primetimepawich
Verified Trader ,
Merry Christmas, happy holidays and an early happy New Year to all. Normally, this would be the time where I'd be highlighting my top 10 pickups with a year-end Show and Tell, but...what can I say? It's been the kind of year that doesn't warrant it. Honestly, this has been the worst year ever for my Larry Murphy PC in terms of pickups. I took an inventory and found that I had barely cracked double digits. A good portion of those were oddballs that didn't exist on my official wantlist but I added anyway because they were cheap and bumped up my numbers.
I thought the pandemic might shake some coveted cards loose from my wantlist that were hidden out of sight. That didn't happen. Was Murphy in any new releases? Sure, some. He had lots of stuff in Leaf's Pro Set reboot, which I thought would make for a fun chase. It hasn't. Plenty are showing up on the secondary market at a price range I could work with, but the majority are coming from US sellers who either 1) won't ship to Canada at all, 2) will but use the Global Shipping Program, or 3) will but have to pass the cost of rising shipping rates onto the customer (slabbed cards do not help the cause here). I have to spend my limited hobby dollars wisely (if any spent on collecting Larry Murphy can be considered "spending wisely", but I digress) and spending more for shipping than I am on the card being shipped doesn't really qualify, so for the better part of the year, I've found myself at a standstill.
As the cherry on top, I had to watch this one sit listed at a ridiculous price and wait patiently for a fair chance to take a run at it, only to have that happen when I was at work - it was taken down and relisted in the wheelhouse I would've been happy to do business in from the start, but someone else beat me to it and it came and went before I'd even had a chance to see it. So if anyone has a hot tip as to the whereabouts of this now, I would like to be your dear friend:
19/20 Ultimate One Timer #OTJLM1 Larry Murphy 1/1 by primetimepawich, on Flickr
So yeah, this year has been a dud. But where was I going with this? A few weeks back, I was able to come to an agreement for a Pro Set 1/1 on Facebook, which helped give me a minor sense of accomplishment. And something else happened shortly after that which boosted my spirits even more.
In 2017, HI's own "Maple Leaf Sports" Darren, aka the owner of the Calgary card shop of the same name, sent me a PM on here. I've been the beneficiary of some acts of hobby kindness from Darren before, and it was nice to see him at his card show here last month. But in 2017, Darren messaged me to say a customer of his had pulled a card he thought I'd be interested in. He asked me to text him for a picture, and warned that the customer was a true collector who didn't like to sell stuff and wasn't in it to make a buck. He might only trade for something that caught his eye. Nevertheless, Darren kindly offered to pass along my contact info so I could at least talk shop and see if a deal could be reached.
Darren texted me the pic. Was I interested? Sure. But I never heard from the customer, so I thought that told me all I needed to know about the chances of them moving it. I saved the pic in my "population report" of the cards out there on my wantlist that had gotten away, and over time, put it out of sight and out of mind. This was right around the time when my cost of living went up exponentially and my hobby spending had to decrease to match that anyway. Whereas before, my "gotta catch 'em all" mentality meant I probably would've paid foolishly for this, now I would have to be smarter. Had it shown up elsewhere on the secondary market after that, most likely I would've still taken a run at it, but there would've been limits and it would've taken a backseat in priority to the other more unique cards higher on my wantlist. I was disappointed to see it disappear into the abyss, but really, the timing couldn't have been better.
***
About a week ago, our esteemed leader Jeremy messaged me on Facebook asking for my address. What would he have come across that I could use? An oddball? One of those elusive Pro Set autographs? My curiosity got the best of me. I joked how nice it was of him to finally loosen his grip on this one and decide to give it a new home:
11/12 ITG Canada Vs The World Stickrack Gold #SR06 Mario Lemieux/Larry Murphy/Dale Hawerchuk/Wayne Gretzky 1/1 by primetimepawich, on Flickr
knowing damn well he hadn't, a fact he was only too happy to corroborate
So what was it? It didn't take long to find out. I assumed it would be a card of little consequence that he hadn't paid good money for on its own. Turns out I was only half right.
A fellow Calgarian, Jeremy confessed that he had recently bought out the collection of a local "true collector" who until now hadn't liked to sell stuff, wasn't in it to make a buck and would usually only trade for something that caught his eye. Among that collection was a card that didn't fit his at all, but for some reason he thought would fit mine. And he wouldn't take anything for it, insisting he'd gotten a good deal on the collection and wanted to share the wealth.
Yep, the card that showed up 2 days later in a bubble mailer was the same card Darren had brought to my attention in 2017 that I'd thought I'd never see again:
15/16 ITG Stickwork Stick Rack 3 Gold Prismatic #SR324 Larry Murphy/Al MacInnis/Phil Housley 1/1 by primetimepawich, on Flickr
What can I say but a thousand times thank you? Jeremy didn't have to do that but the gesture sure meant a lot in a year when nothing has gone right hobby-wise. It's easy to get disillusioned but you needn't look any further than this site for renewed faith. Random acts of kindness like this certainly aren't unique to Jeremy - seems like every day there are examples of it here, and I've been a recipient of it from countless other hobby friends like "Ranfordfan" Sean, "bamlinden" Brett, "whonos" Ray, "Theideafactory" Pete and more over the years. So thank you Jeremy for the special delivery (and the impromptu Messenger video chat after) that helped bring a smile to my face to end the year, and thank you for leading the way in a hobby community where trying to help each other is the norm. I try to help where I can and wish there was more that I could do. I wish nothing but continued hobby joy for all of you in 2022 and beyond.
Joe Pawich
I thought the pandemic might shake some coveted cards loose from my wantlist that were hidden out of sight. That didn't happen. Was Murphy in any new releases? Sure, some. He had lots of stuff in Leaf's Pro Set reboot, which I thought would make for a fun chase. It hasn't. Plenty are showing up on the secondary market at a price range I could work with, but the majority are coming from US sellers who either 1) won't ship to Canada at all, 2) will but use the Global Shipping Program, or 3) will but have to pass the cost of rising shipping rates onto the customer (slabbed cards do not help the cause here). I have to spend my limited hobby dollars wisely (if any spent on collecting Larry Murphy can be considered "spending wisely", but I digress) and spending more for shipping than I am on the card being shipped doesn't really qualify, so for the better part of the year, I've found myself at a standstill.
As the cherry on top, I had to watch this one sit listed at a ridiculous price and wait patiently for a fair chance to take a run at it, only to have that happen when I was at work - it was taken down and relisted in the wheelhouse I would've been happy to do business in from the start, but someone else beat me to it and it came and went before I'd even had a chance to see it. So if anyone has a hot tip as to the whereabouts of this now, I would like to be your dear friend:
19/20 Ultimate One Timer #OTJLM1 Larry Murphy 1/1 by primetimepawich, on FlickrSo yeah, this year has been a dud. But where was I going with this? A few weeks back, I was able to come to an agreement for a Pro Set 1/1 on Facebook, which helped give me a minor sense of accomplishment. And something else happened shortly after that which boosted my spirits even more.
In 2017, HI's own "Maple Leaf Sports" Darren, aka the owner of the Calgary card shop of the same name, sent me a PM on here. I've been the beneficiary of some acts of hobby kindness from Darren before, and it was nice to see him at his card show here last month. But in 2017, Darren messaged me to say a customer of his had pulled a card he thought I'd be interested in. He asked me to text him for a picture, and warned that the customer was a true collector who didn't like to sell stuff and wasn't in it to make a buck. He might only trade for something that caught his eye. Nevertheless, Darren kindly offered to pass along my contact info so I could at least talk shop and see if a deal could be reached.
Darren texted me the pic. Was I interested? Sure. But I never heard from the customer, so I thought that told me all I needed to know about the chances of them moving it. I saved the pic in my "population report" of the cards out there on my wantlist that had gotten away, and over time, put it out of sight and out of mind. This was right around the time when my cost of living went up exponentially and my hobby spending had to decrease to match that anyway. Whereas before, my "gotta catch 'em all" mentality meant I probably would've paid foolishly for this, now I would have to be smarter. Had it shown up elsewhere on the secondary market after that, most likely I would've still taken a run at it, but there would've been limits and it would've taken a backseat in priority to the other more unique cards higher on my wantlist. I was disappointed to see it disappear into the abyss, but really, the timing couldn't have been better.
***
About a week ago, our esteemed leader Jeremy messaged me on Facebook asking for my address. What would he have come across that I could use? An oddball? One of those elusive Pro Set autographs? My curiosity got the best of me. I joked how nice it was of him to finally loosen his grip on this one and decide to give it a new home:
11/12 ITG Canada Vs The World Stickrack Gold #SR06 Mario Lemieux/Larry Murphy/Dale Hawerchuk/Wayne Gretzky 1/1 by primetimepawich, on Flickrknowing damn well he hadn't, a fact he was only too happy to corroborate
So what was it? It didn't take long to find out. I assumed it would be a card of little consequence that he hadn't paid good money for on its own. Turns out I was only half right.A fellow Calgarian, Jeremy confessed that he had recently bought out the collection of a local "true collector" who until now hadn't liked to sell stuff, wasn't in it to make a buck and would usually only trade for something that caught his eye. Among that collection was a card that didn't fit his at all, but for some reason he thought would fit mine. And he wouldn't take anything for it, insisting he'd gotten a good deal on the collection and wanted to share the wealth.
Yep, the card that showed up 2 days later in a bubble mailer was the same card Darren had brought to my attention in 2017 that I'd thought I'd never see again:
15/16 ITG Stickwork Stick Rack 3 Gold Prismatic #SR324 Larry Murphy/Al MacInnis/Phil Housley 1/1 by primetimepawich, on FlickrWhat can I say but a thousand times thank you? Jeremy didn't have to do that but the gesture sure meant a lot in a year when nothing has gone right hobby-wise. It's easy to get disillusioned but you needn't look any further than this site for renewed faith. Random acts of kindness like this certainly aren't unique to Jeremy - seems like every day there are examples of it here, and I've been a recipient of it from countless other hobby friends like "Ranfordfan" Sean, "bamlinden" Brett, "whonos" Ray, "Theideafactory" Pete and more over the years. So thank you Jeremy for the special delivery (and the impromptu Messenger video chat after) that helped bring a smile to my face to end the year, and thank you for leading the way in a hobby community where trying to help each other is the norm. I try to help where I can and wish there was more that I could do. I wish nothing but continued hobby joy for all of you in 2022 and beyond.
Joe Pawich
