It's Not Always About The Ladies or is IT??

 My post today involves not just ladies but male players from different sports. Years ago I started collecting just Baseball cards. I remember going to my local five and dime store. I can still remember walking in the store and hearing the floor boards creak the smell of a old country store and the candy counter. The penny candy and of course the reason why I went there the Topps Baseball cards. I remember buying the 1975 Topps Baseball cards and paying only 15 cents a pack and those cards in my opinion were some of the better designs Topps did. Some may not agree so maybe I should say best design of the 70's may be more fitting.

This is the 1975 Topps Carl Yastrzemski card and I mostly like the two different colors and one thing that I miss is seeing the players during spring training with the palm trees. The 1975 Topps cards also had the Mini cards. These were distributed in Michigan and California. These cards were produced to cut back on production costs. The mini cards measure 2 1/4 X 3 1/8. These were inserted into Wax, Cello and the popular rack packs. 

This card is the 1978 Topps card of Bob Montgomery. These designs I liked the lettering and of course I always liked a border on a card. A border made grading the card easier and that is why it is important to have the border. I was taught to say a certain % on the sides top and bottom and without it you could only get duplicate cards to compare and see if the cards were cut differently. If they were cut differently you could see more of the photo on the opposite side and that makes more work. That is why Topps was my favorite card company and still is. The rookies from this set were Eddie Murray, Paul Molitor/Alan Trammel, Jack Morris and Andre Dawson with the Montreal Expos. The Montgomery auto I have always liked the way he signs his first name. Bob has always been a great signer for the autograph collectors and a great back up catcher during the 70's.

Jumping back to hockey this card is the 2012-13 AHL card of Hampus Lindholm and I remember when I sent this card to him. He had got hurt in a game and was out for almost the entire season and when it came back signed I was very glad because before I sent it I asked myself maybe now it would be a good time to send with him being hurt and unable to play and sure enough that is my answer as to getting it back signed. He was with the Norfolk Admirals the 2012-13 season.

These two cards are both from the 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter and the card on the left is Jeff Carlson and on the right Steve Carlson. These cards are based on the movie Slapshot and they played the famous Hanson brothers. I do have the third players autograph from the Hanson brothers which is Dave Hanson. All of these players played pro hockey. Steve played for the Los Angeles Kings and many other Minor league teams. Jeff played one season in the WHA for the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Dave Hanson played for 2 NHL teams the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota North Stars and several seasons in the WHA. All 3 players were easy autographs to get and on Dave Hansons cartd he wrote Old Time Hockey which was from a line in the movie slapshot.

This card is from the 1998-99 Upper Deck MVP card of Grant Marshall and I can still remember when I opened the envelope and was surprised at the inscription he wrote on the card. I never usually ask a player for an inscription except one time but I will discuss that in another post. What I mostly remember about that year was the rule a players skate being in the goalie crease and if caught the goal would be taken back and this caused a lot of bad language. During the '99 Stanley Cup Finals Brett Hull scored the game winning goal in the third overtime but goal was allowed good because there was a foot in the crease at the time the goal was scored. The Stars defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 and hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Grant has a very nice autograph and was another great signer and that is what make autograph collecting so enjoyable that and when the player writes back a letter or a brief note.

Speaking of players writing back a letter or note this player Wilma Briggs from the AAGPBL has sent me several letters and some are 4-5 pages long along with signing her card from the 1995 Fritsch card. I have at least 3 letters sent back to me and I plan on keeping these in a special place in my collection. I actually was very upset when I saw that she had passed away. She was such a sweet person and I have watched videos of her and her career totals are very impressive. She played a total of 691 games, scored 375 runs, 633 hits, 64 doubles, 24 triples, 43 homeruns and 301 RBI's. She led the league in 1954 with 25 Homers. This card is very special to me because of the kind of person she was and it would have been great talking with her about the game.

These 2 cards I just got back in the mail on Monday of this week and I remember sending these out almost 2 years ago. This is why I keep saying never give up on getting an auto back. These 2 cards are of Brianne Jenner and the cards are from the 2021-22 Tim Hortons. The card on the left is the base card and the card on the right is Canvas Moments card. Brianne plays for the Ottawa Charge of the PWHL.

In my post dated Feb. 11 I mentioned having a new feature and that new feature will be called What do you think. I will post a question related to the hobby and hope readers reply with their thoughts on the question. So check out that page and see the question. Questions will be based on hobby news and happenings. Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog, if you enjoy my blog please follow.

That is all for now.

O'Canada and beyond

 There are many great sets that came out in the past with a lot of newer technology such as die-cuts and the shiny cards. Years ago we thought the Kellogg's 3-D cards were amazing and I still believe they are. Jersey cards and autographs became the staple of opening these newer cards. The 2007-08 In The Game Oh Canada cards had it all with auto's and jersey cards, multi player cards etc... The autograph set consists of 86 cards with NHL'ers and the Team Canada Women's cards. The beauty is within these cards and I like the auto cards because of the great lithograph appeal.

These two cards show that vivid color with and the auto's are a band-aid rather than the more preferred on card auto. If you look at Vicky Sunohara's card you notice the word VAULT. This is basically left over stock that gets put into production such as updates or another product. I am ok with this and it does not bother me because I enjoy just getting the autographs from the players on my wantlist. The other card on the right is a famous hockey last name. Gillian Apps had a Grandfather who played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936-37 - 1946-47. He won the Calder trophy his rookie season and won 3 Stanley Cups with the Leafs. Her Dad Syl Apps, Jr played 10 seasons with various teams mostly with the Pittsburgh Penguins and his best season point wise was 1975-76 were he scored 32 goals and added 67 assists one point away from the 100 point total but 99 points in 80 games is a nice total.

This is the base card and this one of Kim St-Pierre who has been one of the best all time goalies. She has won 3 Olympic Gold medals along with 5 World Championships Gold Medals. The card has a foil look to it and if you turn the card you can see the change in color to a more brighter pink. I also like the backs of the cards as it gives more detailed information with a brief write-up.

As you can see the backs of the cards are well designed and the cards number bottom right shows it with a red Maple Leaf. This is one of my favorite sets because it has so much to offer. The Jersey cards and Multi Player Dual Jerseys are just beautiful and the swatch size is large enough so if you get a patch card you can see what part of the jersey the patch came from.

This card is what the Duals look like and this card is of Cassie Campbell and Manon Rheaume. The backs have a description of the two players but the card number is not with the Red Maple Leaf and is placed in the middle at the top of the card.

Overall I think this set is one of the best In the Game sets as it has something for everyone, either a jersey collector autograph collector or just after the base cards. I still enjoy collecting base cards and I know a lot of collectors consider them just commons but when you have base cards that look as nice as these it should change how one thinks of base cards and these base cards from this set are just magnificent.

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and please follow as I will be doing at least 3 per week. I am also going to be adding a new feature to my blog so be sure to check it out, hoping with the next post, STAY TUNED!!!

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!!!