COOL 'MHCO' PLUG FROM JEFF MAREK

Over the past couple of years that this blog has existed, I have seen the readership slowly grow.

First and foremost - thank you to all of you who stop by and read what I have to say.

I'm most proud that I have (in my opinion) kept this blog fun, I have talked about my interests and thoughts about this great hobby and that I have been doing a good job of not letting this blog drift into obscurity (I don't think I have ever gone more than a week or so without posting).

I get about 100 'hits' to my blog daily. While this might not sound like a lot, I think it is pretty amazing there are that many people who want to check out what I have to say. Thanks again.

Tonight, I was made aware of an article posted on Puck Daddy's blog. For those of you who have not checked out Puck Daddy, it is one of the top hockey blogs out there in my opinion. Great articles, great subjects and great opinions.

The title of the blog post is Hockey Guilty Pleasures: Jeff Marek, Rogers Sportsnet host.

Jeff Marek....the name sounds familiar right? He hosted the iDesk on Hockey Night In Canada. He since moved to Rogers Sportsnet this summer.

The 'guilty pleasures' concept features guest columnists who answer questions about hockey-related guilty pleasures.

Check out 7a.

I think it's kind of cool and felt like sharing.

Thanks for checking out the blog Jeff (that goes for everyone else too).


I guess I should thank Rogie as well (or at least his mug). :)

LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - 2010/11 Contenders Draft Tandems

Well, it's official. These Panini Playoff Contenders Draft Tandems cards are the worst scanning cards I have ever seen.

One Linden added to the collection during my holidays and it's got a couple neat aspects to it.

2010/11 Panini
Playoff Contenders Draft Tandems
#8 Trevor Linden/Mike Modano Purple /100

Like I said, nasty scan.

This card is one of three parallels to the Draft Tandems base card (I'm still looking for the green /50 and the autos /25). The text on the front is in all purple (although you can barely tell).

The back of the card is what I really wanted to focus on.


First of all, take a look at that baby-faced, brush-cut number one draft pick. That photo of Modano is worth the price of the card right there.

Unfortunately, the Linden half couldn't equal the stand. Shame, since he donned the glorious yellow skate jersey the Canucks recently went to.


Nice to see Trevor got the pre-draft haircut as well. Hilarious.....yet awesome.

The other neat thing about this card is that it is serial numbered 100/100. That makes it some sort of uber-rare 1/1 right? It's worth a bazillion times more since it has this particular serial number.

For real......seriously.

Yup.

The fact that this card has the final creation serial number makes zero impact on me and I refuse to pay a premium for such nonsense when presented as a '1/1' card.

It's cool, but not that cool.

if it were numbered to Trev's jersey number (16/100), that might make me pay a very marginal premium (I said might....and very marginal) but I am not one who is stuck on serial numbers (unless you're talking about my 1 vs. 100 project).

A cool addition to the PC and another one off the Linden list.

BEHIND THE MASKS - More Inspiration

I just returned last night from my yearly golf trip with buddies of mine from high school as well as my brother-in-law. The last 5 years, we have ventured out to B.C. for the 'tour', but this year decided to travel down south to Montana.

While the weather was hotter than here in town, my golf game was not. Still, it was a ton of fun and the days went far too fast.

I returned to find a number of bubble envelopes in my mailbox which included a pair of mask cards from the Inspired Masks set.

2010/11 In The Game
Inspired Masks
#IM-09 Mikael Tellqvist

This mask came from Tellqvist's time as a Phoenix Coyote. It shares as both a tribute to the Winnipeg Jets era as well as his Swedish roots.

On the one side (shown) is HOFer Bobby Hull while the other side has Swedish native Thomas Steen.


I actually found the photo that this artist rendering came from. A very nice depiction.

The second card come from a goalie who wore one of my favorite masks from a few years ago.

2010/11 In The Game
Inspired Masks
#IM-11 Wade Dubielewicz

Wade was the New York Islanders' main backup in 2007 and wore a mask that paid tribute to the glory years of the franchise.

On one side (shown) is a great moment in Isles history...Bob Nystrom scoring the overtime Stanley Cup winner against Philadelphia in 1980 (poor Mel Bridgeman). The other side of the mask shows Denis Potvin raising the Cup over his head.


While the front forehead area of the mask brought fans back to the much-maligned fisherman logo, it was the backplate that I got a kick out of.

Any mask with Yoda on it gets some cool points......right?

LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - 2010/11 Decades GU Number Silver

A Saturday pickup from the post office is the star of this installment of the Linden Card Of The Week.

Another gorgeous patch from the 'Decades' release.

2010 In The Game Decades
#M-62 Game Used Number Silver

Now, based on the insertion numbers posted on In The Game's website, there are only three of these cards out there. So when I first saw this one, I knew I would have to act quickly.

I saw this gem on one of the hobby boards I peruse regularly and at first I was a little off guard.

Someone had posted they had a sweet Linden card, but the photo that was attached to it was offline. I had no idea which card it was.

Regardless, I contacted the owner of the card and inquired - asking for a scan.

Upon seeing the scan, I quickly asked for an asking price. He said he was planning on putting it on ebay, but would listen to an offer.

Knowing what some of these cards have gone for in the past (and knowing what I have paid for cards from this set so far), I threw out what I thought was a respectable offer.

He agreed and the card made it into my hands today.

Definitely another upper tier Linden in the collection.

I'm going to have to take a closer look at the numbers, but I may have just recently surpassed the 1000 card mark for my Linden collection (that will make for a very cool photograph).

RATE MY MASK - Patrick Lalime

I'm sure you have all heard by now that 17-year NHL veteran Chris Osgood announced his retirement a couple weeks ago. But did you know that another NHL goalie also hung up the skates that same day.

Patrick Lalime might not have had the longevity or numbers like Osgood, but he pieced together a pretty decent career for himself between the pipes.

To me, he will always be remembered as the goalie who holds the NHL record for the longest unbeaten streak to start a career (16 games...14-0-2). He ended his playing days with a total of 200 wins - not too shabby if you ask me.

But his goalie masks rank right up there as some of the best from his era.


Today, I'll be taking a look at one of his lesser know mask designs. His days with the Buffalo Sabres limited him to the role of backup, but his lid was definitely first string.

One of the staples of a Lalime mask is the big-eyed Looney Tunes character 'Marvin the Martian'. I'll get to how he brought that character on in a minute. But first, let's take a closer look at this mask.


Numerous buffalo roaming in a winterscape dictate the background of the mask allowing the blue color palette to dominate. A sword and shield flow down the sides of the mask with the gold accents adding a punch to the blue.

To top it off (literally) is the infamous Marvin character, this time donning a viking-esque horned helmet.


It's hard to miss those huge cartoon eyes on the top of Patrick's helmet. They have been a staple of his masks since his days as an Ottawa Senator.


The use of Marvin was due to the fact that the character struck a similar look as the Senators logo. The look fit and when Lalime moved on to St. Louis, so did the Martian.


He kept the look of the cartoon exact say for the root color now being blue.

It wasn't until he went to Chicago that a little creative injection was made to the look of Marvin.


An Indian headdress was now adorned by the cartoon character, giving him a look and feel consistent to the Blackhawks' vibe.

Move forward to Buffalo and a helmet with Buffalo horns on it completed the look Marvin the Martian would have during his career as a mask moniker.

A pretty solid career and a pretty solid mask.

3.5 out of 5

Now it's your turn to Rate My Mask!

ONE SHEET, ONE SET - Fleer Hot Prospects Hot Materials

A random page pick for this installment of 'One Sheet, One Set'. And this memorabilia pick will have to step it up a notch in order to live up to its moniker.

2006/07 Fleer Hot Prospects
Hot Materials

This 99 card jersey set boasts a horizontal card design (something that we have all associated with Upper Deck's flagship product), but that alone doesn't make for a successful set.

Right off the bat when I take a look at this 9-page sheet, I see two things glaring out at me.

First, every single one of the jersey patch windows covers up the logo on the jersey the player is wearing in the pic. Scrape some points off right there.

Second, the backgrounds are inconsistent from card to card. Some utilize the background shot while others go with a solid color. That change up really doesn't look good when looking at a group of cards from the product (as we are in this sheet).

Now, on to a more focused look at the card front (it's gotta get better.....right?)


Like I mentioned earlier, this is a horizontal card design. Unfortunately, I feel the placement of the various elements do more clashing as opposed to building.

The 'funnel' effect that the side edges give subtract too much card space from the design. It would have almost fared better as a die cut card. It feels like the design is in some way incomplete.

The 'Hot Materials' title at the top of the card isn't too bad (decent font and decent spacing) and the team color aspect is a nice touch. But again, it feels like it's taking up a little too much space (that photo is getting smaller and smaller).

The jersey swatch area is small in size, but somehow manages to impede on the photo way too much. The flaming wings on either side don't help with that either.

The team logo on the left hand side feels out of place and plunked into position. Big swing and a miss there.

The Hot Prospects logo and title are a little tough to read against the grey (same with the 'Authentic Jersey' title at the bottom of the card). The player name has a nice font style and feels somewhat proportional. It looks better against the black backgrounds as opposed to the colored ones (especially the lighter... like the Kolzig).

The wings on the bottom of the card at the sides are simple and uninspired (same too with the 'smoke' effect surrounding the photo).

On to the photo (or what's left of it). It's such a small space (even with the cutout of the player). The types of photos that can be used in this look are very limited and again are quite bland. A lot of blank stares.

The tinted color background is nice, but only when there is some photo element in the back. The solid color look just creates more boredom.


The back of the card doesn't make amends for the front. There's some good, some bad and yes... some ugly.

The 'Hot Materials' title gives some instant consistency. Yaaay! Sadly, that consistency is borrowed by the photo (which was bad enough to begin with). Why use it a second time?

The card number is so tiny that it looks like a little bug in the upper left. The player name is nice, simple and legible. Where was that on the front of the card?

The smoke effect behind the player tidbit makes the text harder to read (obviously two different people were working on the fonts).

The funnel effect is again prevalent but this time the extra white space is filled by a gradient color. Where did that come from?

Room enough for just one year's worth of stats. Terrible.

Not quite as terrible as some of the text below it though. Check it out on the Loui Eriksson.

"On the front of this card is a piece of memorabilia that has been certified to us as having been used in a photo shoot."

You're kidding me right? Can't even manage a game used piece 'eh?

Fortunately, not all of the cards 'reward' you with a photo shoot jersey. Still, even half or three-quarters is just not good enough. Not in this day and age of memorabilia swarming.

The ever-present logos lace the bottom of the card which is pinstriped and uninspired.

Overall, this card design is not an impressive one. Add to that the almost 100 card checklist (and not really an impressive one...Crosby is the big card booking at $50 while Lemieux and Roy come next at $25) and I would recommend staying away from this set.

Hot materials these are not.

2 out of 5

OPINION: SELLING PRICE

I recently stumbled into a discussion about the prices some sellers are putting on their cards when they place them up on the ebay auction block.

Some people feel discouraged that a card (or cards) they are interested in are placed up for bids with an unrealistic number attached to them (be it a 'Buy It Now' option or a seller's accepting price on a 'Best Offer').

Some feel that the seller is essentially holding the card 'hostage' as he is aware that there are people definitely interested in his item.

To me, it's quite simple...

If you own a card and are looking to sell it, YOU have the right to price it whatever YOU want it to be.

If you feel like pricing it at what most people would consider unrealistic - so be it. If you won't accept anything less than a certain amount - so be it. If you refuse to barter - so be it.

It's your card.

'Fair Market Value' can be a subjective term (especially with the higher end cards and those that are scarce). I might think it's 'worth' $200 while you might feel that $400 is on the low end. Neither one of us is wrong in my opinion. It's perspective.

And if you aren't willing to look at the other person's perspective, you're going to have a tougher time buying cards.

Book values have always been a guide - that's it. End of discussion. BV's are nothing more than opinions. If you want to follow the 'book' to the letter, so be it. But realize that not everybody does. And that doesn't always mean lower prices.

Past auction results help, but again that can change drastically from one item to the next. If a card is new to the market, it might go for more than say a couple months down the road.

Comparing one item to another that is similar is something that in my opinion should be done with even more caution. At times, that's like comparing apples to oranges.

At the end of the day, if there's a card out there that you want...you need to be willing to pay the price the seller is looking for. Simple as that.

If you aren't willing to pay that price, then the question becomes - how patient are you? Unfortunately, those who complain about prices have very little patience in my opinion.

What are your thoughts when you see a card you'd like but the asking price is 'ridiculous'?