LINDEN CARD(s) OF THE WEEK - It's Been A Slow January

Well hello.  Long time, no see.  I hope all is well.

Yup, it's been three full weeks since I last posted here and I chalk it up to a big dose of laziness (and a bit of a lull in my collecting right now).  And I've got zero problems with that.

With two trade nights and a monthly card show under my belt this past month and nothing to show for it other than a less-than-stellar Decades 90s box break (I think I'm done opening that stuff....even if it's nicely on sale), I've been playing the spectator more often than not.  A little check on the overall financial picture (and a bit of a dent from Christmas) made me scale back a bit over the past few weeks.

There have been a number of cards that have popped up on ebay, but I've been finding that either they are ridiculously priced or ones that just don't have that "must have" appeal to them.

I've spent a bit more time away from cards too.  Reading quite a bit (just finished Chris Nilan's book.....good read) and spending a lot of time with my niece and nephew (I splurged for a yearly membership to the local leisure centre for all of us...my nephew and I have been doing the Sunday morning badminton routine and loving it).

Anyways, back to cards.  I'm still enjoying the hobby...my projects and am actually thinking of starting up another side set.  I'll share the details soon enough.  But my main player collection is one that has got me focused and interested as always.

Linden is in the new Upper Deck SP Game Used product - and in a way that I absolutely love.  One base card and one gold auto parallel.  That's it.  Simple and with a bit of a chase.  Not too hard on the wallet either (that's always appreciated).  The 27-card pursuit of a certain product is a stark reminder of what over-saturation there is in the hobby so it's nice to see a very considered release.

I've also had a couple cards come my way (never too quiet for me eh?) and so I'm excited to share them.

2012/13 ITG Decades 90s

Franchises w/ Bure, Odjick and Messier

#F-13 Gold Version Fall Expo 1/1

Speaking of the 27-card chase in a product, this Decades 90s release got a whole lot more funky when I found out that there's a Fall Expo redemption 1/1 card for almost every single card released.  So that means my 27 has turned into 48.  Yucky!

Add to that the fact that one seller has most of these cards and has been listing them at some high prices, it makes the desirability factor go down exponentially.

I picked up this one only because it was a low enough price for my liking (and I'm sure the January lull helped).  I'm definitely not in a rush to pick all of these ones up.  I would however like to keep tabs on where they all end up.

Oh, ny the way.......Messier = YUCKY!!!

2012/13 Panini Limited

#187 Captains Green (Emerald)  /5

Now this card was a nice grab this month.  Sure it's one of those dreaded parallels with nothing but a color shift to it, but still it's out of 5 and it was on the list.

I picked it up for what I would consider to be the max I'd pay for such a card (but was mere seconds away from a huge steal.....darn the guy who bid at the last second).  I received the help of another Linden collector to secure the deal and his assistance is always very much appreciated.

I like what Panini did with the Limited product this past year.  A lightly broken product made it a tougher find for some singles but the designs looked decent and the chases were reasonable.

Funny thing is with all the cards I've been chasing from this release, it's the easiest one I have left to get.  A Linden/Kassian dual /199.  That's just me being lazy (and hoping I'll be able to eventually trade for it locally).

Well, that's it for now.  I don't expect it'll be 3 weeks again between posts.....but if it is - HA!

Have a good one.

LINDEN COIN?? OF THE WEEK - 2007 Team Issue

Happy New Year everybody!  I've been keeping a low profile over the past few weeks.  Y'know....holidays and such.  It's been an enjoyable (but very quick) three weeks and I can't believe I go back to work on Monday.  Gone so quickly.  But I'm actually looking forward to heading back.  A new year and a new start....always motivating.

I've been spending a lot of my spare time.....doing very little.  And I love it.  I've been reading a lot and am into my fourth book since the beginning of December.  I've also been surveying my office (where I keep my cards).  Not much more than that - just surveying.

I'm still hoping to do some custom card work, but time's slipping.  That doesn't mean I won't be able to once I get back to work, but I'm surprised I didn't do any over my break.

My niece and nephew got a good chunk of my time over the holidays.  Can't go wrong there at all.  My nephew and I are doing Sunday morning badminton and it's a lot of fun.  I forgot how much I enjoyed it.  I also picked up a music book/cd/dvd set on drumming that I've had my eye on for a while.  The ol' drum kit is going to get more of a workout this year.  Call it a resolution if you'd like.  I'm just going to call it "something I want to do".

As for cards - it's been slow.  I wasn't able to make it out to the final trade night of 2013 because of my niece's band concert, the first trade night of 2014 had me leave without spending a cent (I was shocked at myself) and the first monthly card show of the year was also  a whole lotta nothin'.  There's just not much out there that I want to chase right now.  If it's not Linden, I'm not really going for it at this time.

Now there have been a lot of Linden cards popping up on ebay, but the prices are just a little higher than I'd like to pay (a lot higher on some) and so I've just passed.  I do have one card on its way in but that's it.  I see he's going to be in the new SPGU product (only 2 cards.....thank you UD!!!) and so that'll be something to look for.

As for my only other recent Linden item, it's one that I've never seen, have no info of and was dirt cheap.  Count me in!

I'm listing this as a 2007 team released coin.  It's about the size of a quarter and although the outline of Linden on the front is vague....I can clearly make out that it's him.

I decided to list this as a 2007 coin because of the info on the back.  The detective in me did some searching.

I came to the conclusion that it's 2007 because he's listed as the Canucks' All-time Leader in games played (1140), goals (318) and points (733).  His totals for goals and points were since broken by Markus Nasund.  So it would be a 2007 coin, maybe a 2006 coin if it was made right after he set the records.

What would be great is if I could find some info on this coin.  Nothing....absolutely nothing is out there on it.  Heck, I never even knew the coin existed until I saw it a few weeks ago for the first time.  And on the ebay auction, the description was of zero help.

Nonetheless, it's a new addition and I'm happy to add it to the small section of coins in my Linden collection.  The first item of what I hope will be an enjoyable 2014.  Have fun!