LINDEN CARD(s) OF THE WEEK - A Super Superlative

Boy....work just has not been kind over the past couple months.

Not to delve deep into my worklife here on my blog, but man I'm just down in the dumps tonight.......so humour me for a moment.

Three of us....busting our asses for weeks to meet deadlines, even when more and more gets added to the plate.  Trying to find the balance between doing a good job and not pulling 16 hour shifts to do it.

Finally over the past few days, we see the light at the end of the tunnel (a 4 week break for Christmas coming in the middle of the month) and they layoff the senior guy.  Out of nowhere.  He's put in 15 good years for the company and now - gone.

I'm stunned.  I'm saddened.  To be honest, I'm shocked it wasn't me (I'm the low guy on the totem pole in terms of years of service).

My whole perception of where I work changed tonight.  Things just will never be the same.

I came home just dazed and winded by the news (hasn't subsided in the least).  A bubble mailer sticking out of my mailbox.  Linden cards.

So I'm trying to not just wallow in the crappy news.  I scanned in the goods and am going to share.  Let's try and lighten the mood for just a few moments.

One of Leaf's latest hockey releases is Superlative.  Yes, once again it is a concept that comes from In The Game (and you can see the ITG logo in the upper corner).  I've seen some of the cards pulled and some are....super.  Some - not so much.

This Linden auto drifts into the latter column.  Yes, a nice hard-signed auto, but really....what's the end game here.  There's nothing really special with the design or photo (again....showing clearly some airbrushing of the logos).

It's numbered to 35 copies, but (like many cards these days), that's just a forced scarcity thing.  I definitely didn't pay a price indicative of a /35 card.

It was nice to cross this off the list cheap, but it was the accompanying card in the mailer that had me excited.

A Superlative Emblem.....or part of one.  I definitely am a sucker for the Canuck Place patch and when I saw this pop up, I kept a close eye on it.

Numbered to just 6 copies, it's more of a 6-piece puzzle.  Each one of the pieces is unique (obviously).  I've seen the 6/6 on ebay but I felt it lacked the excitement that this card had.  And seeing that the seller had that one priced higher....I passed.

It would be nice to build the full six pack, but only if the price is right.  Having one piece is good enough for me.

Of course it doesn't rival the pinnacle piece in my collection - the full patch I obtained a few years ago.  But what I do like about this card is that I can take it out of the one touch case and actually rub my fingers on the patch.  Yes, it may be cheesy.....but I think if you collect cards you know what I mean.

Well......that's my show and tell......I wish I could just hang in this world for a few weeks.  Thanks.

MY COLLECTION - A Nice New Signature For The Trade Box

It was trade night at the local card shop tonight.  A bit of a lower key vibe from last month's offering.  In November, Upper Deck Series I was all the craze - and the hunt for Connor McDavid Young Guns cards.

This time around I watched a few boxes get opened, nothing by me (other than a couple fun packs of Wacky Packages....ahhhh, takes me back.  I may have to post about it).  But I did make one trade which brought in what I consider the top card in my trade box.

2007/08 Upper Deck SP Authentic

Sign Of The TImes

#ST-JT Jonathan Toews

When I walked into the shop, I was immediately asked if I had any Young Guns from this season's Upper Deck Series I.  I did.  And after filtering out the one card that the other person needed, I immediately started sifting his trade box for an on par return.

I didn't find anything that was in the ballpark, but did see this sweet looking Toews auto.  So I asked if there was anything else I could offer to even up the deal.

It didn't take long and the Toews was mine.

It was nice to make a trade and not bring in anything that'll go into any projects or collections of mine.  It was a trade so that I could have something different in my trade box.

Little did I know at the time that this card comes from his rookie season in the NHL.  Graded copies go for a good chunk of change.  Makes me want to take a closer look at this one.

Even if I don't get it graded, I think it's a super card to have in my arsenal.  I had a couple people look at it already.  So here's hoping I can parlay it into a Linden or two.

OPINION - What Kind Of Rinky-Dink Operation Is This?

Alright.....I normally don't launch into a big "this sucks" rant when it comes to things.  Or at least I try not to.

I can appreciate that companies do their things, sellers do their things and collectors do their things.  To each their own.

But when I saw this card pop up on the open market today.....I just had to share my thoughts - about all of it.

NOTE:  The card scans come from ebay.  I do not own this card.

Leaf Trading Cards has, for the past year or so, taken over the "In The Game" releases, utilizing their name, logo and concepts.  We've seen In The Game Used, Superlative and now (most recently) Stickwork.

I thought the first incarnation of Stickwork was a decent product.  A great concept and some solid execution in certain areas.  But there was definitely room for improvement in my books.

This year, I've been less than impressed with what I've seen from the Linden front.  Your typical double player, triple player, quad player, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Nothing that really makes me go "wow"......

....I mean in a good way.

Wow.

What an ugly card.

This Nameplates piece is currently up on ebay for anyone who wants to shell out the asking price.

I should be super-pumped as it's Trev's first nameplate card that I've seen .  But the number of things (IMO) "wrong"  with this card just turns it into something I can't wait to forget.

I get that Leaf doesn't have an NHL license and are therefore unable to use logos.  But rather than airbrushing out the crest and making it look like Linden is the captain of the practice squad, why not just zoom in a little more on the photo and have the cut window cover where the logo would be?

And "great" cutting job on the stick itself.  Off-center cut on the sides and top makes it looks like a practice job.  And why could they not just extend the stickpiece so that it tucks nicely under the cut window?  I have the huge urge to just pick that Linden sliver right off the card and fling it across the room.

And the overall design concept (or lack thereof)?  What the heck?!!  Who is in charge there?  Player name is off balance with the card itself, "basic" would be an understatement when it comes to the design elements on the front, empty space galore and a gold paint pen 1/1 just to top it off.

At least the back of the card pairs nicely with the front.....but that's not a good thing.

It's truly disappointing that a card that should generate a ton of excitement (the first of it's kind for this player) gets such a poor effort in design execution.

And to top it off.....and I'm sure I'll never land this card now if the seller reads this....the asking price.

A cool grand - in US dollars of course.

I laughed out loud when I saw that.  A fifth of his asking price might....MIGHT get me to think about it.  But even then, the exchange rate is just brutal for a big ticket card.  And I'm not looking at it from a "lowball" standpoint.  Having collected and paid for hundreds of Linden cards over the years, I'd like to think I have a bit of history when it comes to the value of his cardboard.

Linden Tax.......welcome back.  Ha.

Whoops.....sorry.  I can't believe I referred to this abomination as a "big ticket" item.

I'm just shaking my head all around.

LINDEN CARD(s) OF THE WEEK - A Patch, A Parallel & A Perfect Ending

The past couple of months have been pretty slow on the Linden card front.  I've probably snagged about a dozen or so cards for the pc - with many of them being base, low-priced jersey cards and easy parallels.

I've been passing on a ton of ebay auctions...the exchange rate is just too brutal to justify grabbing cards that I KNOW will be there down the road.  Really, the cards I've grabbed have fallen into one of two categories - "Gotta have it" or "Lazy pickup".

These three cards I'm about to show you all go in the first category.

2014/15 Upper Deck Premier

Mega Patch - Chest Logo

#PMP-TL Team Canada  03/27

I absolutely LOVE these patch cards.  They are huge.  They are Team Canada.  And for the most part....they are reasonably priced.

I gobbled up the first one I saw hit the open market, but knew immediately after seeing it in person that it wouldn't be the last one I grabbed.

With this upper left portion of the maple leaf, I now have 4 of the 27 cards to build the entire crest.  I know that 4 others have been spoken for.  While I'm a realist and fully knowing that I won't be able to grab all of them, I'd love to be able to snag at least a scan of all 27.  It would definitely be cool to piece it all together - albeit digitally.

Neat story with this card too.  I saw it as part of a lot of cards on ebay a few weeks back.  I was considering bidding on them all (hoping I could then recoup my dollars by selling the other dozen or so cards included).  Well, I missed the end of the auction completely so I was devastated by that (I would have won it too).

So I e-mailed the seller hoping to find the winner of the auction and hopefully convince him into selling the Linden.

Well, less than a week goes by and I see the card up on ebay again.  This time by the new owner...and without 12 other cards surrounding it.

I had the alarm ready and bid at the end - winning it by a hair.

2014/15 Upper Deck The Cup

#86 Gold Spectrum  /5

I always cringe slightly when I learn that Trev is included in the high-end product The Cup.  This year however brought a bit of a smile.

He's got the ever popular base card /249, a Gold parallel (seen above), a Black 1/1, four printing plates, a beefy shield card (wow) and a Program Of Excellence triple auto (with Joe Sakic and Curtis Joseph) /3.

In sheer numbers, not many cards.  But most of them are going to be near impossible to obtain.  And I'm perfectly fine with that.

It's when there are 12-15 cards that are mid-range that I get a little antsy.

So when I saw this gold parallel pop up - and with a very fair price IMO, I jumped at it.

Might be the only one I pick up from this product (other than the regular base card), but again....fine by me.

2002/03 Be A Player Signature Buyback

#129 99/00 Millennium Signature Series

Last - and most certainly not least - this simple signature card.

It does look that way doesn't it?

But it is not.

This card has been on the wantlist for over a decade.  It's the first time I've ever seen a copy of it.  The moment I saw it posted on ebay....I honed in big time on it.

I even e-mailed another Linden collector to confirm what I was seeing was real.  And I e-mailed the seller to do the same (and see if he had any others).

This card is different than the original auto card from that set in the sense that it has a Signature Buyback stamp in the upper right corner.  Be A Player released 5 (maybe 6) cards of Linden in this fashion back in 2002/03....using cards dated from 1998 to 2002.

I had picked up three of these cards years ago and the others have sat on my list ever since.  In fact, I have a note questioning the existence of one of them since it has never been seen by anyone.

Anytime I see that foil "X" in the upper corner.....I go to the list.  And this time it showed that I needed it.

So how excited was I when I landed this card?  To put it bluntly...I'm more giddy about this card than any other Linden I have picked up this year.

And that's a bold statement.

More than the mega patches, more than the rare numbered cards, more than the shiny green parallels, more than the blank backs, more than the 1/1's and even more than the 11-year-old Red parallel that eluded me for so so long.

More than all of them.

I could honestly say that this is the Linden Card Of The Year and it wouldn't be a stretch.

Hmmmmmm.......I might have to start prepping another post.

WALLET CARD - Getting Caught Up

Yes.....finally.  I have scanned some cards.

(applause)

I sat down tonight with the goal of getting a little more caught up with my player collections (confirming checklists, noting 1/1 pickups and seeing just what I've managed to snag in the over the last few weeks).

Rather than dive into my Trevor Linden collection, I thought I'd ease back into the scanning and sharing world with my #WalletCard goodies.

While I've been way more relaxed lazy with my #WalletCard twitter feed, I still am having a fun time searching for....and snagging the odd Oscar Gamble card.  The last few weeks have brought in a four-pack of Gamble goodness.

This 2015 Topps Archives Fan Favourites auto is the silver parallel /199 (and I just realized that I have the 001/199 card......so that's some sort of bonus or win - right?)

When I saw this product come out and noted that there were a few auto parallels to the regular base signature, I knew that I'd have to be real patient in order to get them at a price I'd be happy with.

The silver cards were initially going for over $40us.  Not a chance.  Even at half that I'm passing.  But the patient bird gets all the worms.

I saw an ebay auction for this card.....plus a couple Blue Jays autos from the same product.  Yes....the ever popular multi-card lot.  I had a friend with a US address bid for me and ended up winning the three cards for the price I'd have happily paid for just the Gamble.

I like deals like that.

So now I've got this great silver parallel crossed off the list and a pair of solid traders sitting in the tradebox that should recoup all my costs on the lot.

Who are the Jays you might ask?  Tony Fernandez and Devon White (I believe the Fernandez is the silver parallel too).

This was a fantastic surprise from Captain Canuck.  I like that he likes my #WalletCard project.  He's already shipped a few cards my way.  But this one really takes the cake.

Not because they used the same photo as the previous card...but because of the beautiful silver foil that reads UD PROMO.

When I first saw this card I thought maybe it was the signature version...but in all honesty, this is the much better version.

Why?

This card wasn't even on my radar.  Not on my master checklist.  Not one I would have even thought of looking for.

A true rare find in my books.

Huge thank you to Captain Canuck.  Always a pleasure doing business with you.

But his generosity didn't stop there.  Included with the promo card was this gem.

A perfectly off-centre 1985 Topps offering.  Nice fuzzy text and a horrible photo.  It's so ugly that I love it.  The back of this card has the typical dark Topps cardboard that's near impossible to read.

I swear, if a card could have patina....this one would be dripping with it.

And yes, it's one that would be overpriced in a dime box, but it'll go down as a card with a story in my collection.

Thanks again!

This last one goes down as the "big purchase".  A whopping $10.  It's not in mint shape but I think it fits perfectly into what I want this collection to be.  I love the centering on the card (I've seen many that look real bad) and it's clean of creases or marks.

It's a 45-year-old card.  That's what I wanted.

This pre-fro rookie card of Oscar features Boots and Angel along side.  It's the oldest baseball card I own and I love the fact I've crossed off the first card on the list.

A easy purchase if you ask me.

I've been going pretty slow with this project.  So many of these cards I could pick up with ease (and cheap) by heading to a COMC or Sportlots, but I want this to be fun.

So I am picking and choosing.  What I really need to do is go to a show in the US where there will be more baseball.

One day......one day.

UM.....ZERO POSTS IN NOVEMBER (Almost)

Holy cow......blogging just hasn't been in the cards lately for me.

I was all excited to show off some of my Linden cards, Oscar Gamble cards, Raise The Cup cards and more.....but the cold from hell destroyed me in November (and work).

One day after my last blog post I ended up with a fever and the oh-so-fun shakes.  It drained me of all energy and it's taken pretty much the whole month to recover.  This one was a doozy.

It doesn't help that work has been busier than ever - in fact, it's the busiest November I've seen in the 7 years I've worked at this company.

But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.....or the train comin' right at me - one of the two.

I just wanted to say 'Hello' and that I will have some stuff to show off soon.  Promise.

In the meantime, I'm going to share a quick concept I came up with (since I don't want to scan cards tonight.

OK.....with November being Movember month and guys growing out their moustaches, I think that one of the card companies should capitalize on it.  But I think it should be done a little more uniquely than just some photos and a simple design.

Hockey cards have mildly embraced the sketch card concept that has exploded in the non-sport world.  There are some great artists out there doing tremendous work.

I think there should be sketch cards of players sporting their 'stache inserted into a product like UD Series I (which came out at the start of November).  I think it would create some cool "long shot" pulls and the resulting sketch cards would be (I think) pretty desirable to chase.

You could even find a way to incorporate a way to generate funds for charity.

Well......what do you think?  Am I still "sick in the head" or have I finally come to my senses?

ZERO POSTS IN OCTOBER!!!

I don't know if that's a record or something, but boy was the month of October busy.

Work has been the ever-constant gong show, I was sick for a week and I set up at my first card show in over a decade (details on that day to come).

But I'm really focused on my nephew's video game marathon next weekend.  Saturday, Nov. 7 he will be taking part in an all-day gaming experience - all for charity.

He is raising money for the Alberta Children's Hospital.

I'm here today to let you all know that I have some great giveaways to help garner support.

Check out our Kyle 4or Kids blog page for details.

Every bit helps get us closer to our goal of $700us.

Thanks for your time!!!


And I promise more posts in November.  :)