Quick Hits: Looking at the Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Deadline Moves

In my humble opinion, NHL Trade Deadline Day should be a national holiday in both the United States and Canada, no work and required TV, radio, and internet viewing for all (kids can still go to school though).  Unfortunately corporate America (and probably corporate Canada) won't allow that.

But I digress...

The NHL Trade Deadline is usually a frenzy of movement of many minor leaguers and role type players, with a few blockbusters occasionally thrown in.  This year, the Rangers trading Kevin Hayes to Winnipeg for Brendan Lemieux and picks was big.  Keith Kincaid to the Blue Jackets for a pick, Mark Stone to Vegas for a great defensive prospect, and Wayne Simmons to Nashville were all pretty note worthy as well.  

But, as a Penguins fan, I would like to focus on the recent moves in Pittsburgh, and there were two of them.  Keep in mind, if the Stadium Series game had not eroded into an on-ice debacle and safety failure that NBC refused to address and hurt their ratings, we may have not even see these trades by the Penguins.  Losing Kris Letang and Brian Doumolin, both ultimately as a result of a questionable hit by now Nashville Predator Wayne Simmons, that apparently won't be reviewed by the Dept of Player Safety, triggered these moves.

Box Break - - 2018-19 Artifacts

This article was originally posted over on Puck Junk. Thought I would post it here as well for posterity.

When it comes to new hockey card releases, I am frequently a late bloomer when it comes breaking boxes. This year, 2018-19 Artifacts was no different. Released October 4, 2018, Artifacts is usually one of the first products to hit the market at the start of the new season (as well as MVP and O-Pee-Chee). I hadn’t had a chance to pick this product up until recently and I wanted to share my break and thoughts with our readers.

Continuing in it’s annual tradition of including memorabilia options as well as rookie redemptions, Artifacts gives collectors a chance at a variety of “hits” without breaking the bank. For around $100, every hobby box features eight packs with four cards per pack. A break should expect to feature three premium cards which will include a combination of memorabilia cards, autographs or an Aurum insert, the all-gold foil printed cards that return for another year (which I will get to in a minute).

The Thermochromic Puck

The NHL announced a new "technology" for treating pucks to be unveiled at the Winter Classic. I wrote about it over on Puck Junk a bit ago. Take a few minutes and check it out. Leave a comment with your thoughts.

The NHL made the announcement yesterday (at least it was at the time I originally wrote this article) that for the first time, official game pucks to be used in this season’s NHL Winter Classic game will feature a new technology using a thermochromic coating. Thermo-what, you ask? To put it in the simplest terms, PPG — yes the Pittsburgh-based paint company that sponsors the Penguins’ home arena and is advertised as the official paint of the NHL — has developed a coating that changes color based on temperature. That’s right — color changing pucks.

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Box Break: 2018-19 MVP Hockey

This was originally posted over on PuckJunk.com 10/8/18 as I have been contributing to content on occasion over there.

It’s that time of year again, ladies and gentleman. Yes, the hockey season is upon us. With training camps about done, I figured it is a fine time to break the first box of the year.

Like every year, for the last 20, Upper Deck rung the bell to start the season in early August with their 2018-19 MVP product. Upper Deck has built MVP’s reputation as a lower-priced product that offers collectors a chance at affordable cards that feature a myriad of today’s stars, with an opportunity at some of the rookies that debuted at the end of last season.

To continue reading, click here to go to the original article post.

Changes In Store For COMC.com

Recently, COMC released an announcement on their blog about upcoming changes to their pricing.  It seems to benefit those that cash out their accounts but could hurt the community of "flippers" in their membership population.  I wrote my take on it over on Puck Junk.  Take a few minutes and check it out.  Leave a comment with your thoughts.  



Over the last 10+ years, COMC.com (or Check Out My Cards) has been toiling away in the trading card marketplace, striving to become one of, if not THE leader in individual trading card sales. After having evolved from a small web portal known as LowPriceCards.com into the juggernaut that it is in a few years, COMC has emerged with an inventory of over 18.3 Million cards and sells and ships more singles to collectors all over the world than any other service provider.

Read more over on Puck Junk

Box Break: 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee Hockey

This was originally posted over on PuckJunk.com 10/8/18 as I have been contributing to content on occasion over there.  

At last! It’s finally here! The annual hockey set builders dream release, better known as 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee. Upper Deck has had the O-Pee-Chee brand back in circulation since the 2006-07 season and shows no signs of letting up. The annual monster set features 500 base cards plus an additional 100 short-printed cards that feature Marquee Rookies, League Leaders, Team Checklists, and Season Highlights. With a selection of 600 cards, you are bound to get a card of your favorite player — even if it happens to be Scott Foster.

For 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee, hobby boxes feature 24 packs of cards with ten cards in each pack. 240 cards isn’t bad when you consider a box will generally run you about $70 (so roughly $.30/card). This year’s design actually uses quite a bit of real estate devoted to the player photo, unlike some other years. The fronts feature an action shot of the player with the team logo on the bottom corner. The borders on the base cards is a light gray/white color with an interior border around the photo that features a cut out on top for the team name and on the bottom for the O-Pee-Chee logo and the player name. The position is also located on the bottom above the brand logo but is very small...

Click here to read more of the review.