It has been a Hattie Trick kind of a day and more, much more.

 When I first created this webpage I wanted it to be for the purpose of showing the autograph cards I get through the mail. I also like showing my ebay pick-ups and or any trades that I do. As many of you know blogging seems to be not as popular as it once was but I will from time to time do a post on autographs I get that really are autographs that I want because the player is a tough signer or a superstar but one reason for this next player is because of her name, Yes I have done more than one post about her and this next photo of cards I got autographed makes me not only happy but it helps the sting of others who fail to sign. There are times where I came close to just stop doing anymore autograph requests and now I am glad I kept it going and it is players like her who keep me going forward.

This is not just about one card but how about 3, yes 3 as in a "Hattie" Hat Trick. If you guessed who the player is and you said Hattie Hoff then you are 100% correct. 

Adding these 3 autographed cards now gives me 4 total and I will add that I wish all players were as consistent with their autograph and how legible it is too read. I have seen how a majority of hockey players actually sign their names and they really are horrible. I am seeing a lot of players just initial their name and you can't even read them. Imagine opening a box of cards and getting an autograph and you look and can't see how the scribble even resembles the letters in their name. When I was doing the older players from the 50's, 60's and 70's the autographs were beautiful because the players took the time to sign. Their auto's back then you could see the flow of the pen strokes versus the players today who just quickly rename themselves for the autograph collector. I always study the autograph's but their is no study in many today like there was years ago until now in that autograph of Hattie Hoff.

This next photo is from yesterday's mail and this is another one that I have been thinking about getting back signed so I can send it to the next player and get both of their autographs on the card as it is a 2 player card. You could call it a 3 player card because of the front having two players and the back having 2 players but one of the players on the front is different than the back. I am not sure about trying to get all 3 autographs or just get the two players or keep the one card with the 2 autographs and take a chance on the other card and try to get the 1 card autographed by the 3 different players, did you get all of that??

I just got another group of auto's back today and I had sent a total of 5 cards to Laura Tryba and 3 of those cards were her card from the 1997-98 University of Minnesota Women's hockey cards in which she did sign all 3. The other card is from the same set card # 1, the card reads FIRST GOAL and pictures Julie Otto on the front as the netted the first ever goal for the University of Women's Hockey also on the front is Brittny Ralph, on the back of the card is two inset photo's of Julie Otto and Laura Tryba. Laura signed the back of the card as I had asked and she added an inscription "11/2/97 1st ever assist as you can see in the photo above. I will now be brave and send these 2 out to Julie Otto and get her autograph on the back of each with the inscription 1st Ever Goal and I put in the letter to her to surprise with with a different inscription indicating the first ever goal scored for the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey program. I was going to wait and not post these two cards until I got them back from Julie Otto but I decided why not post and this way if they ever got lost I would have a scan of them. After I get the back from Julie Otto 1 of them will be sent to Brittny Ralph asking her to sign the front of the card near her photo on the front along with Julie Otto signing the front as well as the back.

This auto I got back is from Andrea Nichols who played 4 years from 2003-2007 with the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey. Andrea was the team captain during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. She was a great addition in helping them win the National Championships in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The Golden Gophers have won a total of 7 National Titles.

This card is from the 2026 Leaf Metal Ice Queens certified autograph of Abbey Murphy. Murphy was selected second in this years PWHL draft. Murphy had a great college career playing for the Golden Gophers. Abbey played from 2020-2026 in 171 games played and netted 261 total points placing her in second place only player ahead of her is Hannah Brandt who played in 158 games and netted 285 total points. Murphy leads all players with 143 goals second is Nadine Muzerall who scored 139 goals.

This is the back of the 2026 Leaf Metal Ice Queens Abbey Murphy card serial numbered 2/10. I love the choice of color and the chosen background with the evergreen trees with the clouds and what looks to be planet left side by the first evergreen.

This has been easiest the best week for my autographs through the mail and I hope the streak continues as I await several more autograph requests from the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey from the inaugural year 1997-98, 2004-05 and 2005-06 along with several requests out for the 2005-06 and 2014 Women's National team cards. I will be searching for more complete sets from this powerhouse team as through the years there have been so many great hockey players who have gone on to play professionally and have won Olympic Gold. I look forward to reading others comments, questions or suggestions about seeing other cards. I am also on the hunt for these sets of cards from the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey; 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2004-05, 2006-2007, 2008-2009, 2010-201.

I hope that everyone that attends this years national has a good time and stay safe & Happy Collecting!!!

Things are heating up as my autograph success rate increases

This week has turned out to be a very good week for my Women in Hockey autographs. I now have sent out over 50 autograph requests within the last week and a half. This week I have got back 5 auto's within the 4 days and I look forward to more this week as I still have tomorrow and Saturday to close out this week.

The first autograph I want to show is from Julie Otto and this is a big addition to my collection because Julie scored the first ever goal for the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey program. I sent the card to her and she was kind enough to sign the card using the Silver Sharpie I sent and it really pops because of the dark background.

The silver sharpie fits beautifully with the outline of the player. I am waiting to get this card back signed by Laura Tryba.

As you can see on the front this card shows Julie Otto jumping high in the air and being congratulated by teammate Brittny Ralph. Once I get this card back I will be sending the two cards to Julie Otto for her autograph on the front and the back as well. If all go's as planned I will send one off to Brittny Ralph for her auto on the front of the card.

This is the back of the card showing an inset photo of the first ever goal scorer Otto and the first ever assist by Tryba. I asked each player to add an inscription something along the lines of 1st ever goal and 1st ever assist. I even said they could write whatever they wanted or surprise me. The reason why I enjoy this through the mail autographs is because of the surprises in the mail.

This was a surprise as my goal is to complete this 2014 Women's National set all autographed and Kate Buesser's autograph is a bit tougher but am very pleased these came back signed and can cross off my wantlist. She has a nice looking autograph and this is her rookie card.

Got this one back today and another one that I wanted was from the first ever head coach of the University of Minnesota Women's hockey. Won coach of the year in 1997-98 Inaugural year with the Golden Gophers. She went on to win coach of the year a total of 5 times and 3 NCAA Championships. Laura has a very nice signature and it has not changed through the years as I compared it to her autograph on a goalie stick she signed in the 1997-98 season and it looks identical. 

Ashley Birdsall played 4 years at University of Wisconsin-Superior and then went on to play a few seasons with the Whitecaps and then 1 year with the Buffalo Beauts. 

This autograph from Jocelyne Lamoureux really surprised me because over the years I have tried to get her and her twin sisters autographs and I have done a blog post indicating that they do not like to sign for the fans. However the 2 cards I sent to her she did one different than the other. She actually add To then my name then signed the card and the one shown here she just signed her name. I do know from what I have heard over the years from other autograph collectors that some players get upset because if they just sign their cards without adding the TO the person sells the auto and makes money from it. So I wonder if that is why she did that, one will never know. She has a beautiful autograph as you can see the flow and she is very consistent each time. Her sister Monique has a beautiful auto as well, of the 2 of them Jocelyne has a better success percentage than Monique so one down and one to go and getting Monique's auto will not be easy. I have tried two different addresses for Monique and they have both come back as RTS. Should I send it to her sisters address hoping she may get it to her for her autograph?? It is a last minute kind of resort thought but it is up there as an idea if I keep failing sending to her.

Congratulations to Patrice Bergeron for getting the call to the hall and his jersey number will be retired December 1 by the Boston Bruins. Patrice had a great career and has won one Stanley Cup with the 2011 Boston Bruins. A winner of 6 Selke trophies, 1 Clancy and 1 Messier trophies. Patrice is not an easy autograph to get through the mail but has been known to sign at games.

Cindy Curley will also be elected to the HHOF this fall and she was a true pioneer of Women's hockey. Cindy played 4 years at Providence University where she scored over 100 goals. In the 1989-90 Women's World championship she set a record for most points 23 in only 5 games and of those 23 points 11 were goals. A well deserved selection to the HHOF. 

I am hoping for a very good rest of July for receiving my autographs through the mail as I look forward each day. As I keep saying Stay Safe and Happy Collecting!!!

A Hockey Legend and Guinness World Record Holder.

In 1960 Linda Sinrod was a college Sophomore and she had a roommate that was very good at figure skating which is how Linda learned to skate. She then started skating in 1975 and she then met the founder of the Northern Virginia hockey team which was The Washington Redcoats which was the first Women's Female Hockey team in the Washington area. Linda played 10 years 1975 to 1985 with the Redcoats and she then decided to she was too old to play and decided to quit.

It wasn't until she was 67 and retired from her job that she decided to make a comeback. She found a former teammate who was coaching a team in Woodbridge, the Prince William Wildcats. They played teams in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. She was kicked off that team because she was not competitive enough and after being with the team that long it did hurt her feelings. She then went on to play in a house league at the Medstar Ice Rink. They would only play teams that were divided up into making 8 teams. It did not matter how much or how little skill a player had or not because they all played and Linda was one of the leaders in assists and she played the game like she knew where to be before the play actually happened. There are hockey greats that play the same way which is why it is impressive to hear as to how she learned the game and taught herself to be a very good passer and playmaker.

Linda is now the Guinness Book of World Record holder as the oldest Female hockey player 84 years and 198 days old. Linda will be inducted into the United States 80+ Hall of Fame this fall.

I just got this card in today's mail from Linda Sinrod I am going to write her again and ask her to sign the front of the card instead of the back. I have been getting some cards where the players sign the backs of the cards because the cards front is dark. I will be adding that line to all of my new requests that they please sign the front of the card. Now I will be sending more cards out and of the ones I got back signed on the back I am resending and including a silver sharpie and they of course they can keep the sharpie. There is one card coming this week that has 2 players on the card and I hope I can get both players to sign and those 2 players are Julie Otto who was the Team captain and first ever goal scorer and Laura Tryba first ever assist.

This card is going to be going out this week as I would love getting her autograph because she scored the first ever goal for the Golden Gophers Women's Hockey in the inaugural year of 1997-98.

I have over 40 Minnesota Golden Gophers Women's Hockey cards coming in this week and they will be going out for auto's and the success rate for this team is better than 83% and yes there are some that can take time but I am ok with that as long as I get the card back signed.

 Does anyone still read any of the remaining hobby periodicals?? I still subscribe to SCD and I get the Beckett Hockey Monthly and of course I still subscribe to The Hockey News. Whatever happened to Tuff Stuff?? I never subscribed it but I have looked through other collectors issues. SCD is still a good magazine that I get twice a month. It does have some interesting articles about the hobby but it will never be what it once was years before. I used to love looking through all the ads and seeing the tobacco cards that were for sale. When I first started buying the T-206 cards I was paying $3 for a common card. My first Cobb was the Red Portrait and I paid $70. I can still remember certain ads by certain dealers and they included cards from the T-217 Mono's, T-209 Contentnea's, T-210 Old Mill and those cards were $5 a card the Mono's were slightly higher around $15 a card. The most beautiful tobacco card back was the T-211 Red Sun which featured players from the Southern league and the cards had the same photo's like the T-210 Red Border except the border on the Red Sun was an olive green with a beautiful back of a sunset in red. The Red Sun cards were more around $75 a card. The same teams in the T-210 set are in the T-211 Red Sun set but New Orleans in the T-210 Old Mill set featured one Shoeless Joe Jackson but he was omitted in the T-211 Red Sun set. My only guess would be he might have been called up to play in the Big Leagues and he started in 1908 with the Philadelphia Athletics but he saw limited action so I am guessing they did not put him in the T-211 Red Sun set because of him already seeing some games in the 1908 and 1909 season.

This is the back of a T-211 Red sun card and as you can see the Sun Burst. There were a total of 75 subjects in this set versus 640 subjects in the T-210 Red Border Old Mill set.

One of my favorite cards to own other than the T-210 card of Joe Jackson was the T-210 card of a Mascot from the Goldsboro team. What makes this card so cool is the bat is bigger than him and look at his pants they are flannel. These types of cards are unique and in there own little way they tell so many different stories but which ones do we believe. Answer it is not just the one that makes the most sense it is the one that best fits the photo.

The postage rates will be jumping an additional 4 cents on July 12th so a stamp will cost .82 cents. Time to buy lots of forever stamps now. That is all I got today and as always Happy Collecting!!!

More Pick-ups and A Happy 4th

 Thought I would do a quick post a day before the 4th of July. It will be crazy here as we live by many lakes and it is a big draw for visitors to come and enjoy the fireworks shot over the lake, we do not attend these fireworks displays because I have seen  enough and we dislike the ones that people shoot off near our homes. I got another through the mail autographs from Kim Insalaco who has a card in the 2005-06 United States Women's National Team. Kim signed an index card for me earlier in the year and must love signing in red.

This now gives me 10 cards from the 2005-06 United States Women's National Team and getting Natalie Darwitz auto was a big one to get and the other one is Angela Ruggiero but I have only seen this card for sale for nearly $60 and I have sent many times to her with only one successful reply so to lay out $60 is really taking a big chance. If I saw her signing at an event then yes I would do it but no I won't spend that much and take that risk (That is for how I feel Today)

This is a very nice unique item that I got Tricia Dunn to sign. This is a first day cover silk Cachet for the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy. The postmark is Ja. 11,2006 Colorado Springs, CO is the cancellation stamp. Notice the cost of a postage stamp 20 years ago was only 39 cents and currently it is up to 78 cents and on July 12th it jumps up to 82 cents. Tricia is not an easy auto to get but I am very happy with this one, the cachet is really nice and is like cloth and Tricia signed this Tricia D Luoma.

This card of Stephanie Boyd is from the 1994-95 Classic Women of Hockey set of 40 cards in which these cards consist of 20 Team Canada players one checklist card and 19 Team USA cards. I have 18 team USA cards autographed as I still need Stephanie Boyd as the last Team USA players autograph. I sent a autograph request out on Weds. in hope that she gets the request and signs the 2 cards I sent. She was born in Canada but played for Team USA which is what makes getting her autograph somewhat difficult. I will be sending more autograph requests to the 1997-98 University of Minnesota cards and enclosing a silver sharpie in a bubble mailer which I plan on sending to Laura Tryba, I am only waiting for the 3 cards to arrive so I can send them out to her and one of the cards has the first ever goal scorer Julie Otto as scoring the first ever goal for the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey assisted by Laura Tryba. I hope I can get both to sign as that would be huge.

This is the front of the card showing Julie Otto and Brittny Ralph but Ralph did not assist she was on the ice and is celebrating when the goal was scored. I wonder if she got to keep the puck, I plan on asking her that when I send the card out for here auto, time will hopefully answer that question.

This is the back of the card above which shows a small inset photo of Otto and Tryba. I might ask them to each sign the back by their respective photo and the front and I might ask Brittny Ralph to sign the front as well since she is the other player depicted on the front. As you can see the first ever goal was scored by Julie Otto from a rebound by Laura Tryba at the games 1:55 mark.

This card I am showing is one my Wife bought for me back in 2013 and I still and always will keep this card. The serial number is 056/100. The number 56 was Bergeron's jersey number back when he was a rookie. Just a really nice card. Also want to say congratulations to Patrice Bergeron for being elected to the HHOF and he will soon have his jersey number retired where it will hang with all the other Bruins greats. That is all I got for this post and looking forward to getting more autographs back of the Women in Hockey and I will be doing a post on Linda Sinrod once I get her card back signed.

Happy Collecting and remember have fun collecting and have a safe and Happy 4th of July!!!

This could get a little Stick(Y)

 As an autograph collector I usually only collect autographs on a players card or a custom/index card. My reason for not trying to players auto's on memorabilia is because they take up too much room.

I do like when a card Manufacturer creates a card that has either the players jersey swatch or stick embedded in the card and the player signs the piece of memorabilia. I did go out and buy an item that go's against my collecting thoughts by picking up a unique item.

I have been collecting only Women's Hockey Player autographs and been trying to get players from different colleges. I have been very successful in getting a majority of team sets signed by all the players within said set. The 1997-98 Golden Gophers Women's Hockey is their inaugural season and I am still short a few players for completion.

I saw this 1997-98 Golden Gophers Women's Hockey souvenir stick signed by all the players so I just finally said just make an offer and see if I can get it a bit lower. The photo tells the story as to the seller letting me have it for my offer.

One of the players autograph that is very difficult to acquire is Nadine Muzzerall. Muzzerall has been the head coach of University of Ohio Women's hockey, her first season was 2016-17 and is still the current head coach. She has guided the Ohio State Women's Hockey to 2 National championships, 2022 and 2024. I sent her the 1997-98 Minnesota card but I never got it back. That is the biggest reason for buying this stick and if you look closely the very end of the handle you can see that great hockey name..... Hattie Hoff #2.

I just had to show this card again as it still remains one of my favorite autographs. Not only is the name great but the autograph is very legible which is an indication she took her time to sign, the silver sharpie blends in perfectly with the cards white shadow that borders the players image.

That is all for now, so until next time Happy Collecting and just remember to have fun collecting!!!

Some Really Decent Mail Day Autographs and a yard sale pick up of 4

 Yes there has been some really decent mail this week and some really nice surprises as well. The last batch of autograph requests went out on the 15th of June and there were two that I thought I would get back signed and the other two I was doubtful I would ever see the cards again. I will be posting these newest autographs but first want to discuss other Women's hockey news.

The PWHL had their draft with the number one selection being Caroline "KK" Harvey followed by Abbey Murphy. Harvey was drafted by the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Abbey Murphy going to the Seattle Torrent. It will be interesting next season when the 2026-27 Upper Deck PWHL cards are released with the amount of attention her Young Guns card will receive. It would be really nice to pull her Young Guns Silver or Red Outburst card and the impossibility of pulling the Gold one of one young guns card.

I will be buying some of the 2025-26 Upper Deck PWHL boxes but still not sure how many, I was thinking of buying a case which is 16 boxes and 12 packs a box 6 cards a pack 72 cards multiplied by 16 would be 192 packs and 1,152 cards. Sounds like it would be very fun and the amount of complete sets would be around 15+.

These 2 cards I got back in 9 days from Natalie Darwitz, The card on the left I sent to her and she added the card on the right. The 2005-06 U.S. Women's National Team card I paid $25 for but I felt confident that she would sign and added the inscription HHOF'24 that I asked.

I got a autograph success back and you never really know for sure who the auto is from until you open and see but what I do is I journal and keep all of the players name and addresses and the date of mailing so if the cancellation of the stamp is legible I look to compare the city and state and I am pretty accurate. So Earlier in the year I had an envelope that was lost from Lisa Chesson so I resent with the same cards. Well she sent back those cards and one other and I was very pleased to of got the extra 2 cards she added. I planned on sending her the 2014 Team USA card but she beat me to the punch. She sent the 2014 which is the card on the left and the other card that I never knew existed she sent and auto'd too.

The card on the right is I believe from 2007-08 and I have seen a Natalie Darwitz from the same set. I love the color and design and the backs of the cards are also very bright and show a photo of the player in street clothes.

This is the reverse side of that card and it also list the players height, weight, Birth Place, hometown, high school and college. I also like the trivia did you know about the player depicted. Her first year with the U.S. Women's National Team was 2007 which is why I believe this card to be a 2007-08 date. I will do more research into these cards. If anyone reading this has any info about these cards such as dates, player checklist please contact me ASAP.

The last autograph card I got back this week is from the same set as Natalie Darwitz's the 2005-06 U.S. Women's National Team card of Lyndsay Wall. Lyndsay has signed for me in the past but again I felt confident sending to her. and she did not disappoint.

These cards are much better looking in person as the scanner seems to pick up the vertical lines as you can see in the scan but still I now have 10 autographs from this 2005-06 U.S. Women's National Team Card set of I believe there to be at least 20 different players, I love these challenges but I will add that it is frustrating when you send an auto request to the player and it comes back as a RTS and the address is correct. The player can refuse the item and tell the postal carrier and it comes back with the yellow label. It usually states this: Return to Sender, Not deliverable as addressed, Unable to forward. The RTS I got back someone wrote in red pen ANK MOVED which indicates Address Not Known. You can drive yourself crazy searching for a different address because it is pointless because you do have the correct address but it is the player who just does not want to take the time to sign. 
I sent an auto request to Linda Sinrod. Linda holds the Guiness World's Record for the oldest living player(Female) 84 years 198 days old. Linda will be inducted into the United States 80+ Hall of Fame this fall. I am adding another album of all of the autograph cards I get from these hockey pioneers who are trailblazers. I am in my mid 60's and I could not play hockey now, these players are truly amazing and they love the game and play for as long as they can. Linda did retire on April 7, 2025 because she was told by her doctors that she could tear the tendons she had previously torn. Congrats Linda on your upcoming induction to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

I did pick up these 4 cards for a buck and figured you really can't go wrong with 2 Rose cards a Carew and a Yaz card and the Rose and Yaz are in very nice condition.

Until my next post I hope everyone is having fun collecting and enjoying the hobby!!!

We Gotcha Bonnie and Thank-You

 I did some more research about Bonnie Shea and I said once I got back her autograph I would post it in my next blog post. Today is that day but let's add a few more tidbits about Bonnie Shea.

Bonnie started playing hockey with the boys primarily because there was no girls teams. She has said to be the first girl to play on a boys team in Duluth, Minnesota. The year was 1951 at the age of 7 where she played for her home town team of all boys. When she was in high school her hockey coach invited her to try out for the high school team. When the High school principal found out he said that girls are not allowed to play on the boy's hockey team. At the age of 15 Bonnie had to stop playing the game she loved because there were no teams where a girl could play hockey.

One day she was watching television and saw an announcement that UMD was starting a club team for Women's hockey. Bonnie was 40 years old and she contacted UMD and said she wanted to play and I am 40 years old. She was told to report because Bonnie did graduate from UMD. Bonnie was a teacher and she would take the time and play floor hockey with some students. One student actually made it to the NHL as a goaltender. That player was Robb Stauber who played 4 years with the Los Angeles Kings and 1 season with the Buffalo Sabres. Stauber played in the 1992-93 play-offs with the Kings winning 3 and losing 1.

Bonnie is now with WHAM (Women's Hockey Association of Minnesota) this is for players who played High School or College hockey and they played against Men's teams. Bonnie was a very gifted scorer and was a quick skater, quick enough to see an opposing player (Man) going to hit her but with her quick speed she was able to avoid the check and the player went hard into the boards.

Bonnie also enjoys watching the NFL and her favorite team is the Minnesota Vikings where she has been a season ticket holder for 20 years. She was chose to blow the Gjallarhorn at a Vikings pre season game.

Bonnie signed the 2 cards I sent her and she did add a nice letter so without further ado here are those 2 auto's.

Another nice addition to my Women in Hockey Autograph Collection. One more thing of importance. Bonnie Shea will be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame this coming fall 2026. Congrats Bonnie on a amazing career and I hope you are able to continue to play the game that you love and that you continue having fun playing.

These 2 cards are both from  Allen & Ginter. The card on the left is the N-28 while the card on the right is the N-43. The cards could also be found in an album that was made by A&G and they are now a days difficult to locate. The cards cut from the albums are a paper type much thinner but still quite valuable and more valuable if left intact in the album. I owned 2 different albums at one time.

This tobacco card is from the T-201 Mecca double folds and lifting the top of the card straight up you get the other player which with Cobb is Sam Crawford. The backs of the card have a 1 year stats of each player.

This card is the Old Judge card of Del Darling of the Chicago White Stockings. The Old Judges were issued by the Goodwin & Company New York. This is the largest set of tobacco cards issued from 1886-1890 and consists of over 4,500 card variations and slightly over 500 different players. There are numerous poses per player. One player Billy Hoy was Deaf, Dumb and earned the nickname as Dummy Hoy. Hoy played a important part of Baseball the signals were used to communicate with him and that is how the signals used in today's game were introduced back then. Billy Hoy was 99 years old when he passed away in 1961 at that time he was the oldest living major leaguer. I do have his Old Judge card and it is a very highly sought after card. I have seen less that 10 which makes it very valuable and highly sought after.

Will be doing my next post on more Baseball cards from Bubble Gum and other interesting cards and hope I get more Autographs for my Women in Hockey autograph collection. Until then Happy Collecting!!!