12/4/2021 card show report: "Sweet" Christmas!

To say that Saturday, December 4 was an exciting day for me earlier this month would be an understatement. A week prior Michigan overcame years of futility to punch Ohio State in the mouth and beat them handily, earning them their first trip to the conference title game. The Wolverines ended my Saturday on a high note by demolishing Iowa 42-3 in a game filled with highlight reel plays and left the fans delirious with joy over their upcoming playoff appearance. Yep, it was a pretty good day.

And the start of it was just as awesome for me too. I headed east to Taylor as I do monthly for my usual card show, though I went that day instead of my usual Friday excursion for a special reason. The show had hosted the occasional interesting autograph guest in the past, but nobody in my experience elicited as much excitement as that day's signer: Lou Whitaker.

I couldn't tell you the last time he signed around here, and I'm not even sure the last time I paid for an in-person autograph--maybe Red Berenson at the old Gibraltar Trade Center years ago? So this was a Big Deal, and for once I had no problem ponying up $50 for the experience, which ended up being very positive!

For as many people as there were in front of me the line never felt interminable, and after maybe 30-45 minutes I was in front of Sweet Lou himself with a large framed poster I'd grabbed probably more than 20 years ago at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. I'd always planned on having him sign it someday if I could get to a signing so that's exactly what I brought with me. He asked me where I'd like him to sign and I told him it was up to him. He ended up placing a huge, super legible signature right around his butt, and I'm very happy with the result:

Here it is hanging in my office/card room on a wall along with another Tigers signature (albeit one I bought second-hand), that of Bill Freehan.

Long story short, getting to meet Whitaker and get his signature was a big moment for me and one that I'll remember forever, so it was easily worth the $50 and my time. It'll be even more enjoyable once the committee voters get their heads out of their asses and elect him to the Hall.

So while I was there I paid my usual visit to my favorite seller, though a somewhat shorter one thanks to standing in line for the autograph. He actually noted that I was one of the very few people he noticed that came for the signing and stuck around to look at cards as well, which is kind of sad since I want to see this show continue for obvious reasons.

Anyway, I made pretty good use of my time by snagging 15 quarter cards that were 5/$1, 15 dollar cards, 18 that were $2 each, and even six that were $5 apiece. He called the total $80 and then I was heading home with lots of stuff that ended up in Christmas Card packages (some of which remain to be seen!) and a few things for myself too:

The available trade bait portion is just two cards because I was able to target almost everything to the packages I was going to send out. The pair includes an '08 Sweet Spot auto /150 of former Rangers P Scott Feldman plus an "S" letter manupatch/auto of Oklahoma WR Jalen Saunders out of '14 Upper Deck. (By the way, I'm rooting heavily against the Sooners in favor of Kerry's Ducks tonight, so go Oregon!) These are the kinds of cards I like to grab from the $2 boxes from time to time to beef up my FS/FT stuff on TCDB, but as always they're available here as well, so please shout if you're interested in either.

And the "for me" pile is relatively small too but still really, really good. First, I doubled my collection of former UM SS/Rockies draftee (2020 5th round) Jack Blomgren in scoring an autograph of his out of 2020 Elite Extra Edition for just $2. He's the 30th different player in my Michigan Baseball PC and I'd love to see him replicate some of the success that another sort-of recent Michigan guy, Jake Cronenworth, has had in the game.

Next I added to my collection of former blog namesake Curtis Granderson's hits with a 2016 A&G jersey. He may be shown there with the Mets but will forever be a Tigers favorite in my book. I now count 14 hits of him: nine relics, a manurelic, two autos, and auto/relic, and a plate. You can never have too many, I say!

Getting back to the Michigan stuff the most expensive card I picked up for myself was in the $5 box: a 2020 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor auto (# /150) of another Rockies draftee (2019, #77 overall), pitcher Karl Kauffmann. It's only my fifth card of his so I knew it would be a need and didn't mind ponying up $5 instead of waiting to find it slightly cheaper elsewhere. The color kind of sold me on it too. I actually have more hits (three autos and a plate) than base cards (one) of the potential future Rockie.

We happen to be alternating between hit types and teams though not by design--as usual I'm going alphabetically. Ian Kinsler closes out the baseball group with a 2010 UD Game Jersey. I know these are among the lowest end of hits these days but I think I only paid $1 and as I always say when I mention him, I enjoyed his time in Detroit, not the least because he produced well and was part of the deal to get rid of Prince Fielder's dead weight. This is my third relic of his and all show him with his original team, the Rangers, but maybe I'll land a Tigers card at some point.

And then for the 2021 Big Ten Champion Wolverines we begin appropriately with a Michigan uni card, a 2021 SAGE Premier Draft of WR Nico Collins, a guy who had the shitty luck of being drafted by the Texans. At least he finally caught his first NFL TD the other day in a rare win against the Chargers. Speaking of California teams, transfer RB Justin Fargas played his entire career for Oakland, and I was glad to find a 2008 Select Young Stars insert (# /999) of his in the quarter box. And our final player today, like Collins, is active in the league, though out for the year with an Achilles tear. Brandon Graham has recorded 59.0 sacks and 19 forced fumbles over parts of 12 seasons with the Eagles and I'm always happy to show this defensive standout some hobby love when I can, like his 2021 Donruss Red Press Proof parallel above.

So to recap, that day I

• Met Lou Whitaker and got his autograph
• Picked up some great cards while at the show
• Enjoyed Michigan trouncing Iowa and winning the Big Ten conference title game

I think Luke Cage would have to agree that was a great Saturday a few weeks before a sweet Christmas!

With this stuff covered I believe my next few posts will be recapping trades but you never know. Either way they're going to drag into 2022 but I'd rather take my time instead of stressing myself writing up posts. I'm always glad to give people who send me stuff the effort they deserve as thanks, so I promise I'll start getting to those soon!

Let's Go Red Wings! My Hockeytown PC

(Jeff, you're gonna want to go do something else instead of reading this post, like celebrating that one time your guys won the Cup, or bragging about specific styles of pizza, or whatever you Hawks fans do.)

In honor of the Red Wings clinching the Western Conference's #7 seed in this year's playoffs, extending their playoff appearance streak to a mind-boggling 22, I thought I'd show off the rest of my best Wings cards, a project actually inspired by Jeff after he sent me a few really nice ones a few weeks ago.  Please feel free to have a look at the whole album at your leisure here.

So here's 10 more high-end Hockeytown hits for your viewing pleasure!:

Alex Delvecchio 1999-00 Upper Deck Retro Inkredible auto

What a great player to start with!  Delvecchio was a LW with Detroit for his entire NHL career, which spanned from 1950-1974.  He set or neared all kinds of records for playing games for a single team and put up some fantastic statistics, finishing with a 456/825/1281 line, numbers that were surely aided by his legendary teammates on the famed "Production Line," Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe.  He was part of three Cup-winning teams in '52, '54, and '55, saw his #10 retired by the Wings, and holds a prominent spot in the NHL Hall of Fame.  All that AND he has a fantastic signature!

Brett Hull 1988-89 Topps RC

Hull, son of fellow hockey immortal Bobby, had a fantastic career in his own right.  An often outspoken and controversial figure, a prolific two-year career at college powerhouse Minnesota-Duluth presaged good things, and they came true beginning in St. Louis after a brief stint with the team that drafted him, the Calgary Flames.  I generally associate Hull with the Blues since he played the majority of his career with them, but in 1998 he moved on to the Stars, where he scored an oft-debated Cup-clinching goal over the Sabres the following year.  A couple seasons later he signed with the Wings, for whom he played for three seasons, including a big turn for the 2002 Cup-winning team.  He closed out his career with a very short stint with Phoenix, and has since gone on to executive roles.  While his time with Detroit was relatively short, his fame and contribution to yet another title-winning team gives him an honored place in my Wings PC!

Niklas Lidstrom 2000-01 SPx Winning Materials jersey-stick

Lidstrom was just one successful member of an insane 1989 draft haul for Detroit, which also included quality players Mike Sillinger, Bob Boughner, Sergei Fedorov, Dallas Drake, and Vladimir Konstantinov.  That class was a sign of things to come for the NHL's model of scouting, drafting, and player development to this day.

Nick's numbers put him at the top of that group, not to mention among the five best defensemen ever.  He played his entire career, 1991-2012, in Detroit, and was a blue-line stalwart, winning the Norris trophy TEN times.  A 12-time all-star, he was key in all four of Detroit's Cup wins dating back to 1997, and in 2008, with face of the franchise and former captain Steve Yzerman retired, the Swedish-born Lidstrom made Don Cherry put his stupid foot in his stupid, ethnocentric face by becoming the first European player to captain a team to a Stanley Cup.  Lidstrom continued to play at a high level despite his advanced years before hanging them up for good last year.  He will be sorely missed by a fan base that had been used to his presence for an amazingly productive 20 seasons!

And what a great start to a PC this is--the hockey version of SPx's Winning Materials line, this one including a jersey and stick.  I hope to add an autograph at some point, and plenty more of one of the all-time greats of Detroit and the NHL as a whole.

Brendan Shanahan 1988-89 Topps RC

Brendan Shanahan 1997-98 Score TTM auto

Brendan Shanahan 2000-01 UD Pros and Prospects Game Jersey jersey

Brendan Shanahan-Sergei Fedorov 1999-00 Upper Deck MVP SC Edition Great Combinations puck

To say that Shanny lived up to the hype as the #2 overall pick in 1987 would be an understatement.  Shanahan was drafted by the Devils, but he would go on to some excellent years with the Blues before the Red Wings brought him on board for the 1996-97 season, and he spent the bulk of his career in Detroit.  It was no coincidence that the Wings ended their Cup drought that season, as he potted 46 regular-season goals, plus another nine in the playoffs.  All told, he was part of three Cup-winning teams ('97-'98 and '01-'02) before he finished off his career with the Rangers and Devils.  Since then he's become the league's chief disciplinarian, which is apropos as Brendan is the only player in league history to score 600+ goals AND accumulate 2000+ penalty minutes!

Thanks to the cards above I almost have a trifecta I would approve of--I'm too much of a stickler not to include a certified autograph.  I'm happy to have the TTM signature, though, as one of the few ones I tried to acquire of a hockey player.  The puck card he shares with Fedorov is fun, too, because hockey pucks have a cool feel to them that you don't quite get with other sports equipment.

I'll do a more in-depth rundown on Fedorov if/when I pick up something of him alone.

Aaron Ward 1993-94 Upper Deck IP auto

Now THIS is a card I've been meaning to scan for a long time, and my failure to do so is especially haunting, because it resides on a plaque that I've had up on a wall for YEARS.  I picked it up a long time ago at a craft show-type thing held at my high school when I noticed a guy was selling a bunch of these he had made. I couldn't tell you why my brother and I picked this out--I'm guessing he was more astute than I was and knew that Ward had played for three seasons at Michigan before becoming a Red Wing.  In any event, I'm very happy to own it!

Ward was one of many prominent draft picks to play for (former Red Wing!) Red Berenson's Wolverines.  He was drafted by the Jets 5th overall during his sophomore season, then traded to the Wings the following year (for Paul Ysabaert--anybody remember him?!).  Aaron became a regular blueliner for Detroit during the '96-'97 season and was part of the two consecutive Cup-sweeping teams.  After being traded to Carolina, he enjoyed one last Cup victory, scoring in game 7 for the Hurricanes in a win over Edmonton.  He would then play for the Rangers, Bruines, 'Canes again, and Ducks before hanging 'em up in 2010 and beginning a new career as a TV analyst.  I've been after certified autos of Ward for a while and eventually that'll happen, likely via COMC.

Steve Yzerman 1984-85 Topps RC

Steve Yzerman 2000-01 SP Game Used Tools of the Game jersey

Steve Yzerman is a little-known center who played a few years for the Wings, had a minor role in some Stanley Cup titles, then retired to a life of relative obscurity.

Or, you know, he could just be one of the top Red Wings of all time.  Yzerman was part of a prolific (I really like that word today) 1983 first-round draft class, in which eight of the top 12 picks were all-stars, Hall-of-Famers, or both.  #8 overall in career goals scored, "Stevie Y." was a big-time scorer from the get-go, but it was his development into a complete player and leader that ultimately brought him fame as a 19-year captain, an NHL record.

Thanks to his improved game and some excellent roster-building by the team, Yzerman led the Wings to three of their four recent Stanley Cups, and was a prominent executive for the 2008 team.  He finished his career in 2006 with 692 goals and 1063 assists for an insane 1755 total points.  After getting his feet wet as Detroit's VP the following year, and as GM of Team Canada in 2008, Steve became VP and GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he's an up-and-coming executive, one who's hopefully on his way back to Detroit in the future whenever Kenny Holland, the architect of the Wings' dynasty, retires.  I guess for now Steve can bask in the glory of all those trophies, awards, and his Hall of Fame enshrinement, but I bet he loves returning to the Joe from time to time to see his familiar #19 hanging from the rafters alongside many, MANY other banners!

I picked up his RC a long time ago, and while it's a bit beat up, it has that vintage kind of character that makes it one of my favorites in my entire PC.  I got the jersey a bit more recently than that, but I've still had it for a long, long time as well, and it's a beautiful swatch of a red Detroit sweater.  Maybe in the future I'll get rich and be able to afford a certified Yzerman auto to form a trifecta!

I also don't want to forget this Mike Knuble Be-a-Player auto that's resided in my Michigan Hockey PC for a while.  I wrote about it briefly here and may cover Mike in the future at bit more if I find more Red Wings hits of him.  Red Berenson is another guy who played for the Wings and of whom I own some hits, but I've yet to decide if I'll include him since neither pictures him with Detroit.  We'll see.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the best cards in a PC I've long neglected to show off here.  Maybe this will motivate me to pick up some more hits to show off the best of Hockeytown.  Good luck to the Wings in the playoffs, starting with round one against the hated Ducks!