Mailbag!

I have been away and working a lot lately and haven't been able to post. While I have been away, I have received plenty of mail...let's all take a look!

The first pieces of mail were quite a few SPx Spectrum Rookie Cards. I love SPx. I have loved them ever since they first hit card stores. I still remember ripping open those foil packs staring at those die cut cards and being so excited every year for it's release thereafter. I still have the first SPx card I ever pulled (1996/97 SPx Brett Hull Gold). The first 2 cards are of Joseph Addai and Marcus Vick. I got the Addai at an amazing price, but the Vick...well, I remember when this card was out there and being at a card shop when a guy pulled a Vick Spectrum RC. He bought a screw down for it. I figured the guy was crazy, but that memory is embedded in my mind. Marcus Vick was on my mind when my hometown Steelers signed his brother Michael which made me look this card up. I found one and obtained it that day. I'm actually going to put this in my PC for the time being.

2006 SPx Spectrum Joseph Addai Auto RC 24/25 & 2006 SPx Spectrum Marcus Vick RC 17/25

Next up, I will be keeping it going with the SPx Spectrum theme. 

2007/08 SPx Spectrum Jonathan Bernier Dual Jersey Auto RC 5/25 & 2008/09 SPx Spectrum Josh Bailey RC 7/25

I think the 2008/09 SPx set is probably one of the ugliest out there. The design is very "busy". I still like the Bailey (who always kills my Penguins). 

I belong to a few trade boards and I had struck up a large deal for a huge chunk of rookie cards. The main rookie cards I wanted in this lot were Bobby Ryan and Erik Johnson SPx RC's. I used to be a huge fan of Bobby Ryan when he was with Anaheim. As for the Erik Johnson, who doesn't like picking up a SPx RC of a former #1 overall pick? I can tell you I LOVE THOSE. The 2007/08 SPx set was always one of my favorites, but the jersey windows are extremely sensitive (just like the 2005/06 SPx set). Anytime these are being shipped I am always worrying about the condition once I receive them. In the lot I received, 2 of the cards came damaged. I was upset, but I was glad to see the Bobby Ryan and Erik Johnson were fine...as you can see below

2007/08 SPx Bobby Ryan & Erik Johnson Dual Jersey RC's /999

Back in 2003, there was a craze in the City I live in because our hometown Penguins had the #1 overall pick in the draft. With that pick we selected Marc-Andre Fleury. I had been in a collecting hiatus for 2-3 years then, but the excitement of NHL hockey drew me back in again. The 2003/04 SP Authentic set was the first set I tried to put together since 1997. I busted multiple boxes, pulled off trades and months went by, but finally I finished the set. In 2005, I had become bored with collecting and had sold off the set piece by piece along with many other cards. I had been more interested in girls, going out with my friends and such, but lately I have looked through old photobuckets that I had and wished I had held onto those cards and sets I had completed. I found a few of the SP Limited parallel RC's from that set, so I decided to deal for them. This is still one of my favorite sets of all time. Such a simple design, but also a familiar design to me.

2003/04 SP Authentic Future Watch Tuomo Ruutu SP Limited Auto RC 2/50

2003/04 SP Authentic Future Watch Alexander Semin SP Limited Auto RC 43/50

2003/04 SP Authentic Future Watch Nikolai Zherdev SP Limited RC 17/50

The next card is just a card because I love the design/color scheme. I could care less about the player (who is a bust - Jiri Novotny). The SP Authentic Future Watch Limited's from 2005/06 were probably some of the nicest around. They had a black shadow background and the SP Authentic and Future Watch logo's are holofoil. I had pulled a Petr Taticek back in the day and remember how pleasing the card was to the eye. That card is long gone from my collection. I scanned the internet recently to grab another of anyone and found this one...just check out it's awesomeness!

2005/06 SP Authentic Future Watch Jiri Novotny Limited RC 35/100

The next card I picked up is of a team that I should absolutely despise. However, when I was growing up, my cousin actually worked for this team and I received autographed cards, met players, got autographed pucks, sticks, you name it. I feel like I should get a pass if I have somewhat of a soft spot for them (my exception is only when they play the Penguins). This player is someone who I liked to watch anytime the NHL Network would play OHL Games featuring his team, the Oshawa Generals. It always seemed like this guy was either near the puck or hitting someone who had the puck. He was just a joy to watch on the ice. On draft day of 2012, I saw the Philadelphia Flyers draft him and instantly got a bad feeling in my gut. I bought some packs in 2013/14, but hadn't pulled any cards of him. When talking to a buddy of mine the other night who resides in Philadelphia, we talked about the player in question. After our discussion, I decided to finally pick up one of his cards.

2013/14 SP Authentic Future Watch Scott Laughton RC Auto 571/999