New Tangradi PC Cards

Yes, that's right.  I'm still collecting Eric Tangradi cards.  The Winnipeg Jets winger that has spent more time off the ice than on this year is still part of my personal collection.  I remember posting a loooonnnnggg time ago about Tangradi's first goal as a Jet.  That was so long ago now and he only has one other to match.  He has played in 36 games so far this year, has 4 points and when healthy, has been relegated to 7-10 min of TOI as a 4th liner.

Despite all that, I still think he's got potential.  It's in there somewhere.  It has to be.  It's just buried under the dark memories of that vicious elbow he took at the hands of Trevor Gillies way back in 2011.  Eric just needs to get healthy, forget the demons, get more aggressive, and start putting pucks on the net.  Yeah, just like that.  Easy.

Ok, enough of me trying to convince myself this is still a good idea.  Here are some recent additions to my Tangradi collection (six months ago still counts as recent).

 2010-11 Certified Freshman Signatures Mirror Emerald #/5

I figured I'd start with the big one.  I even scanned the back so you can see.  It's the Mirror Emerald version of the Certified Freshman Signatures card.  I have been hunting for this for years.  I only have ever seen one and it was being sold by a dealer for a ridiculous amount of money.  Patience paid off and I was able to successfully bid this one into my collection a few months back.  It's hard to see since I didn't scan this but instead opted for a phone photo.  I'll show my "rainbow" at the bottom of this post just for fun.

 2013-14 O-Pee-Chee Red Border Redemption Parallel

This is the Red Border parallel, for those not in Canada, and was part of Upper Decks' wrapper redemption program.  This year was the second year they offered Canadian collectors the opportunity to obtain a pack of six cards in exchange for 50 hobby wrappers at any Upper Deck Diamond Certified Dealer.  Because they were only available in Canada, obviously these are harder to come by in the states...unless you do Ebay.  Which I do.  And that's why I have it.  So there.

2010-11 SP Game Used Authentic Rookies Gold #/50

Here is the SP Game Used rookie of Eric.  I know I have shown this card before but I don't think I have ever shown a Gold version.  I picked this up for way less than I was prepared to spend so it was definitely a win for me.  I have the base version #/699, the Spectrum #/10 and now this.  The only one missing in the proverbial "rainbow" is the Gold Spectrum #/1.  I've never seen it and am not sure if it has been unearthed yet.

 2013-14 Panini Titanium Game Worn Gear (white swatch)

This is the newest, as in release date, card for my PC.  This comes from the just released 2013-14 Panini Titanium release and is a Game-Worn Gear card.  The swatch is white, boring I know, but it just adds to the ever-growing pile of Tangradi jersey's in my collection.  I have seen this also in black and I am in the process of obtaining at least one of those as well.

Eric's cards cooled off after his rookie season with Pittsburgh, mostly because he was relegated to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and didn't get a lot of big team ice time.  The Pens were deep and I don't fault them for unloading Eric when they did.  He has played more in Winnipeg so his cards have began to pop back up in the deeper releases.  He's up to 199 cards now that I know of.  In 2013-14 alone, he has added another 11 cards.  One of these days I'll get around to updating my wantlist/checklist for Mr. Tangradi.  I'm also looking to add some items, other than cards, to my ET collection.  Stay tuned for that.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I was going to show my "rainbow" of Freshman Signature cards.  The only one I am missing is the Black version #/1.  Again, like the Gold Spectrum Game Used, I have never seen one of these so I don't know if anyone has ever released one into the wild.  Here you go.

 In order from left to right...base (silver), red, blue, gold, emerald

Here's a better shot at the colors...

And finally the backs where you can see the serial numbering.  Like I said, the only one missing is the Black.

If you can read the back of this card, you can see he was a beast back when he played for Belleville in the OHL.  Hopefully someday he can get back to a semblance of himself.  Maybe then I can retire off this collection.  Stop laughing.

New PC Cards, Rare Ones Too

So I hinted last week in my three-card PC post that I had some bigger pull-type cards on their way for my PC.  Well they arrived.

As most people know, I have an Eric Tangradi personal collection that I started back in 2010 when he was a prospect in the Penguins organization.  Now that he is with Winnipeg, I still actively chase the missing links that I don't have. 

The problem for me has always been that I am aware of at least a half-dozen other Tangradi collectors.  This poses a problem when searching for cards on the auction sites.  I can't tell you how many times I have gotten into a bidding war with someone and ended up overpaying for a card just because the demand was there (or lost at the last second or just got bid right out of the auction). 

One of those collector's periodically puts up many of his/her rarer cards, assuming to test the market.  Up to this point, I have only ever seen them listed for BIN numbers reaching in the ridiculously high stratosphere of values.  I have always watched them, but they have never ended with a sale.  A few weeks ago, some of these cards hit the Bay again, only this time, they were traditional auctions with starting prices of $.99.

It was on.

After all was said and done, I ended up winning 4 of the 6 auctions I bid on.  The other two just got too rich for my blood.  At any rate, I figured I would share.

2010-11 Certified Freshman Signatures Mirror Gold #/25

So with a tiered system in any card set, the ones numbered under 50 are next to impossible to find.  I have only seen this gold one pop up a couple times.  I was happy to bid and finally win this one.  I have the basic Silver #/899, the Red #/250, and the Blue #/100.  I just need the Emerald #/5 and the Black #/1.  I have actually found the Emerald recently and am working on procuring it.  We shall see. 

2010-11 Ultimate Debut Threads Signed Jersey #/50

This is another in a long line of "tiered" cards.  These were found as just jerseys, jersey autos, patches, patch autos, and I think there is a black version or something like that.  I know I have the regular Jersey #/200 and the Patch #/35 but I had never seen the jersey auto.  Never.  Maybe I just didn't pay good enough attention.  I did pay for the card though.  And now it's mine.

2010-11 Upper Deck Magenta Printing Plate #1/1

I believe this would be my tenth printing plate.  These never popped up at all a few years ago but then last year around summer time, I found quite a few.  The difference though was that they were all The Cup plates which feature the other releases by Upper Deck (ie. SP, SPx, Black Diamond, Arifacts, etc).  I didn't realize that the basic flagship set had it's own plates outside the realm of The Cup.  The card itself is made of metal (as most plates are) and you can see it on the back (although I didn't scan it).  The corners are rounded too.  There is a sticker identifying it as the actual plate, signed by our friend Richard P. McWilliam.
 

2010-11 Zenith Autograph

Finally I was able to get my hands on a Zenith auto.  These have popped up on a number of occasions but every time they have a BIN that is well out of my price range.  Not anymore.  This one set me back a whopping $3.  It is numbered out of #/99.  Unfortunately it's a sticker auto although the design of the card had the white space for signing. 

One of these days I will get around to updating my Tangradi page and checklist.  One of these days seems to be my mantra lately.

New Cards For The Tangradi PC

I have still been picking up Tangradi cards for my PC even though he is long gone from the Pens.  So far this year he has 1 point on 15 shots on goal.  Nothing to write home about but he has thus far only appeared in 11 games.

Just wanted to take a minute and share a few that have recently fallen in my hands.

2013-14 Artifacts Autofacts

So Artifacts has been out for a while and as most people know, the Autofacts cards are not a one per box kind of thing.  They say they fall about one per every three boxes but for some reason, there are a ton already on the secondary market.  When these first hit the shelves, I was bidding feverishly on the Tangradi's that I would see pop up because I knew that other than OPC, he wouldn't get a lot of exposure in this year's products.  So I bid.  And lost.  Bid again.  And lost.  Continuing over, and over again.  Finally, I found a multitude of $.99 auctions with this card and bid on all of them because at this point, odds were that I'd get at least one of them, right?  Well my plan backfired.  Instead of winning one of them, I won FIVE!!

2013-14 O-Pee-Chee Black Rainbow

The same scenario as the Autofacts card above went for this one too.  I didn't want to pay more than a few dollars for this and once some of these auctions got over five, I bowed out.  But finally I won one (not five) and all is well with the world.  

2010-11 Donruss Rated Rookie Autograph

For as prevalent as 2010-11 Donruss was, and still is, this card has eluded me repeatedly.  In fact, I have been monitoring Ebay auctions since I decided to start collecting ET and this card has only come up FIVE times that I can remember.  Each time, the owner wanted an extraordinary dollar value on a BIN price.  I watched these auctions close with no bids and no sales over and over again.  But finally, someone posted a regular auction starting at $.99.  That's how you do it.

That was it for now, just three cards.  I have recently snatched up some BIG ones for the collection from another Tangradi collector that occasionally pops up online.  They are low numbered ones with a 1 of 1 thrown in for good measure.  Once I get those in hand and scanned, I will be sure to share those

...TO BE CONTINUED.

New PC Addition

Just thought I would share a one card post of my latest PC card for my Eric Tangradi collection.  Most of you know that he went to the Jets this past season but I still think he has the potential to make an impact in the NHL.  Now in Winnipeg, he will at least get the opportunity for a couple more years.  He signed with the Jets for two more years for about $1.3 million. 

Anywho.....

Here is my latest card.  It's graded, but I don't care.  I wanted a high grade Young Guns card and now I have one. 

Stuff...Both Random And PC Related

I've been hard pressed for time and hard pressed for ideas as of late.  With the NHL season winding down and the 2nd season getting ready to start, the NFL draft the last couple days, and both my kids playing baseball this year, I'm more interested in watching the sports rather than blogging about them.

But I'll throw a bone to my readers just to let them know I'm still alive. 

The following are some newer additions to the old collection.  There are a few PC cards in there, a couple intentional and one by accident.  Enjoy the digital cardboard for your eyes.

First, I am unofficially collecting the 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures autos as I have already mentioned here and in my original box break post.  Here are a few more I have received from successful bidding.

Here we have Cliff Ronning, who played the better part of six seasons with Vancouver in his 18 year career and Rod Langway, one of the last "grandfathered" players to play without a helmet.  Langway definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves as he played on some pretty awful Capitals teams.  But he did get a Cup while with Montreal in 1979.   

I also picked up this nifty Jethro auto.  Both Gillies and Langway were enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.  Ronning isn't but with over 300 goals, over 800 points, he might very well get the nod someday.


I picked up this nice Bill Guerin.  I already had this OPC Retro Parallel but this one is the "Blank Back" version.  These are hard to find so I figured I better strike while the iron was hot.

Here is the front and the back of the card.  Although, I don't know why I'm showing the back.  That blank cardboard could be anything.  I could be lying to all of you.  I'm not, but I could be.  At any rate, I can cross off another elusive Guerin card from my list.

I'll be featuring this over on my autograph project blog too but I figured I would give it a shout out now.  This is a 2002-03 Upper Deck Trilogy Script Autograph of Brooks Orpik.  The long-time defensive mainstay for the Penguins was a scratch in tonight's romping of the Hurricanes but will be firing on all cylinders for the playoffs...I hope.  This was/is the first auto I have of Mr. Orpik.  He has kind of a lazy signature but it is still recognizable somewhat.

This card has no real bearing on anything for my collections.  I don't collect Fuhr.  I'm not a Blues fan.  I'm not even a goalie hoarder.  I found this card in a box of football cards that were in The Garage (which has subsequently become The Storage Locker).  I found it interesting because I have some of these and they only have a small "chip" down on the bottom where the Champion Salute ring is.  This one was different though.  The "chip" is much bigger, sticks up much higher, and basically makes this card not fit in a normal top loader.  Turns out...It's a PROMO.  I'm going to guess these were giveaways at various shows and events by Pinnacle back in the late 90s.  Either that or they were given to dealers as samples.  Regardless, I thought it was interesting so I figured I would share.

This scan isn't very good but you can at least see what it is.  This is another in a long line of 1/1 Tangradi Printing Plates I have been pursuing.  This is my 9th printing plate from The Cup set.  This happens to be the Black plate from the SPA set from that year.  I have the magenta already.  In fact, of all of my plates, I have 2 magenta, 2 cyan, and 5 black.  Not a single yellow to be found yet.  I'll keep looking.  If you want to check out all of them together, you can go to my main web site and my Wall of Tangradi.


So after winning an auction online, waiting a couple weeks for Canadian snail mail, and opening my package, I was pleased to find a bonus pack of 2011 National Hockey Card Day cards.  They were, of course, the Canadian version, of which I have none (except maybe the Crosby).  Lets see what was in there...

We have a "Rookies" card of Jordan Eberle, which wasn't such a bad thing.  I don't know if it can really be considered a real "rookie" per se since this wasn't a major release.  I don't mind though.  We also pulled a "Heroes" subset card of Wayne Gretzky.  Not a bad looking shot of Wayne here.  I don't know why he is staring over there at the side panel of the blog.  Maybe he wants you to go click on some other blogs to read?

There were also these two "Pride" cards of Roberto Luongo and Jason Spezza.  I don't know how these slipped my radar because I really like the design pattern Upper Deck used.

And finally, the accidental PC card that I mentioned...

I don't know about any of you, but Mario looks tired on this picture.  Must be a combination of the cancer and the back issues.  Right now, he's looking at the giant Diet Mt. Dew can on my desk.  I know you want a drink of this Mario.  But you can't.  This is mine. 

New Tangradi PC Addition: ROXX!

A little while back (a few weeks ago) I put a bid in on a Tangradi item that I had never seen before.  It wasn't a card.  It wasn't a piece of memorabilia.  It wasn't a photo autograph or anything of the sort.  What I placed a bid on was this...

(This is my attempt at scanning the item.  As you can see, not so successful.)

This, my friends, is what is known as a ROXX (As "a" ROXX? Or "as" ROXX?  I don't know).

ROXX are manufactured by a company called TCG (or The Canadian Group) and were released last year in Canada with the NHL endorsement.  Here in the states, we now have our own version of ROXX only they are what the company calls, "edgy, collectible game pieces featuring unique art in diverse themes that appeal to school-age and tween boys, including skate, hip hop, grunge, humor, super heroes, action figures and much more."  Apparently, these are supposed to be modeled after the so-called "street game" of Skully.  I can't really speak to that because until I read that on their website, I never heard of Skully (other than Fox Mulder's partner). I will take their word for it.

(Here is a better shot of the item.  This is the auction scan.  Yes, I stole it, but I'm acknowledging that.)

But what they did remind me of was everyone's favorite alternative game of the 1990s...POGS!!  As it turns out, one of the partners in TCG, Michael Albert, is one of the marketing geniuses behind the once $50 million POG business.  For those of you too young to remember (or those too old to care), POGS was a game that was played using round discs (POGS) with all sorts of colors, themes, and marketing ploys to get parents to purchase more for their ungrateful children.  No one is really sure where the game originated (some say Hawaii, some say Japan) but essentially it started with juice bottle caps back in the 1920s or 30s.  After laying dormant for 60-70 years, the fad took off in the 1990s with major popularity, and huge profits for many of the manufacturing companies.

(Here is the back of the item.  You can see the copyright of 2012.)

I'm not sure what these retail for or where you can find them because, well, I don't live in Canada.  Maybe some of my awesome Canadian audience can enlighten the rest of us.  What I can tell you is they sell for a buck or two on the secondary market all the way up to double digits for some of the more "rare" pieces.  You can go to www.ROXXNATION.com to find out more about the checklist and see if your favorite NHLer was included.  But chances are, they were.

The checklist features 243 of what are called "Classic" ROXX, 71 Rare "Starzz" "Cage Masters" and "Trophy Winners" ROXX, 36 Ultra Rare "Starzz" and "Original 6" ROXX, and 30 Limited Edition "Starzz" ROXX which are a metallic gold color around the name area.  Essentially the LE ones are the same as the Ultra Rare ones but without the Original 6 pieces.

I think the scans do a good job of showing what these look like.  Essentially, they are small (the size of a 50 cent piece [remember those?]) disc-like objects.  They remind me of a good skipping rock you would find on a beachfront somewhere.  They almost have a "flying saucer" type shape to them with thin sides and bulging in the middle.  At first I thought there was something wrong with the back of mine with that white "stressed plastic" type crease in it.  Upon further investigation, that's the glare off the graphic of the hockey puck.  See, it pays to be observant. 

I'm not going to nitpick on these here (well actually I am) but I want to point out one thing about this Tangradi piece.  If you notice on the front under his name, it says "Rookie/Recrue", indicating that Mr. Tangradi is a rookie.  However, these were manufactured in 2012, supposedly beginning last summer.  At that point, Tangradi had already played 1 game in 2009-10, 15 games in 2010-11, and another 24 games in 2011-12.  I would hardly consider that to be a rookie piece.  I'm not sure how many others in the checklist have the same treatment but I'm not liking that because it makes it seem like these should be older than they are.  Not nitpicking.  I swear.

I think these are sort of neat but I won't be trying to collect all 380 of the NHL ones, partly because they just don't store very well, the other part being that I don't live in Canada (that's a theme of this post).  I wouldn't mind putting together all the Pens but that would require some work.  If any readers out there have any of the Penguin ones and want to trade for something, let me know. 

New PC Pickup

As some of you already know, I decided to hang onto my Eric Tangradi personal collection even though his time with the Penguins had expired.  He is now with the Winnipeg Jets and still hasn't really done much, being relegated to the Jets fourth line.  But all hope is not lost, as he finally scored his first goal since October 2010 against the Tampa Bay Lightning the other night.  Hopefully that is a sign of good things to come and with the Jets having an outside shot at making the playoffs, maybe he will get his shot at winning a permanent roster spot.  Who knows?

At any rate, I picked up a few new Tangradi's over the past month or two (although I probably have a ton since the last time I posted about them).  Here they are...

I have sort of updated my Eric Tangradi collection page over on the side panel.  If you want to check out my "Wall of Tangradi" click through that link and you will see some of that collection.

Sometimes I Find Stuff (...And A Redemption Quandry)

As the title suggests, sometimes I find stuff.  The other day while I was supposed to be sick (actually I was sick but you get bored sometimes laying around staring at the ceiling) I decided to try and find my 2012-13 Upper Deck Series I cards that I had obtained back in November at the last Chicago Sun-Times/Mounted Memories Sports Show.  I hadn't seen them in quite a while and with all the hullabaloo that has been going on in my life, I haven't really had the time to look for them.

About a year ago, I sorted many of my hockey cards into 3500+ count boxes by card manufacturer and year.  So all the 2010-11 were in one box (if possible), 2011-12 in another, so on and so forth.  It makes it easier to find stuff.  Well, I didn't have a box for 2012-13 because other than a handful of Artifacts, the UD that I picked up, and the recent Black Diamond I obtained, I had no need for a separate box.  I must have spent an hour going through boxes until finally, a couple 800 counts sitting all by their lonesome suddenly appeared.  Wouldn't you know it?  Inside were all my 2012-13 UD Series I...and Panini Certified...and last years Zenith...and more Artifacts...and Titanium...and a whole slew of cards from the now famous, and usually lopsided trading that takes place at these shows.  I now wish I had access to my binders and set boxes but that story is for another day.

At any rate, sometimes I find stuff.  Inside the box were two cards that I forgot I had...both of them redemptions.  If there is nothing else I like more in collecting, it's redemptions.  They make me smile (a devilishly vindictive smile similar to that of a serial killer right after he tastes blood for the first time...ok maybe not that extreme, but close).  Here they are in all their glory.

If you can't see it, this is from 2012-13 Certified (click on it to enlarge if that helps).  Its a redemption for a Scott Glennie Freshman Fabrics card #188.  At the time, I had no idea what this was or even who Scott Glennie was.  I now know he was drafted by the Dallas Stars and currently plays for the Texas Stars in the AHL.  He played one game for Dallas last year, racking up 2 penalty minutes.  By NHLPA rules, that makes him eligible for a card.  Go Figure.  I have since discovered that the Certified Freshman Fabric cards 177-188 are Jersey Auto cards with a print run of 499.  That part I didn't know either.  So I may actually redeem this one to add to the ever expanding auto collection.  

The second one is this 2012-13 Artifacts Rookie Redemption for the Florida Panthers.  As before, I had no idea at the time who this was or what it was for.  But I speculated...Could this have been Jonathan Huberdeau?  Maybe.  But not now.  The lock-out F'd that one up now didn't it?  And what about all those Edmonton Oilers ones that sold on Ebay for hundreds of dollars with the hopes of landing the Nail Yakupov cards?  What happens to all those people?  Do they get refunds for false advertising, or is it even false advertising when you put a question mark at the end of your auction title?  I don't know that answer.

Now that the NHLPA has basically put the "Nail" in the coffin on any and all rookie cards for guys that are skating during this shortened season, has anyone heard how the card companies are going to handle this issue?  Has Upper Deck or Panini spoken up about the problems they may have with redemptions?  Or are they going to handle it at all?  If I have missed a statement in an article, please, someone point it out to me because I would love to see how this debacle works out. 

So what should I do here?  Redeem it anyway with the hopes of landing a Huberdeau at the end of the season?  Or plan on getting another Colby Robak that looks different from the regular issue card (or even the same one for that matter??)?  Or should I try to sell it for a couple bucks?  Or maybe I should auction it as a Huberdeau, put a question mark at the end of my auction title, charge $25+ and see if anyone bites?  No, that would be dishonest.  But you can see the dilemma here, right?

Not Done Yet

Generally, I don't give up easily.  It just isn't my style.  With that being said, I have decided that I am not giving up on Eric Tangradi as a collection just yet.  I've actually kind of become even more obsessed with him since his demotion to the NHL farm team in Winnipeg (oh, stop Jets fans.  I was just kidding).

So lets see how this has paid off for Winnipeg thus far.  Tangradi has appeared in 4 games (which includes tonight's game against the Canes.  He has a total of 41:45 of ice time but has yet to score a point, although he was on the ice when one was scored against his line.  He does have 6 shots on goal, which I suppose is encouraging.

I guess to a scout, that 7th rounder isn't looking too bad right now, huh?

I don't care though.  I'm still sticking to the plan for now.

Sadness, just sadness

Next Best Thing

Since the current situation in the NHL lockout drama hasn't really changed, my need for some ice related news is at an all time high.  So, like any hockey fan, I turned to the next best thing.  That, my friends, would be my AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had been maintaining some semblance of normalcy with the optional workouts at the team's practice facility for about a month or so.  We all know that Malkin went to the KHL to play (joining former teammate and house-mate Sergei Gonchar) but Crosby, Kunitz, Dupuis, Neal, Cooke, Vitale, Lovejoy, and a host of others had been actively participating in team related skates.  That was until the CBA expired a few weeks ago.  While they still skated through the week, they were officially locked out by the following Friday.  Now, many players have scattered to other locations to participate in a variety of "charity" games and other events to maintain season conditioning.

Since the NHL allows teams to waive players with two-way or entry-level contracts, the Pens did so to many of their "younger" guys.  Those not claimed off waivers were immediately eligible to play for WBS.  And that's exactly what they are doing.

My PC player du-jour, Eric Tangradi, was one of those guys that was still on the "baby Pens" active roster at the end of last season.  Because of that, he is afforded the opportunity to start the year in Wilkes-Barre and hopefully get a chance to move up if the season starts soon.  But the interesting thing to me as I watch some video and read the reviews of this years training camp thus far is the depth we have on that roster, especially at defense.

Our players are a virtual who's who of big time defensive prospects and top squad guys that would easily be top two line d-men on any AHL team and there are also many potential NHL starters.  Brian Strait, Robert Bortuzzo, Dylan Reese, Joey Mormina, Simon Despres, Joe Morrow, Brian Dumoulin, Alex Grant, Carl Sneep, Philip Samuelsson, and Reid McNeill are all going to be battling for only a few spots between the AHL Pens and the ECHL Wheeling Nailers.  These guys are all in for a fight and it will be interesting to see how that shakes out in the coming weeks.

As for Tangradi thus far, he has become a veteran on a team that is stacked with talent.  My hopes are still high for him to make a roster spot on the Pittsburgh team if there is a season this year.  I could see him on a line with Crosby or Malkin easily.  He tallied a goal in this years Black vs. White intrasquad scrimmage last Sunday.  The black team, coached by another of my PC players, former Penguin Bill Guerin beat the white team coached by current Pens coach Dan Bylsma 2-1 in a shootout.  Also, Wednesday night was the opening exhibition game versus the Rochester Americans.  WBS won 4-3 with an empty netter late in the third period.

As a hockey fan, I say no NHL...no problem (for now).  While the pace of the NHL games can't be matched, the AHL will fill in nicely as the next best thing in it's absence.  I will be following my 'farm' team, WBS, much closer than I usually do at this point forward.  I encourage all hockey fans to go out and support your local clubs too to get your hockey fix.

New Tangradi Additions

I picked up a couple new Tangradi's for my PC recently.  Actually, I won both of these on auction quite a while ago but between the lengthy wait time for shipping from Canada and the lack of time on my part, they have been sitting on my desk for a few weeks. 

I'll keep this short and just get to the goods.

2010-11 Victory Black Rookie - The black parallels in Victory are a tough pull.  Most boxes only had one, some had none.  But either way, these aren't even listed in the Beckett because of scarcity.  I'm going to guess there are probably less than 50 of these although Upper Deck didn't serial number them.  I have the base and hopefully will have the Red Parallel soon.  There is a little nick on this one down on the bottom right but otherwise, it's an awesome card.

2010-11 Certified Potential Mirror Blue Parallel - - I have the base one of these I think as well as a Mirror Red Parallel.  The Blue are numbered out of /100 so they are a much tougher pull.  But not as hard as the Mirror Gold, Mirror Emerald, or Mirror Black which fall /25, /5, and /1 respectively.  I have yet to see any of these out there floating around, nor the other versions of the base auto card. 

New Tangradi's; Hooray!

I'm so far behind on posts.  I have about 2 dozen started, but none of them finished.

In the meantime, here are some new Tangradi's for the PC.  Inching closer and closer to my goal with every new acquisition.

I don't know if I already posted the UD Exclusives card or not but here it is again just in case.  I also finally got my hands on the Jeunes Lanceurs version.  I bid on this 4 times and lost.

The Luxury Suite Rookie was already in the collection but not this GOLD version.  These are serial numbered #/10.  I was 2 seconds away from another but lost.

Another addition to the Letter Marks goal.  I still can't believe the "T" was lost in the mail way back when.  These don't surface very often.  This is numbered #/50.

I'm pretty sure I posted this one before but here it is again.  It's a dual patch card of Tangradi and Alex Pechursky.  I have a couple other Pechursky autos too.  It always cracks me up to see his signature because it looks like it says Fleury Is 40.  This is numbered #/35.

I thought I had this one already but I didn't.  I have ones that are similar (the Debut Threads ones) but not this one.  It's an Auto/Patch numbered #/35. 

These are two minor releases by Choice 2010 and Choice 2012.  These are from the WBS Penguins team sets.  I have a couple more of these to obtain before I have all the AHL cards.

This is the SP Game Used Authentic Rookies numbered #/699.  These can also be found in the Spectrum version numbered #/10.  I will have one of those one day but until then, this will suffice.

This would be my fifth...?  Yeah, fifth I think, printing plate.  I was never a big fan of these but if I fancy myself a SUPER COLLECTOR, I have to have them on principle.  This is the black plate from the Artifacts set.

 Finally, here is his O-Pee-Chee rookie Retro Rainbow Parallel numbered #/100.  I can't tell you how many of these that slipped through my fingers either.  I'm just glad someone had a BIN for a reasonable price.  Apparently I'm not the only Tangradi collector out there.