National Hockey Card Day

Do you like hockey?  Do you collect hockey-related cardboard?  Do you enjoy getting stuff for free?  If you answered "yes" to any of these three questions, boy oh boy, yesterday was the day for you:  National Hockey Card Day.

For almost ten years now, Upper Deck has sponsored this annual holiday.  Since 2010, collector's have circled this day on their calendars because not only does it celebrate one of north america's most popular sports, many local card shops are giving away FREE packs of hockey cards!  Each year, UD creates a special, exclusive set of cards to commemorate the occasion, which are then made available, in pack form, and handed out in hobby shops throughout the United States in Canada.  When I say "free," I don't mean with a qualifying purchase or some other qualifier either - these promos are completely free with no strings attached.  Walk in the door and the vendor will hand you a pretty blue foil pack!

Or two.

The whole idea behind this promotion is to drive-up interest in Upper Deck's rink-related products, one of only two sports leagues for which the industry big-wig still has an official license.  Additionally, it's hard to increase sales without getting more people in the door; as such, increasing foot traffic for participating local card shops (y'know, the people that hawk their goods) is the other major goal.  And what gets people more motivated to go somewhere or do something besides giving them free swag?

In my opinion, nothing - the marketing campaign certainly worked on me... and has consistently done so since I started hoarding hockey cards in 2015.  Each year, I make the rounds and stop into both of the card vendors nearest to me, both because the holiday offers the perfect excuse to check out what's new in each store and because two free packs are better than one.  Is that kind of greedy?  Maybe, but I reaaaaallllllly want to end up with at least one Blackhawks card.  

Each gratis pack comes with a checklist outlining the parameters of the product, plus five player cards.  Of course, there is both a Canadian and US version of this special set and obviously I've ended up with samples of the latter.  The base set for the ol' stars and stripes is 16 cards deep and is made up of a trio of subsets - America's Rookies, Stars in Stripes, and American Icons.  Furthermore, not reflected on the checklist you see above, there are also a pair of special insert sets, Victory Black Rookies and NHL Global Series, plus a smattering of autograph subjects because every set in the world has to have hits to chase now.

Enough babbling, let's see the cards!  Remember, I collect my hometown Blackhawks and, honestly, those are the only cards I care about.  If I just pull one Indian head sweater, I'll consider this "endeavor" to be a massive success.

Here's pack one, which came from my first stop - the Baseball Card King in Oak Lawn, IL:

Not Blackhawks.  Although, I do like the appearance of the NHL All-Star sweater on Auston's entry - that's kind of unique.

Yay!  A Blackhawk, in the former of Tony Amonte, one of the most reliable scorers in franchise history!  The right winger posted at least 30 goals six times and at least 40 three times, during his time in the Windy City.  Plus, he did not miss a single game for five straight seasons.  Amonte is an American Icon, indeed.

This pack-ripping experience is already triumph.  For frame of reference, it took me until the last card of my fourth pack (yea, I really burned up some gasoline that year) in 2016 to uncover a Blackhawk.  Now, the nerves and anxiety are gone and anything past this point is simply gravy.

That's a good thing too, seeing as the last two cards in pack one were not Blackhawks either.  Although, my wife originally hails from the Philadelphia area, so maybe I'll slip her that Voracek.  Hockey is her favorite sport, after all.

While we're in between packs, let's take a minute to talk about the design.  It's a little busy, especially with that "lower third graphic" - it takes up way too much of the space as it goes obtuse and intrudes upon the photo.  On the positive side, I like the depth created by blurring the background of each photo and adding a drop shadow behind the player pictured.  Plus, it's pretty neat that the skaters "pop out" of the design and aren't completely constrained by the borders, as best illustrated by Buffalo's Mittelstadt.  Overall, despite it's flaws, I find the look of the 2019 UD National Hockey Card Day set to be quite pleasing to the eyes.

Meanwhile, back at the rink, let's take a look at the contents of pack #2, this one coming from Baseball Dreams & Memories in Crestwood, IL:

Not Blackhawks and my first double.  I'd be a lot more disappointed if I didn't already pull Amonte.

In the words of one Ariana Grande - "thank you, next:"

ZOMG!!!!!!1!!!!!!1!!!!!  We have a bonafide Blackhawks hot pack!

Falling two in a row, we have two of the greatest players to ever don a black and red sweater.  Chelios played in the NHL forever, 26 seasons to be exact, including spending the entirety of the 1990's with Chicago.  The Captain was a reliable scorer and led the Hawks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992 and was thrice first-team All-Star.  Although, as much as an offensive presence as Chelios was, he was nothing compared to Patrick Kane, who is simply one of the best to ever pick up a hockey stick and continues to work magic on the ice.  He is almost single-handedly keeping the 2018-19 edition of the Hawks in contention, perhaps the most hot and cold team in franchise history.

With these pulls and my earlier Amonte score, I've now pulled the entire Blackhawks master team set from 2019 Upper Deck National Hockey Card Day and it only took my two packs.  I could never have reasonably expected this pack-bust to go so incredibly well - what luck!

To be completely frank, I don't even care what the final card is anymore.  I've got what I came for... and then some!

But, I'll include it anyway, just to be complete.  Sorry Andrei, but your star as been far outshone.

As you can plainly see, National Hockey Card Day was a rousing success for me this year.  That said, I'm extremely curious about your experiences with the day of free hockey cardboard.  Did you partake in the day's festivities?  If so, what did you pull and were you satisfied with what you found?  What was your experience like?  Did you even know this was a thing?  Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

In the meantime, if you need me, I'll be giddily sorting my new promo cards into my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection; I'm fairly certain that all three of these oddballs will be usurping the players' previous representation.

Oh and how much longer until National Baseball Card Day?

A Time of Shuffling Rosters

It's getting to be that time of year - as the mercury rises, so does the likelihood of major transactions.  Come July, players will be trading uniforms like we do baseball cards as teams try to lock and re-load their rosters in order to boost their playoff chances.  Every summer, we fans wait with bated breath to see where the big names end up and find out if our favorite teams did enough to reinforce their rosters for the grueling schedule to come.

Of course, I'm talking about the official opening of the free-agent period in the NHL.  What - you thought I was referring to the MLB trade deadline?  Oopsy, my bad.

Anyway, while Theo Epstein and crew figure out whether they need to acquire a reliable reliever, an offensive boost, or a starting pitcher more for the dog days of summer, Stan Bowman has already reportedly plugged a hole on the Blackhawks' roster.  If Chris Johnston of Sportsnet is to be believe,  Cam Ward will be bring his mask and pads to Chicago to serve as Corey Crawford's back-up for the 2018-19 season.  The free-agent signing period doesn't actually open until July 1st, but it's believed that the one-year, $2.5 million contract is all but official.

The Hawks were a major disappointment last season, failing to make the playoffs for the first time in nine years.  After nearly a decade of being the dominant force in the Chicago sports market, the current dynastic window appears to be nearly closed.

While all phases of the game can be blamed for their rapid decline, their performance between the pipes was a major contributor.  Crawford's murky injury issues kept him off the ice for most of the campaign and his replacements simply could not fill his skates.  Anton Forsberg, Colin Delia, JF Berube, Jeff Glass, and literal guy off of the street, Scott Foster, posted a combined .902 save percentage and a 17-30-8 record.  This simply was not getting the job done and, with Crow's health still a big question mark, a reliable, veteran presence was needed in the net. 

Enter Cam Ward.

The longtime goalie of the Carolina Hurricanes is certainly no longer in his prime.  Far removed from his days as a playoff MVP and Stanley Cup winner in 2006, the 34-year old has been in something of a platoon, splitting time with former Blackhawk, Scott Darling, last year.  On the season, Ward contributed a 23-14-4 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 43 games. 

Here's hoping that, at the very least, Ward can provide a steady presence on the roster and find a way to lock the revolving door that led to the net in 2017-18.  Ideally, a recovered Crawford will keep Ward from seeing too much time on the ice anyway.

Luckily for me, I had a pair of Cam cards stashed in my hockey trade box, which you can see above.  I'll wait until July 1st to add him to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection, just in case the deal falls through before the official signing period begins, but it sure looks as though these previous bits of trade bait came in handy.  Perhaps I'll be able to mine that box for more cards once the free agents begin moving in earnest come Sunday?  The Hawks sure could use a forward and a defenseman or two and Bowman and company actually have some cap space to work with - Ward's modest deal did not change that.  We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, welcome to Chicago, Mr. Ward!  Oh... and Theo... maybe you can bring in a rotation arm to eat some innings or a bench bat?  That roster-shuffling period will be here before we know it.

I Just Don't Understand

There are plenty of things in this world that I don't understand.  For instance, what is the meaning of life?  Who really killed John F. Kennedy?  What happened to Jimmy Hoffa?  What is the solution to peace in the middle east?  Who is Banksy, really?  If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?  What do Tigers dream of, when they take a little tiger snooze?  These are questions that truly baffle the mind.

However, this is a trading card blog, not a conspiracy theory or philosophy forum; thus, this is not the space for me to work through these conundrums.  That said, there is one specific, cardboard-related issue that recently came to the forefront of my mind that I simply do not comprehend... not in the slightest.  It's a situation that I'm sure you fellow collectors have encountered, as well, as it appears to be a fairly common one in today's hobby market.

Please, allow me to explain:

As you might recall, yesterday, I wrote about my first experience with the 2018 edition of Topps Series II.  While I was nonplussed, there were still a handful of cards that I desired from the checklist, including the Yu Darvish single that you see above.  This pasteboard represents the erstwhile ace's first traditional card in Cubbie Blue and thus a dire need for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Unfortunately, Yu did not fall out of the 72-card hanger box that I blogged about; however, it has thankfully made it into my grubby hands.

Quite the quick turnaround, eh?

Shortly after hitting post on yesterday's thoughts, I took an impromptu trip to my local card shop - Baseball Dreams and Memories.  While on my way home from work, I suddenly felt the urge to swing by, flip through some cardboard, and see if the owner had priced any singles from Series II yet.  Maybe the cards I was chasing would be right out in the open for me?

Not so.  At least, not initially.

Although, I wasn't too disappointed with the lack of Series II displayed, seeing as I was able to spot a pair of young Chicago hotshots for a couple of my other Windy City team-based roster collections.  Both DeBrincat and Cohen were surprising, breakout contributors to the Blackhawks and Bears (respectively) last season and were thus hot targets in the Chi-Town hobby scene.  However, patience is a virtue and waiting until the off-season allowed me to bring these rooks home for much more reasonable prices.

Here's hoping they can avoid the sophomore slump!

I was also able to dig another pair of Bears out of a plastic bin for my Monsters of the Midway All-Time Roster Collection.  Eddie Jackson emerged at safety in 2017, showing the potential to become a key member of the defense for years to come.  Meanwhile, Allen Robinson was signed during this off-season to hopefully provide a steady target for quarterback, Mitch Trubisky.  The Bears have had a whale of a time finding wide receivers over the last several years.

Then, just for good measure, I decided to grab this 2017 Heritage single out of a box of miscellaneous Cubs as I made my way up to the cash register.  What can I say?  Those pearly whites just drew me in.  This happy, retro card will happily represent Q in my CATRC binder - I like i much better than any of his 2018 cards that I have.

And that is where my shopping came to an end.... or at least that's where I thought it was going to end.

When I met the owner at the check out, I randomly and impulsively slipped out of my socially awkward shell and asked about his Series II stock.  Maybe he had busted a box and simply hadn't put the loot out on the shelves just yet?  Normally my debilitating shyness keeps me from any sort of inquiries.  But, something in the back of my mind told me I needed to get over it and just ask.

And it's a darn good thing that I did.

As it turns out, the shopkeeper hadn't yet busted a box of the newest product to hit the market; however, one of his customers had done so in-store.  Furthermore, that same customer busted his box, took the hits, and left EVERYTHING else behind.  I'm not just talking about the base cards either, but the inserts and parallels as well.... just as if they were crumpled wrappers, good for nothing but landfill stuffing.  This absolutely boggles my mind.

First of all, maybe this is my inner cheapskate talking, but why wouldn't you just take what you've already paid for instead of immediately discarding it?  Talk about a waste of hard-earned dinero!  I can't imagine being willing to drop over fifty bucks on a box, in the hopes of landing an Ohtani hit (or whatever), and immediately casting aside 99% of the purchase.  In my eye, you might as well just light those bills on fire.

His (or her's) frivolity was my benefit though, seeing as the above single represents the first true Cubs card of Dillon Maples to make it into my collection;  the Kane County Cougars single from Pro Debut, which had previously occupied his spot in my CATRC, will be kicked back to my minor league binder.

Furthermore, I just don't understand this mindset of "collecting."  Clearly, this mystery customer was only after the expensive and shiny hits of the hobby - like I said, they even left the inserts behind.  Simply chasing the latest and the greatest, only the high-end... where's the fun in that?   That sounds like and expensive, boring, and almost always disappointing way to collect something as fun and interesting as baseball cards.

This person clearly would not feel the joy that I did when I found Drew Smyly in a Cubs uniform.  Although he is still on the shelf, recovering from Tommy John Surgery, his rehab appears to be progressively rapidly and me might just see him take the field in 2018.  At any rate, his two-year deal basically guarantees that he'll receive an audition at some point, so this was a definite need for my CATRC.  As an added benefit, now I don't have to chase down Drew's 2018 Heritage Cubs debut, a dreaded short print.

Nope, this person just took their hit and ran... leaving the remnants behind for someone else to deal with.  As I was flipping through the abandoned loot, I assisted the shop owner with pulling out the Cubs and White Sox cards for pricing.  As a thank you,  he allowed me to add the Darvish, Maples, and Smyly to my purchase pile for pennies on the dollar.  I must admit, that left me feeling pretty "smyly" myself.

Has anyone else here on the blogosphere encountered this type of "just the hits, ma'am" collector?  How do you feel about this method of collecting.  If you are one of those who happens to collect this way, how do you keep the hobby from getting stale in your eyes?  I don't mean to judge, I'm just trying to understand.

Also, if someone could explain the concept of dark matter and the enduring popularity of Fortnite    those are a couple of other things that I just do not get.

The Find of a Lifetime?

This baseball has been sitting on my dresser for more than a year now, with the rest of my miscellaneous diamond memorabilia.  Before that, it rested on my computer desk for several years, serving as something of a paper weight and decoration, something to bring a little bit of flare to my workspace.  Honestly, I've never really known what to do with my autographed baseballs.  I do not have a lot of them, but (as you can tell) figuring out a proper way to display them has eluded me for quite a long time.

This particular signed hardball came into my possession through my now sister-in-law, who generously bought it for me as a birthday gift a few years back.  As I recall, she came across this bit of ephemera while browsing through a local thrift store one day.  While she had no idea who had inked their name on the sweet spot, for a couple of bucks, she correctly surmised that it might make a fun birthday surprise for the biggest baseball fanatic in her social circle.  She's always taken good care of me when it comes to gifting.

The John Hancock was a mystery to me as well, perhaps a "Steve" or  "Stan" someone who once played minor league baseball or something.  With not much else to go on, I placed the ball on my desk, intending to come back and do some more in-depth research later.  Finally, after kicking the can way down the road, this past weekend, I got an answer as to who might have scribbled on it.  However, we'll come back to that in a little bit.

Before I reveal the ID of the mystery signer, I should note that this wasn't the first time that a graphed baseball had gone from a thrift store shelf to my apartment.  Actually, just months before that gift from my sister, the local Savers provided the piece that you see above.  While he wasn't a star player, Craig Grebeck was a utility man for the White Sox, Marlins, Angels, Blue Jays, and Red Sox  and had a lengthy 12 year career in the Bigs - not a bad autograph to find for the price of a meal off of the McDonald's Dollar Menu.  Plus, the guy played for one of my hometown teams, which is always a major plus in my book (even if it's the wrong team).

Of course, the thrift shop signature search doesn't stop there either:

A couple of Christmases ago (note the tree in the background of these pictures), I was doing some shopping at the nearest Goodwill... not for seasonal gifts, mind you, but as a mental respite from the chaos and mayhem that is department store shopping during the holidays.  Anyway, finding this game-used, minor league baseball uniform signed by long-time Major Leaguer, Mike Marshall, certainly qualified as a welcome respite.  The former Dodger All-Star came back seven seasons after his last pro action to play 33 games for his hometown Schaumburg Flyers of the old Northern League in 1999.

As an aside, my wife has also noted that - besides signed memorabilia - I also have a knack for coming across minor league dressings in the local thrift stores.  But, that's a story for another day....

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I found these imprisoned in a Ziploc bag on a rack at Savers in Orland Park:

 

A couple of team-issued photo cards and a glossy 5"x7" featuring Blackhawk Sharpie marks!  Steve Dubinsky, Ethan Moreau and Chad Kilger were once chased down by someone named Dana and then unceremoniously jettisoned into the secondhand market.  Seeing as Kilger only played for one campaign in the Windy City, 1998-99, we can probably say with confidence that those cards were released by the team in 1998.  As for the origin of the photo print out, who the heck knows?

All in all, these aren't scrubs - between the three of them, that's 38 years of combined NHL experience and a couple of big names from the dark period of the Blackhawks franchise.  There was no way I wasn't going to rescue these from the store rack and proudly display them in my Blackhawks binder!

All in all, this is starting to sound braggadocios; that said, as you can see above, I've had some pretty good luck when it comes to acquiring signed memorabilia from the local Goodwill, Savers, Unique, etc.

With that in mind, let's get back to the autographed baseball which led off this post.  After serving as decoration for several years, I finally got back around to identifying the handwriting.  At first, I thought it might say "Steve Carlton" and my heart skipped a beat at the thought of finding a 300 game winner's endorsement at such an establishment.  Of course, rationality set in after I discovered that Carlton's signature looks nothing like the one above.  I mean, surely no one would so foolish as to dispose of something so significant so carelessly, right?

I was not having much luck myself - I'm not much of an autograph seeker and I don't have the knowledge nor am I aware of the proper outlets for such research.  Therefore, I took to Twitter to do a little bit of crowdsourcing - surely someone out there might be able to give me a lead, even if it was just a minor league scrub.

I legitimately laughed out loud when I read that initial response.  I honestly thought that everyone's favorite Durham Bulls fanatic was being a bit of a smart ass... okay, pal, I'm sure it is....

Then, just to be 100% sure, I took to Google... then my jaw nearly hit the damn floor:

These authenticated examples of Hammerin' Hanks Hancock sure do look the same to my untrained eyes.  Hold the phone - could it actually be possible that my sister-in-law and I had stumbled upon a baseball signed by Major League Baseball's all-time home run king on a dusty thrift shop shelf for pennies on the dollar??!! 

Craig Grebeck, Mike Marshall, Ethan Moreau, etc. were cool and all, but this sounds way too good to be true!

Some further elaboration by Snorting Bull informed me that although Hank's signature has gotten shakier as he has aged, the examples above and my baseball are consistent with how Mr. Aaron signed his name in the 1990's.  That explains why the signature in question bares little resemblance to the 2004 Topps Retired auto that I recently acquired in a mega trade with Gavin at Baseball Card Breakdown:

At this point, several other Twitter users were chiming in backing up Snorting Bulls' initial assessment.  Here is an actual short video of me, recorded as I was taking in all of this incredible information:

via GIPHY

Now, I'm going to rain on my own parade here - while it certainly looks like a signature from the hand one of the top five greatest players to ever take to the diamond, there could easily be more than meets the eye.  The cynic in me is more inclined to believe that this disposed of ball is more likely the product of someone practicing their forgery than the real McCoy.  As the old saying goes, "if it's too good to be true, then it probably is."  

In the end, I'm certainly going to have to get this thing authenticated - the potential is far too great to leave it open to question.  But, like I said, I don't deal with a whole lot of autographs or high end memorabilia - can anyone here on the blogosphere enlighten me as to the proper channels? 

Either way, this still ranks as one of the most exciting finds of my life.  My sister knew she was giving me a generous gift.... however, who knew just how exceptionally generous this gift could possibly be?!

A Hank Aaron autograph found buried on a thrift shop shelf... eat your heart out, Macklemore!

An Expedition to MARS

Whew doggie - this was one heckuva busy weekend, filled with familial engagements, communions, graduations, and day-drinking.  As far as what concerns Wrigley Roster Jenga and it's "brand", there were two major events that took place during the two-day span:  the Cubs suffered a humiliating three-game sweep at the hands of the hated St. Louis Cardinals and my community held it's long-running, annual resale day.  The former was an offensively and defensively challenged embarrassment that more closely resembled the "Lovable Losers" era of the North Side franchise, while the latter was the day that my hometown waives the usual fee associated with setting up a garage sale and everyone is welcome to hawk their wares in their yards or garage.  One of these two events was much more exciting to me than the other - can you guess which?

In the past, I've portrayed Midlothian Annual Re-Sale Day (MARS Day, for short) as my own personal Christmas.  Ever since I was a 90's kid, prowling for deals on lightly used Beanie Babies, Hot Wheels, and Pokemon collectibles, this "holiday" has been circled in red on my calendar.  These days, what I target has changed, but the level of anticipation remains the same.   That's because, over the last few years, I've stumbled across some nifty things - including a Keith Magnuson autograph, a complete Bowman reprint set, and a full-size Red Bull cooler, among other treasures.  You really never know what you're going to find on MARS!

As part of my most recent exploration - Saturday morning - I salvaged a few intriguing items.  Don't be alarmed, but the following item somehow made it into my purchase pile:

Bought this (on purpose) at the community wide garage sale event. I don't even know who I am anymore. pic.twitter.com/sKWFTbUucm

— Tony Burbs (@RosterJenga) May 5, 2018

While the Cubs' five-game losing streak has been absolutely pitiful, I'm not about to switch allegiances.  However, I do attend a fair amount of White Sox games on an annual basis, seeing as I love our nation's pastime, my wife cheers for the Palehose, Sox Park is a short train ride away, and tickets are much more affordable.  Since I'm not a jerk and support my city, I always cheer on the home team (except when it's a Crosstown tilt), usually wearing a borrowed cap from my brother.  For two bucks, now I can keep things in house with a "Winning Ugly" era hat of my own; you're not going to be able to beat that a Lids location, that's for sure!

Unfortunately, that was the only baseball-related purchase made during my hours of garage sale hunting and baseball cards were nearly completely absent from the bins and boxes.  That's okay though - because, with the Cubs' play as of late, I'm not in much of a baseball mood right now anyway.  On the other hand, while some cheap DVDs, video games, and a pinata (of all things) helped fill the void, there was still one cardboard-related discovery to be made that made the trek worth it:

Of course, the Blackhawks were extremely disappointing this season, as well; but, as we approach the Stanley Cup finals,  I've since gotten over that let-down.  Therefore, a new Blackhawks oddball for my burgeoning hockey collection was just the ticket.

This Chico Maki stamp hails from the 1974-75 NHL Action Stamps checklist, a 324-ct set which was issued in promotional strips at participating grocery stores throughout North America.  While kids across the country originally obtained these 2.1" x 1.6" hockey "cards" from Loblaw’s, IGA, A&P, Acme, etc., I found mine in a driveway in the "Jolly Homes" neighborhood.

There was still one other way to acquire a sampling of these non-postage stamps and it came in the form of a book:

Issued by the league itself, these books contained a write-up on the previous year's Stanley Cup Champions (the Philadelphia Flyers), profiles for each team competing in the '74-75 season, and - perhaps, most importantly - a full sheet of Action Stamps:

These stamps were intended to be separated, wet, and pasted into corresponding pages for each club's roster.  For example, my Chico was intended to be affixed to this page:

As you can see, the whole set-up is quite similar to the popular Topps and Panini sticker albums we see for the various professional sporting leagues today.  Also, while I'd rather have had Stan Mikita than Maki, I'm not going to complain about such an interesting, vintage discovery at the bargain-basement price of two dollars.  After all, I'd never even heard of these oddities before this weekend.

Chico may have been the only Blackhawk included as part of the one-page sampler; that said, he wasn't the only Chicago-connected player on the sheet:

The trade of Phil Esposito to Boston in 1967 ranks near Brock for Broglio in terms of the worst transactions in Chicago sports history.  The center went on to cement a Hall of Fame legacy in Bean Town - but, never forget, the first two seasons of his star-studded career were spent in the Windy City.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Joey Johnston spent the last year of his professional hockey career in Chicago.  After several years with the Golden Seals, the winger played in 32 games with the Hawks in '75-76, with only five points and zero goals on his ledger. 

Unfortunately for me, all three of these men were previously represented (in Indian-head sweaters, no less) in my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection.   Nevertheless, this was still an intriguing find and a welcome diversion from the baseball atrocities occurring concurrently.

All in all, not a terrible outing for MARS day - nothing out of this world, but I didn't get totally skunked.  The Blazing Saddles DVD that I purchased will provide hours worth of entertainment and   the stamp book was definitely worth the price of admission.  Does anyone else have any 1974-75 NHL Action Stamps of their own, or perhaps further information on this oddball set?  Maybe you see a stamp that you need in the sheet above?  Does your community have their own version of MARS Day?  Feel free to let me know in the comments section below!

You never know what you'll find on a MARS expedition.

Adding to the Roster

This morning, the Chicago Blackhawks finalized their roster for Opening Night on the 2017-18 NHL season.  Jordin Tootoo, J-F Berube, and Tomas Jurco have been cut loose, while Vinnie Hinostroza has been returned to Rockford.  Meanwhile, in the most exciting bit of roster movement, 2016 first-round draft selection, Alex DeBrincat, will officially make the jump from junior hockey to the big show.  The wunderkind will be the first Blackhawk to make the jump since teammate Brandon Saad briefly made the leap to open the 2011-12 campaign.  It's going to be exciting to see if Alex can hang with the big boys, right off the bat.

Also officially surviving cuts were John Hayden, Tommy Wingels, Lance Buoma, and Anton Forsberg, of which the latter three will be making their Blackhawk debuts when they first hit the ice.  But, I don't have any cards of those guys, whatsoever.  Cue the sad trumpet.

Although, I did recently acquire some cards of some former Hawks to add to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection.  So, in honor of the United Center residents updating their active roster, let's take a look at the updates I've made to my roster collection:

It's appropriate that blue-chipper DeBrincat should be the center of attention, seeing as all three of the cards I picked up just happen to be rookie or prospect cards.  Here's hoping that Alex works out better than these guys.

Matt Keith was a right-winger drafted 59th overall in the 2001 draft by Chicago. He made his NHL debut on February 24, 2004, against the Flyers, and on March 1 of that same year, against the Predators, he scored his first goal.  Right about there is where the highlight sheet on Keith runs out.  His Blackhawks career amounted to 22 games over the course of three seasons before he was traded to the Ducks for P.A. Parenteau.

As for his 203-04 Topps Traded single, I think the teal borders play nicely off of the old, all-black jersey look.

David Rundblad was selected 17th overall in the 2009 draft and bounced around from St. Louis, to Ottawa, to Phoenix, where he played with their AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, as shown by this 2013 Choice Top Prospects single.  Eventually, David landed with Chicago during the 2013-14 season.  The former big-time prospect was already a journeyman by this point, though he saw significant time on the ice as a defensive reserve with the Hawks on the way to their 2015 Stanley Cup victory.  However, since that triumph, most of David's rink time has come overseas, in Switzerland and, now, Russia.

Choice, who handles minor league sets for a lot of the clubs and leagues in MiLB and independent baseball, seems to handle their fair share of minor league hockey teams and leagues, as well.  This is the first such example to land in my burgeoning hockey collection.

Here we have another minor league hockey card, but this one comes courtesy of a major manufacturer, In The Game.  More specifically, this card hails from their 2011-12 edition of the Heroes and Prospects line.

Phillip Danault was selected 26th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks on the strength of his four seasons with the junior-level Victoriaville Tigers (with whom he's seen above) of the QMJHL.  He made his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season with Chicago, as part of a two-game cameo, and then secured a regular spot on the fourth line during the next campaign.  But, his blossoming Blackhawk career was ended in a "go for it all" trade with Montreal, when he was swapped for Tomas Flesichmann and Dale Weise.  Those two did jack-squat in the Windy City, were gone by the time summer hit and without a Cup.  Meanwhile, Phil has since gone on to become a key cog in the line rotation for the Canadiens.

Whoopsy.  Maybe we should have kept our receipt for that deal.

With that, we've covered all of my recent additions to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection binder.  Hopefully, Alex DeBrincat works out in Chicago much, much better than these prospects fared in the Second City.  Also, fingers crossed that I'll be able to track down cardsof the uber prospect, Hayden, Wingels, Buoma, and Forsberg for said binder, in the near future.  It was an off-season of seismic change for the franchise and I'm already struggling to keep up.

Such is the struggle of roster-based collecting.

September Roster Expansion

When it comes to baseball, the month of September may be the stretch drive in the race for the playoffs, but it's also significant in it's special roster rules.  As you probably know, MLB clubs are allowed to expand their active roster to include as much of their 40-man as they would like to include, as a way of reinforcing a tired club, an opportunity to look at prospects, or acquiring complimentary pieces, et al.  As such, the benches and bullpens quickly become bloated during the first month of fall, as teams  would be foolish not to take advantage of this quirk. 

However, the rosters of Major League Baseball aren't the only rosters being reinforced this September; st least. not on Chris Sutherland's (from The Collector) watch! 

"The Pedestrian Writer" contacted me about a week ago to let me know that he could help me out with my various roster collections and, just days later, a thick, bubble mailer showed up in my mail.  Seriously, the thing barely fit in my apartment complex's mailbox - the mass may have done some damage to the mail-carrier's shoulder.  No matter what, it definitely did some damage on my want-lists, though... and in various sports, too!

Since it's football season, let's start with the gridiron:

The Bears might be unbearable (see what I did there?) to watch again this season, but these former Bears were quite the happy sight for me; they may not be in the proper blue and orange uniform, but all needed representation in my Bears All-Time Roster Collection.  Jonathan Quinn and Danny Wuerffel illustrate just how historically "wonderful" the "Monsters of the Midway" have been at the quarterback position and Marion Barber is most remembered in Bears history for two critical miscues in a game against Denver in 2011 that essentially cost the team a playoff berth.  On the other hand, Blake Brockermeyer had a decent, unheralded, three-year stint as an offensive tackle for the team...

...so, it's not all bad!

Although, this pun is gloriously bad. The worse the pun, the better it is!

Vinny Sutherland played in exactly one game for the Bears and it came during the 2002 season.  Against the Lions, he returned 3 kickoffs for an average of 16.3 yards a return - he was released a few days later.  However, at least he stuck around the Bears long enough for Chris to be able to send me his card and make that joke!

Lastly, while he wasn't totally new to my binder, a jersey upgrade of Glyn Milburn was also included in the stash.  As nice as those old school Broncos uniforms are, I prefer my orange and blue every time. 

That about did it for the Bears roster portion of Chris' exceptionally generous trade package; but, we're far from through with this yellow, padded mailer.  It's time to turn the thermostat way down and take a shift over on the ice rink.  Hockey season is just around the corner and Mr. Sutherland decided to commemorate the occasion by assaulting my Blackhawks want-list, as well.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I use the term "assault" either:

 

For those keeping score at home, that's nine new additions to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection binder, including one of the few players from the current dynastic period which have eluded my grasp (Jeremy Morin), some beautiful, vintage O-Pee-Chee (Wayne Van Dorp), and a sweet, gold-bordered parallel (James Wisniewski).  See - this assault is coming on stronger than a Daniel Carcillo check into the boards!

...and yet, it's not quite done:

Another pair of jersey upgrades close out the hockey portion of the trade package. 

Gerald Diduck might technically be listed as a Hartford Whaler on the 95-96 Leaf single that Chris forwarded my way, but, with all that's 90's holofoil and tiny text, the photograph dominates that pasteboard.  And what uniform is Gerald wearing in the photo?  Thus, it's a Blackhawks card, to me.  Meanwhile, I can't help but get a kick out of the fact that Phil Russell is depicted in almost the exact same position at the exact same angle, in photographs that were taken about a decade apart.  Plus, that 02-03 Fleer Throwbacks single is gloriously simple and slick.

That pretty much covers the hockey portion of the mailer.  As you can see, Chris' trade offering is already hard to top and speaking of hard... there was still a hardwood section yet to be seen.

For good measure, Chris tossed in some basketball cards, of which Charles Oakley was needed for my Bulls All-Time Roster Collection.  He may be a New York Knickerbocker here, but 90-91 Skybox is such a fun and iconic set that I'm not at all bothered by that fact.

Now if all that you've seen in the post above wasn't enough, Chris further continued his assault on my trading card stocks by graciously including a hefty stack of Cubs cards which had gone unclaimed in his 50/50 giveaway a few weeks ago.  Is this guy not a gem or what?

In that stack, there were...

...90's gems...

...recent needs...

... a significant pre-rookie...

...a couple more pre-rooks, featuring Jonathan's brother and a potential future addition to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection...

...and minis!  Normally, I honestly don't care much for mini-cards, as they play too many games with my near-obsessive compulsive storage and organization of my card collection.  However, as a counterbalance, I absolutely adore oddballs and this shiny Panini sticker is an eye-catching one.  Furthermore, the Starlin Castro on the left is the first time I've seen one of these 2011 Topps Kimball Champion minis in real life and they are gorgeous.  If a tobacco card and a piece of fine art could have a baby, it would look like these Kimballs.

With that, we've finally reached the end of Chris' seemingly bottomless bubble mailer of goodies.  All told, his exquisite trade package netted me 5 new Bears (plus a jersey upgrade), 9 new Blackhawks (plus two jersey upgrades), and 1 new Bull for my various roster collections, not to mention a bunch of fun, new Cubs cards.  How's that for September roster expansion?!

Thank you Chris - this package was easily the highlight of my week and I'll make sure to get an equally generous return package in the mail, ASAP, stuffed with Red Sox and Devils (my Packers stocks have been completely depleted, though).  Also, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for anything featuring former Bears OL Todd Burger.

September roster expansion - it ain't just for the Big Leagues!