REDEMPTION COMPLETE - The Unveiling!

If you've been following my Redemption story (Part 1 & Part 2) you'll know that I've been long awaiting a very special card. One that would pick up some fairly nice returns in a trade and possibly some good cash on eBay.

Those two reasons were the only things pushing my desire to get my hands on this card. I would only really want to hold onto this card because of it's rarity, but I think it would be appreciated more somewhere else.

Saying that, a week ago I got this beauty in the mail from Panini:

This card is obviously one that would be attractive to many different collectors, not just Oilers and Devils fans but there are many Hall and Henrique collectors that pay big bucks for their sigs. The only downside to the card I can think of is that the AUTO's are stickers, but not a huge deal in the long run.

Nice simple design that carries from front to back and the paragraph ties the two Spitfire players together nicely.

I really do like the sheer awesomeness of the card, but like I said, I know collectors that would appreciate this much more than I.

With that being said, Kyle - we'll be in touch.

Also, best wishes to all the hopeful teams in the Stanley Cup play-offs! Hopefully my Nucks can shake the dust off their sticks and get playing the way we use to!

GO NUCKS GO!

THANKS CHRIS! - Cloutier Tetrad AUTO

Yet another thank you post from yet another awesome guy. I'm a lucky man considering how nice people are toward me and my collection.

On to the story. Chris contacted me for help finding some old Canucks/Kings play-off tickets from 2012. He's a Kings fan and is having a little trouble finding Vancouver home tickets. Over the past months I've been searching like a mad man but with little to show for.

As I was continually sifting through craigslist and talking to the local collectors, Chris e-mailed me saying he had a nice thank you gift. 

I have to say, even after all that searching I still don't have the tickets, but he still sent me the card. What a guy eh?

Now this card is funky in a lot of ways. First, the design is unorthodox (to say the least), the numbering is a sky scraper high /7,750 but oh boy is this a sick card! 

This is my guy Clout in his classic all red pads and bucket helmet from his Greyhound days. This card is cool, cool and more cool!

And for a fourth cool, check out the signature. Notice anything different? Probably not if you're not a Cloutier fan. He signed with number 33 not his 39 he wore for most of his career, not that's unique!

Thank you Chris; this card will sit nicely next to the rest of my Cloutier hits! Plus its another one off the want list!

GO NUCKS GO!

TRADE: Paul D - A Boatload of Goodies

This is my second trade I made recently, this time with a different Paul. The initial trade was one that included almost my entire needed want list for the 2003-04 McDonalds set. But yet again, there was an overwhelming amount of generosity that came along with it.

I was absolutely floored when I saw what he included for me, so much thanks goes to Paul D!

First off we have some beauty goalie cards to add to my Goalie Project, which I actually have been neglecting lately and don't know why. This is a good reminder for sure. My favourite is definitely that UD Masterpiece of Richard Brodeur, I have one copy already but geez it doesn't hurt to have two of that beauty!

Some really nice base cards here and even a nice 90's insert of Pavel Bure thrown in! It's one of those reflective "action" cards really retro and super cool. Probably my favourite base is that of Andre Boudrias, it's a really nice looking retro set and the back of the card is one of my favourites from ITG. Simple but classic.

As if that wasn't enough, Paul threw in not one but TWO GU Canucks cards!

Canucks captain? Check! Nice dark colour from the old Canucks jerseys. Weird to say those are "old" considering that's how I remember my Nucks as a kid.

Aaaaannndddd...

A dual GU card from two great Canucks d-men. I don't have a GU piece from either of these guys and especially considering Bieksa is a fan favourite here in Vancity, it's a very nice card. Ohlund was a great vet Canuck that we lost to Tampa Bay seasons ago. But I really liked Mattius, he was solid as ever. Considering we lost Salo to the Lightning in the off-season, TB must really like veteran Nucks d-men.

Thanks so much Paul D, the kindness has not gone unnoticed that's for sure!

GO NUCKS GO!

TRADE: Paul from Card Boarded

After pulling a pretty sweet Jimmy Howard insert I knew it had Paul from "Card Boarded"'s name all over it. We got in contact and bada-bing bada-boom a deal was made.

Here is what it looked like:

TO PAUL:
2012-13 Certified "Goalie Pulls" Jimmy Howard
20 random Red Wings cards

TO ME:
2001-02 BAP Signature Series Gino Odjick AUTO
(Way more than...) 20 random Canucks cards

The AUTO is of former Canucks grinder - Gino Odjcick.

A nice on card AUTO of a Canucks alumni. Doesn't get much better than that!

Even more exciting though was the extra goodies Paul threw in for me. We had agreed to send 20 randoms each way but Paul, being his generous self, sent almost 4 times that! I don't know why I'm surprised, there are tons of really kind guys in the hobby and Paul is right up there.

Thanks Paul!

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the generosity, can't thank you enough! Some really nice finds from a dozen different years and dozens of different sets. These are gonna look sharp in my Canucks binders for sure!

GO NUCKS GO!

NHCD BOX BREAK - 2012-13 Limited

I hope everybody in Canada and the USA had a great National Hockey Card Day! North of the border, I had some success breaking a "high-end" product, which I don't do very often. I decided to spend my money on a box with only 7 cards in it, 2012-13 Limited.

I'm going to go out on a lim and officially say, I am a fan of Panini products. The price, value of hits and variety of sets, gets me every time. But that's a whole different post.

I originally made a quick 5 minute video of my box break; however, it's not uploading. So, scans it is!

Let's do this as a card by card thing. First card I saw after unwrapping the silver foil wrapper was a base card of Mikka Kipprusoff and another of recently re-signed P.K Subban.

i scanned the back side of the Kippy to show off the design. In most cases, I prefer I product stick with one direction on a card (e.g. vertical front, vertical back) but in this case, the back of the card matches the front perfectly. I really like the simple and classy design this card gives off and the thick card stock is a really nice touch!

But base is not what I spent 120 bucks on right?

My first hit, was this beautiful "Phenoms" rookie AUTO if Brendan Dillon. Brendan who? Ya, with only one NHL game under his belt, I don't know who he is either; however, the card is great. I've always admired these fabric AUTO's. It gives that signed jersey feel; plus, Brendan has a decent AUTO including his number. Not a bad first hit despite the "high" serial number of 499 copies. Still, I'm not jumping through hoops about this box quite yet.

A nice low numbered sub-set was this "Limited Captains" card. Only downside - a Bruin (of course). Although, I don't hate Chara as much as I hate some other Bruins *ehem* Marchand *ehem*. Anyways, this is a nice addition just not my favourite player. Up for trade if it catches anyones fancy.

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! This is a SWEET insert. Sure "Trophy Winners" has been done tons of times, but the execution is perfect! The textured foil surrounding the images of Lafleur and the Conn Smythe trophy is dealt in a classy and appropriate manner. Big thumbs up Panini! This card is right up my alley, I'm a big Guy Lafleur fan and numbered at 199 copies is very fitting to the insert set.

Well we are down to the final two cards and things are going good, but not nearly great. I still have two big hits left. The first of which is directly above this text. This card is from a really nice GU set and even better name. It's numbered pretty low at 99 copies, which adds value in my eyes. The swatch is a nice dark blue; although if I had gotten a white swatch I would tear another one into Panini. There is no space for all white swatches in a product like Limited. Jake Allen is a nice prospect and one I'll watch now that I have his card.

The last hit...drumroll please...

Well, this is a scan of eBay because I actually don't have this card anymore. Shocker right? I seem so lucky to pull a low numbered BEAUTIFUL AUTO of a Canuck and I trade it away? Yup I did. Truth is, I'm not a huge Kesler fan. My version of the "Moniker" AUTO was not quite the same as the one above. Mine was numbered to /99 NOT /49 and it had the Canucks "Orca" logo not the "Stick in the Rink" logo. 

So I traded my only Canuck hit, for what? Take a looksy:

What's happening to me, am I going mad or what? I traded a Canucks AUTO for a Red Wings dual GU card. Yes I did. 

Only about 10 minutes after leaving my LCS I marched back in with the Kesler in hand and showed the owner and his wife. They were happy when I said I wanted to trade it and they thought I was crazy. The inflation for Canucks GU and AUTO's in that shop is crazy and I knew it would probably get a 60 dollar price tag (I know crazy). He told me he would sell it for 50 and he always trades half od the sticker price. 

Fair? Sure, they need to make money too. I said, "Hows about we call it 30?" He agreed and off I went. As luck has it this Bill Gadsby and Norm Ullman dual GU beauty had the perfect 30 dollar price tag. I swiped it right away. 

I mean two HOF's from the 60's is a no brainer right? That Gadsby GU piece is a leather piece from his glove, cool right!? My first GU glove card, yes! Plus it's nice dark red Detroit swatch on the Ullman.

I'll take that anyway. 

Overall, I didn't really make my money back in secondary market value. But who cares? I probably won't bust another box of this this year, so I enjoyed it for sure! 

I'm pretty tired now, so I'll post up my NHCD pack rips tomorrow. But how was your February 9th? Bust any boxes/packs? And what's your opinion on the newest Limited product from Panini; good or bad?

GO NUCKS GO!

PACK RIP - Hat Trick of Certified

A trip to my LCS shop this afternoon scored me three fresh packs of Certified. It seems like as long as I  buy two packs, I'm guaranteed something good. After these three packs, I still can't complain.

I'll spare you all the base cards and just show the bulk of them in one scan:

My first Canucks base card from all these packs (I think) is of Henrik Sedin.

The regular GU jersey cards are nothing to write home about, but not bad as a set. It all depends on player selection. Boy oh boy, did I get a good player...

Nick Lidstrom is a living legend and I'm sad to see him go. He was such a work horse for the Wings throughout his years and truly a household name. To me, pulling a Lidstrom hit is just as valuable as pulling a guy like Crosby. All class card.

 

Such a great insert idea and execution, and this card is the perfect example. The insert isn't called "Play-Off Rivals" it's called "Path to the Cup," which is a very smart move by Panini. Realistically, to get a good number of cards in a set that involves the play-offs, not all teams can be "rivals". Example A: Chicago and Phoenix; so by called the set "Path to the Cup" it eliminates the cheesiness factor and ups the ante. I particularly like the look of the back of the card with the scoreboard idea. Only thing I would change is the back pictures. Instead of re-using the same picture on the front, do a neat design with the two team logos; spice it up a bit.

Last but certainly not least is this SICK insert! It quite literally matches the name "Goalie Pulls" as the picture of Jimmy Howard is actually an acetate pull-out. Such a neat concept and really well executed! I think I might know a guy interested in it too...

Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and let me know what you think of the product and your experiences with ripping some packs!

GO NUCKS GO!

CRAZY CARDS - The King of NYC

You don't have to know me for long to understand I'm a huge Canucks fan. But every once in awhile I notice another team or player that catches my fancy.

It seems that maybe the New York Rangers have sparked an interest in me. That may just be the lockout talking; but, as of right now, they hold a spot as my second favourite team. I mean you look at their line-up and it's just full of superstars up and down. Don't get me wrong, I hate the '94 Rangers (Messier) just as much as the next guy. They (Messier) took our first Cup right out of our hands and I will aways have resentment toward them (Messier) for that.

Basically, I'm a fan of one player in specific that started this whole roller coaster of appreciation - Henrik Lundqvist. This guy is a beast of a keeper and I grew to like the man behind the mask in the series 24/7 from the Winter Classic a year ago (boy I'll miss that this year).

So when I saw the card below up for a 10er, I had to have it:

This was the main point I ever bought random packs of Donruss Elite last season. I think these die-cut game used cards are really cool! They all have specific numbers in which they are limited to, in this case 213. That number is dependant on the record or stat the player is featured with.

In this case the number is related to his 213 career wins up until the 2011-12 season.

Love this card, love the player...just a whole lot of love.

But even with all this appreciation, the Canucks are ALWAYS my number one.

GO NUCK GO!

DAN CLOUTIER PC - THANK YOU MIKE!

About a month ago, I got an e-mail from a fellow collector who had a couple of really nice Cloutier cards he was willing to part with. His website, The Potvin Collection, showcases some very nice Potvin and Gagner pieces. Unfortunately, with free time at a minimum (evident by my weekly posts) I had to put our potential trade on the back burner.

A little over a week ago though, Mike contacted me again and said he was sending the two Cloutier's for nothing in return! Wow, I can't believe the kindness of hockey card collectors, it truly is a tight community!

Well Mike, before I even show off the two beauties, I have to thank you greatly! And don't think this will go unnoticed, the kindness will be returned!

Anyways, like I mentioned, the cards are some really nice pieces.

I've seen this card on the Bay for awhile but haven't been happy enough with the prices to jump. Thankfully, I can cross this off the want list. The GU window is a little different and the colour swatch the dark Canucks navy blue.

What really pops out at me on this card is the photo choice. The card comes from the ITG Action set so it's appropriate that ITG used an actual action photo, not just a shot of Cloutier in his ready position. Thumbs up ITG!

WOWEEEEE! That's a nice looking piece of GU goodness! That's a piece of his pad by the by. The scanner didn't really show it vert well, but the pad is a white (not so crystal white though) tone with a nice grey seem running straight across the patch. 

Hands down the coolest piece of Cloutier on card memorabilia yet! I'm looking to trying to get one piece from each set of equipment. So far I have: jersey, stick and pad; just need the glove and blocker!

Thanks again Mike! I'm really excited in getting these new Clouts!

As always, check out the website on the right hand side to see my entire Dan Cloutier PC!

GO NUCKS GO!

I GOT RIPPED OFF (But I Don't Mind) - PART 2

In my previous post I described my relationship with my LCS owners. Don't get me wrong there's a strong bond that builds between fellow collectors, but some times you just feel ripped off.

Last week I showed four new Cloutier cards (two base, one parallel and one insert) in which I payed a hefty eight dollars for. Three of those cards could probably be found in your local quarter box, but hey, at least I kept my purchases local (yay Canada).

Exhibit B would be the pack of Certified I bought at the same time I did the Cloutiers. I've boughten three packs of Certified (here and here) and all three cost me ten bucks a piece. I knew at the time I bought those three other packs that the sign said they were 13 dollars each and I was getting somewhat of a bargain (although ten dollars is the actual cost listed by Panini).

Unfortunately for me this time I did not get that break, I already had 18 bucks of product in my hand (four Cloutiers and another card I'll list later) so why didn't he shave the access three bucks? I guess I just have to bite the bullet, I'm glad I did though because this is what I got:

My solid four base cards pretty much promised in every pack plus...

An extra Tyler Myers base? What could this mean...

Hey! Another Tyler Myers, this time one I actually care about! I actually do love the monster that is Myers. His size is impressive as is, add on the fact he plays on what I would say is in my top three favourite east coast teams and we got ourselves a keeper. It doesn't hurt that he also wears my third favourite number.

For those of you that are interested, my favourite numbers are: first and most important to me - 13, then 24 and 57. 

If you survived that last sentence, let's talk about the actual card. The card in itself is all foiled, similar to the base cards, it has a square GU window with a cool blue swatch beneath. It's also numbered to 299 copies which is just below average for a GU card these days - not bad.

Now, here is my question to you: what's your relationship like with your LCS owner/employees? Are you sometimes caught in sticky situations like the past two I've shared with you?

Let me know your thoughts...

GO NUCKS GO!

I GOT RIPPED OFF (But I Don't Mind) - PART 1

Relationships are a weird thing in the hobby.

You make a lot of friends that you might not have made due to our obsessions with cardboard. Sometimes, relationships can make deals harder than they have to be. Such is my life at my LCS.

My shop has been open for about 25 years and is owned by an older couple. They're rough around the edges but really nice folks. Problem is, everything in that store is ten dollars overpriced. Of course, they'll always give you a "deal" but it'll still be overpriced.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad. In fact, I think that is great business sense by both of them. They really play up the Vancouver market well, but sometimes I feel ripped off.

For example, I go into the store with a 20 dollar budget. Basically my goal was to go check out their old Canucks base binder for Cloutiers and see what GU and AUTO's they had in stock. With even a 20 dollar bill I thought I could get a lot done, wrong.

 I got two base, one parallel and an insert; let's take a look at them and then I'll let you know what I paid for them.

The one you see on either side of this text comes from what I think is my favourite Upper Deck Series 1 set - ever. Bold statement, I know. Nostalgia has a huge part in me saying that. I just love the borders, the full sized pics and the boxiness of the back design. Plus this was the set I seemed to see most of when I was trading with my buddies.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to see this card. This is also very nicely designed; the all foil and pop out figure on the card is quite neat! 

I also like how the back has that red section that is titled "Bowman Briefing." It's that creativity that I believe is missing in a lot of base sets today. You could tell there was great time in writing the "Résumé," "Skills" and "Evolution" portions.

Speaking of nostalgia, this is the definition of the word! McDonalds hockey cards, otherwise known as another excuse to go grab a happy meal as a kid. These things were so fun to rip open with friends. I remember my uncle would come over sometimes and have like 25 packs of this stuff for me to open with him (and the packs weren't cheap)! If you hit a cool insert (especially die-cut ones) or a hot rookie, you were the guy to talk to the next day.

Good old grade five... I know that hitting an AUTO or GU card was near impossible, but if you did, you were a rich man!

I remember when this insert came out and wanting to have it so bad. I did eventually get my hands on a copy but for some reason lost it along the way. Fortunately, I picked this one up with the other three cards at my LCS. Plus, it's in much better shape than my last copy was!

Looks like four pretty solid pick-ups to me. Probably my most exciting low end Cloutiers I have, but what did I pay? Well at a flea market in Florida I would have probably gotten all four card for a dime. At my LCS, I payed two bucks a piece. Yup, eight bones for four cards.

But like I said in the title, I don't mind.

I got to look through three binders packed with IP and TTM AUTO's and laugh at a few good stories with the gentleman store owner. I got to talk hockey (lockout, concussions etc.) But most importantly, I went home with cards I liked and was happy AND the owners got paid so they were happy AND we both had a good time doing it.

That is what the hobby is all about.

But hey, my wallet still had 12 bucks to spare before I hit my cap. Unfortunately my heart thought it had about 32 bucks left...

Stay tuned for "I GOT RIPPED OFF (But I Don't Mind) - Part 2"... There are some interesting cards coming up.

As always take a look at C4K CLOUTIER and mozy through my Dan Cloutier PC.

GO NUCKS GO!

DOUBLE PACK RIP: 2012-13 Certified

After hitting that sweet Taylor Hall/Adam Henrique Redemption from my first pack of Certified, I decided to try my luck two more times.

You know the expression "quit while you're ahead," well I guess you could say that about the next two packs. At the same time though, I'm not totally bummed with what I got; it's just that nothing is gonna beat that crazy dual AUTO.

On to pack numero uno:

Every pack contains five cards and this pack contained its standard four base cards. Like I said last time, I like the look of the cards. I'm not head over heels, but I think they're cool.

Nice! An autograph in my second pack! Looks like I'm two for two. All I can think of though is: I want a Canuck! So for the 11 bucks this pack cost me, I got me a no-namer. But hey, for me any signature (besides Mark Messier) is accepted with open arms in the good old collection. Don't know a whole lot about Cory, if their are any of his collectors out there, let me know! *cricket*




Alright, so now I already think I'm pushing my luck before even busting this third pack. But then again, it's a thick one... Decoy or GU card? Well I opened it up and saw the top of the thick card was white not the regular brownish colour most decoys are. Plus, it looked in good shape unlike the majority of decoys when you open the top of packs.

After brushing through these:

I got to the thick card and...

............

............

............

............

DECOY... Darn it.

But I did get this!

Numbered to /999 copies, this is a pretty cool insert. I really like the banner logo that says "Masked Marvels" and I actually like the fact it showed the goalie's mask as well as the top part of his jersey, I think it adds context to the card.

Overall not bad. More importantly, I'm not kicking myself over the money spent. Now if that first pack was all base, we might have had a different story...

GO NUCKS GO!

LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - C4K Edition

No you are not reading that title wrong. I'm taking a page out Brett's book from MY HOCKEY CARD OBSESSION and doing my own "Linden Card of the Week." Not many big Linden cards come through my collection, not to mention unique ones like this.

First, some back story. Over the lockout many Canucks have done meet and greets at local Vancouver malls. Alex Burrows had his signing a couple weeks ago and last week Trevor Linden and Ryan Kesler had a dual signing at "The Bay" downtown (for you Americans out there, "The Hudson's Bay Company" is Canada's main department store). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make it out to any three of these guys signings.

To my delight though, a buddy in my Electrician Apprenticeship program was going to see Linden along with one of his other friends. He asked if I wanted to come along, but I declined as I had practice that evening. I asked if he could grab me an autograph while he was there and he said he could "see what [he] could do."

The next day he said they limited everyone to one signature per person, but they were handing out extra AUTO's throughout the line. The stack of extra signatures was half of T-Lind and half of Kess, the line was about 500 to 600 people long. So if my math is correct, this oversized card is limited to about 250 to 300 copies.

My buddy handed it to me with a smile today, but I think my smile was bigger. Trevor Linden is after all - Captain Canuck.

Before I continue, let's take a look at the card:

The card is 5" by 7" and is signed by Mr. Linden himself. There are some questions I raise though, why in the world did he not sign it vertically? Also, why does it say "Guys' Night Out" on the top? Whatever the answers are, it doesn't matter - it's Linden after all.

Although, it seems there is a crimp or crease in the top right corner, which is disappointing. Also, the card is blank on the back. Like I said before, I don't care because it's Trevor Linden!

There you have it folks. A C4K version of a MHCO classic, hope it didn't disappoint too much!

GO NUCKS GO!

VERSUS: Dan Cloutier Hit VS. 2012-13 Certified

Money in my pocket. Oh why do you taunt me?

With some pocket change to spare this week, I passed by my overpriced but extremely welcoming LCS to pick up some cards. I decided to pace myself...really I did! Of course, things don't always go as planned.

I was talking to the husband (it's a husband and wife that own this shop) and he was telling me one day when I have more time to stop in to see the massive binder of Cloutier cards he has. I agreed and asked him to quickly show me some of his GU and AUTO's of my favourite player.

Turns out he had two on hand. One was an AUTO from the most recent BTP (the one I already have) and the other was a high serial numbered GU card of his.

I asked the price of the GU piece of cardboard and to my utter shock it was a whole 20 bucks! No way José, he knew I wasn't gonna pay anywhere near that price. He then brought it right down to it's BV of 15 bucks.

I politely said "I was thinking more like 5." He smiled and said we could package something up. In the end I bought one pack of Certified and the Cloutier card at a clean 20 bucks total. Perfect for another edition of "VERSUS!"

So let the battle begin:

DAN CLOUTIER HIT

Like I said, high numbered GU card. It's pretty basic and I believe on eBay I could have probably nabbed it for 3.99 plus shipping, but the owners a nice guy. I think that's what it's all about in the end, meeting stand up guys and gals in the hobby. 

What I really like about this card though is actually the info on the back. It says "In 2003-04, Dan wore this Canucks sweater and recorded his 100th win." Now that's cool! 

To think that this jersey is actually a hallmark in Cloutier's career is crazy!

This ten bucks was well spent, but did it beat out my single pack of Certified?

FINAL SCORE: 8.5/10

2012-13 CERTIFIED

This one pack out of ten was a long shot for anything good, but for ten bucks it was worth the gamble; and boy was it worth it!

I won't get into the base cards too much, but I like them. I'm not going crazy over them, but I do think they are really cool. It may not seem like this in the scan but you can see the background through the foil. 

The BIG hit of the pack was this beauty...or soon to be beauty!

My very first redemption! I'm not sure why I'm excited because these things are a huge pain in the arse, but hey it's my FIRST ONE! 

Now let's dissect this bad boy. It's a DUAL Signature numbered to 100 copies and the player selection is of the Adam Henrique and Taylor Hall variety.

WOWZA! This is gonna be a good one!

I already redeemed it via paniniamerica.net and I put my time frame as 4 months. So hopefully this card shows up before then. 

My question is should I raise the time frame to 8 months (if possible)? What do you guys think, from experience, will be the time frame between my redeeming it online until I see it in my mailbox?

By any means this 10 dollar pack of cards get's a well deserved high mark of...

FINAL SCORE: 9.5/10

DAN CLOUTIER - 8.5/10     <     CERTIFIED - 9.5/10

This was certainly a fun one!

Because of that redemption goodness, I bought two more packs of the 2012-13 Certified product.

I'm weak.

More on that tomorrow!

GO NUCKS GO!