Ryane Clowe PC Website

Created a website for my Clowe player collection; check it out http://ryaneclowepc.weebly.com/

Ryane Clowe Player Collection

Dedication to a Paul Kariya player collection has waned away rather quickly; I realized that there's just too much stuff - stuff I'll never have, stuff I'll never see and stuff I'd never be able to unload that kind of money on.  There's also already many Paul Kariya PCs out there and some really really good ones.  But I still love the idea of player collecting and think the chase and adventure would be fun, so without further ado I've already began another collection, Ryane Clowe of the San Jose Sharks - a fellow native of Newfoundland.

This guy is tough as nails and can score.  He's also been a vital force in the Sharks lineup since his rookie season.

I've started a database and have uploaded what I currently have in my collection; yeah I know - right now it's looking pretty weak, weighing in at just 8 base cards and a sticker; but things will get better.  You can check out the status and the database of uploaded cards in my collection by clicking here or on the link to the right sidebar.

Maybe once I get further into collecting Clowe I'll branch off onto other Newfoundland players in the league; but one thing at a time.

Mail Day! Trade With Shoeboxlegends

My wisdom teeth extraction is in t-minus 6 hours and I figured that I should finally post this trade I made with Shoeboxlegends almost five months ago, if however I should bleed to death in the dentist chair and never get the opportunity.  Also since the fact that I got around to gathering up my finds to send in return to Shoebox, I figured better late than never to show some collector courtesy.

Shoebox sent me some very nice cards to help complete a couple 2011-12 and 2010-11 sets that I had been working on as well as a few other cards that he figured I would enjoy.

Teemu Selanne 1993-94 Leaf Hat Trick Artists #3 - Love the hat trick insert set idea and the full-bleed photos featured on the cards.  Here`s Selanne in a Jets uniform streaking up the ice; he would light the lamp thrice in a game a total of five times during the 1992-93 season.

Mail Day! Paul Kariya 1997-98 Upper Deck McDonalds Game Film # F6

Ya know, I haven't received a card in the mail for quite some time.  I was surprised that this one arrived so fast when I found it in the mailbox this morning.

Picked up another Kariya to add to the player collection later last week.  This card is from the annual (since cancelled) 1997-98 McDonald's Upper Deck release; "Game Film" was randomly inserted into packs, each featuring a design similar to a strip of film.  As I can remember these cards were heavily sought-after back then and they still hold their value these days.

Couldn't find anything special in relation to the date printed on the card aside from the fact that the Mighty Ducks played the Vancouver Canucks that night and lost in overtime.

Paul Kariya PC Pickups

I just want to state that there is an unbelievable amount of Paul Kariya out there, unbelievable.  Since starting my player collection I've made an attempt at gathering what I've already accumulated through collecting and ordered a few cards online.  I didn't know the demand for Paul Kariya was still so high; I think I ended up in a bidding war during every card I placed a bid on.

But anyway it's been fun so far and I've found myself daily searching Kariya and drooling over cards I wish I had for my PC; someday.  I'll try and keep in mind the advice some of you had shared when I began this project, "It's not a race".

Anyway I picked up a few cards to add to the collection from the local shop earlier this morning, the guy gave me 50% off on them so I ended up spending my allotted $10.

Hull / Kariya / Bure 1995-96 Donruss Dominators #6 #d 1850/5000 - This was my favorite card from the pickup, featuring Hull, Kariya and Bure.  I was never really a Hull fan but Kariya and Bure were two of my favorites growing up.  It's serial numbered on the back out of a hefty 5000 by the way.

Paul Kariya 2000-01 Upper Deck Ice Rink Favorites #FP1 - An insert from the early 2000s Upper Deck Ice series, Ice Rink Favorites.  I like the look of those Mighty Duck sweaters but the unique unpopular "Wild Wing" jerseys are still my personal favorite.  The card is slighty see-through at the top, nice card.

Paul Kariya 1999-00 Topps Premier Plus Premier Team #PT1 - Topps Premier Plus, hrm never heard of this set before.  Cool looking card with the Mighty Duck logo in the background - the card has a textured feel to it that you can sorta see from the scan.  Got it for a buck, had to pick it up.

 

Paul Kariya 2000-01 Upper Deck SP Authentic Parent's Scrapbook PS1 - Parent's Scrapbook?  Alright.  Card is made to resemble a notebook and a faded photograph of a young Paul Kariya with the current Kariya in the foreground.  The back features a quote from Paul's mom Sharon mentioning how he always wanted to play with the big boys and how he always liked to share the puck.

And that was all she wrote for this Wednesday morning.  It's coming along.

On a personal note, I have an appointment to have my wisdom teeth (all four) removed via oral surgery on Friday, not looking forward to it at all.  Have any of you guys had your wisdom teeth removed, share your experiences!

2011-12 Panini Certified Recap

After pulling the Stamkos #d/5 several days ago, I  opted to pick up several more packs of 2011-12 Panini Certified.  I came out of it with a few nice cards to add to my collection.

Tyler Seguin "Fabrics Of The Game Prime" #14 07/25 - Here's my favorite pull from the break, a Tyler Seguin patch featuring three colors; what appears to be a piece of his jersey number or name, maybe neither - I can't really tell to be honest.  On the downside the piece is considerably small, there's so much empty space on the card!

 

Ales Hemsky "Fabrics Of The Game Prime" #57 03/10 - The consistant pulls of Oiler players won't stop coming, I won't complain, I'll take it - although I wouldn't list Hemsky in my top 3 Oilers I'd like to see spotlighted on this card above.  Anyway two colors on a jumbo piece, showing some stitching makes this a nice one.

Joe Nieuwendyk "Immortals" Mirror Red #170 13/25 - Nice three color piece from a recent inductee into the HOF.  Correct me if I'm wrong, this may very well not be a Mirror Red, for your information I am colorblind.

Dustin Byfuglien Mirror Blue Signature #112 18/99 - I really like the base of this card, Byfuglien sporting the retro Jets sweater and all.  It's too bad they didn't decide to keep them around, I really don't like the look of the new logo much.

Ben Holmstrom "Freshman Signatures" #175 - Haven't heard of this guy before but an on-card auto is always welcome.

I also pulled a few Mirror Blue cards which included a piece of fabric, all #d out of 99.  Okoposo is probably my favorite since it's a color other than the seemingly popular black and white swtahces.

2011-12 Upper Deck Black Diamond Break

I ripped a few packs of the latest 2011-12 Upper Deck Black Diamond earlier today; I must say that my luck on pulling some nice cards have been on my side lately.

I'll start this post off with my biggest hit...

Ryan Nugent Hopkins ""Rookie Gems" Quad Diamond #250 - My second Hopkins card and it's a big one.

I also pulled a couple other quad diamond cards from the break.  Love how Upper Deck decided to use an All-Star game photo for the quad cards.

Mike Gartner #213 Quad Diamond
Matt Frattin # 234 "Rookie Gems" Quad Diamond

I also pulled eight triple diamond cards including a gold version #d out of 10.

Maxime Macenauer "Rookie Gems" #177 Triple Diamond
Cam Atkinson "Rookie Gems" #180 Triple Diamond
Brett Bulmer "Rookie Gems" #199 Triple Diamond
Cam Atkinson "Rookie Gems" Gold #180 Triple Diamond #d 09/10

Paul Postma "Rookie Gems" #195 Triple Diamond
Zdeno Chara #162 Triple Diamond
Ryan Kesler #155 Triple Diamond
Rick Nash #164 Triple Diamond

Anddd five double diamonds

Evander Kane #101 Double Diamond
Jimmy Howards #113 Double Diamond
Joe Pavelski #121 Double Diamond
Jeff Skinner #126 Double Diamond
Daniel Alfredsson #144 Double Diamond

Overall pretty happy with the results, just thought I'd share.

2011-12 Panini Certified Hit Parade Break

I ripped a few packs of 2011-12 Panini Certified a few days past and added a few nice cards to my collection because of it.  I was stoked on the Sam Gagner and Cody Hodgson pulls from several days ago, but this break went beyond my expectations.

I want to start this break results post with my biggest hit; quite possibly the best card I've pulled since picking the hobby back up again eight months ago.

It's a Steven Stamkos "Fabrics Of The Game Prime" #134 numbered just 4/5 - the cards been cut out spotlighting his 45 goals scored during the 2010-11 season, underneath the cut-out is a layer of jersey.  Not too shabby, I have never pulled a card numbered so low before.

Second favorite card from the break...

Here's a Daniel Sedin "Fabrics Of The Game" #143 numbered 15/25; featuring a nice sticker signature (I'm assuming).  Great!

Al Arbour "Certified Champions" #17 Gold Version numbered 10/25.  Second in wins and games coached in NHL history.

Brendon Nash "Freshman Signatures" #181 - Not familiar with this rookie, nice auto though.

Mikka Kiprusoff "Mirror Blue" Jersey Swatch #30 numbered 40/99.

Derek Stepan "Totally Silver" #150

Ilya Kovalchuk "Mirror Blue" #118 numbered 15/99

I also pulled a couple "Masked Marvels" cards.  Ondrej Pavelec #14 and Carey Price #3.

Overall it was one of the best breaks I've ever done, I've fallen in love with this product.  I have a few more packs to rip but I don't think this mojo will keep up.  We'll have to see!

Watch the entire incredibly awkward live break underneath the cut.

2011-12 Panini Certified Hockey Blaster Break

Decided to give myself a taste of the 2011-12 Panini Certified series earlier today; picked up a blaster box that included three packs, five cards per pack.
Let's kick it off with the 'hit' from the blaster...

A Sam Gagner #60 Mirror Red Dual Materials numbered 12/150.

I figured that this pull from the blaster was also scan worthy....

Cody Hodgson #7 Certified Potential - My first Hodgson card.  He has been enjoying a pretty solid season thus far.  I might have been a little happier to pull this card than the Gagner.

I went ahead and scanned the rest of the cards, jump the cut to check them out.

Paul Kariya Player Collection Starting Line

I've been admiring everyones 'player collections' recently - so much that it has sparked an interest inside me to make an attempt at starting my own.  Card collecting wise, starting my own 'player collection' has been the only thing that has been on my mind recently.

As you all can assume from the picture posted above (and title of this blog post), my player collection will be focused around the trading card career of my second favorite all-time player, Paul Kariya.  What a gem this guy was; just wish he hadn't skated his way down career ending, post-concussion syndrome alley.  My hockey fantasy dream was to see him suit up with the Penguins one day.

• Do you have a 'player collection'?  Who?
• Do you search out for every card or do you go a different colecting route?
• How do you store your 'personal collection'?  Does it have it's own binder?  How about top-loaders; do you store them seperate from your others?

 Guess I'll go sort through my card collection and get a head start gathering up Kariya cards!

2011-12 Panini Pinnacle Break Pull

I've been picking up a few packs of 2011-12 cards here and there, mostly Upper Deck and Pinnacle - although the pack breaks have helped garner progress in the set collecting department, they haven't resulted in much "hit"-wise.
While out picking up a few things today I continued my sporatic pack breaking with several more packs of 2011-12 Upper Deck and Pinnacle.  Out of the Upper Deck, noteworthy would be the Colin Greening Young Guns #230 and a Canvas card of Patric Hornqvist #C49.

From the 2011-12 Pinnacle breaks I did manage to pull a card I thought was scan worthy:

Here's a 2011-12 Pinnacle Zenith "Yours Truly" Update #SA Sam Gagner on card auto.  Surprised would be the most accurate emotion to describe the feeling when I pulled this as I've given myself the unshakable impression there's a "never pull a decent card" cloud looming over my head.

My National Hockey Card Day 2012 Experience

Well yesterday was the first year since getting into the hobby again that I participated in National Hockey Card Day; even brought along my fiance for the extra pack help.

The night before I took a few minutes and scoutted out the hobby stores in my area (using the list given on Upper Decks website) that were partaking in the event - weren't many listed to be honest, two stores actually.

The first hobby store I hit up wasn't even participating in the event, albit being a listed location on Upper Decks website - the guy was pretty straight up and slightly rude about it, claiming that they weren't doing it because they had to pay for the packs; understandable I guess but his tone and quick reaction to my question turned me off entirely.

Good enough!  Next stop was the Toys R' Us - their way of celebrating National Hockey Card Day was with a free oversized 2012 NHCD card with the purchase of any Upper Deck product.  Limited one per customer.

I picked up a $0.99 pack of 2008-09 Upper Deck Victory from a bin and claimed my oversized card:

#OS4 Mario Lemieux, my all-time favorite player.  The oversized card I had hoped to receive!
We then headed to the other (and final) hobby store with fingers crossed, to take our chances at a couple packs of National Hockey Card Day cards.  We were in luck!  We both received a pack; here's the breakdown - I am very pleased with the cards that I pulled from just these two packs as they featured all the players I had hoped to pull.

Wayne Gretzky / Heroes #11
Mark Messier / Heroes #14
Mario Lemieux / Heroes # 13

Robero Luongo / Pride Of Canada #8
Taylor Hall / Pride Of Canada # 6
P.K. Subban / Pride Of Canada #7

Jonathan Toews / Pride Of Canada # 10

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins / Rookies #2

Martin Brodeur / Heroes #15





National Hockey Card Day 2012

Just a quick reminder that it's Upper Deck's National Hockey Card Day in Canada and the United States tomorrow February 11, 2012, so remember to drop into your local sports hobby store and pick up a pack - gather as many of your friends and family and reap the benefis.

London Drugs and Toys R' Us are aso featuring a special promotion tomorrow in account for National Hockey Card Day as well - with a purchase of any Upper Deck product you will receive a 5x10 card from this years NHCD set.

Belated Christmas Gift Update

I know, It's been almost two months since Christmas but I haven't been around much to post an update on the sweet gift my fiance gave to me.

Here's a five piece Pittsburgh Penguins Russian nesting dolls set circa - I'm not really sure, but judging by the players represented I'm going to guess mid-late 90s.

I was very surprised when I opened this up as I was totally unaware that these hockey nesting dolls existed.  Each hand painted dolls is sporting the '90s Penguins logo albit the same facial design.

The set includes Lemieux, Jagr, Kovalev, Kasparaitis and Straka - like Russian nesting dolls do, they each fit inside each other perfectly.

Just a quick update, thought I would share it with some people who I think would also enjoy it.

TTM Success! Pat Verbeek

I received a returned custom just a couple of weeks ago, this one from former Devil, Whaler, Ranger, Star and Red Wing *exhale* - Pat Verbeek, "The Little Ball of Hate".

I'm not sure how many customs I've had returned now but I think the number has finally reached double digits.  Actually out of all the requests that I had previously sent away, I'm only waiting on two returns.  Pretty good numbers in my opinion.



Verbeek signed the 'back' of the card and also a few hockey cards that I also sent along for the ride but are seemingly lost in my stacks of cards that are laid out on my desk.



Not sure of the exact date in which I mailed this lot of customs but it was the latest of the bunch.