A couple of months ago, I was asked to be on the Sports Cards Live podcast to talk about my approach to collecting, lessons learned in this hobby and share some of my PC pieces. It was a real joy to sit and enthusiastically "talk shop" with a person and audience that would (hopefully) appeciate my words. It's something I don't normally do.
This blog is really the major outlet for me to share my thoughts on the hobby, let me explore topics with a little more detail and show off some new finds. Even though I don't post nearly as much as I used to, I absolutely love that this platform is here when I want. Lately, the bug to post has returned...and I'm enjoying it.
In the days after my appearance on the podcast, I had a few people start following me on social media (be it Twitter or Instagram) which I found flattering as I don't normally post card stuff on those sites. And I had a couple collectors even reach out to me to connect - which I greatly appreciated. There are a lot of fantastic, positive hobbyists out there and their genuine care and love of collecting really cuts through the noise of negativity for me. In fact...I'm quite drawn to it. I love good hobby people and I love good hobby stories.
One of my new connections mentioned that he had a couple cards for my 'Raise The Cup' project...one of my favourite builds, as it celebrates the pinnacle moment in a player's career (winning the Stanley Cup and lifting it over their head). It's also a very affordable chase. There's no checklist but ample cards out there to find and acquire.
We swapped addresses as I noticed he liked Paul Kariya cards and I had one sitting in my trade box for a while. When I received my cards, I had a curious smile on my face when I was presented with this gem...
So...as we can all see, this card does not show Burnaby Joe lifting the Cup over his head. Right?
Wrong.
Don't let the cover fool you. The goodies are inside. :)
Ohhh....what have we here?? This looks fun.
I gotta say, for a card from the late 90's, this is pretty slick. Remember, there were no booklet cards at this time. Memorabilia cards were in their infancy. This was a very solid insert for its day.
And we're not even at the best part, yet.
Ta-da!!
What a great reveal...a little surprise inside the card. Very fun, very cool.
I never in a million years would have found this card to add to my Cup Raisers collection. I love the fact that someone else recognized they had this and knew I'd appreciate it.
And I do. I think this is without question the most unique card in this project - and one with a great story. Have I mentioned that I like stories? :)
I'm curious though, as to the choice to use a "backside Sakic" photo. What led to that decision? It's a great pic and I love the fact that it's part of the card, but I can't help but think that if they were considering that backside Cup photo to put on a standalone card...they wouldn't have gone with it. It's too outside the box.
That makes me like this card even more. It's awesome.
So a sincere thank you to Andrew over at Dog House Hockey Cards for the fantastic gift. I greatly appreciate you thinking of me...and your generosity.
Do you have a card with an "outside the box" photo on it? Something that makes the card feel almost foreign to the set or your collecting project? Love it or hate it?
These inserts are so cool. My memory is pretty bad these days and remembering specific cards I pulled from packs can be challenging. However these were so unique, I remember exactly the two I pulled back in 1996: Brendan Shanahan and Jason Kidd (basketball). Might have to track down a copy of that Sakic for my PC.
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