Life as a hockey collector

After yesterday's surprise announcement that I have gotten into the NHL, I decided today to start actively adding to the collection. With a little help from my mom and brother, I visited my favorite shopping place here in the Hudson Valley, which is an antique mall with 4 different card dealers. One of those dealers is my favorite vintage dealer I've mentioned several times in the past.

I knew there were dealers with packs of cards there...

so packs I got. That's 9 packs of 2014-15 MVP, 4 of 1991-92 Stadium Club (I think- might be 1990-91? Not sure yet), 4 of 1990-91 Pro Set, 2 of 1993-94 Parkhurst, 2 of 1991-92 Upper Deck, 1 of 2001-02 Victory and 2 of 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee. The MVP cost me a dollar each, the rest cost me 50 cents each. I've never opened anything from O-Pee-Chee ever, that will be my first. I really wish they didn't include gum, I know the top card is going to be pretty much ruined because of it. I've never opened any of these sets and I will be digging into some after I hit post. 1990-91 Pro Set is in the early lead as my favorite NHL set, I have a bunch of them I got in January 2015 (The Epic Mailday where my hockey collection went from 28 cards to 2800 in one day)

Then, I hit my vintage dealer. My vintage dealer has had some incredible stuff here, and you've been seeing cards that came from him since I started the blog...I discovered him less than 2 month before I started Cardboard History.

All he had, for the most part, were Rangers and Islanders.

Sorry for the blurriness, these are taken with my cell phone and I guess I'm still learning how to take good pictures of cards with it. (the same phone that is allowing me to watch hockey, in fact! Watching Islanders/Hurricanes as I type!) I went through the binders and tried to pick out each set that he had. I don't even know what year these are all from yet, and not all of the sets are actually new to my collection, but for a dollar or less each, I'm not going to complain! 

Then I decided to hit the showcase...

 I paid half of what is marked...the hologram is Wayne Gretzky. You all know my love of holograms, lol. So, my hockey collection now goes back into the 1950s! Previous oldest card was 1969-70. That I also got from the same dealer over a year ago, in fact.

But that wasn't all. I decided to finally get the rest of the 1954 Topps Scoop cards, which I have loved since I discovered the set. I didn't want to spend that much money but I really wanted to put a finish to these, so I can work on getting some of the other stuff he's got and not feel guilty for leaving these behind. Every single one of these I've shown on the blog has come from this dealer.

And then I saw he had a case in the showcase he didn't have before...

1938's Horrors of War! One of the most storied, more legendary, most important non-sports sets ever made. This is my 2nd and 3rd cards from the set.

Then, having already spent way more than I expected, I visited the final dealer, who I have actually known for more than 20 years now. Back int he 1990s he used to run the card shows we had in the mall most weekends, but has now moved to the current location and the card shows went away around the year 2000. He's the hardest to shop from- everything is in large boxes in random order, sometimes in runs from sets, but sometimes truly haphazard. It's not uncommon to find 3 sports in a row. I liken going through the boxes to prospecting, if you are willing to do the work you can find some real gems. I was only able to go through one full box and portions of two others before my back gave out, but I still ended up getting exactly 100 cards.

Here's just some highlights. From the bottom left to right and up: my first card from this year's Absolute Basketball, which I didn't even know was out yet, two cards SN to 25, the TJ McConnell is only my third card of him. A new Elton! I pulled and got every hockey card I found, including one from that famous 1970s set. (my first) The Brodeur is a SN card, I think a parallel, but I'm not 100% sure yet. I still have so much to learn. The top card is beat to heck but it's an Essential Credentials card, not something that you come across very often, and it's SN 25/53. I like my current cards to be in a little better shape, but with any Essential Credentials card, I will make an exception. I may have added hockey to the fold, but I am still an NBA, Non-Sport and NASCAR collector as well.

Oh by the way, not all the cards I got today were for my own collection. I've mentioned several times that various bloggers have sent me stuff without asking anything in return...well...I might be changing that soon...but I'm not going to tell you if you are going to be getting some cards, it'll be a surprise.

I had a great day, and I have not even begun to research the cards I got yet, nor break into the packs. It won't be the first hockey packs I open- I've dabbled a little in the past- but they will be the first where I now consider myself a true hockey collector.

Better late than never!