Cards from my Collection

Gabriel Landeskog Upper Deck SPGU Tag Set: Mission Accomplished

May 18, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

Building entire numbered sets of a particular player can be tough. It’s always difficult to predict whether each card will be listed on eBay at any time and whether all the cards will end at affordable prices. It definitely takes some luck and sometimes it just kind of happens. I had some great luck with my Milan Hejduk Panini Prime name plate set last August and I recently had a similar experience with a smaller set of Gabriel Landeskog cards.

Upper Deck’s 2013-2014 SP Game Used brand included a tag subset for some players. This set featured the tags from game worn NHL jerseys. Gabriel Landeskog’s set was numbered to three. Here’s the first one I acquired.

2013-14 Landy SPGU Tag 1-3

Part of collecting jerseys the way I do helps me identify where pretty much any Avalanche patch or tag card comes from on an Avs jersey. This card was no exception. There’s a laundry tag on the inside left of the jerseys in the place where the player’s ribs are. This card is cut from that tag. Here’s a closer look at the inside of the Avs jerseys wear on the ice right now. The tag is right here:

Laundry_Tag

And a more detailed look at the tag itself and where the card above was cut from.

Laundry_Tag_Landy_Cut

The next card in the set that I acquired was cut from the MeiGray tag that is sewn on the inside bottom left of every Avs game worn jersey since 2002-2003. Here’s the tag:

MeiGray_Tag_Landy_Post

This Landeskog tag card cut from the left side of the tag of one of his 2012-2013 game worn Avs jerseys.

2013-14 Landy SPGU Tag 3-3

I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d be able to complete this set until this showed up on eBay a short time after I added the card above to my collection.

2013-14 Landy SPGU Tag 2-3

It’s from a little lower on the laundry tag:

Laundry_Tag_Landy_Cut_2

And there it is. I accomplished a mission that I really didn’t set out to accomplish in the beginning. Either way, all three of the cards in the set now live in my collection. They definitely look good together.

2013-14 Landy SPGU Tag Set

So what’s my next mission? I have no idea, but (as always) I’m keeping a close eye on eBay to see what pops up next.

Cards and Where They Come From, Part Two

March 9, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

It’s time for a second installment of new additions to my Avalanche card collection and where they come from on Avalanche jerseys.

I’ve found myself, as the card companies use pretty much every part of the jersey now in their cards, being drawn to the non-jersey and non-Avalanche emblem crest and shoulder patch fabric pieces. Cuts from tags and branding from the jerseys have been getting way more of my attention lately. This makes sense based on how I appreciate the smaller details about jerseys the way I do. The first two cards in this post are the latest cards in my collection that are perfect examples of the details I love most about jerseys.

The first card is a Gabriel Landeskog tag card from 2013-2014 Panini Dominion. It’s numbered 3/3.

Most people would look at this card and simply see a plain, boring two-color patch. I see the right side of the Reebok patch from the top of the back of the neck of a white Avalanche jersey. I have a white Milan Hejduk game used jersey from the 2011-2012 season. Here’s the entire back. Look just above Hejduk’s name for the patch.

A closer look:

Next, a P.A. Parenteau tag card from Upper Deck’s 2013-2014 SP Game Used product numbered 3/3. This one caught my eye right away.

This is from the size hang tag located on the inside of the back of the neck. I see this tag on pretty much every jersey in my collection.

The third card is a Paul Stastny patch card from 2013-2014 Edition of Upper Deck’s SP Game Used set. This comes from the far right side of the nameplate and is numbered 4/12.

If I have my facts right the card includes the bottom right side of the “N” and the middle bottom of the “Y” in Stastny from a burgundy Avalanche jersey. For reference:

Next, an Adam Foote Prime Colors Numbers card from Panini’s 2012-2013 Prime release numbered 4/6.

This card is from one of the sleeve numbers on a white Avalanche jersey. And based on how the numbers are cut this piece is from a jersey Adam Foote wore after he returned to the Avs in 2008.

Some of the patches companies place in cards are upside down so keeping this in mind helps as someone tries to figure out where cards came from on the jersey. This card, however, is right side up. The right side of the “5” is on the left and the left side of the “2” is on the right.

The last card in the post is a little older and doesn’t feature a piece of jersey, patch, or tag, but it is new to my collection and definitely work a look. I just thought I would share because of his recent decision to retire from the National Hockey League.

This is a Milan Hejduk 1/1 base card from the 2009-2010 Upper Deck SP Game Used set. Being a one of a kind of one of my favorite Avs players of all-time made it something that I wanted acquire and share.

So that’s it for the second of installment of many in this ongoing series. Hope you enjoyed the cards and the information. Now back to eBay to look for more treasures.

Let’s Go Avs.

Cards and Where They Come From, Part One

January 25, 2014 by Jay Vean - The AHP

My jersey ~~problem~~ ~~addiction~~ passion has been well documented here throughout the years, but cards were my passion way before jerseys. I have been collecting sports cards of all types for over 30 years. My collection and its focus has definitely evolved over time, just like the hobby has, but my interest and “thrill for the hunt” has never wavered. I thought now would be as good as time as ever to share some of my game used Avalanche cards and where they came from on the jerseys. I find it interesting to perform the research and it’s fun for me to document and share. Definitely a win-win.

To best bridge that gap between my jerseys and my cards, Panini America produces a set of Prime Authentics cards in their Prime release. These cards feature tagging that’s placed within the NHL jerseys that are worn by the teams on the ice. The Colorado Avalanche use MeiGray as their authenticator, so their Prime Authentics cards feature the MeiGray tag that’s sewn into every jersey every Avs player wears throughout the NHL season.

To begin, here is one of J.S. Giguere’s Prime Authentics cards from the 2012-2013 Panini Prime set. It is numbered 2/2 (printed on the left side of the front of the card), meaning that there is another one of these full tag cards out there somewhere.

MeiGray releases a population report every season documenting when each jersey was worn so all the details that I need to figure out which jersey this tag was on is pretty simple. It is from Jiggy’s set one alternate jersey worn during the 2011-2012 season.

Next, here is a Gabriel Landeskog card from the same set. It’s numbered 3/3. There is one more of the three on eBay right now, but the seller is asking way too much for it. That happens. That also makes me happy I have this one.

This is also from the Avalanche’s first set of alternate jerseys they wore during the 2011-2012 season.

The last from this set in my collection (until more come along, obviously) is a Matt Duchene numbered 2/2. The original seller of this card started the price at a little higher than what the card was worth but they incrementally dropped the price until I couldn’t resist anymore. Those are the eBay sellers that I prefer. That’s how you move cards and make money.

The number on this tag indicates that this jersey was the burgundy set three jersey Duchene wore during the 2011-2012 season.

Panini Prime Hockey includes many other awesome subsets as well. Next up is the Prime Colors series. This features patches cut from emblems and patches on the jerseys. When I saw this unique patch I had to have this card.

This is a Paul Stastny patch numbered 12/17 from the 2011-2012 Panini Prime Prime Colors set. The patch was worn in one game during Paul Statsny’s rookie season so I easily can track the history behind this jersey as well. It was worn on January 5, 2007 at Pepsi Center. This was a promotional set of jerseys each NHL team created in partnership with Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids Foundation. The jerseys were then auctioned off and the proceeds benefited the cause. I have a Ben Guite game issued jersey from that game in my collection so I can share with you exactly what an entire jersey made for or worn in that game looked like.

It’s a little disappointing that a jersey that was worn in only one game has now become pieces of jersey in hockey cards, but when card companies acquire jerseys they obviously have that option.

Last, the Panini Prime set features a subset called Genuine Letters. These cards are entire letters cut from the nameplates of game worn jerseys. I featured my 2011-2012 Milan Hejduk complete Genuine Letters set in a blog post here. And just for reference:

I’m not planning on completing this set, but a Gabriel Landeskog Genuine Letters card from the 2012-2013 set made its way to my collection not too long ago.

This card, as you can see toward the bottom of the front, is numbered 5/9. This doesn’t mean that there are nine of these “E” cards available, this means that “E” is the fifth letter in Landeskog’s last name. Also, it’s easy to see that this comes from an alternate jersey that Landy wore on the ice. Unlike the MeiGray tag cards though, it’s impossible to tell which alternate jersey this came from.

This will be the first of a series of posts that I’ll write about some of the cards in my collection. I’m looking forward to sharing what I already have in my collection, as well as the cards that will join my collection in the future. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

And, as always, whether it’s jerseys or cards, Let’s Go Avs.

Milan Hejduk Panini Prime Nameplate Set: Mission Accomplished

August 31, 2013 by Jay Vean - The AHP

To begin, I wanted talk about jersey cards. I am well aware of some of the strong feelings that come along with cutting jerseys up and placing them in trading cards. Big time jersey collectors despise sports card companies for this practice and I understand those feelings. There is a sense of history that is definitely lost when a jersey gets cut up into pieces. I have been a sports card collector for three decades and have followed this progression closely.

There is also the other side of this issue. I can only comment officially on Avalanche jerseys since I follow them so closely. Each player wears three home burgundy jerseys, three white road jerseys, and two alternate home jerseys throughout the NHL season. My point with providing these numbers is that, in most cases, there are plenty of jerseys made to keep everyone happy. If there is history behind a jersey, keep it intact. No problem. If the fun can be spread out and shared with a card company to make some really fantastic cards, there are jerseys left for that as well.

I actually live both sides of this argument with my collection. I’m a big fan of jerseys and a big fan of cards as well. My collections of both thrive either way and that’s fun.

With that addressed, onto the story…

Milan Hejduk has always been one of my favorite Avalanche players. He is well represented in my collection in both jerseys and cards. When one of his Genuine Letters nameplate cards came up for auction on eBay last year it caught my eye. Panini America took entire nameplates off of jerseys, cut each letter off the plate individually, and placed those letters in cards. I figured being fortunate enough to have one of the cards from Hejduk’s name in my collection would be pretty cool. Each of the cards was numbered out of six, but that didn’t mean there were six of each card. The number out of six was referring to where that letter was in his last name: The “H” was 1/6, the “E” was 2/6 and so on. This made each of the cards a true 1/1.

I originally didn’t set out to complete the set. What were the chances of actually completing this mission anyway? Not good, but after acquiring a couple of the cards I figured it was worth trying. In the end it took a lot of time, patience, and some luck as well (of course.)

Here we go…

Not long after the Panini Prime product hit the market, on September 4, 2012, I began my journey when I won the letter “J” on eBay.

September 23, 2012. “D” acquired. The “H” was also on eBay at the same time. This is when things became more interesting.

Also on September 23, 2012. “H” acquired.

Halfway home already. Might as well go for it now.

September 27, 2012. “U” acquired.

October 3, 2012. “E” acquired.

Within one day short of one month, I had five of the six letters in Hejduk’s name in my collection. Awesome. Slam dunk, right?

This is when I began to worry as well. What if that last letter was sitting in an unopened case or box somewhere and was never going to be opened? What if someone got it in a pack, knew it was basically a 1/1 and wasn’t going to sell it no matter what? What if someone had the card, and since it was a 1/1, thought that it was worth way more that it actually was? That happens on eBay pretty often with 1/1 cards. I wasn’t going to be a part of one of those deals. I have my limits. What if someone had the card in their collection and was thinking about completing the set like I was? (Even though they would have pretty much no idea that one lucky person already had the other five cards in the set.) This was getting complicated.

The longer I waited, the more I thought that I was just going to have to settle for having five of the six cards and calling it “close enough.”

Fast forward almost ten months to late July, 2013…

The “K” shows up on eBay and I am beyond pumped. It seems like I checked the auction every hour, on the hour, for the next week. The price stayed low, which is always good. I was ready to win this thing at the last minute. The tricky part about that last minute was where I was physically when the auction ended. I was at a soccer match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. As what happens at large sporting events, there were too many people in one place and not quite enough bandwidth. I placed my bid with about ten seconds remaining in the auction and the bid never went through. The ending price of the card was about half of what I paid on average for each of the other five cards I already had.

Damn. This was a disaster. What was I going to do now? After beating myself for a bit about knowing better than to bid at the last second with a slower Internet connection I figured it wasn’t time to give up quite yet.

I sent an email to the original eBay seller and asked them very, very politely for the email address of the person who won the auction for the “K.” Luckily enough, they gave it to me. I emailed the new owner of the card and offered him twice as much for the card as he paid for it in the auction. My offer to the new owner was right around what I was going to bid on the card originally anyway. Through our discussions the new owner told me he was a big Milan Hejduk fan and already had a similar card from another set. He agreed to sell me the “K” almost immediately. Unreal!

A few weeks later this arrived in my mailbox:

It’s a beautiful card with a heck of a story behind it.

Here’s the complete set. I’m a very proud Papa.

As I said before, I originally didn’t set out to complete a set at all. It just kind of happened thanks to some patience and a lot of luck.

So if it’s an entire game worn jersey, or a particular sports card, each of them has a potential story to tell. This set has a great story that I was excited to re-live and document it here. I’m still not sure if I’ll go after creating more sets like it knowing that the chances aren’t very good to do this successfully one more time. So, quit while I’m ahead or choose another adventure?

I guess I’ll just wait and see what shows up on eBay next.