Archive for February, 2010

Got quite a few cards this week. First, let’s start with my eBay purchases:

1995 Signature Miracle On Ice #23  Jack O’Callahan /2000

1995 Signature Miracle On Ice #8 Steve Christoff /2000

These two bring me to a total of eight for the set. This is much easier and cheaper to build than the Upper Deck Legendary Signatures set.

Today, I went to two card shows (one local and one 1.5 hours away) with a budget of $100. Before I get into what I picked up, let me remark on some things that I’ve noticed at shows:

1) SOOOOO many high end patch cards numbered to /25 or whatever. It all looks like garbage and holds ZERO value to me.

2) Cards without prices on them. Am I supposed to guess? Should I bring my own Beckett? I don’t get it.

3) I overheard one dealer say, “Oh, I don’t even want to sell that card.” Then don’t bring it! This isn’t a show and tell. You are here to buy, sell, and/or trade. I don’t care about your 1/1 autographed relic card of *insert random hot player here*. Stop showing off. And stop talking about how you just bust cases.

4) $5 or less boxes are my absolute favourite. Everything I got at this show came from these sort of boxes.

From the show 1.5 hours away:

1974-75 O-Pee-Chee #232 Guy Lafleur

1976-77 O-Pee-Chee #67 Bryan Trottier Record Breaker

1984-85 O-Pee-Chee #388 Wayne Gretzky Record Breaker

1984-85 O-Pee-Chee #70 Ron Francis

1986-1987 O-Pee-Chee #250 Cam Neely

1994-95 Be A Player Autographs #5 Dale Hawerchuk

Grand total for these six cards: $19

I could probably get a low end John Tavares rookie for $19 or I could get an on-card autograph of a Hall of Famer, three 80′s O-Pee-Chee cards of HOFers including Gretzky and a (Whaler card!), and two 70′s O-Pee-Chee cards of HOFers. I find it plain ridiculous. What would you rather have?

The local show, well, I didn’t think would still be going on by the time I drove through town but it was. This was the same show I picked up some OPC HOFers at a few weeks back. I had very low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. There was a new dealer and he had quite a few things I was interested in.

I got the following:

1999-00 Upper Deck Retro Inkredible #BoH Bobby Hull

1999-00 Upper Deck Century Legends Epic Signatures #PE Phil Esposito

2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Signatures #CS55 Larry Murphy

This stack ended up costing me $62 which is a random number, but whatever.

Between the two shows, I was able to pick up a pile cards to fill my HOF autograph and HOF O-Pee-Chee collection and come in under my budget. Overall, a good day to end a good week. I think I’m going to take it easy for the next few weeks in terms of spending money. I’ve been hemorrhaging cash and that needs to stop.

It’s been a busy, busy week for me but I have to post for Bruins Friday. Today’s honoree is all-time Boston great Milt Schmidt.

For many old time Bruins fans, Milt Schmidt is Mr. Bruin. He was the face of the franchise during his 16 year career in Boston and centered the famous Kraut Line. You can read a little about the accomplishments of that trio in my Woody Dumart post. Schmidt was a physical and aggressive player and one of the best two way players of his generation.

In his career, he finished in the top ten in goals three times and in the top five in assists four times. During the 39-40 season, he not only led the league in assists with 30, but also led the league in total points with 52, winning the Art Ross Trophy. He would end up placing in the top ten in total points five times in his career. He played on two Stanley Cup teams (38-39 & 40-41) and was a steady contributor come playoff time. During the 50-51 season, Schmidt won the Hart Trophy, putting up 22 goals and 39 assists. Other accolades include making the First All-Star Team three times, the Second All-Star Team once, and playing in four All-Star games.

When Schmidt retired after the 54-55 season he ranked third in total points and second in assists all time. Immediately following retirement, Schmidt became Boston’s coach until the 60-61 season, appearing in two Stanley Cups. After a two year hiatus, he returned as coach until the 66-67 season when he took over as Boston’s GM. One of his most famous moves was orchestrating the deal that brought Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Fred Stanfield to the Bruins. Boston would go on to win two Stanley Cups under his reign. He had a brief one year stint as GM of the Washington Capitals, but returned to Boston for good. Today, he is one of the oldest living Bruins and a fan favourite. Whenever I see him on TV, I think of him as the Bruins’ gentile grandfather.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1961.

This card comes from the 07-08 O-Pee-Chee Premier set. Schmidt has a nice looking signature and the fact that it’s numbered out of 100 is nice. I think it only cost me something like $20 which is ridiculously cheap. I can also say that I wrote to Milt and he signed my custom index card in about a week. He personalized it to me and included his HOF induction year and number. A true class act.