Archive for the ‘Rookie’ Category

Went to my LCS today to pick up a pack of toploaders. Since I felt bad about using my debit card for a measly $2, I bought the last two packs of 2011-12 Upper Deck Hockey he had.

So um, hey, is this guy any good?

I hope that all of my American compatriots had a great Thanksgiving full of turkey, stuffing, football, and afternoon naps. For my Canadian counterparts, I hope your Thursday was at least a little more enjoyable than usual. With “Black Friday” behind us, I thought I’d share some recent eBay/checkoutmycards purchases that I snagged at “Black Friday” prices.

The first big purchase involves a personal “white whale” and finally puts an end to a longtime quest of mine. Finding a certified on-card auto of Woody Dumart is pretty darn tough. According to Beckett, there are only three options: a Bruins Alumni card set, a Parkhurst card that is sort of like a cut auto, and an In The Game Ultimate slabbed card. I had pretty much given up hope of ever finding any of these and instead had first settled on this card…

I’ve talked a bit about this card before. It belonged to a set that was to be produced by Dr. Brian Price of In The Game. As per usual, the NHL rejected his license request and these cards were never officially released. However, they eventually showed up in ITG’s Ultimate Memorabilia 5th Edition but set inside a black frame and slabbed. Like this…

The Parkhurst Dumart is sort of the same, only it is set behind a green border and was unslabbed.

Here is a little write-up ITG did concerning this card:

“In the Game, Inc., the manufacturer of the Be A Player brands of hockey cards, recently paid tribute to a Hockey Hall of Famer and Boston Bruin legend Woody Dumart in their 2001-02 Parkhurst brand.

When the Parkhurst brand was on the drawing board early in 2001, one of the planned insert sets was a 40-card effort entitled Parkhurst Autographs. The set featured an amazing lineup of hockey legends ranging from Gordie Howe to Jean Beliveau to Phil Esposito complete with their signatures. Woody Dumart was included in the set.

Once the cards were printed, they were sent to each of the players but sadly, Dumart passed away before he signed any of them on October 19. Officials at In the Game were now forced to revise their plans.

Rather than simply withdraw the card or replace it with another retired great, a plan was implemented which not only paid proper tribute to Dumart, it also provided something special for collectors. To avoid any further delays during pack-out, special Dumart redemption cards were inserted in packs of Parkhurst.

“Fortunately we had a small supply of Woody Dumart signatures,” explained Dr. Brian H. Price, President of In the Game. “We had discussions with Mrs. Dumart and decided to follow through with this tribute to a great player and a fine gentleman.

“It took some ingenuity on the part of our production staff but we were able to use them as ‘cut signatures’ and literally build a new card of Woody that featured his autograph. Anyone who pulled one of the redemption cards can send it to us in exchange for one of these. I’m quite pleased with the results and I think collectors will be too.”

Only 20 of these special signed Dumart cards were produced.”

As I had never seen either of these cards, I was mostly satisfied with my unframed “bootleg” version, even though I couldn’t say for certain it was real.

Later, I picked up a different Dumart autograph, this time for an obscure regional set.

You can read a little bit about it here. Although Beckett recognizes the set, they don’t mention an autographed version of it. Again, I took a (cheap) chance on this and was mostly satisfied.

Anyways, to make a long story longer, I picked up this gem…

2001-02 Parkhurst Autograph #PA-09 Woody Dumart

The hunt for a certified Dumart autograph is officially OVER! Twenty copies, no pricing due to scarcity, and I snagged it for a pretty good price. If anyone is interested in either of my other two Dumart cards, let me know; they are definitely up for trade.

Next up two more cards from the same eBay seller. Do you ever bid on something, look at the seller’s other auctions, and then bid on a couple others? I was not actively seeking these two cards, but when I saw them, I knew I needed them. First is this “nifty” card…

2001-02 Greats of the Game Autographs #70 Rick Middleton

I have always liked the Greats of the Game sets (all sports included) and when I saw this card, I had to have it. I love me some Middleton and the picture cracks me up.  Did you know Nifty had five straight 40+ goal seasons (40, 44, 51, 49, 47)? Or that he won the Lady Byng Trophy once?

Know who has never won and never will win the Lady Byng? This guy…

2000-01 Topps Premier Plus Private Signings #PS-CP Chris Pronger

Pronger is a future HOFer, so I figured I would get his card now. My preference is to get certified autos of HOFers from when they were still active (for guys like Richard, Howe, Beliveau, etc. it is impossible) and I like to have them in the jersey of the team they were most identifiable with. For me, Pronger enjoyed his best years with the Blues, so I was happy to get this one.  The Middleton and Pronger cost me a combined $13. Um, yes please.

The next couple of cards came courtesy of CheckOutMyCards.com. Paul over at Card Boarded sent me an emailing saying that he saw an Axelsson card on the site that I might not have. He was right, so I had to buy it. While there, I figured I’d poke around for a few other cards that I’ve been looking for and save on shipping. The Axelsson will have to wait for another time; for now you get to see these two…

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee #3 Phil Roberto

This is a card that I’ve been aware of for a long time and always mean to pick up a copy, but then just forget. Recently, though, Shane over at Shoebox Legends had a post highlighting a truly righteous quarter box haul and this card was in it. With that fresh in my head, I finally picked up a copy and I have to say, it is about time. This is one of the VERY few NHL licensed hockey cards to feature an actual fight (Sal over at Puck Junk has a great post about this card and fighting on hockey cards). I like that he played for three defunct teams during his career: Scouts, Rockies, and Barons.

Lastly, there is this jewel…

2003-04 Bowman Chrome Refractor #134 Gregory Campbell /300

Campbell is my second favorite current Bruin behind McQuaid and I have been looking to pick up his rookie since he joined the team. I struck out at the Shriner’s show and a couple other shows, so online I had to go. I like Campbell for a few reasons For starters, he wears #11, PJ’s old number. Secondly, the dude is a bad ass and will throw ‘em with anyone. Lastly, he is just a hard-nosed, gritty player who does all the little things very well. He’s good on the PK, can win his share of draws, goes hard into the corners, and can even put the puck in the back of the net (13 goals on the 4th line last year). He is like Axelsson’s rough and tumble twin brother. Okay, maybe not.

Anyways, here is a clip of Campbell feeding Pyatt his lunch (this is for you, Capt’n)