HammerHawks
THE Niklas Hjalmarsson Super Collector, Verified T
Hello again, everyone. Long time no talk. I've been on hiatus from posting on the site for the last 18 months after some incredibly unnecessary drama drove me away. I've kept tabs on the site and have enjoyed PMing with some of you in the meantime, but have not posted during that time. Though I didn't necessarily have plans to come back, I figured it was only fair to this community (that I very much largely cherish my relationships with) to show these off so you guys could enjoy them as well. As such, this will be a bit of a lengthy post, but I assure you it's worth it!
I will preface the post by saying that cards number six through one have an entire episode of Center Ice Card Cast (Episode 63, can be found on podcast platforms like Apple, Google Play, Spotify, etc. as well as YouTube) devoted to the stories behind them (and we had a very special guest on for the episode as well, which that alone makes it worth the listen), so I won't ramble endlessly explaining everything.
I'll start off with two cards not part of that podcast episode, simply because they are related to the rest and deserve to be included.
Some of you know I was big into The Vezina Collection from President's Choice and that I love Marc-Andre Fleury. The former plays a huge role in this thread as you will see, and the latter was just one season too late to be included in The Vezina Collection, unfortunately. But, when Dr. Price came out with Solid Gold earlier this year, that gave the chance for collectors to finally score a Vezina Trophy Winner card for Fleury, and that was a must-have card for my collection. After missing out on a couple of copies near release, I was able to snag this beautiful copy for a very fair price via BIN on eBay.
Next up, again, not a card featured on Episode 63 since I hadn't yet acquired it, but this beauty very much fits the bill for what was on that episode. I cannot thank our very own dgarwood enough for being kind enough to work out a deal with me on this one. I know he was hesitant at first, but his desire to help with my collecting goals overruled the hesitancy, and I am exceptionally grateful for that! These cards are so intriguing in person!
Okay, now onto the six cards featured on Episode 63. I will show them off based on the order they were shown off on the podcast for continuity's sake, though that order doesn't perfectly reflect the values or how I would personally rank them, which again, you can hear those explanations on the show.
First up, numbers six, five, and four, are three beautiful cards from The Vezina Collection from our very own ChuckNorrisFearsSid! Ron and I have now worked out three separate deals for cards from The Vezina Collection (including for one of the absolutely stunning Vezina Art cards), though this was certainly the most significant. Again, as is always the case with any Vezina piece I acquire, every piece has a specific purpose for my collecting goals.
The strap is one of the "short print" Historical Relic cards, having only four different 1/1s produced instead of the customary nine for most of the other cards from the set. Now to find a jumbo pad from the Historical Relics set...I know some of you have them!
Onto number three. I talked about how Fleury missed out on being featured in The Vezina Collection. Well, after some back and forth with Dr. Price, I fixed that problem. This was a Made to Order in the truest of senses, as Dr. Price was incredibly accommodating with my requests. I was able to choose the photos and even select the exact stick piece for Fleury. He had just gotten the stick, so I truly had my pick of the entire stick. This GRIP graphic piece from near where Fleury held the stick was unquestionably the best option. I asked Dr. Price to surprise me with the Vezina piece, but requested leather with some stitching and some unique feature or wear. Needless to say, he absolutely knocked that out of the park with this stunning piece. The card on its own is very cool, but these two memorabilia pieces take it to an entirely different level!
And now, let's step things up a notch or two, or maybe 10. Or 100.
I have referenced having specific collecting goals earlier in the post. One of those goals is owning every possible type of Vezina memorabilia material that is available. That is a very tall task given how incredibly scarce some types of memorabilia material are. In fact, given the scarcity of one type, that makes the goal of owning every type possible for only two people in the world, with the scarcest material having only two examples.
Long story short, after a LOT of heart to heart discussion with our beloved Mike (holygoalie), I can now genuinely say that one day, I will be one of those two people, as Mike helped me cross off the two scarcest materials (three examples to our knowledge, and the material with only two examples). Words can't begin to thank Mike enough for letting these cards go, seriously. This was the largest transaction I have ever made in the hobby, and if that remains true, both myself and my wallet will be perfectly satisfied.
While the first six cards shown in this post are certainly great on their own, they don't hold a candle to these two cards. The first of these two is likely my favorite card I own thanks to the insane amount of the "cool factor" that it has, while the second of the two is in my opinion one of the most unique sports cards ever made.
Enough talk. Behold.
For those curious, since a nail isn't something we really ever see in a card, the nail was used to construct Vezina's goalie stick. Essentially, how they made goalie sticks at the time was they took a normal player stick and nailed extra wood onto it to form the goalie stick. This is one of the nails from Vezina's stick. Dr. Price posted about this card and its nearly identical brother back in 2020 when he made them, so that is another resource to check out for the history of this card.
http://www.hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=438612
And here is a link to a graphic kind of illustrating how the goalie sticks were made at the time:
https://pixels.com/featured/hockey-stick-mcniece-1916-patent-art-prior-art-design.html
As for the skate lace, though there are two other cards (that I and a few other serious Vezina collectors are aware of) featuring Vezina skate lace, those two cards feature individual 1/2 inch pieces, so far less lace than the card above.
Those final two join my Vezina pad buckle from Leaf Pearl as the undisputed cornerstones of my collection and are truly collection-altering pieces that I am truly humbled to own. If you would like to hear the story behind the buckle card, feel free to check out Episode 42 of Center Ice Card Cast.
Well, that's it for now. Best of luck with all of your collecting and I hope the hobby is treating you well! Like I said, I cherish many of the relationships I have with folks on this site and love keeping up with many of you through social media! Until January of 2024...
I will preface the post by saying that cards number six through one have an entire episode of Center Ice Card Cast (Episode 63, can be found on podcast platforms like Apple, Google Play, Spotify, etc. as well as YouTube) devoted to the stories behind them (and we had a very special guest on for the episode as well, which that alone makes it worth the listen), so I won't ramble endlessly explaining everything.
I'll start off with two cards not part of that podcast episode, simply because they are related to the rest and deserve to be included.
Some of you know I was big into The Vezina Collection from President's Choice and that I love Marc-Andre Fleury. The former plays a huge role in this thread as you will see, and the latter was just one season too late to be included in The Vezina Collection, unfortunately. But, when Dr. Price came out with Solid Gold earlier this year, that gave the chance for collectors to finally score a Vezina Trophy Winner card for Fleury, and that was a must-have card for my collection. After missing out on a couple of copies near release, I was able to snag this beautiful copy for a very fair price via BIN on eBay.
Next up, again, not a card featured on Episode 63 since I hadn't yet acquired it, but this beauty very much fits the bill for what was on that episode. I cannot thank our very own dgarwood enough for being kind enough to work out a deal with me on this one. I know he was hesitant at first, but his desire to help with my collecting goals overruled the hesitancy, and I am exceptionally grateful for that! These cards are so intriguing in person!
Okay, now onto the six cards featured on Episode 63. I will show them off based on the order they were shown off on the podcast for continuity's sake, though that order doesn't perfectly reflect the values or how I would personally rank them, which again, you can hear those explanations on the show.
First up, numbers six, five, and four, are three beautiful cards from The Vezina Collection from our very own ChuckNorrisFearsSid! Ron and I have now worked out three separate deals for cards from The Vezina Collection (including for one of the absolutely stunning Vezina Art cards), though this was certainly the most significant. Again, as is always the case with any Vezina piece I acquire, every piece has a specific purpose for my collecting goals.
The strap is one of the "short print" Historical Relic cards, having only four different 1/1s produced instead of the customary nine for most of the other cards from the set. Now to find a jumbo pad from the Historical Relics set...I know some of you have them!
Onto number three. I talked about how Fleury missed out on being featured in The Vezina Collection. Well, after some back and forth with Dr. Price, I fixed that problem. This was a Made to Order in the truest of senses, as Dr. Price was incredibly accommodating with my requests. I was able to choose the photos and even select the exact stick piece for Fleury. He had just gotten the stick, so I truly had my pick of the entire stick. This GRIP graphic piece from near where Fleury held the stick was unquestionably the best option. I asked Dr. Price to surprise me with the Vezina piece, but requested leather with some stitching and some unique feature or wear. Needless to say, he absolutely knocked that out of the park with this stunning piece. The card on its own is very cool, but these two memorabilia pieces take it to an entirely different level!
And now, let's step things up a notch or two, or maybe 10. Or 100.
I have referenced having specific collecting goals earlier in the post. One of those goals is owning every possible type of Vezina memorabilia material that is available. That is a very tall task given how incredibly scarce some types of memorabilia material are. In fact, given the scarcity of one type, that makes the goal of owning every type possible for only two people in the world, with the scarcest material having only two examples.
Long story short, after a LOT of heart to heart discussion with our beloved Mike (holygoalie), I can now genuinely say that one day, I will be one of those two people, as Mike helped me cross off the two scarcest materials (three examples to our knowledge, and the material with only two examples). Words can't begin to thank Mike enough for letting these cards go, seriously. This was the largest transaction I have ever made in the hobby, and if that remains true, both myself and my wallet will be perfectly satisfied.
While the first six cards shown in this post are certainly great on their own, they don't hold a candle to these two cards. The first of these two is likely my favorite card I own thanks to the insane amount of the "cool factor" that it has, while the second of the two is in my opinion one of the most unique sports cards ever made.
Enough talk. Behold.
For those curious, since a nail isn't something we really ever see in a card, the nail was used to construct Vezina's goalie stick. Essentially, how they made goalie sticks at the time was they took a normal player stick and nailed extra wood onto it to form the goalie stick. This is one of the nails from Vezina's stick. Dr. Price posted about this card and its nearly identical brother back in 2020 when he made them, so that is another resource to check out for the history of this card.
http://www.hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=438612
And here is a link to a graphic kind of illustrating how the goalie sticks were made at the time:
https://pixels.com/featured/hockey-stick-mcniece-1916-patent-art-prior-art-design.html
As for the skate lace, though there are two other cards (that I and a few other serious Vezina collectors are aware of) featuring Vezina skate lace, those two cards feature individual 1/2 inch pieces, so far less lace than the card above.
Those final two join my Vezina pad buckle from Leaf Pearl as the undisputed cornerstones of my collection and are truly collection-altering pieces that I am truly humbled to own. If you would like to hear the story behind the buckle card, feel free to check out Episode 42 of Center Ice Card Cast.
Well, that's it for now. Best of luck with all of your collecting and I hope the hobby is treating you well! Like I said, I cherish many of the relationships I have with folks on this site and love keeping up with many of you through social media! Until January of 2024...
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