$30 a Week Habit sends me more than 30 cards

Recently, I got a box of cards from Robert of $30 a Week Habit and My PCs One Card at a Time, who sent me a box of hockey goodness. Now, there were too many to show all of them, but here are some highlights:

4 new sets were added to my collection, with probably the highlights being 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee and 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee. The other two, not shown, are 2003-04 Heads Up and 1998-99 Finest, which happens to be the only one of the 67 cards he sent me that I have not scanned yet, I think!

One of the three 1976-77s he sent, which I am guessing are ones he upgraded in his on-going set build, is my first career issue of The Hammer.

It's my third card of his, but the other two were both issued long after his career ended. While I still have a lot to learn there are some names from the past I've already learned, and his is one of them.

Since I can't show two and leave out the third, here's Bob Nystrom:

 He seems to have been enjoying that photo shoot!

My Joe Sakic collection got a huge boost from him, with 16 of them joining my collection! It moved him into my top 10.
This one may be the most intriguing to me, as I have no idea what set it came out of. Robert or anyone else, do you know?

But there were more mainstream cards as well, going as far back as when the team was in Quebec:

 to Colorado...

 and even as an All-Star!

There were other players and sets represented as well, including some serious star power both retired and current, and even some inserts.

 (as an aside, the 1992-93 Topps design grows on me more and more every year. I've been familiar with this design since 1996 when I first saw it on an NBA card, yet I like it now more than ever. I don't know how to explain that)

In total, I got 67 new cards in the box, and all of them will be a part of my collection for many years to come. Thank you again Robert!

I can't stand the PUNishment!

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Get it?

Sorry, I don't have anyone named Stills, so I went with Jimmy Sills. Close enough, right?

My Top 10 Favorite NHL Hockey Cards in my collection

Here's a new feature that is actually quite hard to make so it won't be common- Top 10 Lists!

It's hard to narrow down a group of cards to 10 favorites. Heck, it's hard to narrow it down to favorites at all- I love almost every single card. That's why I collect them, after all. I am very familiar with my hockey collection because they are all new to me. I was given almost 3000 of them on January 31st and I've been working on documenting them since then, so they are pretty much all in my memory.

A perfect opportunity to debut my Top 10 List feature.

As I was going through them all, typing them into my Excel chart I posted a screencap of a few weeks ago, I pulled aside cards that I really liked, and were in contention for Top 10. I ended up pulling aside more than 25 cards, and after some narrowing down, I got it to about 17 cards. Then I had to narrow it down to 10, which was not easy...Place 4-7 were fairly easy, but 8-10 was tough. Who made the cut? Positions 1-3 were hard as well. 3rd was easier to determine, but 1 and 2 were a tossup.

In the end the card I chose as my favorite surprised even me, as it came from a company that I do not really consider a favorite. But, when they got it right, they got it right.

I thought about doing a countdown, but I will start with #1....

#1. 1998-99 Pacific Dynagon Ice Team Checklist #24 Tampa Bay Lightning

This card is incredible in person. The metallic gold sparkle is a sight to behold. Depending on how you turn the card, you can see gold, purple, red, orange, blue and green in the sparkle area. It doesn't scan as good as it looks in person. It is the only card I have from this insert set.

#2. 1995-96 SPx #21 Saku Koivu

This was almost #1, but the fact that if you aren't holding it a certain way you don't see the hologram image relegated it to #2. It is almost impossible to properly image; the scan is above, and I was not able to get it on video to show how it moves, but my brother was able to capture these following 4 images that show the fact that if you turn the card left to right, he goes from sitting there to smiling.

#3. 2005-06 Upper Deck Rookie Showdown #RS-SCAO Sidney Crosby/Alexander Ovechkin

This is the first video I've ever embedded into my blog! This is also the only card to make the list that I had in my collection before 1/31/15. The card was a bit of a mystery to me, but my friends on the Database helped me determine that it was a promotion from UD connected to 2005-06 Upper Deck. This ranks #3 because no matter how you hold the card, you can't see either image totally clearly.

#4. 1997-98 Pacific Crown Royale #90 Alexandre Daigle

The second die cut card to make the list, I got two cards from this set, and this one is my favorite, mostly because of the team logo- the Ottawa Senators team logo is my favorite in hockey. The areas that look silver are actually holofoil.

#5. 1996-97 McDonald's Pinnacle Ice Breakers #McD20 Brian Leetch

Another lenticular motion card! The first of two consecutive promos to make the list, this one reminds me very much of the 1996 SpeedFlix NASCAR set, which was also printed by Pinnacle so that explains that.
Here is the scan, to go with the video.

#6. 1998-99 McDonald's Upper Deck Grand Moment #M4 Wayne Gretzky

This one gets a photo instead of a scan, to show how the picture on the left is done. I know there is a name for it when they put many small holes in the card together to make an image but I can't remember what it is. I think mine might actually be an error. I would guess the holes are supposed to be to the left more, without the black border to it, and not going into the gold foil border.
Like the previous card, I knew who both of them were before I got all the hockey cards.

#7. 1999-00 Topps Gold Label #2 Al MacInnis

 

I have been a fan of the Gold Label brand since the very first time I ever saw it, which was when I pulled my first one from 1997-98 Topps NBA, where the same design was used as an insert. The exact same design was used as a base set in the NBA in 1999-00. I don't know how the NHL version worked, but it doesn't matter...it is a great design every time. This is the only hockey Gold Label card I have.

#8. 2001-02 Pacific #273 Marian Hossa

The first of two consecutive cards to make the Top 10 due to the photo on the card. Yes, it surprises me that there are 3 Pacific cards in the Top 10! This is a great image taken from above that clearly shows a shot attempt, you can even see the shadow from the puck!

#9. 1997-98 Collector's Choice #1 Guy Hebert

This is a cool wide angle shot taken clearly from inside the net. You can see other players, the banners from the ceiling, even the big display/scoring monitor. It looks like the image was taken in Calgary, and based on what's going on in the background, and the body language of Hebert, I have to wonder if the Flames just won the game when this image was taken. It's too small for me to be able to read the score up above.

#10. 1995-96 Leaf Limited #19 Todd Bertuzzi

10th place was the hardest position to choose of all. I received three cards from this set and choosing one out of the three was tough! I ended up choosing this one over Jamie Storr and Jocelyn Thibault simply because I liked the background color better. This one would have ranked higher had they used that color design over a photo instead of replacing the photo. I value real photos higher than gimmicks, for the most part. (Holograms and lenticulars being the exception to the rule!)

I also really wanted to get a vintage card onto the list, as I was given a few of them, but they just didn't make the cut. One of them made the Top 20 simply because it is my oldest hockey card, from 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more Top 10 Lists!