Looking Forward to More every four years.

It seems that every four years Topps is at it again, they produce some of the most beautiful cards for the Winter Olympics. As a senior citizen now I do not look forward to 4 years passing me by but the way the days fly by it helps thinking about their next release and trying to assemble as many cards as possible from each release.

This card is the 2019 Topps Allen and Ginter card of Hilary Knight and she autographed this for me several years ago along with the Mini version of this card. The cards from this set are made to look like the cards from the original Allen and Ginter cards with that lithograph look. 

These two cards of the Lamoureux Twins Jocelyne and Monique are from the 2014 Topps Winter Olympics. Again I love the vivid colors as these cards all have great action shots. I was fortunate enough to get these two cards autographed which is what I enjoy the most. I had thought about trying to get the entire set autographed but then I thought long and hard and decided against even trying it.

This card is from the 2026 Topps Winter Olympics and is autographed by Hayley Scamurra. These cards I love because they are the Topps Chrome cards and they have that look of a rainbow if held correctly. The only downfall is the cards do tend to curl if not kept in a sheet or holder. The autograph is not on card but a band-aid. I personally enjoy getting cards signed on card but if it is a player who is not big on signing I will take. There are several players who are very difficult to get cards autographed. I keep saying to my Wife that if someone asked me for my auto I would be honored.

This card is not a Topps issue but is from the 1994-95 Classic Women of Hockey set of 40 cards. There are 20 players from Team Canada and 19 players from Team USA along with a checklist card showing three Team Canada players. This card of Shelly Looney she autographed for me and she has one of the nicest autos and she is great signing for the fans. I have completed the Team USA set all signed by the players. I will now focus on getting the Team Canada cards signed which will not be very easy but I love a challenge as it keeps me coming back for more.

This card is of Courtney Kennedy and I do not know how these cards were distributed. I have asked others and we think they were either bought by fans back in the day or were given to the players. This set of cards features 20 players and one checklist card. This set is the 2002 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team. I need 2 players autographs to have the entire set completely signed. I hope that this year I can get the 2 players auto's I need for completion.

There are several other sets that I will discuss another time and I look forward to the next set of cards to work on getting signed. There are times I enjoy getting cards signed through the mail but what I find frustrating is getting back as a RTS(Return to Sender) or just not getting anything back. I have said several times never give up on getting a card back signed as I have had several take over 9 years.

Until next time thanks for the visit and please check out my Most Wanted in helping me find the tougher auto's.

College Days and a glimpse into the 2026 Olympics

 This time I want to discuss the cards that have been made for certain colleges. I have cards from the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin and Ohio State. Of the three the Minnesota cards appear to easily be the better looking cards fronts and backs. They have a very nice looking border resembling a frame around a photo and the backs indicate a bright gold back with a square inset of the player along with there info for winning letters and what they led the league in and it tells what they are majoring in.

As you can see from the photo the design of the card and the back really stands out. If you look closely you can see the teams mascot the Golden Gopher. These cards seem to be sturdy and they do not have the perforated edges like the other 2 college cards. They are straight cut but as an autograph collector they are difficult to see the card being signed because of the dark brown background. I have now sent out all but two cards from the set and I have only got back one signed card so far. I am hoping that in time I get them all back signed.

Of all of the players from this 1997-98 Minnesota team which by the way was the inaugural team. Nadine Muzerall was one of the better players who went on to a great career. As this card from Sports Illustrated for kids is a nice card and is an indication of her as a great player. She went on to play 3 seasons in the Swiss league with Team Lugano.

One of my other favorite college sets is both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 Quaker Steak and Lube University of Wisconsin. These cards are very colorful and it is a toss-up as to which one I like best. 

This card is the 2007-08 card of Hilary Knight and the card has nice color and great photo's of the players. The backs of the card are a bit plain with not much info.

This card is the 2008-09 card of Hilary Knight. The photo is very vivid and looks almost 3-D and the backs have the players stats with a brief write-up on career highlights. Now that I look at these more closely I am giving the edge to this set the 2008-09 Quaker Steak and Lube Wisconsin Badgers. If you look close you can see in the background of fans at the game. I am hoping someday to get both of these cards autographed by Hilary as it would be huge to my collection.

The final set of cards is of the Ohio State Hockey team. One thing about all of their cards is that they are short and they measure 2 1/2 X 3 1/4 making them a quarter of an inch smaller. Of all of there different sets my favorite would have to be the 2007-08 set.

This is the 2007-08 Design and it is flashy with the top and bottom designs. These cards were all perforated and given as a uncut sheet and you only had to bend the cards on the perforation and they would snap clean. It did leave the indication of the perforation on the cards edges.

The card on the left is the 2004-05 Holiday Inn Ohio State Buckeyes set and the players indicated on the card is Rookie Freshman Lisa Chesson and Shelby Aldous. The card on the right is the 2005-06 Holiday Inn set  and the player is Lisa Chesson. These cards I like as well and the back has a nice inset photo of the player along with the players favorite things and their Height Hometown etc.. I am hoping to get these back autographed by Lisa Chesson as it would be another great addition to my autograph collection.

This card is from the 2002 Women's Olympic team which won the Silver Medal. This is another tough card to get autographed as it took years to get back but I am very happy that I got it signed by Angela Ruggiero. I only need two more players from this set of 20 to have it all signed. Still need Tricia Dunn and Sue Merz.

As for this years Olympics I feel that it will be another repeat for the gold medal which would be Team USA versus Team Canada. If you look at the rosters you will see that team USA has several players from colleges and Team Canada has some older players. Will it be the experience that wins over the younger and possibly faster players. Of course it all depends on the goaltending and team Canada has one of the all time greats in Ann-Renee Desbiens but Team USA has one of the upcoming goalies in Aerin frankel. It is too close for me to call but it should be interesting. There still could be a few upsets to change it all and that is what I like to see and that is may the Best team win. It is just that simple.

Lady Olympians.

 With the Olympics just days away I am looking forward to watching the Women's Hockey and it will be interesting to see which country will win Gold. The favorites will be team USA and team Canada but there could be a surprise team that upsets a favorite. There have been many great Olympians from the Women's games. As an autograph collector of Women's Hockey Autographs I have picked up a lot and these are all through the mail.

I have several Women's Olympian card sets and my favorite set is from the 2005-06 Olympic card set. I believe these cards were given to the players as I have researched them and have found no indication as to who might have printed them. I have only been able to find 4 cards from this set but I believe the set has 20 cards. 

This is the 2005-06 Olympic card Team USA of Jenny Potter. Of all of the card sets they put out for the Olympics every 4 years this one is my favorite. The other set I like is from the 2002 Olympic set. I only need two players autographs to complete the set all autographed.

This is one of the cards from the 2002 Olympic set, this is Angela Ruggiero and it took me over 2 years to get her card back autographed and I was very surprised and quite happy. I have told other autograph collector's to never give up on getting cards back that you once thought were lost or simply forgotten about. The two players I still need autograph's from is Tricia Dunn and Sue Merz. I plan on sending again to Tricia Dunn and hope I get it back signed instead of the usual RTS(Return to Sender).

I have tried many different tricks to get the players attention and some work and some don't. My latest thing is I write on the back of the envelope PLEASE READ!!!. It has worked on some and I have also used colorful stamps to get the players attention.

This set of Olympic cards is from the 2017-18 U.S. Women's National Ice Hockey Team.

This card is Brianna Decker and this was another surprise. I sent her 2 index cards to sign because she did not have any cards but little did I know she had these cards and she sent me two cards like this one both signed and one other card of herself signed. She was just elected to the HHOF in Toronto, Canada.

Sure was a nice thing to do in sending me all of those cards back signed. These are the moments that make the hobby so much fun. Just remember you can enjoy the hobby without spending to much money.

My next blog will be about my Women's  College Hockey autographs, please check out my blog and I am planning on doing 3 to 4 blogs a week. Thanks for the visit!!!