HHOF AUTOS - Mike Gartner

It was a day off for me from work and I did nothing but look at the explosion of cards on my desk.  You'd think I would have made some progress....but no.  OK, maybe a little.  I just got caught up in looking at some cards I had forgotten about and even did some scanning.

That's progress right??

One card that I'm happy to show off came from a trade night earlier in the month.  I knew I'd be able to pick up a hard-signed Mike Gartner card for my Hall Of Fame project fairly easily, so I was picky on the type of signature I'd chase.

Mike Gartner

(Inducted in 2001)

Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with this one.

Now, the scan makes it look like there's some gum stain type of stuff, but no - that's just the card design.  It looks really solid in person.  Thick card stock, silver foil (again, doesn't scan well), great photo from an era that reeks of Caps Gartner and a silver signature to finish it off.

The moment I saw this card pulled from the pack - and the resulting unimpressed look at what many would say is not an enticing hit - I knew I'd be walking out with it.

An easy trade (as always) with the card shop and this newest addition was mine.

This Gartner has made me take a look at my other cards in the project.  It's one thing to acquire a card - any card - for my set, but to get one that has the aesthetics, photo and solid signature that really appeals to me...now that's something.

There are a couple cards that I'd be happy to upgrade down the road (and have even done so in the past).  This is turning out to be a much more fluid project as a result.  Good stuff.

My goal of 100 hard-signed Hall Of Fame autograph cards is coming along nicely.  Slow, but nice.  I'm looking to up the pursuit this season and hopefully knock at least another 20 off the list before the playoffs hit.

Current Collection - 65 HOF Autos