CARDBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY - Marty Brodeur

I have long been a fan of sports photography. And to me, a great looking sports card is one that blends a superior photograph with a solid card design and layout.

Whenever I see a card that finds the best of both worlds, I will always stop to take a look and appreciate. I found one today and for .50 cents I thought I share it with you all.

2001/02 Bowman Young Stars Martin Brodeur #80

This great looking overhead shot shows the advances in hockey card photography. Back in the 60's, 70's, even 80's a shot like this would have been completely out of the question. Nowadays, you can get a shot from pretty much any angle (that's not always a good thing though).

This card not only utilizes the overhead shot to perfection, but it also highlights Martin's uncanny stickhandling ability. That put this card in a league of it's own.

The card design is not too busy and the starbursts around the border just add to the shot perfectly.

Proof that great looking hockey cards don't always have to be the most expensive.

LANNY'S MOMENT

While sifting through singles at the card show today, I came across one that really caught my eye.


First, I would just like to say that I am a big fan of the Upper Deck Masterpiece cards that were released last year. They are a gorgeous looking set with a canvas feel and a painting instead of a photo used. Very sharp.

Second, it's Lanny hoisting the cup! I much prefer this one to the shot of Lanny and the two guys in their underwear. Not so nice.


Anyways, I read a recent comment on the Mark Messier cup raising card in the Pinnacle One Sheet, One Set column. It was something that was on my mind when I was at the show today.

Surprisingly, I found a few cards that showed Lord Stanley's Cup being raised. It may become a little side project for me down the road.

Nonetheless, a great looking card.

1 vs. 100 - First Trip to the Card Show

Well, I have been eagerly anticipating going to the card show today. Ever since I decided to try this 1 vs. 100 idea, I've been looking forward to scrounging through monster box after monster box of old 90's inserts and parallels.

While I didn't come away with too many cards for the project, I am very optimistic. I saw a few lower numbered cards but they were just too pricey to pick up. An afternoon in "ebay world" will probably garner some positive results.

Here's what I picked up today.





Four Pacific brand parallel cards. That brand name will play an important role in completing this project. I'm confident I'll find a few more cards from this brand and from this time period. And they're cheap too.


This was the steal of the show for me. Marcel Dionne gets no hobby love. He is one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, multiple all-star, has won numerous trophies, member of the Hall of Fame and yet his cards go for next to nothing.

I got this awesome looking dual jersey (taken from his 1983 All-Star jersey) numbered to only 10 for a whopping $7. I couldn't get the money out of my pocket fast enough. Really happy to get this one - even if it wouldn't have for this project.

In the next couple weeks, I'll be trying to complete some trades for more cards. I'm going to hold on an ebay search until I get stumped. So far, so good.

14 out of 100 (14%)

I'M SUCH A FLIP FLOPPER

OK. Hockey pools are frustrating. I'll start there.

A week ago, I was ready to throw in the towel, I was feeling like Ron Wilson and my pool picks were non-existent.

What a difference a week makes.



All my guys are starting to perform. Add that to some of the other guys' "streaky" starts and I'm back in business.

One little hiccup, I've lost Franzen for a few months. That'll hurt, but I think everyone will be hit with the injury bug at some point in the season.

My leading point guys are Malkin, Nash (who should be there), Sharp and Ryan Miller. Every single one of my players has at least 2 points. No other person can claim that.

Go team.

LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - 1997/98 Donruss Canadian Ice Auto

This week's Trevor Linden card is another of my all-time favorites. It was one of his early autograph cards (they were a new concept a decade ago) and it took a good 10 years to track down.

1997/98 Donruss Canadian Ice Autograph
Redemption only (/1500)

This card has a real cool looking design (I love the name text and how it is placed in the background). It's a simple photo not taken from game action, but rather a photo shoot. The starburst at the bottom for the signature area also looks good. This card was really ahead of it's time back in 1997. Not an overdone design yet a bold statement.

I first heard of this card when I was opening up a pack of Donruss Canadian Ice. Inside there was an advertisement card.


Basically, it allowed you to send in $25 and you would receive an autographed card. All the money collected would go to the Trevor Linden Foundation in support of children's charities. COOL! Donruss was recognizing Trevor as one of the most active players in supporting his community and children's charities. Another reason why I am a big fan of his. There would only be 1500 of these autographed cards issued out.

There was only one little problem. I opened the pack of cards up a couple years after they were released. The offer had expired almost two years earlier.

I immediately began hitting up my old friend ebay. No luck. I kept my eyes peeled. Nothing!

I was on the search for one of these redeemed autograph cards for the better part of 10 years before I finally found one up for auction on ebay.

I think I ended up paying $40 for it, but I knew I wanted it. I figured that $25 of it at some point went to charity. When I finally got the card in my hands, I was even more impressed with it. It has sort of a foil finish to it and the signature is "hard signed" (as opposed to a lot of the "stickers" placed on cards nowadays). I knew that at some point, he had this very card in his hands.

Since finding the card, I have seen a couple others pop up on ebay, but I'm sure that they never released the 1500 cards they said they would - or else everyone has kept them diligently in their collections.

I'm glad I've got mine.

Another one on the list of Trevor Linden cards I own.

Until next week.

ONE SHEET, ONE SET - 1994/95 Pinnacle Series II

This week, I've decided to take a look at a set from a time period when there was an abundance of cards, brands, styles and players available.

To look back to the mid-90's in terms of hockey card collecting means overproduction, saturation of the market and corner cutting. That said, there are times when the industry got it right.

Now I'm not saying that this set is one that got it right, but let's take a closer look at this specific example to get a better idea of what those positives are.

1994/95 Pinnacle Series II

A popular trend in the 90's were the "Series I, Series II" thing. In this instance, 270 cards per series.

A 540 card set, for me lends to only one thing... no-name players and fourth liners. That's a lot of cards.

Upon first glance, you will notice something a little different than most sets from the 70's and 80's (and for that matter, most of the sets today). The attempt at action photography and unique photos. I'll just say this, some work - most don't. Guys giving the puck a "high five" or being tripped do not a good card make. Sometimes simpler is better. The Messier card is a good example of that (but a bad example of a card reminding me how close Trevor Linden came to hoisting the Cup).

The Samuelsson card I think was a real good attempt, but would have worked better as a horizontal card.


Now this is a perfect example of poor photo selection for a hockey card. Graceful - isn't it. Looking at the design of the card, it goes into the group of simple. No border, just the one name bar (vertical on the left side - unique, but doesn't quite work for me) and the gold foil thing was all the rage at that time.

Another note on the Turgeon card. For those of you who don't know, this is the infamous Patrick Kane pre-rookie card. That little kid in the stands on the right hand side....yup, that's Patrick. Once revealed, the value of this card skyrocketed. I think at it's highest, people were selling it for over $50. It's still the highest valued card in the set. I guess it's good to be remembered for something, hey Sylvain?


The back of the card.....wait a second, my brain hurts.

What happened to the good ol' days of hockey cards, where the back had a simple cardboard look, there were no pictures and I got a complete rundown of the player's stats?

Gone! All gone! To make room for another photo of the player. The color selections and text font styles do not hold the test of time, and the lack of statistical information is sorely missed by this collector.

Overall, it comes in as a typical set for it's time. While there are a lot of distractions and "whiffs of the bat", it manages to connect every once in a while. The nicest thing is nowadays, you can pretty much find this entire set for mere pennies. I bet you could even find someone looking to give it away.

1.5 masks out of 5

STASHED IN THE CLOSET: Lanny McDonald autographed postcard

I know this sounds corny, but I was actually doing some cleaning in my basement over the weekend and came across this postcard that has literally been stashed away for over 25 years.

While an autographed Lanny McDonald postcard might not be too rare, it's the fact that it was from his days in Colorado that make it a real eye opener for me.

I remember living in Medicine Hat, Alberta when I was little (grade 2ish) just for a couple years (this would have been around 1981, 1982). Lanny, who was born in Hanna, Alberta and played his junior hockey for the Medicine Hat Tigers, came to visit our school. He went class to class and gave a speech to each group of students. He then took the time to personally autograph a postcard for each and every kid. I didn't know who Lanny McDonald was at the time, I didn't even know where Colorado was. I just thought it was cool to meet a pro hockey player. I remember very little of the day, but there are some definite memories that have stuck with me all of these years.