Who's Idea Was It: Hockey Heroes

Who's idea was it to make these impossible to find in boxes?

The odds are 1:600 packs that you will get one.  That comes out to about 1 every three cases or so.  That's completely absurd if you ask me.  I was lucky enough to win an online auction for the Art card you see here and came out of the deal fairly unscathed, cash-wise.  Sure its a nice looking card, even better in hand.  But is it 1:600 nice?

In the beginning and for many years, the sets were single subject driven.  I remember the first set in 1991-92 with Brett Hull as the subject.  Even back then the Header cards were practically impossible to find.  But I can tell you I do remember seeing them pulled from packs and their owners being less than thrilled with their discovery.  In fact, I can recall quite a few friends abandoning them since to a novice, younger generation collector, they just looked like an advertisement with no picture.  And who wants that?  The Art card was actually a checklist and was fairly easily found in packs.

Over the years, Upper Deck did a nice job with these sets, including them across the board in all of their sports releases.  

In 1992-93, they chose Wayne Gretzky for the Low Series and Gordie Howe for the High Series, both with limited insertion of the Header cards. The Art cards were checklists and were pulled fairly regularly although I don't remember ever getting the Howe except years later as a single purchase from random boxes at card shows.  My scanner cut off the border for some reason on this one.

In 1993-94 they mixed it up a bit with a Future Heroes set featuring younger stars in the making of the NHL.  I don't think the Headers were short printed however, because I remember getting them quite a few times (or maybe I was just lucky). 

Here is the Art card which isn't really art at all; more like a photo collage (scrapbooking before it was cool; okay maybe it was never cool).  Check out all the talent featured here.  You have Jagr, Lindros, Mogilny, Selanne, Bure, Potvin, Falloon, & Juneau.  How many sure fire Hall of Famers do you see in there...3? 4? Maybe even 6?  Realistically, I would definitely pick 4 and you may even be safe with 5. 



After that season, we didn't see this set emerge again until 2008-09.  Why?  I don't think anyone really knows.  There were a number of sets mixed in to the main release with "Heroes" in the title, such as Lord Stanley's Heroes, Highlight Heroes, Hometown Heroes, or Hat Trick Heroes, but no true Hockey Heroes set to speak of.  That's 15 years without a Heroes set.  Imagine all the other subject material that could have been printed...Lemieux, Bourque, Roy, Bobby Hull, Mike Bossy, the list is endless.


Sidney Crosby was the subject for the 2008 resurrection of the set and was only included in Series I packs.  Like the original release in 1991-92, there was only one set released.  Above is his Art card.  I never pulled one.  I don't know anyone that pulled one.  Other than on Ebay, I've never even seen one in person.  I imagine the collation was similar to this years set although I am not real sure.

The following year split it up again with Martin Brodeur in the Series I set...

and Mark Messier in Series II. 

Again, I have neither of these nor have I ever seen them anywhere but the Bay.  They, along with the Crosby, ditched the white border for a full bleed portrait that is really a nice touch for such a difficult card to pull.

2010-11 chose Steve Yzerman for Series I and Bobby Orr for Series II.  Below is the Bobby Orr Art card featuring "The Goal".  Of course it's just like the others...never seen one live and in person.

To the right here is the header card for the Yzerman set.  It's been pretty much the same every year since the inception of the Hockey Heroes.  The design really hasn't changed that much other than some subtle adjustments to the borders and font.  I actually pulled this one from a pack in one of those multi-repacked value boxes from Meijer a year or so ago.  Needless to say, I didn't throw this one away.  It is in with the rest of the cards from the set.  I have actually had a harder time completing this base set than I did finding the Header.

In 2011-12, as you can see at the top of the post, they decided to venture down a different path, creating a decades theme that features 1950s superstars in Series I and 1960s superstars in Series II.  Next year, they are planning to release 1970s stars in Series I and 1980s stars in Series II.  Maybe for 2013-14 they will continue with 1990s stars and 2000's stars...who knows?

Latest Ebay pickups for the PC and the Return of the PWE

As the Pens are heading out of the playoffs, my focus on hockey cards could be facing it's annual lull...

Awww, who am I kidding?  I have no lulls in collecting.  Even when I am bored with it sometimes, I find something to re-spark that interest.  At any rate, I picked up a few more for the PC off the Bay over the last week or so that have found their way to my humble abode. 

As an unrelated, well somewhat related, side note; I have been noticing a lot lately that sellers are starting to bring back the ever popular PWE, or Plain White Envelopes.  I have gone about a year or so without seeing a single one of these but in the last two weeks I have received 4 of them.  I generally haven't made a big stink about these because for the most part, the PWEers will package the items well enough that their containers haven't led to their demise.  Mostly that's because they are only single cards and really haven't taken much abuse.  But there is always that chance.

I am more bothered by the fact that for most auctions, shipping prices have increased in order for sellers to off set the new Ebay seller charges.  As an occasional seller, I get that.  What I don't get is how anyone can charge $2.50 or more (one was actually $3.75) for shipping and send it in a PWE.  That, my friends, is ridiculous.  Especially when you get the envelope and happen to notice that the shipping cost was barely a buck.  I know what you are all thinking...So don't bid.  Yeah that's one option but when you find stuff that you don't normally see very often and it would make a nice addition to your PC, as a collector, you have to bid.  You have to.  It's a law.  I know none of "us" are the culprits here but I just wanted to voice my concern. 

So back to the subject at hand.  Let's show off some new PC stuff.

Here are two more Letter Marks cards from SPGame Used for my Eric Tangradi collection.  Finding one of these is a feat in and of itself.  But two?  That's ludicrous.  Fortunately, the same seller had both.  I now have 2 "A's" and this "D".  I now need T, N, G, R, & I.  I think I mentioned on here once about the "T" that I had won but it was conveniently lost in the mail.  That's ok, though.  There are 49 others out there and one day I will snag one.  I just hope it is before he gets traded to another team.  He played some good hockey in the playoffs so he might have a chance at staying on for another year.  I hope he can make a roster spot next season but with the talent in the Pens farm system, that's never an easy task.

This is one that I was quite happy about.  It's an 05-06 Parkhurst Season Highlights card of everybody's favorite diving whiner, Sidney Crosby.  I saw this card and noticed it looked quite different than the one I thought I already had.  First, the "Season Highlights" block on the left side is red instead of the tan color on the base card.  Second, you can see right there next to the puck he is holding.  Yeah, that's an autograph.  But...not a real autograph.  The card is #586 in the set but this one is serial numbered #/100.  FOr some reason, Parkhurst included a Facsimile Autograph parallel set that were serial numbered.  I'm not sure what genius at Upper Deck came up with this idea back then, especially considering there are Signature cards included in the basic print run.  Maybe they just got bored with different borders or foil stamping.  I don't know. 

I have seen these at shows before selling for upwards of $50 (for a fake auto?  that's crazy).  I guess the PG has it listed for $60.  I bid on this one after looking at completed auctions.  They were selling for $20-40 pretty consistently so at $5 bucks, I figured why not?  I got it for $10.  SOLD!

I know GU cards have lost their luster (assuming they had luster in the first place) but I still like them.  I like Rookie Materials cards even better.  There is something about getting that little piece of jersey from a guy just starting their career that is satisfying as a collector.  I'm not a Colorado fan/collector nor am I on some crusade to start a Landeskog collection.  But I couldn't resist making a play for this at a couple cents and was fortunate enough to get it.  After busting about a half a case of Series II this year, I am surprised I didn't pull this one on my own.  Regardless, I guess this guy is kind of good or something...

- Lead Colorado in goals (22), plus/minus (+22), shots (267), hits (216) and game-winning goals (5-tied).
- Is the only Avalanche player to appear in all games.
- Set the franchise rookie record for shots on goal with 267.
- Is the youngest player in franchise history to score an OT goal (19 years, 110 days).
- NHL Rookie of the Month for February after leading all rookies with 13 points (7g/6a) in 12 games.
- Had a six-game point streak (5g/5a) from Feb. 17-27, the longest streak by an Avalanche player this season.
- Set the franchise rookie record with shots on goal in a single game, nine vs. Vancouver and again at Winnipeg.
- Represented the Avalanche at the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend in Ottawa, participating in the All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 28.
- Youngest Swedish-born player in NHL history to score a goal.

He is one of the three finalists for the Calder, which has already been chosen but won't be announced until the awards show.  If you ask me, he should be the front runner because I think he meant more to his team overall.  In the end, I think the Nuge will get the nod, though, with the better points per game.  

Hockey Gods Be Praised, We Have A Game 5

On the brink of elimination, the Pens mustered up whatever they had left in the tank, weathered the initial onslaught by Philadelphia, and some how came out with at 10-3 win.

Statement?  I don't think so.  Payback?  Not yet.

Simply put, it was a do or die situation for Pittsburgh and they stepped it up.  As in the rest of the games of the series, the goal tending was shaky at best for both teams.  Bryzgalov was pulled and Bobrovsky didn't fare much better.  Fleury was able to survive due to the enormous lead in front of him otherwise I thought Coach Bylsma was going to sit him too in favor of Brent Johnson.  The Penalty Kill, again, for both teams was atrocious.  There was a lack of solid defense on both sides of the puck.  But if you like offense, this was fun to watch. 

13 total goals in one game...That makes 51 goals in four games.  Probably not a record but it should be.

I realize it was only one game but if they can keep up the fast paced, mistake free (at least in the last two periods), intense game going, we might have extra innings in this one.  I'm still not convinced they can but tonight's' performance certainly showed that they have the ability.

As an editorial comment...the refs played this one tight.  I think word came down from Toronto that they were to call each and every penalty no matter how ticky-tack it may have been.  There was no "just let them play" mentality in this game.  There was hardly a five minute span without a call being made tonight.  Pavel Kubina, Wayne Simmonds, Zack Rinaldo, Matt Cooke, and Joe Vitale were all assessed 10 minute misconduct penalties with Kubina, Simmonds, Rinaldo, and Cooke all being tossed from the game.  Rinaldo and Kubina were justifiable.  Simmonds initiated the contact on Cooke and his jawing afterword is what got him tossed.  Cooke was the retaliation match penalty.  So either of those would probably have been left alone in any other situation.  Regardless, I think the message was sent that the officials aren't going to allow a repeat of Game 3 and quite frankly, I'm thankful for that.  There were 100 penalty minutes in this game.

Way to restore my faith in humanity, Pens.  At least for another day or two.

Tonight's 3 Stars...(hopefully not for the last time)

#3

 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 12:10 Ice Time, and he chipped in on some pivotal plays.  Pretty good for a D-man.

#2

 Finally gets on the playoff scoring board, 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 20 minutes of Ice Time and best of all, he was a +4, bringing him back to even for the series.

#1

A hat trick will do that for you.  3 Goals, a +2, and almost 23 minutes of Ice Time.  Staal was a workhorse tonight and they really needed that.

So in 1934, Were People Color Blind?

 The difference between you and I is that I make this look good!

No.  Nothing and no one could make that look good!

Here are the throwbacks for the Steelers this year.  It's their 80th season in the league and as all teams celebrating an anniversary, they are adding a third "Throwback" jersey for the occasion. The team made the official announcement today in a press conference. 

I'm all for nostalgia and everything but these are hideous.  They wore the 1933 jersey's back in 1992 and at least those had vertical stripes with the city of Pittsburgh logo on the front.  These come from 1934 and took a turn for the worst for sure.  Mustard yellow pants, bumble bee socks, and horizontal stripes straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.  Thank God they will still have the black helmets.  I couldn't stand to see the mustard yellow ones again.  At least these will only be worn for two games. I couldn't take a whole season of this.

Art Rooney III, the team president, thinks it's "eye-popping" and will be fun to see everyone's reaction. Redman actually said he likes the uniform and all the stripes.  But he's not too sure how fans and players are going to react.

Anyone else care to weigh in on their hideousness (yes that's a word I think)?  Or maybe your team has an awful jersey you are embarrassed to be seen in?

Here is the video announcement by team president Art Rooney III...

 

Comments on The Series

For those of you living under a rock or simply just not NHL fans, the playoffs started a week or so ago.  Well as a Penguin fan, I hope there is more room because I may join you under that rock.  I wouldn't be doing my civic duty as a Pittsburgh fan or blogger if I didn't at least make one comment, so here goes.  The Penguins play during this first round series embarrasses me. 

How a team that was primed for playoff hockey can go from the odds-on favorites to one game away from the first tee at Oakmont is beyond me.  They have had the offensive firepower, they had the special teams play, they had the defense, and they had the goal tending to back it all up.  I just don't get it.  Above all else, I'm tired of even trying to figure it out. 

Some people put the blame on the hype machine, saying that the Pens were the media darlings and the NHL poster team so their run in the second half of the season was contrived.  I think that is a ridiculous idea and won't even entertain the notion that there is any kind of "favoritism" being played when it comes to any of it.  Sure, Bettman is no angel when it comes to running the league, marketing, or being human.  But logistically there is no way to set anything like that up so FORGET THAT!

Some people are blaming Crosby (besides the typical Cindy, diving, whining, etc. comments) saying that his return to the ice has thrown a wrench into a well balanced team chemistry and changed the way they play their game.  While I can see some merit in that logic, I highly doubt having the games best all around player on the ice hurts them.  Not every player is 100% on their game all the time and they I just think they picked a bad time to start slumping.

But what I will pin the blame on is the Flyers.  They get under the Pens skin.  They always have and always will.  These two teams hate each other and it shows each and every time they play.  I remember going to games when I was a kid at the old Igloo and seeing fight upon fight take place on the ice.  It is simply the norm when Philly and Pittsburgh play.  Now is no different.  In fact, it might even be worse since we had one of our most beloved players (by fans and teammates alike) in Max Talbot take a job in the Orange & White during the offseason.  Plus, we all remember the Jaromir Jagr saga with his return to the NHL.  But for a hockey fan that enjoys playoff time, this series has been a joke.

Are the Flyers a better team this year...Yes!  I said it at the beginning of the year that I thought they would be back in the Finals.  They have the talent, the drive, and the leadership to get there.  Their goal tending is shaky at times but their play in front of the net is second to none so they can get away with it.  They have the right personnel to make opposing teams scramble for an answer and the speed to make them pay for it.  Their one of the best in the league at getting their opponents off balance, taking stupid penalties, and making them suffer the consequences.  Were the Penguins a good match for this kind of play?  That answer was ABSOLUTELY!  But now they are being made to look the fools.

What the Flyers have managed to do to a Pens team that was, for the most part, disciplined all season is just sickening.  And for the Pens to bow down to that level of taking runs at players, cheap shots, blind side hits, and poor sportsmanship is just plain sad (it's also what is expected of a Philly team).  Undisciplined hockey, in today's NHL, gets you one thing...an early exit from the playoffs.  We have seen it happen time and time again, year after year.  Unless the Penguins can regroup, refocus, and play their game, it's over (unfortunately I think it's already too late).

As for the ridiculousness of Game 3, I don't really know what to say that hasn't already been said.  I usually try to defend my team and my players but frankly, there is no point here.  Asham was wrong for the cross check to the face of Schenn (regardless if he is a A-hole or not) and even more so for punching him while he was on the ice.  Neal was wrong for the hits he threw at Coturier and Giroux (although Giroux played his up a bit since the contact was minimal).  Adams was wrong for the instigation penalty he took.  And I hate to actually say this but, bottom line, Crosby is just all around asking for it, plain and simple. 

I don't know if his brain became scrambled eggs with all the concussions or not but he needs remember how to be a leader.  Be the bigger man.  The brushing of the glove was frustration boiling over and although we   can't go back and change what happened, we can move on going forward.  Get the team under control.  That is your job when wearing the Captain's C.  You are supposed to be not only the leader of the team but a pinnacle of the NHL.  They (the media) all call you the "Face of the NHL" for a reason.  You need to act like it.  It's at the point now where I don't care if it ends up a sweep or not.  Stop the theatrics, stop the media grandstanding, get a hold of your team, and start playing Penguin hockey again.

That's all I have to say about that.  Frankly I've said too much.

Box Break - - 2011-12 SP Game Used

Oh, how I never learn my lesson from SP Game Used.  Every few years or so, I get the bug to bust a box of this stuff and this was the year it came up in the rotation.  I don't think I've opened one for two or three years and I'm not too sure why I wanted to this year.  Maybe it was that I had the urge for something new.  Maybe it was the preview images of some of the awesome material pieces jam packed in here.  I don't know.

But...here we are.  I picked this one up from my LCS, More Fun Sports, and got a great deal for LCS pricing.  There are some online dealers that are already out of stock on these so I'm guessing UD put them into limited production. This years boxes contain 6 packs of 3 cards.  Each pack contains either 1 memorabilia card or 1 signature card.  Also, there should be 2-3 rookies in each box. 

This years set also has cards called 500 Goal Club Marks which feature game used lettermarks of the best goal scorers of all time.  There are also Gold Letter Variations on all the Authentic Fabrics cards.  Each of these features four letter or number abbreviations pertaining to the specific player.  Plus the short printed rookie parallels are all signed!!

I was excited to try and pull one of the Supreme Pads cards which feature all the best goalies and giant leg pad pieces.  I have seen a few of these and they look spectacular.  But the odds are not in my favor as they are numbered out of /10.  You never know, though.  So here we go.

Here are a couple base cards from the box.  They looked strangely familiar to me until I realized they are almost the same design as the old Upper Deck Piece of History set, with the stripes down the side.  My scanner cut off the tops so there is some white space up there on the border.  The design is clean with nothing fancy or in your face, which is kind of disappointing considering the MSRP $180/box price.  Basically that comes out to about $10 per card and these certainly don't look like $10. 

I only pulled 8 base cards in this box which didn't make much sense to me considering logically there should have been 12 (along with 6 GU or Auto).  So with 100 base cards in the set, I don't think I will be trying to put this together.  Or maybe I'll change my mind.

I pulled a Gold parallel of Steven Stamkos numbered /100.  There are also Silver Spectrum /10, and Gold Spectrum /1.  Needless to say, I received neither of those two.

Here is where it got interesting.  Most boxes contain, or are supposed to contain 2-3 rookie cards.  Mine had these:

 Carl Klingberg and Teemu Hartikainen

 Maxime Macenauer and John Moore

 Jonathan Blum and Adam Larsson

Yes, you counted that correctly.  There were 6 rookie cards in this box.  In fact, a bunch of these packs had 4 cards instead of 3.  There was even one pack with 5 cards.  This was odd, especially for a larger priced box.  

And then there were the GU cards.

The first one out of the box was this beaut.  It's a Crosby jersey...GOLD!  These are 1:3 packs and as I mentioned, spell out a four letter/number phrase.  On the back, this one says it will spell out "PITT".  Obviously I now have the "I".  It always makes me happy to pull a PC card out of a box.

The next one was also a GOLD version.  It is a Mark Messier jersey with a blue swatch.  These will oddly enough, spell out the word "BLUE". 

The next one was this plain white swatch of Scott Hartnell, and another GOLD version.  That's three 1:3 odds cards in 3 packs which is one more than should have been in the box.  These ones spell out "FLYR".  I was less than thrilled to see the orange and white peaking out as I opened the pack this was in.  Man are the Pens getting spanked so far.  

The next card was once again a GOLD version of the Authentic Fabrics.  This time we have Dan Boyle but it is a piece of his Team Canada jersey from the Olympics.  The swatch window is shaped like a "D" and these will spell out "GOLD".  So now I pulled 4 GOLD version jersey's in the same box.  Crazy!

The next pack had this.

Another evil Flyer card but as you can see, it's a PATCH card of Ilya Bryzgalov numbered /35.  This one is also gold in color but there isn't a separate gold version of the patch cards.  The patch is a white patch but if you really look at it in person, it almost looks like the orange bled into the white fabric.  It is definitely not completely white.

Finally, the last pack had an auto.  This is probably one of the best cards I have pulled this year out of any product yet.  

Gabriel Landeskog Rookie Exclusive Auto numbered /100.  Yes it's a sticker auto but it is Landeskog.  He led all rookies in points during the regular season with 52 and he finished 2 goals behind Matt Read with 22 for the league lead.  He also showed he can be a work horse contributor, playing in 82 regular season games.  Even though RNH is getting all the attention up there in Edmonton, Gabe has my vote as the front runner for NHL Rookie of the Year and the Calder Trophy.  Awesome card.

Overall, this is not a product for everyone.  If you have the cash and it's burning a hole in your pocket, maybe take a shot.  I don't think the design will wow any collector's but the chance at pulling some really nice inserts may just be worth it.  My box had 5 GU, 1 Auto, 6 Rookies, 1 base parallel and 8 base cards.  That's 21 cards, not 18 like the box says.  I doubt many boxes will have as many parallel GU cards as this one either and I'm not totally sure this would be considered a HOT BOX since I haven't heard anything about them even existing but based on this break, they are obviously out there.