Daniel Dore

Ever heard of him? Dore was a 1st round draft pick (5th overall) by the Quebec Nordiques in 1988. He had a short career in the NHL (17 games played, 2 goals, 3 assists and 59 PIM's). Although he was a first round draft pick, he only had 1 card which is a Star Rookie card and it was card #255 in the 1990/91 Upper Deck set. When I was 9, I actually had this card as it was in the first pack of hockey cards I ever purchased. So, this would actually be the first hockey rookie card I ever owned. This is a card I will always remember because of this.

I looked on COMC looking for this card and they were all priced over $1. On eBay, it was much the same, but I came across one that was autographed. I threw it on my watch list and after a few months, I sent the seller an offer and ended up getting the card for $6 shipped.

I'm pretty excited to add this to my collection. Dore may not be a household name, but I have always known who he is. So what is Mr. Dore up to now? Well, he is a scout for the New York Rangers. Now Dore finds new talent for Upper Deck to use in their Young Guns set. Pretty cool, right?

1990/91 Upper Deck Daniel Dore Star Rookie Autograph

Have you ever done this?

I was going through my scanned cards on my computer the other day and I came across a card I forgot I had. In the summer of 2002, a friend of mine got married in North Carolina. I ventured out for the wedding and while I was out there that weekend, I stopped into a sports card shop. The shop didn't have any hockey besides 1991/92 Topps and 1992/93 Pro Set, so if I was going to buy something it had to be either baseball or basketball because football cards were also scarce. I decided to grab 2 packs of 2001 Bowman Chrome. I opened them up in the shop and noticed that I pulled a Gold Refractor. The shop owner told me, that he had a lot of interest in the card and that if I traded him the card, he would give me $50 worth of unopened product from his store. I thought about it, but I declined and decided to keep the card because it must have been worth a ton, right? 18 years later this looks like a bad move on my part. The player was Luis Montanez. He was a first round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2000 (3rd overall). He even hit a home run on his first Major League at bat. Montanez, however, would not be able to sustain the success he had after his first at bat and had an uneventful career in the majors (.223 Avg with 5 HR's and 32 RBI's). He ended his career in 2011, while spending his career with 2 clubs (Cubs and Orioles). Does anyone want to give me $50 in unopened product for this now? Didn't think so. Have you ever held onto a card for too long and it eventually became worth nothing at all?

2001 Bowman Chrome Luis Montanez Gold Refractor RC /99

Oh Rickey, You're so fine!

Rickey Henderson has always been one of my favorite players. I had multiple Starting Lineups of his growing up, I had a pair of batting gloves that looked like his...he was just the coolest. When his career was winding down, I got to see him play with the San Diego Padres when they were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. I even got him to flex his muscles at us. It was hilarious. One thing I never owned however, was his rookie card. Occasionally I would do an eBay search for one and even in VG+ condition they were always going for like $20+. I'm normally not a cheap skate if it is really something I want, but baseball cards aren't usually something that I spend more than $20 on for 1 card since I focus more on hockey cards. After listening to a 30 for 30 podcast on Rickey Henderson, I actually had the want to spend more than $20 on his rookie. I scouring eBay for 3 months and watching countless Rickey Henderson rookie auctions, I finally decided to pull the trigger on one and I can say I'm happy with the purchase. This card is iconic and I couldn't wait to receive it. Here it is!

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie Card #482

I struck gold!

Upper Deck Collector's Choice used to be one of the most accessible packs to purchase back in 1994 and 1995. It seemed every gas station, drug store and department store sold them. They were also a great deal at 99 cents per pack. I could usually always ask one of my parents for a pack and they would oblige since I wasn't spending their money on candy that could rot my teeth. Back when I was 12 (in 1994), I purchased 2 packs of 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice football and pulled a Trev Alberts Gold Signature. Around that time my friends and I were pretty active in having trade nights on weekends during the summer. These nights were a blast. We would each bring a shoe box full of stuff we wanted to show off and trade. It also involved a sleep over, with pizza and movies. All of us just had a blast. During one of those trade nights, I ended up trading my Trev Alberts Gold Signature. I had an eBay saved search for this card, but every time one was available, someone wanted at least $10 for it. Finally, someone listed one for a reasonable price and I sent an offer and it was accepted for $1.50 shipped!

Here it is:

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Gold Signature Trev Alberts RC 

Another trip to the card shop

I had a day off work today, so after running some errands, I decided to stop in the local card shop. After shooting the breeze with the worker at the shop, I searched through their singles and picked out 6 that I had interest in. Then, I picked up more magnetic holders for my more valuable stuff (I almost have a full 3200 count box filled with nothing but those magnetic holders)...almost there. After another patron showed up, we all started discussing the new Upper Deck hockey product. Before leaving, I decided to buy 2 packs to see if I liked it or not. 

First up, here was my 6 card purchase for $15:

Top Row: 2017/18 SP Authentic Future Watch Tage Thompson Auto /999, SP Authentic Future Watch Logan Brown /999 and SP Authentic Future Watch Luke Kunin /999

Bottom Row: 1993/94 Donruss Elite Series Sergei Fedorov /10000, 2017/18 UD Artifacts Dual Jersey Alexander Nylander RC /499 and 2017/18 SP Game Used Banner Year Gustav Nyquist Game Used Banner

I honestly think I did well with these purchases...

On to the Upper Deck. The photos were cool on the cards that I saw online, but I didn't really have any noteworthy ones in the 2 packs I bought. I did have duplicates of Casey Mittlestadt and Jordan Binnington...kinda weird because I only purchased the 2 packs. 

Here is the wrappers of the packs:

I love that they put Sid on the wrapper. Below are my dupes...

And here is the swag...I should go buy a lottery ticket because I did phenomenal in 2 packs:

I pulled the Jack Hughes Young Guns, but also a Clear Cut Young Guns (1:72 packs) of some guy I never heard of named Danil Yurtaykin! Needless to say, I was pretty happy with my day off work!

eBay grabs

Sometimes there is just no rhyme or reason as to why I purchase something and I'll put it in one of my 3200 count boxes and forget about it. Most of the time, I'm busy with my son or I'm engulfed with my other interests and I don't have the extra time to do much with them. I have one 3200 count box that I add newer cards to for scanning and sorting purposes. Well, with these purchases, it has been over 3 months since I was able to scan and sort them properly. I finally found the time to scan them, so on with the show.

1st Purchase...

2008/09 UD Ice Premieres Zach Bogosian RC /99

2nd Purchase...

2013/14 UD The Cup Draft Boards Nicklas Jensen Auto /25



3rd Purchase...

2013/14 SPx Elias Lindholm Dual Jersey Auto RC /499



4th Purchase...

A pair of Whitney's...from the man who brought us Spittin' Chiclets, Ryan Whitney

2005/06 SP Game Used Gold /25 and SP Authentic Future Watch Ryan Whitney Auto RC /999





5th Purchase...

2017/18 SPx Super Scripts Alex Delvecchio Auto



Finally, the last purchase:

2018/19 SP Authentic Future Watch Rasmus Dahlin RC /999

Through the mail autos

In a previous post a few years back I had stated that I was sending cards to retired baseball players through the mail to be autographed. I had received a few and others just never came back. This past summer, I tried again. After a few wrong addresses and envelopes sent back to me requesting anywhere from $5-$20 for autographs, I actually had some success. Out of 12 players I sent requests for, I received 4 back. I'll take it!

After 1 week, Bryan Oelkers was the first to send his card back. Fun fact about Mr. Oelkers, he is the first of 4 MLB players from Spain in history. He signed his 1984 Donruss Rookie for me:

1984 Donruss Bryan Oelkers TTM Auto

Have you ever heard the name Cotton Nash? He was Bo Jackson before it was cool. Cotton was a 2 sport athlete who also played professional basketball. He signed the card in regular pen, which I was kinda bummed about, but still excited that he signed. I really can't complain. Mr. Nash also only took 2 weeks to get this back to me, which was pretty awesome. If you ever read this blog Cotton, you rule buddy!

1971 Topps Cotton Nash TTM Auto

The next autograph I received was from a baseball player that was all the rage back in 1990...Kevin Maas! I have to be honest, I was really excited to receive an autograph from Mr. Maas as like any kid who was a baseball fan in the '90's, he was a household name. It took Kevin 1 1/2 months to sign:

1990 Upper Deck Kevin Maas TTM Auto

Finally, the last auto that I received took a little longer than the rest of them. It was from a catcher from the Twins that I really had never heard of named Bruce Look. I have to say, Mr. Look has nice penmanship. This autograph took around 2 1/2 months to travel it's way back to me. I'm still floored that all of these former ballplayers took the time out of their day to sign something for me.


1969 Topps Bruce Look TTM Auto

Thanks for reading!

Redemption Replacement

Like many of my fellow collectors, I'm not a huge fan of redemption cards. About a year and a half ago, I purchased a pack of 2017/18 SPx and received a Logan Brown Autographed Redemption that was serial #'ed to 199. That week, I added the code on the Upper Deck website and the wait began. Months would go by and then I would check it on their website to see if there was any movement, and it would always say they were waiting for the player to sign the cards. So, in September, I just asked Upper Deck's customer service department if I could just get a replacement instead of waiting. I received an email the next day asking if there was a specific team or player I was interested in. I emailed the customer service worker back and asked that they surprise me. Well....Upper Deck REALLY surprised me. I was pretty blown away by my replacement. Mind you, this is the first time I've ever asked for a replacement in any redemption as I've read other posts on trading sites and such where the company sent them garbage back. This is the total opposite. Thank you so much Upper Deck! You guys rule!

2010/11 SP Authentic Future Watch P.K. Subban Auto RC /999

Trip to the card shop

Hello everyone...it's been a long hiatus and I apologize. Life has caught up to me! Anyways, I have still been collecting, just not as much as previously because my wife and I had a baby last January (a son). This made stops to the LCS and my eBay wins a little less frequent as in the past. However, this past weekend, I popped into my local card shop because I needed some "me" time. Everyone reading this who is a parent, surely can understand. My original plan was just to grab some magnetic holders for some of the more valuable cards in my PC. While I was there, I noticed something new on tables near the counter...patches, autos and rookie card singles. I was on a pretty strict budget of the $18 cash I had in my wallet, so I was really going to have to be savvy with my money if I really wanted to purchase some singles. Through the first chunk of the hockey singles, I set aside 1 card I was interested in. In the 2nd pile I looked at, I found 2 more that caught my eye. In the final pile in the middle of a bunch of young guns cards, I spotted another card that interested me. So, I brought them to the counter and asked for a price for the 4 cards and the guy working there said "Oh, about $7". So, on my tight budget, I ended up getting all the plastics I needed along with 4 cards that caught my interest....not a bad day! So, what did I get for $7? Nothing too spectacular, but I thought it was worthy of a post for the price:

2008/09 SPx Rookies Teddy Purcell Dual Jersey RC /1299I like Teddy from  his appearances on the hockey podcast "Spittin' Chiclets" so I decided to buy this one.




2017/18 SP Authentic Future Watch Nick Merkley Auto RC /999

Merkley is probably a first round bust, but it was cheap.

2017/18 SP Authentic Future Watch Remi Elie Auto RC /999
This was one of the few autographed rookies that was left in the bunch without a $6-$10 price tag on it, so I bought it.

2018/19 SP Authentic Future Watch Brett Howden Auto RC /999

I was a fan of his brother Quinton, so I decided to buy his brothers Future Watch Auto. The price was surely right!

Total spent with the magnetic holders I bought also - $16.38. Definitely one of the cheapest card shop runs I've ever had!