Tuesday, July 28, 2015

OPINION - What's Wrong With This Picture?

It's been a quiet few weeks on the hobby front - at least in my little collecting world.  Work is just now simmering into a time where people aren't going gangbusters and we all will have some time off to enjoy the summer weather.

I went golfing for the first time this season.  With all the rust, I can't believe I shot one of my best rounds ever.  Must be the muscle memory or something (I'm going with the "something").

On the hockey card front, I've done a lot of snooping on ebay, but haven't pulled the trigger in a while.  In fact, I've only picked up 3 cards this summer - all in early June.  I'd say that's a hiatus....even if I wasn't really trying.

I did some design work for a challenge set up by another blogger.  Yeah, that went south quick.  No updates, no nothin'.  I think I'll just tackle it on my own over the next little bit.

On the Linden front, there have been a few new releases with his name inserted.

14-15 Sp Authentic has a nice three-card chase.  Two of them autos.  Should be fun.

14-15 Premier has what could be some very interesting cards.  Much like the jumbo patches from Prime over the past couple years, Upper Deck has followed suit with the Mega Patch.

Linden has 27 chest logo cards (all of them are 1/1's...so in theory you could build the entire front crest - which would be a crazy amazing accomplishment), 3 shoulder logo cards and 4 sleeve number cards.  I'd be happy with picking up one of each.  Actually....I'd be thrilled.

And last (and maybe least).....The Leaf/In The Game frankenstein release of In The Game Used.

I've seen a few pictures, and while the cards do look nice, I can't help but stop when I see the hand coming towards my face to slap me silly.

You see it?

In my opinion it just gives me a bad taste in my mouth.  Mistakes like that just shouldn't be made on a high-end product like this.

Linden has 8 cards in the product.  But here's the catch.....each card has 4 versions.  Do the math.  That's THIRTY-TWO cards.

Yeah.

Here's another gem.  Too bad the "T" in Thompson didn't curl around properly.  Again....how do you miss that?

Oh, and back to the Linden cards...28 out of the 32 cards are limited to just 20 copies or less.  Brutal.

I really feel like Leaf/ITG just ignores the player collectors out there and puts out shiny colored parallels with serial numbering to 3 or 5 just to create that feeling of "value".

I look at the cards that I've come across (and passed on) this summer.  Many of them are "super rare" and "one of a kind".  And of course, the price tag associated with it just makes me laugh.

There's no way I'm dropping 32 x "a big bundle of cash".  The math ain't adding up anymore.

Last one.

This one is off the sell sheet so it might be a mockup.  But boy...what an accomplishment for Maurice Richard.  50 Points in 50 Games.

(facepalm)

Well, I've added the 32 cards to my checklist, but I'm not holding my breath to even adding 5 of these to my collection.  I just dont' have the appetite for it.

And God help me if they spell it Trever Lindin.

7 comments:

  1. wow.
    when I saw this post in my dashboard, I thought it was going in the direction of not having Dryden's pic, only his sweater.
    Then I clicked in and read the card.
    whoooooooboy.

    And to think, no one will hire us as editors or designers.

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  2. At first... I was asking myself why didn't they put a photo of Dryden instead of his jersey. Then I saw Phil and just shook my head. I didn't even need to see the Richard to know that I'm done.

    As for golf... it's weird... my best game is always the first time back on the fairway after an extended break. From there... it's all down hill.

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  3. Why are you so interested in collecting things (hockey cards) whose manufacturers clearly don't give a shiaaaat about quality?

    Hell, even the NHL itself ignores their own history I'm stunned anyone is left who frets over pre-Crosby/Ovechkin players.

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    1. For all of the frustrations and criticisms that I have towards the hobby, I can provide a list 10 times as long with all of the positives.

      Sports card collecting is one of the best hobbies I can think of. There is infinite flexibility in what one can chase. There are a ton of choices out there (and yes....some of them are really good). And there are some great people within the hobby who enjoy the social aspect of collecting.

      Would I like to see things change with the way cards get produced? Sure. But there are a lot of good things companies are doing and I'm optimistic that the direction the hobby is going is the right one.

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  4. Well, considering how often Phil Esposito had his @$$ in the crease during his career, maybe they just figured he was also a goalie.

    But yeah, that's pretty pathetic, especially for ITG, who seemed to really have a grasp on hockey history. They let a bunch of people go when they merged with Leaf, so maybe their top hockey guys are no longer there to catch these glaring mistakes.

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    1. Ha ha....good one. My understanding is that Leaf owns the name rights to ITG. Dr. Price & co. no longer have anything to do with Leaf or their new releases.

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