Cincinnati Card Show - January 13th

Well, the flu has been keeping me down these past several days so I've got quite a bit of blogging to catch up on - starting with the card show I attended last Sunday. Held at the Blue Ash Crowne Plaza on the east side of Cincy, the show was a little more than an hour's drive for me so I really had my fingers crossed that there would be enough hockey-related material to make the trip worthwhile. Not only that, but I haven't been to an organized show for more than a year. My last attempt was a show in Lexington where I was quite literally laughed out of the place because of my interest in hockey. To say that Kentucky is not hockey friendly is a gross understatement. Anyway, off to Cincy....

Sadly, the show was home to only four dealers - and only one of those had any hockey cards to speak of. Even more unfortunate, for me, was that those hockey cards consisted of unopened packs of 1990-91 Upper Deck. Not wanting to leave empty handed, I coughed up $1 for six packs and slunk back to my car and got started on my 60+-minute drive home.

At home, my pulls were less than thrilling (not that there's much about this set to be excited about in the first place). I pulled one of the terrible hologram cards, which I think is the Brett Hull solo card. They're unnumbered with no info on the backs and so poorly designed that I can't make out anything about the uniform. I won't even bother scanning it. Instead, here's the Kip Miller Young Gun from one of the packs:

Michigan native Kip comes from what, in my opinion, is a true hockey dynasty. His cousin Ryan is the Sabres' netminder while his other cousin Drew currently skates for the Red Wings. Kip's brothers Kevin and Kelly also spent a number of years in the NHL with various teams. So not a great pull from an investment perspective, but a nice addition for my "Michigan Natives" collection.

The six packs also yielded up three cards for my Red Wings collection, which is not a great ration but I'll take 'em.

2013 Hockey Card Collecting Goals

Looking back on 2012, the year after I returned to the hobby of hockey card collecting, it's pretty obvious to me that the NHL lockout had an immense impact on my motivation. As a meager show of protest against the repulsive greed shown by the Bettman Bloc I have resolved not to purchase new NHL-licensed merchandise for the foreseeable future - which includes cards. Such a stance has clearly taken a toll on my ability to grow my collection, but I have indulged in the second-hand market (eBay) from time to time in order to get my fix. As most of you know, hockey card collecting is an addicting hobby and any period of inactivity is destined to be short-lived. So as I am once again swept up in the wake of the hobby, I've decided to set out some goals for 2013 (assuming the 2012-13 NHL season will not exist).

1. Organize. My collection is in complete disarray. I made some significant progress in 2012 thanks to Zistle and SCF, but there's still an incredible amount of work to do. While most of my trade stock is sorted, cataloged, and properly stored, the cards that comprise my collections are scattered. I need to get that under control - sooner rather than later.

2. Trade. I've completed two trades on SCF thus far, and none on Zistle, so I have to work on increasing those stats. Not only do I want to get away from the often ridiculous shipping prices demanded by eBay sellers, but I have thousands of base cards and low-value inserts that I'd like to unload - preferably helping other collectors out in the process. The problem for me has been, so far, twofold - lack of cards I need on other collectors' trade lists and what seems to be a general reluctance by other collectors to actually engage in online trading.

3. Expand. Right now my active collections are Red Wings, Blue Jackets, and TTM autos of American-born active players. I want to expand to include player collections of all Michigan-born players. I've already got that underway with Keith Aldridge, but in 2013 I want that collecting focus to play a more active role in my acquisitions.

So there they are - my three hockey card collecting resolutions for 2013. I'd love to hear about some collecting resolutions from others in the hobby!

eBay Score: Jaroslav Balastik

I got this nice on-card auto for just $0.99 from a seller in in York, PA, that I've bought a couple of cards from in the past. He's definitely got some quality items at very reasonable prices (and low shipping).

The design of this Fresh Ink subset of 2005-06 Fleer Ultra is so-so.  I'm not a huge fan of the spilled ink look, but it doesn't do enough to distract away from the player photo so I can live with it. Balastik (or Balaštík) is another of the Blue Jackets' Czech draftees, being taken in the 6th round of the 2002 draft. He emerged from the Czech Extraliga in 2005, playing in 14 games for Columbus' AHL affiliate Syracuse before being elevated to the Blue Jackets for the balance of the season. In 66 games, Balastik was 12-10-22 with 26 PIM, but stood out for his sniping skills during shootouts - 6 of 9 (67% for my fellow math illiterates)! Despite numbers that weren't too terribly off from the team as a whole, the Jackets sent Balastik packing back to Europe where he remains.

The reverse of the card is really rather disappointing. The certificate of authenticity aside, there's really nothing to the back other than the mailing address of Fleer. What the hell do I need that for?

eBay Score: Jordan Pearce

My first foray into the Between the Pipes offering from In The Game comes in the form of this 2011 Jordan Pearce Goaligraph.

During his collegiate career with Notre Dame, Jordan earned the CCHA Goaltender of the Year for the 2008-09 season - after which the Red Wings signed him to a two-year contract. For the last three seasons, Jordan has bounced between the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) and Toledo Walleye (ECHL) as the Wings extended his contract through the 2012-13 season - which we all know will soon be completely eliminated.

I managed to acquire this nicely signed (on-card) specimen from a seller in Warrenton, Virgina for just $0.99 plus a very reasonable shipping charge.

eBay Score: David Vyborny

Sticking with an unintentional Czech theme, I scored this 2008-09 Fleer Ultra Uniformity David Vyborny #UA-DV game-used jersey card (and once more, for the perfectionists - Výborný).  The swatch is rather bland, as are most of the Jackets relics on the market, but the card design isn't too terribly bad. Not necessarily exciting, the subdued wintry accents nevertheless convey a nice hockey "mood".

Originally drafted by Edmonton in the 2nd round of the 1993 draft, Vyborny was a rising star in the Czech Extraliga. He was tearing up the league as a member of Sparta Prague when he joined the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL for the 1994 season, where he notched up 61 points in 76 games. For reasons that I don't understand, Edmonton didn't keep Vyborny in North America after that season. Although he returned to setting records in the Czech league, it wasn't until the 2000 campaign (the inaugural season of the Jackets) when Vyborny reached the NHL after Columbus signed him to add some offensive pop to the line-up. And pop he did. While not necessarily a superstar, he would set (over the next several seasons) franchise records for plus/minus and consecutive games before eventually returning to the Czech Republic after the 2007-08 campaign - where he continues to play though his numbers have dwindled significantly.

Purchased from a seller in northern Wisconsin for just $0.99 plus a fairly reasonable shipping charge, this pick-up wasn't a bad score.  Booking at $8, there haven't been very many of them on the market lately.

eBay Score: Tomas Popperle

Is it really a "score" when the player is someone that no one (or very few people) have ever heard of? If the card fills a void in your collection, then you bet your ass it is! Which, of course, is the motivation behind my eBay pickup of this 2007-08 SPx #160 Tomas Popperle 573/999 rookie card (or Tomáš Pöpperle, for the perfectionists).

Tomas was a product of the sometimes questionable draft practices employed by the then-GM of the Blue Jackets Doug MacLean. In the 2005 draft, which say the likes of Kris Russell and enforcer Jared Boll become Jackets, MacLean snagged Popperle in the fifth round. While those taken ahead of him in the draft have each laced up their skates several hundred times in the NHL, the Czech native saw action just twice - both times during the 2006-07 campaign. Tomas stayed in the AHL for a part of the following season before returning to the Czech Republic, where he continues to play.

As for the card itself, I'm not a huge fan of the design. Too much of the player is obscured by graphic flourishes, and the "digital" font is just a pain in the ass to read. Yet, it fills a void so the $.099 (plus shipping) I sent to the seller in Quarryville, PA is justified.

eBay Score: September 9th, 2012

When that little brown padded envelope arrived in the mail today, I got to thinking about the month-end eBay posts I've been doing. Originally, having won just a card or two a month, the posts weren't too bad length-wise. I've stepped up my hunt, so the acquisitions have been increasing and the blog posts are getting correspondingly larger. Therefore, I'm going to try posting as the packages arrive - starting today.

The first win of September is a three-card score from hockeycv in York, PA. I apologize for the lousy scan quality, but these foil cards and my scanner don't get along very well.

This Pavel Datsyuk 2005-06 UD Black Diamond #134 books for $8, but there are a number on the Beckett Marketplace for less than a buck. I ventured $0.99 on this card, which in itself isn't a great deal, but I needed multiple items to save on shipping so consider this an insurance purchase.

Next up is this Chris Osgood 2000-01 Be A Player Signature Series #235 Ruby parallel, numbered 35/200.

Booking at $5, this card is showing up for $2.50 on Beckett but not getting a lot of love on eBay. Another $0.99 snag.

Finally is this Marc Rodgers 1999-00 SP Authentic #102 rookie card numbered 368/2000. Booking at $5 and selling between $3.00 and $5 on Beckett, I grabbed it for $0.99.

Marc had a brief NHL career, playing in just 21 games with the Red Wings. His last season on the ice was 2001-02 with the Knoxville Speed of the UHL. This isn't a bad looking card, but if I were Marc, I would have sued over the use of that most unfortunate photo on the reverse.