Making His Marc

I feel like I've been making new trading partners right and left lately, Matt from Bob Walk the Plank and I finally made an exchange, Andy Stetson came out of the woodwork on Twitter and I have a pending post detailing an insert-filled envelope from Steve of The Card Chop fame.  Card collecting in the 21st century is such an enriching experience thanks to the generosity of the blogosphere.

Another trading partner who has emerged lately in Marc, who currently does not tend a blog of his own, but is a well-known reader.  He contacted me with an offer of some Blackhawks cards in exchange for some Boston Bruins.  Any opportunity to flip cards I couldn't care less about for some of Chicago's finest is something I'll jump at.

Let me say, Marc certainly did his research too; every single card he sent was useful towards my Blackhawks All-Time Roster collection.   In the immortal words of pop-punk brats Sum 41, all killer, no filler:

For instance, we have this pair of Blackhawk greats from days gone by, courtesy of the Parkhurst's Captains, which I'm sure you can figure out what qualifies a skater for that checklist.

Extra bonus points to Marc for finishing out the Blackhawks portion of the Sutter family for me.  With that Darryl card on the left, I now have cards for him, Brian, Duane and Brent, who all played for Chicago at some point.  Rich and Ron also spent time in the NHL for other clubs.  Eat your heart out Alou brothers!

Both cards were new additions to my Roster binder and, as an added bonus, both are serial numbered as well.  Of course, 3,999 is hardly limited and a rather arbitrary number to limit them too; still pretty nifty in my book, though.

Sticking with players of yorn and the Parkhurst brand, we have the helmet-less Eric Nesterenko - who, aside from having a super fun to say last name, was part of the Stanley Cup Champs of Chicago in 1961.

Also, I must say, the Parkhurst brand is quickly becoming my favorite hockey product... maybe it's just the old-timey hockey photos that really catch my eye.  Anyway, love 'em.

Things get a little more recent here.  Henderson had a brief 4 game cameo with the Hawks in the 2001-02 season (which made up about 67% of his NHL career); meanwhile, Lang had a much longer career, but was only a Hawk from 2008-09, leaving right before things got really good around here.

Two more short-term stoppers crossed off the to-get list.

Steve McCarthy is one prospect who managed to have a fairly decent NHL career, playing in parts of 9 seasons at the sport's highest level.  He's still playing professionally, having bounced around foreign leagues and the AHL since 2011.  More importantly, he was a Blackhawk who's card I did not posses until Marc came around.

The last entirely new name to be added to my binder was Mike Maneluk, whose 28 game Chicago stint in 1998-99 made up a little less than half of his NHL ice time.  While this rookie card may not be worth much monetarily, pretty much any Pacific card holds value in my eyes.  Look how gloriously garish and busy this puppy is; I adore that foil etching on the right.

Obligatory "I miss Pacific" musings.

While this was the extent of the entirely new additions to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster collection, Marc was done boosting my collection yet; there were still several more cards that provided upgrades:

MORE PACIFIC!

Hall of Famer Doug "Killer" Gilmour spent a couple of years in Chicago (as a Captain, as you can see), as did Michael Nylander.  While both of these men were already represented in my collection, they were present in the wrong uniforms.  Thanks to Marc, I can now replace those cards with shiny new Blackhawks cards.

Additionally, I think that Gilmour is my favorite card from the whole envelope - it's so very shiny.

Two more upgrades rounded up the hockey portion of the PWE, with both Bryan Berard and Marty Turco donning the correct sweaters, this time,  

Both players were one-season wonders (wonders being used quite liberally) in Chicago, with Turco's lasting legacy being that guy who tended goal right before Corey Crawford emerged and solidified the position.  Someday that will be a factoid that you can bust out at your local watering hole's trivia night.

Now, hockey made up the bulk of the PWE; but, Marc did include one baseball card featuring an all-time Chicago favorite as a parting shot:

What better way than to close out a trade which provided me with 7 completely new-to-me Blackhawks players and 4 upgrades than with a new-to-me card of the one and only Mr. Cub.  Even better, it's a slightly less often used picture from Ernie's younger days, as evidenced by the mid-50's uniform style.

Thank you very much for the spectacular PWE - here's hoping that this is the start of a long and fruitful trade partnership.  Although, I'm going to have to restock my Bruins accumulation, unless you want a bunch of 1990-92 Score (but who actually wants that?).

You certainly made your "Marc" on my collection!