It's the holiday season and I hope you are all doing well! I'm not a frequent poster here but I wanted to share some of my favourite additions to the collection this year.
Victor Hedman cards
I started off this year with a bang - one after another of the Cup Black 1/1s popped up and I was delighted to be able to add them both to the collection. With cards like these, you never know when or where they will show up. It really takes luck and timing and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time for both.
The Limited Logos I was very happy to add back to the collection. I once owned the "Hockey Club" patch but I moved it to another collector who has a fantastic "Hockey Club" Limited Logos collection. However, there was a gap in my collection...until August of this year! Happy to have a chunky, close-to-but-not-quite-top patch Limited Logo back in the collection. Fun fact - Hedman only has one year of game-used Limited Logos to date with a total print run of 25.
Looking forwards - I would love to add some game-used shields of his to the collection. Dominion, The Cup, Ultimate, it doesn't matter I want it :beer:. If you know where one might be, please reach out! Even if it isn't available, just knowing where it is helps me keep track of them - provided the owner is okay with sharing!
Brushstrokes Autographs
Some gorgeous additions to the Brushstrokes collection. Not much needs to be said about these - some of the finest work Upper Deck has ever done. Just an incredibly appealing set and card design, I would love to see another release of this set, or something similar, some day with some new names to the checklist. I recognize UD doesn't really revisit sets they've done in the past, but, hey, if done well I think they'd sell like hotcakes. I would empty my wallets for you if you did Upper Deck :laugh:
To me, these are pieces of hockey history and irreplaceable in many respects. There will no longer be any additional Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, or Stan Mikita hard-signed autographs created. What is out there is out there. The painting design of these appeals to my collecting and history nerd side of things. They're just awesome cards and I'm glad to have been able to add them.
Award Winners Autographs
The last mail day of the year brought this one to me - I was fortunate enough to hit this in a hit select break(s) I got into. What can I say, it checks so many boxes for me. HOFer? Yep! Nice design and eye appeal? 100%, especially in hand! Snapshots in time of players engraved in the history books? Yep, yep! I know Panini did the Treasured Trophies set once upon a time but some of those are stickers and that put me off. I don't think I'll do the whole set for these but, you never know, they're really nice! I have the Kurri on the way and I'm excited to see it in hand!
Ultimate Rookies
Last, but not least, my Cale Makar Ultimate Rookies autograph. I've had a few copies of these now but I settled on this one. The 2019/20 Ultimate Rookies /99 are plagued by awful QC issues - dented corners, edges mangled, etc. This one's fairly clean all things told.
In my eyes, a generational talent if he can stay healthy and on the ice. His all-around game is elite - skating, defending, shooting, playmaking, physicality, 5 on 5, PP, PK. You name it, he can do it.
The Ultimate Rookies don't have quite the same following that Future Watch Autos have these days. However, in my eyes, that makes them an even better collector's card. Shorter print run, on-card autos (mostly), nice designs, and often for a fraction of the price? Yes, please! I'll probably skip Bedard for a while with the way his prices are going but there are some up-and-coming rookies I can't wait to add to the collection, assuming they're hard-signed of course!
Wrote more than I expected but, hey, I love my cards so I've got loads to say all the time. Thank you for reading and all my best wishes to you and your family! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Victor Hedman cards
I started off this year with a bang - one after another of the Cup Black 1/1s popped up and I was delighted to be able to add them both to the collection. With cards like these, you never know when or where they will show up. It really takes luck and timing and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time for both.
The Limited Logos I was very happy to add back to the collection. I once owned the "Hockey Club" patch but I moved it to another collector who has a fantastic "Hockey Club" Limited Logos collection. However, there was a gap in my collection...until August of this year! Happy to have a chunky, close-to-but-not-quite-top patch Limited Logo back in the collection. Fun fact - Hedman only has one year of game-used Limited Logos to date with a total print run of 25.
Looking forwards - I would love to add some game-used shields of his to the collection. Dominion, The Cup, Ultimate, it doesn't matter I want it :beer:. If you know where one might be, please reach out! Even if it isn't available, just knowing where it is helps me keep track of them - provided the owner is okay with sharing!
Brushstrokes Autographs
Some gorgeous additions to the Brushstrokes collection. Not much needs to be said about these - some of the finest work Upper Deck has ever done. Just an incredibly appealing set and card design, I would love to see another release of this set, or something similar, some day with some new names to the checklist. I recognize UD doesn't really revisit sets they've done in the past, but, hey, if done well I think they'd sell like hotcakes. I would empty my wallets for you if you did Upper Deck :laugh:
To me, these are pieces of hockey history and irreplaceable in many respects. There will no longer be any additional Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, or Stan Mikita hard-signed autographs created. What is out there is out there. The painting design of these appeals to my collecting and history nerd side of things. They're just awesome cards and I'm glad to have been able to add them.
Award Winners Autographs
The last mail day of the year brought this one to me - I was fortunate enough to hit this in a hit select break(s) I got into. What can I say, it checks so many boxes for me. HOFer? Yep! Nice design and eye appeal? 100%, especially in hand! Snapshots in time of players engraved in the history books? Yep, yep! I know Panini did the Treasured Trophies set once upon a time but some of those are stickers and that put me off. I don't think I'll do the whole set for these but, you never know, they're really nice! I have the Kurri on the way and I'm excited to see it in hand!
Ultimate Rookies
Last, but not least, my Cale Makar Ultimate Rookies autograph. I've had a few copies of these now but I settled on this one. The 2019/20 Ultimate Rookies /99 are plagued by awful QC issues - dented corners, edges mangled, etc. This one's fairly clean all things told.
In my eyes, a generational talent if he can stay healthy and on the ice. His all-around game is elite - skating, defending, shooting, playmaking, physicality, 5 on 5, PP, PK. You name it, he can do it.
The Ultimate Rookies don't have quite the same following that Future Watch Autos have these days. However, in my eyes, that makes them an even better collector's card. Shorter print run, on-card autos (mostly), nice designs, and often for a fraction of the price? Yes, please! I'll probably skip Bedard for a while with the way his prices are going but there are some up-and-coming rookies I can't wait to add to the collection, assuming they're hard-signed of course!
Wrote more than I expected but, hey, I love my cards so I've got loads to say all the time. Thank you for reading and all my best wishes to you and your family! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
