Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Ho Ho!

We'll be back....
after Christmas. All the best to you and yours. Thanks for reading Just A Bit Offside.

Monday, December 20, 2010

What $17 and the last card show of the year brought me...

If you missed the first part of this post, stop, go HERE, and read THIS POST, then come back. I'll wait. Go ahead. For those of you who have already read the first part, you can go ahead and read on.

Obviously, since I spent $17, and only $2 was spent over on the other blog, the following cards set me back, um...... carry the 3.... $15. I was totally not like me and spent $5 on one card. We'll save that for the end. Please save your judgements until then as well.

First up, a dollar box. Not quite like dayf's quarter box, but around here, I'll take what I can get.
Five cards from the dollar box...
An '85/86 OPC Kirk Muller Rookie. Kirk is the assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens right now. Hopefully the next head coach. And sooner than later please.
 '87/88 Stephane Richer Rookie. A multi 50 goal scorer, and one of my faves....
 '88/89 Sean Burke Rookie. A vastly under rated goalie. When he was on, he was dominating. A mainstay for Team Canada as well, he currently works for the Phoenix Coyotes as Goaltending Coach.
 '81/82 Andy Moog Rookie. I alwasy hated this little guy, but for a buck, why not. It's the only one of the four no mint. A wrinkle in the lower right makes him WORTHLESS! Well, worth a buck anyways.
 And a 2005 Rogie Vachon numbered /99 insert.
 Next table found a pile of about 25 cards marked 4 for a buck. Not quite a quarter box, but a quarter pile. I grabbed four cards.
Jimmy Howard insert
 Carey Price insert
 Miikka Kiprusoff insert
 and a PK Subban insert
 Same table had a dollar pile as well...

a Daniel Larsson of the Red Wings auto
 this is supposed to be James Reimer of the Leafs.... how I ended up with a scan of Jamie Tucker, only blogger knows....
 Joey Hishon, a 1st round pick of the Avalanche
 Tyler Toffoli of the Kings
 And now here's where we get to where I spent $5 on one card. Not a vintage card. A brand new card. The ink was still wet, it's so new. From the 2010/11 OPC set....

A Carey Price Retro Rainbow Black Bordered Parallel /100
I probably paid too much, but it was new and shiny and it's Christmas..... so why not?

Thursday, December 16, 2010

This. Is. Glorious.

It doesn't get better than this....




and why is it that teams like the Bruins all want to jump the guy when he makes a clean hit? I'm seeing it all over the NHL and it needs to stop. Quit pussyfying my game dammit.

Making the sport fun to watch?

Tuesday in Edmonton brought a first to Canadian hockey. The Edmonton Octane, a cheer squad for the Edmonton Oilers made their debut to a sold out Rexall Place.



Do they make the game more fun to watch? No. More interesting? No. But those damn TV timeouts are a heckuva lot more tolerable now.

Just sayin'.


EDIT: oh yeah, don't forget to check out the latest contest at Drop The Gloves!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Spirit of Christmas

December 12th brought us the 16th Annual Calgary Hitmen Teddy Bear Toss. What the hell is that? Well, each year the Calgary Hitmen designate one game a year to giving back and helping those in need at Christmas. We're talking about the kids here, as Christmas is always about the kids.
The rules are simple. Bring a stuffed Teddy Bear, or Dog, Cat, or Woobie, and when the Hitmen score their first goal of the night.... let fly with your toy.



(pay attention at the 3:30 mark as several trucks try to cart off all of the toys)

This year brought over 23,000 stuffed toys to be given to the kids at Alberta Children's Hospital, shelters, soup kitchens and the like.
Thanks to all who participated... it's always a lot of fun.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

poppin' a cherry...

A lot of collectors spend a lot of time on the various forums available. There are waaaaay too many to list, but the ones I browse include Sports Card Radio, Freedom Cardboard, and Hobby Insider. I don't really spend more than 10-15 minutes every couple of days total for these. There aren't a lot of users on Sports Card Radio or Freedom Cardboard, so going there twice a week means you really don't miss anything.

But one day on FCB (that's what the kids call it) I found a post from a fellow set collector trying to unload some of his duplicate 'Young Guns' from the '08/09 Upper Deck hockey set. He listed all the cards he had available and the prices he wanted for them, but made it clear that everything was negotiable.
Now keep in mind that I have never bought anything from anyone in any forum before. We were entering new territory. I sent him a message telling him of the nine cards I was interested in. According to his list, he wanted $10 for these particular 9 cards. His message back to me was 'How about $8 shipped?'
I could do that, although I was a little leary about the whole thing, not having done it before....

A couple of weeks went by and no cards. So I sent him a message. He got back to me right away saying he thought they had been mailed, and would get me a tracking number. The next day i find out he found the envelope in his girlfriends car. Apparently she did not mail it. He apologized and told me he would be refunding me my postage for my troubles. I got back $2 into my paypal account the next day. A few days after that, my cards arrived.

The Young Guns checklist featuring Alex Pietrangelo, Steven Stamkos, and Drew Doughty.
 Adam Pineault. Adam played 3 games for Columbus in 2007/08 totalling 33 minutes and no points.
 Adam was traded to Chicago in January of '09 and is currently playing for HC Eaton Pardubice in the Czech Republic.

Vladimir Mihalik was a 1st round pick by Tampa and is still trying to crack the lineup, having played 15 games for them over the past two seasons.
 Lauri Korpikoski was a first round pick of the Rangers but was traded to Phoenix at the end of the '09 season.
 Lauri is enjoying his second season with the Coyotes, having scored 8 goals in the 28 games played so far this year.

Oscar Moller is a 2nd round pick in his third season as a part time player for the Kings.
 Erik Ersberg played for three seasons as the Kings backup goalie behing Jonathan Quick. With the emergence of Jonathan Bernier this year, LA sent Erik down to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL.
 Erik wasn't happy about that, feeling he didn't get a fair chance at winning the job. Erik packed his bags and went home to Sweden. The Kings terminated his contract, allowing Erik to sign and play for Salavat Yulaev of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Shawn Matthias was Detroits 2nd round pick. Detroit sent young Matthias to Florida for veteran Todd Bertuzzi.
 Shawn has become a regular for Florida over the past two seasons.

Adam Pardy was a 6th round pick of the Flames in 2004. I think UD kinda reaches on some of these "Young Guns'. However, they fluked out on this one as Adam has played three solid seasons for Calgary. He's one of their most reliable blueliners this year.... but that ain't saying much......
 and the crown jewel of the deal, Tunguska's favourite player.... LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKE!
Luke Schenn was Toronot's 1st round pick and has played three solid years on a not so good team. He's always improving and his best days are still ahead. Brian Burke should be trading him any minute now....

So there ya go... 9 Young Guns for what turned out to be $6. And a successful first forum transaction. I won't be doing this a lot, but it's nice to know there are options.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Holy Smokes! Look who's signing my cards!

Some of you may get my inference in the title.... others..... well, no matter. I decided to show off a TTM success I got awhile back. This kid could light the lamp for sure. 1012 points in 1006 games, including 441 goals in 15 seasons.
I'm talking of course of Steve Larmer, sniper for the 'Hawks and the Rangers.

Steve was nice enough to sign four cards for me in blue sharpie.
An '84/85 OPC
 '89/90 OPC
 '90/91 Upper Deck All Star
 '91/92 Score
Love that mullet!
Thanks Steve!

Friday, December 3, 2010

2010-11 Upper Deck Black Diamond, A first look.....

I was killing time, hanging out at my 'local' card shop, complaining about how Donruss hockey was delayed for the 9th time when he got a delivery. No, it wasn't Donruss, but it was a new hockey product. Not one I've ever bought before. 2010-11 UD Black Diamond. I bought a base set of last years cards for $2 plus $2 shipping on the 'bay last year, but I've never busted a pack. $5 per pack or 2 for $9.
Let's see what my $9 got me.
I like that UD finally put out a product without Crosby on the wrapper, but at 5 cards per pack, we're almost at $1 per card. Not a good start.

The base cards are foil, without being shiny. A very dark set....
 The player name along the left side is easier to read in person, but not by a lot. This is not a set that loves to be scanned.
 I meant to show the back of Leighton.....
 and the front of Horcoff, but what are you gonna do? oops. Anyways, the backs are plain but easy to read. Most if not all important info is there.
 Although the bottom of the back starts to look a little Panini'ish, and that ain't good.

My friend Luke here is an elusive Double Diamond. You only get 6 of these per box. What's the difference? I have no idea. Seriously.
 My card shop guy had to point out this 'hit' to me, a triple diamond rookie of Casey Wellman. Even he missed the Double Diamond.
 Wow. Really not a scanner friendly set. Apparently only 2-3 of these per box.

Apparently this is a really popular set. but I don't get it. I'm not really a foil guy either. But, this isn't a set collectors product. So maybe it is really cool if you find the right card(s)...
It was still nice to bust some new product... can't wait for OPC.... 11 more sleeps. Not including naps.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Mon Dieu!!! My latest TTM success....

Okay, so I bastardized the language for the sake of a not so witty post title. It's all good. Bastardizing the language is something residents of Quebec have been doing for generations. BOOM!

Seriously though, I recently received a TTM auto request that I sent to one of my favourite players growing up. Well, to be honest, anybody wearing the bleu, blanc, et rouge was my favourite player growing up. But this guy spent his whole career with them. From 1977 through 1985, Pierre Mondou scored 456 in 548 games before an Ulf Samuelsson high stick in the eye ended his career. Pierre wasn't the only one who had his career ended by Mr Samuelsson, but that's for another time. 

I sent Mr. Mondou 3 cards...
a '79/80 OPC
 an '80/81 OPC
 a '81/82 OPC
 Mr. Mondou also signed and included one of his own.....
Pretty effin sweet.

Pierre signed and returned my cards in 13 days.... thanks Pierre!!!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Lady Luck..

My wife came home from wally world the other night with a bag for me. In it were three blasters of '08/09 OPC Update hockey marked down to $9.99 each. Sweet!

I'm still working on this set, and I found 21 new base cards/ short printed rookies towards my effort.
 I also got 24 retro insert cards, a few duplicates there....
 and 24 of the 'Metal' inserts.... I have no idea if any of those are doubles, I don't keep track.
 But here's where my wife's luck comes in. Why she can't do this with lottery tickets, I don't know.
A triple game used jersey card featuring Nikolai Khabibulin, Nikolai Zherdev, and Nik Antropov. These are found one in every 20 boxes.
 And last but certainly not least, an auto of Detroit prospect Mattias Ritola. Autos are found every 90 boxes. These are not easy to find.
 These cards are all for trade (except Crosby)... if anyone can help with this set, please check out my wantlist link on the right hand sidebar.

Friday, November 26, 2010

1974-75 Topps Card #6 Top Power Play Goal Scorers

Card Features: Mickey Redmond and Rick MacLeish
 These are the snipers... the Brett Hull and Steven Stamkos of the '70's. With better moustaches. Mickey was one helluva goal scorer, with 145 goals in the last three years. Unfortunately a back injury not long after this card came out ended his career waaaaay too early. MacLeish would play another 10 seasons ending with 104 career power play goals.
Again, some interesting 'Western' teams. Philly, Pittsburgh, Atlanta....

This marks the last leader card to begin the set. Starting with card #7, we finally get into the individual players.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

TTM success with the Greatest Living Former Maple Leaf !!!

I recently received back a TTM request from Maple Leaf all time great, Allan Bester. Mr Bester was kind enough to sign two photos and four cards for me. I was thrilled to get him before he was elected to the Hockey hall of Fame and became all snooty and started charging for his 'graph....
 I really want to get an address for Borje Salming and get him to sign this one as well.....
 '90/91 Score, all the rage with the kids these days....
 '90/91 OPC
 '90/91 Bowman ( I got a lot of cards from this year, alright?)
 and the best of them all, an '09/10 In The Game Between The Pipes GREATS OF THE GAME!!!
this ranks right up there with Grant Fuhr on the giggle-meter.......

But anyways.... Allan was kind enough to sign these for me and return them in only 14 days. Thanks!!!