes on forever, especially when compared to my interest in actually collecting his cards. What made this one a must-purchase was the fact that it's from one of my favorite RC sets of all time. I'm a huge fan of the BAP All-Star rookie cards, and I even own four of the Gold 1/1 parallels.
Despite the length of his wantlist (41 RCs by my count) I actually only have one more tough Eminger RC remaining -- this card's #/100 sibling from ITG Used.
-------------------------------------------------------
07-08 O-Pee-Chee Premier Jack Skille RC (047/299)
Jack Skille is a former Blue Jacket, and also a current Blue Jacket. He's also an out-for-the-rest-of-the-season Blue Jacket, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has followed the team this season.
This is about as good an example of an OPC Premier RC as can be. The card has four swatches with three colors -- white, black, and two red.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 Panini Prestige Chris Bosh
Here's another random base card included with an item, although this one is a basketball card. It looked neat, so I took a picture of it.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Zenith Jeremy Morin RC (386/999)
The card the Bosh arrived with is this Jeremy Morin RC. Morin was picked up on waivers by the Blue Jackets, but he too has been out of the lineup.
-------------------------------------------------------
10-11 Ultimate Collection Anders Lindback RC (089/299)
Acquiring Anders Lindback was one of the few big mistakes Steve Yzerman has made as General Manager of the Lightning. He was once thought of as a #1 goalie in the making, but the Nashville effect was in full force. Lindback has now been hand-selected by Tim Murray to lead the Buffalo Sabres into the most obvious tank job in recent history. So, in essence, I have no clue why I purchased this card -- but here it is!
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 Panini Luxury Suite Brett Connolly RC (92/99)
Brett Connolly is starting to look like he's on track to be a classic semi-bust. He was a high pick (#6 overall) who hasn't put together anything to show he can be a top offensive threat, but he's starting to show good effort as a skilled and tenacious lower-line player. He still has a ceiling well above his current level, and he's young enough to not give up on.
This card was an elusive one to track down with the two features I wanted most -- a multi-color swatch and a fully-contained autograph. There were a few copies floating around ebay with those specifics, but they were re-listed dozens of times for prices that were not at all realistic.
Patience paid off, and I finally got one that fit into my collection. The swatch on this card has three layers -- white patch, blue patch, and silver patch.
-------------------------------------------------------
11-12 The Cup Cam Atkinson RC (243/249)
Cam Atkinson has been a subject of trade talks for the Blue Jackets, and by the time I post this message, he may already be on his way out. Nothing is guaranteed, though, until 3PM has come and gone! Here's one of Atkinson's very best rookie cards, and it has an awesome three-color swatch -- white patch, red patch, and dark blue jersey. It took me a few years to get a nice copy of this card down into a price range I was happy with. I still need the Ryan Johansen card from the same set, but the chances of me ever making that purchase are pretty small.
-------------------------------------------------------
12-13 Panini Luxury Suite J.T. Brown RC (79/99) (White Jersey)
Though I'm no fan of the white swatch, I'm pretty sure every copy of this J.T. Brown "maybe-a-RC" had one. Nothing too special here, but it's rare and it was cheap, so I made an easy purchase.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Radko Gudas (02/66)
Now, here's another run of Titanium draft parallel cards from last season. I'll start with Radko Gudas, who was selected by the Lightning in the third round (#66 overall) of the 2010 draft. Gudas will miss the rest of the 2014-15 season after undergoing knee surgery. There's a small chance that he could be available for the playoffs.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Alex Killorn (21/77)
Alex Killorn was picked by the Bolts in the third round (#77 overall) of the 2007 draft. He stayed with Harvard University for four years, graduating in 2012 with a major in government and a minor in French. He's a fixture in the Lightning's top three lines.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Ondrej Palat (087/100)
Ondrej Palat is one of the best draft steals in Lightning history. He was selected by the Bolts in the seventh round (#208 overall) of the 2011 draft. He's exceeded expectations at every level, and now plays wing on the infamous "Triplets" line that has been the most consistent for Tampa Bay all season. He was nominated for the Calder Trophy in 2014.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Draft Parallel Tyler Johnson (017/100)
Palat's center is fellow Calder Trophy nominee Tyler Johnson, who was never drafted at all. Johnson leads the entire Lightning team in scoring, and has spent most of the season in the top ten in the entire NHL. That's not bad for a player who was signed as a free agent out of Spokane (WHL) in 2011.
I'd love to pick up more Tyler Johnson RCs, but the prices have simply gone crazy.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Titanium Retail Boone Jenner RC (175/299)
Shortly after 13-14 Titanium was released, I made short work of acquiring the multitude of Retail RCs I needed for my projects. Why? I figured they'd end up very hard to find in the future, with a rather limited print run and retail-only distribution.
As it turns out, most of the cards have remained fairly easy to find on ebay -- but not this one. For some strange reason, the Boone Jenner RC just didn't hit the market. I can't really explain why. Eventually, one showed up, and it wasn't expensive at all. I now own all of the original Blue Jackets and Lightning RCs from 13-14 Titanium Retail.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Rookie Anthology Alex Killorn RC (028/249)
Many of Alex Killorn's RCs from Rookie Anthology had two swatches of identical colors. Only about 10% had both white and blue, and I waited patiently until I could purchase one of those.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Rookie Anthology Cory Conacher RC (066/249)
Here's another card from Rookie Anthology, as my quest to pick up all of Cory Conacher's RCs continues. This card has two red jersey swatches.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Prime Kevin Connauton RC (062/199)
Kevin Connauton has been one of bright spots for the Blue Jackets in an otherwise difficult season. He was picked up from the Dallas Stars on waivers, and has shown quite a bit of offensive ability.
This RC from Panini Prime isn't very interesting -- it has four white jersey swatches.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Select Kevin Connauton RC (105/199)
This card isn't much nicer, but I'll always enjoy the chrome / prizm finish on a card, even if the sticker autograph makes it look kind of ugly.
Panini decided to get a little bit confusing with the extra Select RCs inserted into Rookie Anthology. In the Select base set, autographed rookie cards were limited to 399 copies, and jersey/autograph cards were parallels -- not true RCs. In the update set, jersey/autograph cards were part of the base set, which is why this Kevin Connauton card is a RC.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Select Prizms Jerry D'Amigo (42/99)
Here's another confusing issue Panini created. After months of searching, I can say with a fair bit of certainty that the base version of this card does not exist. Jerry D'Amigo's Select autograph card was supposed to have a regular RC version, but it appears that only the parallels were released. Since there's no base version of this card, I decided to buy the Prizm parallel.
In December 2014, D'Amigo was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Luke Adam.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Boxing Day Absolute Ryan Murray
This card was released as part of Panini's 2013 Boxing Day promo. Although it just looks like a plain base card, it's actually very thick!
I will keep this for my Ryan Murray collection, and I have added another card from the set (Boone Jenner) to my wantlist.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Contenders Ryan Murray RC
Here's another Ryan Murray card -- his main base set card (and thus RC) from Panini Contenders. This card features Murray in the Blue Jackets' third jersey.
According to Panini, this card is a SSP, with a print run of less than 200 copies. I'm not sure what the actual print run is, but it's certainly at the higher end of that range (maybe 150-200).
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Contenders Variation Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray also appeared on a variation card in Panini Contenders, where he is pictured wearing the regular Blue Jackets home uniform. In addition, the card back text is changed from the base version.
According to Panini, the print run for each variation card is 50 copies.
-------------------------------------------------------
14-15 SP Game Used Cody Kunyk (12/28)
Who is Cody Kunyk?
As of right now, this is the only hockey card Cody Kunyk has ever appeared on. He was an undrafted free agent who played four years at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Lightning won the bidding war for his services, and signed him to a deal near the end of the 2013-14 season. He played one token game with the Bolts -- the final game of the reguar season -- in April 2014. Since then, Kunyk has been in the AHL, and he hasn't exactly set the world on fire for the Syracuse Crunch.
For some reason, Kunyk is one of several hold-over players that Upper Deck never produced any RCs for. It's very strange that his only appearance has been in the high-end SP Game Used set, especially considering that old-timer hobby purists like myself don't consider jersey-numbered cards to be legitimate RCs. Is it possible that Cody Kunyk will never earn a typical rookie card? Isn't he the exact kind of fringe player that a set like O-Pee-Chee was built for?
Done with the RCs -- let's close with something shiny and familiar-looking.
-------------------------------------------------------
13-14 Panini Prizm Finite Prizms Tim Thomas (1 of 1)
If this looks like a repeat of my last post, it should. I closed that post with the Select Black Prizm 1/1 of Tim Thomas, which was released as part of Panini Rookie Anthology. I acquired its sibling in much the same way -- originally missing out on the card on ebay, and later purchasing it for a lower price than it sold for the first time!
The two cards are very similar in appearance, and they use the exact same underlying prizm holofoil -- little squares with rotating holographic elements, all set on a dark teal background. Of course, the design of the Prizm base set is a little busier than the Select base set. I also find it interesting that Thomas is pictured as a Panther on this card, but as a Star on the other one. Both cards were released at the same time, but perhaps they weren't manufactured together.
This is the 78th true 1/1 in my Tim Thomas collection. If I ever get to 100, I'll have to find a way to celebrate.
-----------------
News and notes:
** Two mail posts in two full months? It's pretty obvious that things are slowing down for me in terms of cards. No big reason for that, positive or negative -- just buying a little less and spending time on other interests also. No plans to quit any of my collections, but as retirements have gradually wound things down with my player collections, a slower pace is fine with me.
** The one exception to the above is Alec Martinez, who I knew would become impossible to continue collecting seriously after his heroics in the 2014 playoffs. He was a low-end defenseman with a local connection that I decided to begin collecting in 2010 just for the fun of it, expecting that he'd earn some RCs and never be seen on cardboard again. Well, now he has memorabilia cards in SPGU selling for hundreds of dollars, and a "bobblehands" doll released by the Manchester Monarchs that can't be had for any less than $50. So, I'll just be reasonable with this collection, only picking up what makes sense to me financially.
That'll be it. Thanks everyone!
--Andy
http://www.thegreatzo.com/cards/
-------------------------------------------------------
