LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - Finally Punched This Ticket

It's been an exciting and fast-paced month for me.  The first couple weeks in May involved a lot of volunteering for a charity book sale.  Lugging in hundreds of boxes of books, sorting for days on end and setting up for one of the biggest used book sales in the city this year.  It was tremendous.  I found a number of gems for my own personal collection (I can't say I'll get to reading all of them.....there's just not enough days) and I was able to find a home for the signed Jacques Plante book (a $200cdn buy).  All totalled, the charity raised $300,000 in just 3 days - amazing.

This past week was spent in lovely British Columbia golfing up a storm.  Six rounds in four days and it was incredible.  Great weather, great courses and great company.  I played pretty well too....up until the final day when there was actual money on the line (I choked so bad).  This was our 10th year doing this trip and I'm looking forward to many more.  Such fun.

When I got back from my trip I was hit with a few bubble envelopes in my mailbox (ok....a couple PWE's too......BOOOOOOO!!!) and I was very excited to tear into them.  I knew a few special cards were coming my way.  The one I've chosen to share tonight is one I never thought I'd see - and am thrilled to cross off the list.

1996/97 Score

#173 Golden Blades Winner (Punched)

Looks like a simple base card upon first glance but take a closer look at the upper right corner.  If you turn the card 90 degrees clockwise you'll recognize the Pinnacle logo from that era is punched into the card.

This product had a number of variations and if you weren't paying attention you could miss some key adds to your player collection.

There was the base card.

There was the Artist Proof card.

There was the Golden Blades card.

Now, on the back of the Golden Blades card there's a coded box (like snow on the television).  If you took your card in to a dealer they would decode it through a special decoder.  It would tell you if you have a "Winner" or not (so there are two variations).  If you had a "Winner" you could send it in to Pinnacle and they would punch the Pinnacle logo into it for you.  They would also send you a Special Artist Proof card (which is the same as the Artist Proof card....only thicker).

Still with me?

Now, if you had a dealer send it in for you, he would receive a Dealer's Choice Artist Proof.  That's seven different variations....phew.

These Golden Blades "Winner" punched cards are impossible to find nowadays (well.....almost).  In fact, I've never come across one until a few weeks ago when a collector on one of the hobby boards I frequent picked up a near complete set of the punched cards.  I quickly showed my interest in the Linden and we came to an agreement on price.

All that remains on my list of seven is the non-punched version of the "Winner" card.  I don't have a decoder, but have been told what to look for on the reverse (apparently you can tell which is which with the naked eye).

It's without question one of the biggest Linden pickups I've had this year (the quantity might not be there...but the quality sure has - and not the expensive kind either).

What a great way to kick off the summer.