LINDEN CARD(s) OF THE WEEK - Some Big Summer Adds

What would a summer of collecting be without a few new Trevor Linden cards for the collection?  And I would hate to disappoint you all.  :)

In all honesty, it has been a fairly quiet chase these past few months (the last month or two have been a little more active) and that's due to my decision to limit my purchases this year, my lack of interest in most of the new stuff that's been coming out and the crazy prices some people still put on their cards (I'm way more picky about what I'll pay....and I'm proud to say that).

But every so often a card would pop up that would just make the hair on the back of my neck spring up, my ears perk and the trigger finger would get itchy.  I still like that a good card gets me going.

So let's start off with a bang.

2014/15 Upper Deck Premier

Mega Patch - Chest Logo

#PMP-TL Team Canada Logo  07/27

BANG!!  These mega patch cards are one of my favourite chases in the past decade easily.  I love that UD used a Team Canada crest and the way they perfectly piece together shows the care and attention to detail in what the mega patch vision is.

This is my eighth piece of the gigantic puzzle and I'm happy to add any new piece to the collection.  I have also seen another six cards pop up (and I have scans) so we are now officially past the halfway point in seeing these cards out in the open.

I'd love to one day have scans of all 27 pieces of the crest - and hopefully own most of them, but one needs to be realistic.  It's fun to find a new number pop up and I'll leave it at that.

2015/16 In The Game Final Vault

#RJA-TL 10/11 Decades 80s Rookie Game Used Jersey/Auto Silver

Alright......I CAVED!!!  Ever since In The Game released their Vault cards I have been a big Debbie Downer when it comes to them.

No checklist, oversaturation of the market, money grab, people wanting obscene amounts for simple jersey cards.  Blah, blah, blah.  Most of the Linden cards offered up in the Vault series left me with less than zero interest in chasing them all down (I've now counted eighty-five unique Linden Vault cards........85!!!!!).  It's just a mess of a product.

That is until I saw this Rookie Game Used Jersey/Auto card.  Damn if it's not just a real nice card.  And the price was more than fair on it.  Add to that, it was being sold by a guy who has a bunch of nice Linden cards.  I needed an in to learn more about what he has to offer.

I'm happy with my purchase........and I'm wavering on the whole Vault thing now.  Maybe I'll snag the odd one or two - if it's a card that excites me and the price is right.

We'll see though.

2017/18 Leaf In The Game Superlative

Retired Numbers

#RNM-04 Magenta (w/ Clarke, Dionne, LaFontaine & Hull)  /25

This last card was a nice surprise gift from another local collector.  I see him at the local shows and during trade night and he knows full on that I am interested in anything Linden.  He's always keeping an eye out for me and I really appreciate that.

A pretty sweet group of 16's if you ask me.

This is a card that, while he likes it, knows that I would appreciate it a whole lot more.  Thanks Baron for the fantastic add to the ever growing Linden collection.

One card at a time.

WALLET CARD - Base Hits

When I started my Oscar Gamble collection a few years back one of the first things I did was create a master checklist of all his cards.  Currently that lists sits at about 180 pieces of cardboard, a far cry from the over 2000 Trevor Linden cards I've been chasing for the better part of 20 years.

The other thing I looked at was the number of high-end pieces in the Oscar Gamble world of collecting.  I didn't want this project to be a bank-breaker....and I can say with great enthusiasm it's been anything but.

The majority of the cards on the list are pretty easy to find.  70's and 80's base cards can be had quite quick on eBay or COMC.....but where's the fun in just clicking a bunch of buttons and having your collection shipped to you??  I wanted to get some of these cards the good old fashioned way - digging through boxes.

At the one of the recent trade nights I attended, I saw a box that had my name written all over it.  I was excited with what I found.

1979 O-Pee-Chee #132

This is EXACTLY the type of card I've held off buying for the past three years in the hopes I would track one down here in the city.  My patience more than paid off as the thrill of finding it really reinforced to me how much this project is right for my hobby world.  It's a frickin' base card that most people would toss and I was thrilled to find it and buy it.  The fifty cents was more than well spent.

I love the "Trade" text that sits on this OPC version and the mishmash of a sweet San Diego uniform and cap coupled with the Rangers banner along the bottom just add to the appeal.  Not to mention the great overall condition of the cardboard itself.

I bought it not knowing if I needed it or not - and I could care less one way or another.  It was just fun finding a #WalletCard.

1981 O-Pee-Chee #139

One is good, two is better.  And this card brought back a huge flood of memories.

The 1981 OPC baseball set was my first dive into the baseball card world when I was a kid.  Hockey cards were fun in the winter time, but they weren't the year-round hobby that it is now.  So what's there to collect in the summer?  Well other than Gremlins cards, ET and Michael Jackson it was baseball.

I didn't know who most of these guys even were but the thrill of opening packs was what I remembered - and enjoyed most.  Heck, I still love the enjoyment of ripping into packs of cards.  It's the essence of the hobby.

Seeing this simple design with the cap in the corner just made me remember the great cards from the set I had.  Gary Carter standing all stoic withe the multicoloured cap in the corner of the card, George Brett with the profile close-up, Reggie Jackson, Harold Baines, the list goes on and on.

Again, the condition of the card is fantastic considering it's over 35 years old and the entering is surprisingly fantastic.  A real bonus for the collection.

1983 Topps #19

I was laughing out loud by the time I pulled this third card out of the box.  This was better luck than most of the current boxes being ripped in the store.  I mean, c'mon......THREE Oscar Gamble cards in one night??  Outstanding.

This 1983 offering comes from my favourite set that I built as a kid.  For some reason I thought this was a more complex checklist and the variety was as good as it could get.  I had no idea the Ryne Sandberg and Tony Gwynn cards were "special" so they got the same treatment as the others.  Heck, I still have the Sandberg - the same one I had in my little collection box as a kid back in '83.  Why?  It's pretty damaged and isn't worth the price of the cardboard anymore.  Sentimental value though is a mighty big thing.

Once again, some solid corners on this card.  A little smudge in the bottom left.....but who cares.  This card has a story now.  I dug it out of a box and have given it a life it likely never would've had if I hadn't tracked it down.

That's what collecting is all about.

And who says base cards are boring??!!  Seeing these cards just makes me yearn to build a set again.  But I've learned my lesson plenty times in the past.  I build them and the they lose their lustre.  I'm much more content as a player collector.

With these three outstanding Oscar cards, I'm now within a whisper of the halfway point in my Oscar Gamble quest.  Ninety cards down and about ninety to go.  I've said it a few times....this project has been the most fun in my years of collecting.  End of story.


Now as a special bonus, I will share the all-time greatest baseball card next to the 1976 Topps Traded 74T.  This was THE card for me as a kid.  I was really excited to find it and am so happy to have it in my possession and part of my hobby arsenal.

1982 O-Pee-Chee

#111 Carlton Fisk In Action

This card absolutely wowed me the first time I saw it.  First off, catchers are awesome.  Fisk at the time was one of the best in the league.  The Whits Sox jerseys are high on the list.  The focus on his face says it all....cheek full of chaw and everything.  Oh, and he is going all out to make that catch.  A perfect moment captured by the photographer.

It is just an excellent example of what a baseball card should be.

I also love the way the card makes it look like Fisk is just concentrating on the OPC logo.  Go get it Carlton!!!

You're welcome.

LINDEN.....RING?? OF THE WEEK - Bling, Bling

One of the more unique Linden items I've picked up this past year (heck.....this past decade) had me both chuckling and impressed when I cracked it out of the bubble mailer.

It's got to be the right set of circumstances for me to take a flyer on a non-card item.  I've got plenty of yearbooks, posters, programs, oddball stuff, shirts, pucks and now....

a RING.

Look at this beauty!!

I've seen this ring show up on eBay a number of times but there was one auction this summer that had me pay particular attention.

Normally, the asking price for this ring has been in the $40...$60...$80 range - and that's US dollars!  Far more than I'm willing to pay.  The auction I was interested in had a starting bid of $0.99 cents.  Let's see just what the desirability of this item would be.

A week later when the auction was almost up, there was still no action.  I was plenty happy to toss a mercy bid on the ring....it would be a good laugh.  I decided to set my maximum to just over three bucks.  Good thing since there was someone else who was thinking the same thing.

So I won the ring for a whopping $3.12.  To have it shipped??.....over three times as much.  Hilarious.

But when it arrived, I was plenty happy.

It's not just a Canucks ring.....It's a Linden ring.

Quite honestly, if it didn't have the Linden component to it, I never would've even paid attention to it.

I was surprised that the ring had as much weight to it as it does.  I was expecting some cheap Cracker Jack-style prize ring but this had some beef.

And while this won't rival some of the amazing championship rings out there (even those replica ones) this was a pretty sweet snag for the price.

Pavel Bure sits on the other side (I would've preferred Kirk McLean...but I'm not complaining) and I quite like the simplicity that the ring has.

It's a great reminder of what has been the greatest Stanley Cup Finals series I've ever seen.....and I can say that even though the Canucks didn't take home the Cup.

What's even funnier is that when I bought the ring, I didn't even care what size it was.  I didn't really have any intention of wearing it.  But wouldn't you know it.....it's certainly wearable.

Not sure how long I'd want to wear it though....could make the finger turn green.  Ha ha.

One last look at the detail in the logo and some of the lettering.  Again, nothing to write home about, but it's pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  I've seen some crap knock-off jerseys that couldn't get things looking right if their lives depended on it.  This actually looks somewhat legit.

Alright....I almost laughed at that one.  It's worth exactly the price I paid for it.

Happy to land it.  It'll be a fun item to show off.  But that's about that.


Now....to summon the power of the Mighty Hercules!!!

HHOF AUTOS - In My Defense

Well it's my quarterly update...ha ha ha.

No, seriously, it's nice to be sitting in front of the blogging keyboard again as it has been to few and far between this year.  A lot of work commitments, a slower hobby cycle for me and just little in terms of pickups have left me putting MHCO on the sidelines for a bit.

The nice thing about this being my very own blog is that I can come back to it whenever I want....and after the past month or so of pickups I think I'm ready to share of of my goodies.

I've got some really nice Linden adds to share - another day though - and some fun Oscar Gamble pickups (local ones at that)...a nice surprise, but I thought I'd start with my hard-signed HHOF autos project.

Phil Housley

Inducted in 2015

I don't know what it is about this card but I absolutely love the looks of it.  Great photo, great design, excellent signature, it's unique to my collection.......it really has it all.

Sure, it's Phil Housley (a guy that really does not get a lot of hobby attention) but that makes it all the better.  I didn't have to trade much to land it.

This pickup has really given me a jumpstart and I'm looking forward to adding more to the PC.

Chris Chelios

Inducted in 2013

This card has probably been sitting on my desk for a year.  I was really good at procrastinating when it came to posting about this.  Maybe it's because I don't like the looks of this card.  Not the best drawing, not a team I think of when I hear the name Chris Chelios and just not one that I traded well for.

But I thought I'd add it in on this post so that I can feel complete in sharing the project.

With these two, I am at 74 cards.  Taking a look back at my initial HHOF autos post, I stated that my goal was to reach 100.  There is no doubt that this goal is not only achievable, but one that I could probably reach in the 2019 calendar year if I really put my mind to it.

Let's see what happens.


Current Collection - 74 HOF Autos