Taking Inventory

My card collection is once again organized, and due to time and space restrictions I will probably call it complete once these spaces are filled. I can't plan a whole lot beyond the next month or so, and I can't keep making $10-20 sports card purchases every few days. But I can keep detailed records of what I have room for, so I don't add anything I can't squeeze into a box or binder.

This Kevin Dineen Topps RC arrived Saturday along with some other Whalers and Devils from two of my Sportlots orders. It was one of the last significant base cards I needed to cross off the Whaler list.

Ray Ferraro's Topps RC was the other one. I now have every Hartford Whalers base card (Topps and OPC) from 1982-83 to 1990-91. 

I'm seven cards away from completing 1990-91 Whalers in all mainstream sets (need one Score Canadian and six more Upper Deck French/Canadian.) Unfortunately I only have room for one Whalers card from 1979-80 to 1991-92, and my 1992-93 to 1994-95 Whalers binder is completely full. 

I do have room for 17 Whalers cards from 1995-96 to 1997-98, including Carolina cards where the player is still pictured in green and blue. My original plan was to try to accumulate every Whalers base card from 1979-80 to 1997-98; if I had the time and money to see that through I'd need another binder. 

Here's my Whalers wantlist on an Excel spreadsheet if anyone reading this is interested. (note: this includes cards I have in my collection as part of completed sets only.)

As for my favorite hockey team that still exists, I haven't made a detailed Devils wantlst but I'm pretty close to completing the first nine New Jersey seasons. 1982-83 through 1987-88 are complete, and I need just two O-Pee-Chee cards to complete 1988-89. 1990-91 is a bit tougher, I need 14 cards to finish the year - mostly Score Rookie/Traded and Upper Deck Canadian. 

These cards and others were purchased from Sportlots seller barriere, who issued me a partial refund. Not because anything was out of stock, which was my initial thought. He simply gave me 50% cash back perhaps he felt bad taking two dimes for overproduced Kevin Todd commons lol. That $2.67 refund covered the cost of the Kevin Dineen at the top of this post - which was $2.65 from davekas4. Sportlots is so addicting!!

Out of all my various card collecting project the one that I have the most available space for new additions is/are New Jersey Devils cards. My inserts/parallels/relics boxes for Red Sox, Packers, and Whalers are full -- but I have room for 12-15 more Devils hits.

I have room for 20 Packers base cards - mostly in the 2010s-2020s binders. 
I have room for 20 Whalers cards across all three binders.

Devils 1 (1982-83 to 1992-93) has room for 10 cards.
Devils 4 (2004-05 to 2013-14) has room for 6 cards.
Devils 5 (2014-15 to present) has room for 35 cards. Maybe more if I insert additional 9-pocket pages. 

You'd think that it would be easy for me to acquire cards of Jersey's team since I live in Jersey. But my LCS doesn't sell singles, Target rarely has hockey packs/boxes, and the card shows in town always seem to be on a weekend when Mrs. Collector's health is at her lowest. Probably for the best since I'm guessing those shows are 70% Pokemon and overpriced Yankees stuff anyway.

Very few card bloggers collect hockey and I don't have any connection to a Canadian trader who can get their hands on low-mid end Devils inserts and relics like I can with Red Sox cards. So it's all online ordering for me, which is a total drag. I used to fill my boxes with 30-cent ePack crap from COMC -- but they've completely jacked up the shipping charges, discarding their flat $5.99 rate (which was $4.99 not that long ago) in favor of a per-card charge. I'm probably never ordering from them again. 😢

Next week, I'll update my NFL inventory. I should have the rest of my Packers purchases in hand by then.

Thanks for reading!

 

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Red Hot Hockey

It's been a rough year for my favorite NFL team. The Green Bay Packers keep pushing out the rotting corpse of Throw Rogan, aka Aaron Rodgers, instead of giving Jordan Love a chance to show what he can do. I'm pretty sure the Pack could go 4-8 with Love, practice squad sensation Kurt Benkert, or the recently retired Ryan Fitzpatrick behind center - but I'm no NFL GM. 

The only three Packer cards I brought home this Black Friday

 
Lucky for me, the '22-23 NHL season is overflowing with hot streaks and milestones, with more on the way.

The Seattle Kraken are in second place, just four points behind the league's second-newest team in Vegas. Seattle is riding a franchise-high six-game winning streak. Mark Giordano was traded to Toronto last year, but Jordan Eberle is still here and scoring at a point-a-game pace. I'm always on the lookout for Kraken cards, like these two cheapies from my recent COMC order. Ron Francis + nautical theme + blue-green color scheme = my favorite western squad. They're basically the Whalers, right?

You know that annoying thing some football people do, where they refer to the Giants and Jets by their proper home of New Jersey - but only when they suck. And now that both teams are in playoff position those same football talkers claim they've earned the "New York" name? Yeah, it's bull crap. If the team plays in New York, they're New York. If the team plays in New Jersey, they're New Jersey.

And right now, the NHL's best team is the New Jersey Devils. Try taking credit for this, NYC (No You Can't) The Devils have the same amount of points and wins as the Boston Bruins (ooh, I bet NY is just seething)  but the Bruins have one less loss, so technically they're on top. Both teams have had incredible winning streaks this season, and neither squad shows any signs of slowing down.

 I picked up a few Devils cards recently:

 

These were COMC purchases. I grabbed the clear-cut single in the center for $2.25, sold it for $5.70, and then bought it again for $4.00. So technically I paid 55 cents for it?

I paid slightly more for this bad boy:

Most of my Young Guns rookies were sold to fund the 1956 Topps set build, but I had to have a high-grade RC of Jack Hughes, the Devils' top scorer and franchise player. This was one of three high-end cards I picked up after selling a chunk of my Brett Favre collection. Perhaps I'll detail that eBay 'trade' in my next post.

Some more hockey pickups here, including a quartet of Alex Ovechkin cards. The Great Eight just broke Wayne Gretzky's career goals record... well, one of them, anyway.

This Tim Horton's single just arrived in a trade with TCDB user Galtview. I got a bunch of Blue Jays and Whalers in the trade, too although one card was missing.

Back to the COMC box. I had to jump on this Exquisite Ovechkin card celebrating his 700th career goal...

...which he tallied against the Devils, way back when they were lousy.

Here's a few more hockey cards I ordered on COMC over the past few weeks:

I've got more of these incoming. I'm halfway done with the Uncommon Rookies portion of the 2003-04 Pristine set.

Pretty Prizm Parallels are pretty much the only way I'll purposely purchase Rangers and Jets cards.

Cheap ePack Whalers.

Not-so cheap Whaler (this one was $2.25)

Cheap ePack tallboys for my 6-pocket pages.


 

And finally, 6 more Paiges 😍😊

Thanks for reading!



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All-Time Teams: Hurricanes

Today's team is one of four former WHA franchises that entered the NHL via merger in 1979. Here's the All-Time roster for the Carolina Hurricanes:

Carolina reached their first Stanley Cup final in 2002, losing to the Detroit Red Wings. The 'Canes defeated Edmonton in seven games for the Cup in 2006.

1st Line

 

Left Wing - Geoff Sanderson A two-time NHL All-Star, Sanderson is seventh in Whalers/Hurricanes history with 196 career goals and ninth with 369 points. His 46 goal output 1992-93 is the third-highest single-season total in team history. Geoff's son Jake Sanderson was drafted fifth overall by Ottawa in 2020.

Center - Ron Francis "Ronnie Franchise" leads the franchise in most offensive categories including goals, assists, points, power play goals, game-winning goals, and games played. The Hall of Famer was infamously traded to Pittsburgh in 1991, whereupon he won back-to-back Stanley Cups. Francis captained Carolina to their first finals appearance in 2002.

Right Wing - Blaine Stoughton The Whalers' first superstar, Stoughton scored 56 goals in Hartford's inaugural NHL season, setting a single-season franchise record that still stands. Four consecutive 40-goal seasons accounts for much of his 219 goals for the franchise, good for fourth among all Whalers/'Canes.

2nd Line

Left Wing - Ray Whitney Well-traveled forward played for nine teams in his 22-year career, including five seasons in Carolina. His 215 assists and 0.90 points per game average rank seventh in Whalers/Hurricanes annals, and only Stoughton scored more points in fewer games for the franchise.

Center - Eric Staal The second overall pick in the 2003 draft, Staal scored more goals and points than any Carolina-only player in team history. He's the team record holder in career hat tricks and short-handed goals, and ranks second to Ron Francis in several other categories.

Right Wing - Pat Verbeek The original "Little Ball of Hate", Verbeek played slightly more games for New Jersey but had more success in Hartford. His 192 goals rank eighth in franchise history and his 522 career markers are second only to Keith Tkachuk among non-Hall of Famers who are eligible for enshrinement.

3rd Line

Left Wing - Jeff Skinner Won the Calder trophy in 2010-11 after scoring 63 points as an 18 year-old rookie, a career high he has since tied twice. The current Sabre sits fifth in Whaler-canes history with 204 career goals and seventh with 379 career points.

Center - Rod Brind'Amour The 'Canes current coach, "Rod the Bod" captained Carolina to the Cup in 2006. A two-time Selke winner as the league's best defensive forward, Brind'Amour scored 473 of his 1,184 career points for the Hurricanes - good for fourth on the franchise's all-time list. His 299 assists are the third-highest total in team history.

Right Wing - Kevin Dineen A fan favorite and two-time 40-goal scorer in Hartford, Kevin Dineen holds the franchise record for penalty minutes with 1,439. His offensive output has kept him in the team's all-time top five for goals (3rd), assists (4th), power play goals (4th), and points (3rd). He served as captain for the franchise's last season in Connecticut and the first season in Carolina.

4th Line

Left Wing - Erik Cole A key member of two Wales-winning Hurricanes squads, Cole is tenth in team history with 363 career points and fifth with 34 game-winning goals.

Center - Ray Ferraro The franchise leader in career shooting percentage, "Chicken Parm" led the NHL with a 28.1 accuracy rate in 1986-87. His Whalers total of 351 points in 442 games is a nearly identical total to fellow center Andrew Cassels. The fourth line spot goes to Ferraro for his forty-goal advantage at 5-on-5 and a better (but still negative) plus/minus rating.

Right Wing - Jeff O'Neill The fifth overall pick in the 1994 NHL Draft (which Hartford hosted, btw) O'Neill is fifth in Whalers/Hurricanes history with 416 career points. His games played, goals, assists, and power play goals totals are sixth in team annals.

 

Spares - Andrew Cassels, Justin Williams

This franchise has a fair amount of forward depth, enough that I had two tough choices to make. As mentioned above, Cassels and Ferraro were very close. I strongly considered selecting Sami Kapanen, who is ninth in franchise history with 203 assists. You won't find Williams in the team's career top ten lists but "Mr. Game Seven" means more to the franchise than what shows up on a stat sheet.

Defense Pair 1

Justin Faulk - Glen Wesley

Faulk is the leading point-scorer among defensemen in Whaler-canes history, though he's 19th overall among skaters. For those of you who value plus/minus, his -100 rating is dead last in franchise history. But, as you'll see, there aren't many options on the Carolina blueline. Wesley, a stalwart stay-at-home defenseman, is second to Ron Francis in games played for the franchise and leads all 'Canes with a 44 DPS ratings. His jersey #2 hangs from the rafters of Raleigh's PNC Arena.

Defense Pair 2

Jaccob Slavin - Ulf Samuelsson

The only current Hurricane on this roster, Slavin has scored 30+ points in each of his last four NHL seasons. He set a career high with 36 points and a +30 rating in 2019-20, earning him a fifth-place finish in Norris trophy voting. Slavin's 58 career penalty minutes pale in comparison to Samuelsson, who ranks fourth in franchise history with 1,110. Ulf's DPS score ranks second to Wesley, and his +71 rating with the Whalers is tops in team history.

Defense Pair 3

 

Dave Babych - Adam Burt

Babych had greater success in Winnipeg, but the Jets/Coyotes were loaded with quality blueliners. He ranks tenth among all skaters in Hartford/Carolina history with 196 assists, dishing out at least 30 helpers in each of his five full seasons with the team. Burt played eleven solid seasons for the franchise, placing eighth in team annals with 626 games played. His 28.3 Defensive Point Shares rating is third in team history.

Spare - Sean Hill

Sean Hill scored slightly more points for the Hurricanes than Jaccob Slavin has (so far) in slightly fewer games. He ranks seventh among Whaler-canes blueliners in points and ninth in DPS with a 21.3 rating. Add his positive plus-minus to the equation and you have the most well-rounded rearguard remaining.

Goalies

 

Starter - Cam Ward

Backup - Arturs Irbe

Ward, the 2006 Conn Smythe trophy winner as a rookie, leads Carolina goalies in games played, wins, and shutouts. He led the NHL in games played, minutes played, saves, and point shares in 2010-11. NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes is the franchise leader in goals against average and save percentage, but he only played 119 games for the 'Canes. Irbe is second to Ward in games played, wins, and shutouts, and he's second to Weekes in goals against average.

 

Head Coach: Paul Maurice** Captain: Ron Francis

Paul Maurice became the second-youngest head coach in NHL history when the Whalers hired him in 1995. At age 28 he was younger than seven of his players (including Sean Burke - by one day.) 25 years and 1,600 games later he's the best bench boss in the history of two franchises - including his current employer.

 

**also head coach of another All-Time Team

I hope you'll join us tomorrow for our next All-Time Team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

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The first $50

I'm ten days out from my 15th anniversary with the Mrs. and nearly all of the "play money" I set aside from the sale of my Mike Trout RC has been emptied out of my PayPal account. It did not go the way I expected at all. Shoebox Shane advised me to focus on one or two high-value cards and I really did try...but I ended up with a lot more than two cards.

Most of my purchases will arrive at the end of this week, and I'll likely recap them all sometime around the 17th. However I decided to spend $50 (plus tax) at COMC, knocking a few cards off of my watch list. I don't plan to request shipping until I've got 200 cards in my inventory (I'm at about 150 now) and I don't want to wait that long to discuss these cards. 

Initially I'd planned to pick up an Immaculate on-card auto of a Hall of Famer for $24.99. One of the 49 copies sold on eBay for over $32 and I was afraid that the COMC copy would have sold out as a result. It hasn't, but I got my Panini Immaculate Collection fix in other places (or tried to, anyway - that's a story for another post.)

Instead I spent my COMC cash on PC and set needs. A quick search for graded 1960s cards turned up this Al Simmons for my mid-grade 1961 Golden Press set build:

$8 down, $42 to go. Once this is in hand I'll have 12 of the 33 cards in the set. I'm still missing all of the big names (Cobb, DiMaggio, Gehrig) and there's a slight chance I'll add a couple more high-grade HOFers to my collection by the end of the week.

I've had my eye on these Conlon Collection color masters for quite a while. One COMC seller has a bunch and I finally made an offer on Frank "Home Run" Baker here. I added it to my inventory for $8.20, about 10% off the asking price of $9.

This Dustin Pedroia manupatch wasn't on my watch list for 100 years but it sure felt that way at times. I've kept an eye on it since 2018 and it just wouldn't budge below $5 - until last week when I snagged it for $4.65.

Thanks to CrazieJoe (and an assist from baseballcardstore.ca) I finished the 2003-04 Topps Pristine base set. I'm not bold enough to tackle the serial-numbered rookie portion, but I didn't hesitate to add a Devil #d/699 to my collection for $1.11. 

My Brett Favre box is running out of room and I planned to prioritize other player collections - until I came across this 2002 Topps Pristine refractor #d/349. The seller was asking $9.99 and I might have picked it up at that price. When it went on sale for $6.10 I threw it in my cart faster than one of Brett's bullet passes to Antonio Freeman. 

This Tremont Waters Panini Prizm green parallel was a bit of an impulse buy at $1.19. The G-League Rookie of the Year went to high school in my home town and, tragically, his father was found dead in a hotel that's about 20 feet from my mom's house (we used to play Wiffle Ball in this parking lot.) I was actually browsing Tacko Fall cards when I saw this color-matching gem pop up. If both Fall and Waters make the Celtics rotation I might have to switch allegiances from the Bucks, lol.

Here's a pair of on-card autos from 2018-19 Upper Deck Chronology. I've glanced at the $5 and under offerings from this set and Brian Bellows was one of the biggest stars (no pun intended) available. The green North Stars jersey featuring the 1991 Stanley Cup final patch caught my eye and led me to spend $3.80 in credit. I nearly got both Bellows and Nelson Emerson for $5 total; Emerson's messy signature set me back just $1.31. 

More Whalers here with a Ray Ferraro Canvas insert. I have no idea when Upper Deck started sneaking retired players into what I thought was a parallel set, or why they picked "Chicken Parm". Regardless, as soon as I saw it I added it to my watch list.. and then someone bought it an instant later. So I quickly snatched up the next-cheapest copy for $2.80.

Ferraro was the Whalers' #2 center for many years, behind this Hall of Famer:

Until now I did not have a rookie card of "Ronnie Franchise" and one of my goals with this windfall was to fill that hole in my collection. I had always hoped to pick up a graded copy but I just couldn't justify spending triple-digits on a slabbed single. And so I examined my options on COMC, picked out the best-looking copy in my price range and made an offer. It's a bit of a gamble at $12.75, and I won't know if it paid off for a few months, but at least I can cross this off my shopping list.

If my math is correct that's a total of $49.91. Can't exactly call this a COMC Blaster.. a COMC Megabox maybe?  

This is the last time I'll be spending money at COMC until at least Black Friday, and I'll be happy to bring home some longtime residents of my watch list.. eventually.


Are you still shopping on COMC? Has your opinion of the site changed due to their indefinite shipping delays?



Thanks for reading!



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