Sunday, September 30, 2012

VERSUS - Score VS. OPC/SpX/Donruss

This starts the first ever Versus post here at C4K. The idea is pretty simple, I buy multiple products for the same price and pin them against each other against in a battle to the death. Wait, let me rephrase that. We pin them against each other and see which gives the better "bang for buck". That's better

Today we start with...

SCORE

Score costs me 35 bucks for a box (not 30 like a lot of other card shops). It contained 36 packs at 7 cards a pack, which works out to about 250 cards. Unfortunately, it also contained 5 doubles which is definitely a minus. 

First let's take a look at the base:

I'm really impressed with the photo selection this year. There are some really cool shots in this set. Some nice pics of shots from the point, celebrations, saves and sticks breaking mid shot. Some cool stuff.

The design is simple yet effective. You get a full shot of the player in action and is not cluttered by cheesy logos or over bearing designs. The player name is at the top along side the classic Score logo, the bottom right has the team logo. What I do not like is pretty obvious, the Conference logo at the bottom. I feel like it's a bit childish and unnecessary.



The gold parallels are the exact same as the base but with a gold border along both sides. Score got rid of the glossy and replaced them with these seeded one per pack. Good idea Panini.

The regular base set is sandwiched between two subsets. Season Highlights and Award Winners (right). I showed that Messier card for two reasons. One, to show you what the Season Highlight cards look like. Second, to say "I hate Mark Messier!". Phew! Got that one of my chest.

 

The "Stanley Cup Champions" logo is on every LA Kings card on the base set. They've continued this small yet critical touch from the past two years. As well Panini included once again the "Signed by..." words on the bottom of traded or signed player cards.


What really impressed me though, were the back of all the base cards! What a creative way to showcase stats on a low-end product. Panini used 6 different variation of backs on this years Score products to make sure there was NO wasted space. The two above are similar and are from the Season Highlight and Award Winners subsets.


The other four variations are shown above. The bottom left is of a player with only one season played. Since he has little stats, they have a healthy write up on him as well as a creative way of showing his height, weight and other stats. In contrast to the Ryan Smith card that has a wide range of stats, showing his full career stats. 


I know many think that the Hot Rookie cards have down graded but I think the opposite. Score is no longer some cheesy set with flames behind a rookie's head with 90 different fonts on the front. It's simple and effective. They still used flame in the "Hot" word and the design in the back compliments the front well. Thumbs up!

Inserts this year were similar to lasts. Net cams have lost their spunk and interest for me. The photos aren't as captivating as they use to be and the deigns haven't really changed. I agree with Brett from "My Hockey Card Obsession" when he said this set needs an overhaul!




Team Score is really unnecessary. That's really all I can think of to say about this insert set. Just, why? There really is no point to it.










The franchise is close to my favourite set from this years Score. The legends variation of Franchise is really appealing to the eyes and the photo selection is really nice. The inserts set is small at only 6 cards, but definitely effective. The write ups are informative and interesting. I agree with the Real DFG when he said this is definitely worth a small build, it's easy and worth the spare change.

















The new franchise cards are even cooler IMO. The huge futuristic team logos are really nice and modern. Plus there is actually foil on the card. Something a little more fancy for a low-end set, I appreciate the effort. Team colours are definitely a plus on any card for me. I'm a sucker for it!

This insert set is a great idea and I've commented on this in a past "Insert Ideas" post. The idea is phenomenal, the rookie selection is great and last year the photo selection was fantastic. BUT, this year I'm disappointed for one reason and one reason only. That Landeskog card above; the picture is not of his first goal but instead of him roaming around the ice. Why? I'm sure there is a picture in this day and age of him scoring his first NHL goal, if not at least of him holding the puck after the game in the dressing room or at the very least a random goal celebration. I know you have one of those! Just scroll up to the Landeskog "Gold Rush" parallel I posted at the beginning!


We finish off the break with my favourite card in the box. This "Check-It" insert that was inspired from past insert sets from Score in the 90's. The Real DFG did a write up on this set, but IMO this is a great insert. I'm not quite sure why they used Wendel Clark as he's long gone and retired, but hey, I'm not complaining. 

Although I didn't hit that SSP RC, or AUTO in this box as I have in the past. This box was still a ton of fun for only 35 bucks and yielded some nice inserts. Therefore I give this break a...

7.5/10  

This break was really enjoyable and deserves the score it got. I didn't hit that "wow" card that would make this a 8.5-10 but, it gets a moderately high score anyways.

Can OPC/SpX/Donruss beat that? Stay tuned!

GO NUCKS GO!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

CLOUT PC - Guess Who's Back, Back Again?


Thanks Slim Shady...

With an introduction like that, this must mean big news right? Well it's big news for me at least. You can imagine my excitement when I saw this yesterday on the Canucks official website:


DAN CLOUTIER IS BACK! Yup, my favourite childhood hockey player is making a return into the Canucks organization as a "Goaltending Consultant", I'm guessing it's not quite a Goalie Coach but one step below that.

To celebrate lets take a look at another Cloutier card I added not to long ago to the collection.



This card will join my Silver Patch variation. This has got me back in a Cloutier kick so expect some more great buys in the near future!

Lastly, I'm doing a new segment called "Versus" which involves spending the exact same money against two different products and seeing which one results in better cards! The first post should be coming up soon. Spoiler alert it involves Score, OPC, Donruss and SpX!

GO NUCKS GO!

Friday, September 21, 2012

CLOUT PC - A S"nazzy" Double Hitter

Quite literally this card is a "double hitter". The card comes from an early 2000's set which is right around the time GU Memorabilia cards started picking up steam. Pacific Trading cards came out with a number of neat different sets during the late 90's to early 2000's and I got a neat little taste from the Real DFG's community box break. Unfortunately, I didn't get any Cloutier hits (which was a long shot) but it did inspire me to see what was out there.

In this case we have Private Stock Titanium "Double-Sided Game-Worn Jersey" card, featuring my guy Dan Cloutier on one side...


I like seeing the different pads Cloutier wore throughout his career. I use to be (and still sorta am) really obsessed with goalie equipment and how it has evolved throughout the years. I remember as a kid I use to draw pictures of Dan and when he got a new set of pads it was such a thrill to get to draw a different design. I was such a simple kid. Anyways, as you can see the swatch is silver, most likely coming from a piece of the arm or a stripe from the bottom. I'm not sure if you can see this but there is a small bit of stitching on the right hand side of the swatch. The card stock is lifted slightly on the corner also which leads me to believe the stitching continues. 

If you didn't clue into the bad pun in the title yet, it's about to be revealed now. The other side of the card features former Canucks captain and jersey retiree - Markus Naslund (Nazzy).


I was more of a Bertuzzi fan compared to Naslund but he still holds a beloved part in Canucks history, so you gotta respect the guy. His number hangs in the rafters of Rogers Arena along side Stan Smyl and Trevor Linden. This happens to be the second GU card of Markus in my collection.

Happy to add this to my Cloutier PC, it's nice to focus on one guy now that I have opted out of Hodgson collecting. His cards are triple or more the price of an equal Cloutier card so it keeps my wallet out of harms way. 

Don't forget to check out C4K Cloutier to browse the entire collection. 

GO NUCKS GO!

Friday, September 14, 2012

DFG's Group Break Goodies, Thanks Tim!

For all those that participated in the Real DFG's Box Break in August, you'll know that for just 10 bucks you get a butt load of neat hockey cards. I received the package a couple of days ago and was happy to see some really neat stuff for my Cloutier PC's, Canucks binders and even a GU hit!

42 BASE CARDS

Excluding Dan Cloutier cards I received 42 base cards split right down the middle (half Lightning and half Canucks).







Sick flow Nazzy...

















I've never actually seen these type die-cut cards before the group break...









These are some of the coolest Crown Royale base card designs, the die-cut technology is really well done on these cards...










4 INSERTS









These are some neat looking parallels for goalies. Even the name "Gauntlet of Glory", neat name, but wouldn't it make sense if all the pictures were of the goalies making glove saves?





Who?







MAXIMUM OVERDIVE! Excessive? Maybe a bit. But they make it look like Naslund's going really fast so, its cool.







Neat idea for an insert set. I've seen this before but this is actually not badly executed.











1 GU HIT!




Awww...shucks, I'm a sucker for GU cards. Even though this is just when GU hockey cards were starting to jump in the hobby, I don't mind the cheesy card design. I do slightly remember Andrew Cassels as a kid, I've always liked his name.

DAN CLOUTIER CARDS

Five base cards, three of which or not doubles. Plus another "Gauntlet of Glory" insert, this time of my main man - Cloutier.




GO NUCKS GO!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

A Bunch of Cool Old Cards! THANKS DAVE!

About a week ago I got a package from Dave over at Wax Stained Rookie. He sent me a very cool variety of old hockey cards that fit really well into my collection. So I thought I'd share them with you today.

First lets look at some Goalie Project stuff!


These two team cards contain 4 Canucks goalies. On the North Stars card is Gary Smith. On the other is Curt Ridley, Cesare Maniago and Bruce Bullock. Also, this is the only card that contains Bruce Bullock in Canucks gear, since he has no issued cards. 


Although I already have that Ridley RC, I don't have the other three around him. That Bromley has been on my want list for a LONG TIME, so I have to thank Dave for reading my mind on that one. A couple more Maniago cards to add to the Goalie Project (sweeeeet).


This 9 card sheet of Canucks cards feature some iconic sets of the 70's. Especially that blue bordered 1979-80 Topps set. Some great Canucks names included too, such as Snepsts, Lever and Gradin. Oh and don't forget those jerseys! The flying V contrasted by the Stick in the Rink, don't get much more vintage than that!


Some more Canucks cards include a neat Play-Off matchup card between the Habs and Nucks. Plus there's that beauty of a headshot of Pat Quinn, one of the most memorable Canucks coaches of all time!



These last five cards are randoms of all different goalies. Including Gerry Cheevers and my first Colorado Rockies hockey cards!

To finish up, we have my favourite part about old hockey cards, the cartoons on the back!


Who new that Harold Snepsts played tennis, nonetheless win a tennis tournament! Now you know, eh Brett?


Another wacky fact, actually more like painful fact. Chris Oddleifson broke his jaw not once, twice, no not even three times, but four! I can't imagine how painful that would be!


Another shocking fact is that Canucks player Curt Fraser comes from a family of musically inclined individuals. Who knew?

Well that's it for tonight folks I have to give a huge shout out to Dave for the great little package he put together. Thanks Dave!


Alex Auld - 3/3 COMPLETE! 27 TOTAL
Murray Bannerman - 1/2 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Martin Brochu - 3/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Richard Brodeur - 1/3 COMPLETE! 16 TOTAL (1 JERSEY, 1 EVENT-USED, 1 AUTO)
Gary Bromley
Bruce Bullock - 0/0 COMPLETE! 1 (TEAM PHOTO) CARD
Sean Burke - 2/3 COMPLETE! 21 TOTAL
Frank Caprice - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Jacques Caron 
Ed Dyck - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Ken Ellacott - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Bob Essensa - 3/3 COMPLETE! 14 TOTAL
Mike Fountain - 3/3 COMPLETE! 11 TOTAL
Troy Gamble - 2/2 COMPLETE! 21 TOTAL
George Gardner 2/2 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
John Garrett - 2/3 COMPLETE! 3 TOTAL
Glen Hanlon - 1/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Johan Hedberg - 3/3 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Rick Heinz - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Corey Hirsch - 3/3 COMPLETE! 53 TOTAL (1 AUTO)
Charlie Hodge - 2/2 COMPLETE! 3 TOTAL
Arturs Irbe - 3/3 COMPLETE! 29 TOTAL
Jason LaBarbera - 2/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Ken Lockett - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Roberto Luongo - 3/3 COMPLETE! 62 TOTAL (2 JERSEY)
Drew MacIntyre - 1/3 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Cesare Maniago - 1/3 COMPLETE! 3 TOTAL
Bob Mason - 1/1 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Dave McClelland - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Steve McKichan - 0/0 COMPLETE! (NO ISSUED CARDS)
Kirk McLean - 3/3 COMPLETE! 153 TOTAL (1 AUTO)
Rob McVicar - 1/1 COMPLETE! 1 TOTAL
Alfie Michaud - 1/1 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Tyler Moss - 3/3 COMPLETE! 5 TOTAL
Mika Noronen - 3/3 COMPLETE! 6 TOTAL
Maxime Ouellet - 2/2 COMPLETE! 3 TOTAL
Félix Potvin - 3/3 COMPLETE! 32 TOTAL (1 AUTO)
Andrew Raycroft - 1/3 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Curt Ridley - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Dany Sabourin - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Curtis Sanford - 3/3 COMPLETE! 7 TOTAL
Cory Schneider - 1/2 COMPLETE! 12 TOTAL (2 JERSEY)
Corey Schwab - 2/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Petr Skudra - 3/3 COMPLETE! 4 TOTAL
Gary Smith - 1/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Garth Snow - 3/3 COMPLETE! 23 TOTAL (1 AUTO)
Kevin Weekes - 3/3 COMPLETE! 10 TOTAL
Steve Weeks - 1/3 COMPLETE! 11 TOTAL
Kay Whitmore - 3/3 COMPLETE! 20 TOTAL
Dunc Wilson - 1/3 COMPLETE! 2 TOTAL
Wendell Young - 1/2 COMPLETE! 5 TOTAL 

WANT LIST:

Murray Bannerman (RC)
Richard Brodeur (RC - Non-Canucks Card)
Gary Bromley (ALL THREE)
Sean Burke (RC)
Jacques Caron (Non-Canucks Card)
John Garrett (RC)
Glen Hanlon (RC - Canucks Card)
Jason LaBarbera (Canucks Card)
Drew MacIntyre (RC - Non-Canucks Card)
Cesare Maniago (RC - Non-Canucks Card)
Andrew Raycroft (RC - Canucks Card)
Curt Ridley (Non-Canucks Card)
Dany Sabourin (Non-Canucks Card)
Cory Schneider (RC)
Corey Schwab (Canucks Card)
Gary Smith (RC - Non-Canucks Card)
Steve Weeks (RC - Non-Canucks Card)
Dunc Wilson (RC - Non-Canucks Card)
Wendell Young (RC)

GO NUCKS GO!