OPINION - Always Keep Learning

If there's one thing this summer of collecting has taught me, it's that even if you think you've seen it all...you haven't. Cards that you've not thought about for decades and have been nestled deep in your collection might actually have more of a story than you know.

I've had three instances of it over the past few months. The Provincial Series impossibility from Donruss Canadian Ice, the Hang Tag from the NHLPA and Roots, and most recently the unknown Day In The Life parallels from Leaf. I can say with strong certainty that there is always something new to learn peeking up over the horizon.

And so what happens just a few days ago?....I receive a message from a fellow player collector with another headscratcher for me to ponder...

For you hockey collectors who have been around for a while, you'll easily notice this In The Game offering from the early 2000's. Nothing out of the ordinary...looks like a simple base card. Right?

Of course not.

Hmmmmm. OK, what do we have here? Something I've never come across in all my years of collecting.

I know this card as the 2000/01 Be A Player Signature Series, but have zero information on a "Player" parallel. The closest card in similarity I have is an 01/02 Signature Series Beckett Promo that has a similar placement and font style used to stamp the back of the Turco card. But that's where my knowledge base ends.

Of course, I have a zillion questions about this new revelation...How rare is it? How was it released out to the collecting world? How many other players have one of these? Does Linden have one? :)

I've made no headway on answering any of those queries. The only information I received about the card when the photo was sent to me was...

"Not sure if it's the same concept, but these old ITG cards had "player" on the back that signified a copy that was given to the actual player. Not my card but a Turco collector showed me this. He said he got it from Turco's dad. Pretty cool."

I'd say so! That's pretty awesome. Now I'm even more curious to know if the Linden family has one in their possession. 

Do I put this on my master list? Not yet. I need more proof that a Linden copy exists before I do that. But make no mistake, when I see these BAP base cards in a penny box at shows, I'll do a little digging. 

Big thanks to Aaron (creasecollector on the hobby boards) who sent me the pics as I know I would appreciate them (and I do). I've known Aaron for a long time both as a fellow player collector (Jhonas Enroth anyone?) and as co-host of a fantastic podcast on hockey card collecting called the Center Ice Card Cast. Definitely worth checking out. Note: Their next episode will be Episode 100...congrats guys on the accomplishment.

For me, I'm excited to find out what's underneath the next rock I turn over.