Early Christmas Break - 09-10 Artifacts

Last night I was watching the Sabres vs. Capitals game and was in a bad mood when the Sabres went down 2-0 after the first period. My wife, in an effort to cheer me up, suggested we each open one Christmas present during the intermission. She started and opened up a monogrammed fleece blanket I purchased her. She seemed to like it. Then she pulled my gifts out from under the tree and told me to pick. I had a feeling one of them was a box of 09-10 Artifacts as she had asked me a few times if that was the set I was collecting. After looking over the gifts and inspecting the packages, I decided on one and lucky me, I found the box of Artifacts.

This is my fourth box of 09-10 Artifacts this year. The results of my first three can be found in one of my earlier posts. Up to this point, I have had very good luck with this product. All three of my previous 09-10 boxes had a patch card and my only box of 08-09 also produced a dual patch card. This box would not produce the same results.

Inserts

Legends - Luc Robitaille, Larry Robinson

Rookies - Grant Lewis, Chris Durno (duplicates - FT)

Rookie Redemption - Columbus Blue Jackets (redeemed)

Parallel

Sam Gagner Silver Spectrum Base Parallel (06/25)

*This is the second Sam Gagner Base parallel I have pulled. I also pulled his gold base parallel (/50) in a previous break.

Memorabilia

Wade Redden Treasured Swatches (20/25)

Luc Robitaille Frozen Artifacts (034/199)

Ilya Kovalchuk/Bryan Little Tundra Tandems (15/25)

All in all not a spectacular break, but the swatches on the Tundra Tandems are nice and colorful and the box produced three cards serial numbered to 25 or less. I am still working on completing this year's Artifacts set. My needs can be found in the trading section of www.cloutsnchara.com . Thanks for the look and Happy Holidays!

Upcoming Posts

Results and review of 1 box of UD Series 1 Hockey and more CnC group breaks including MVP, SpX, Trilogy, SPGU amongst others!

Trip to the Sportscard Fall Expo

11/15/09

Today, I took a trip up north to the 2009 Sportscard and Memorabilia Fall Expo in Mississauga, Ontario. It was a last minute decision, but I'm glad I went. This was my first time to the Expo and the drive up from Buffalo wasn't bad.

My buddy and I walked from vendor to vendor checking out all of the amazing merchandise and it wasn't long before I came across a guy selling a Tyler Myers UD Exclusives Young Guns. One of my goals for the show was to pick up a few of Tyler's rookie cards and thought this would be the perfect start to my new personal collection.















We continued on our way and I soon came across a vendor selling base singles. I needed one card to complete both my 08-09 Champs Minis (Malkin) and Trilogy (Zetterberg) base sets. The vendor had both of these and I was also to pick up a majority of the 09-10 Artifacts base I needed.

My friend found a vendor selling a Jhonas Enroth UD Black Letterman Auto. He purchased the card. He had a number of the Letterman redemptions available, but unfortunately no Tyler Myers. He did; however, have a Gilbert Perreault Quad Jersey Auto that I was more than happy to take off his hands.











We soon made our way over to the Upper Deck booth and ran into the guys (Geoff, "Pokerstars," Brad and his girlfriend) from CloutsnChara (http://www.cloutsnchara.com). We said hello and I gave Brad the Artifacts Colorado redemption from our trade. The guys were in line to bust some UD Series 1 and then were heading over to the ITG booth to bust some ITG Ultimate 9th Edition. We walked around for a little bit more, saw some amazing cards and picked up a couple more Sabres PC cards. I found a vendor selling the regular Tyler Myers and Jhonas Enroth Young Guns and picked both up for a fair price. This vendor also had a Tyler Myers Young Guns High Gloss #6/10. I inquired about the price and he was asking for $100. I decided to give it some thought. We then headed to the ITG booth for the guys Ultimate break.
















The guys busted a couple loose packs for some members on the site and got some crazy redemptions from ITG. They then busted a case and let me sit in to bust one of the packs. This ended up being pretty comical as this was the first time I was busting anything real high end. I found my hands shaking pretty bad and was so nervous I tried opening the pack with the wrong side of the blade. I eventually pulled it together and pulled a pretty nice Mario Lemieux card. The guys busted another couple boxes and then they took us out for Pizza!

After some pretty good Hawaiin pizza, we made our way back to the ITG booth for the guys to bust another case of Ultimate. They let me bust another pack and I wasn't as nervous this time. Geoff tried to convince me to pick up a box, but I decided against it as I have a honeymoon to Ireland to save up for in the near future. However, Geoff did a good job of selling how great of a deal it was to get the free redemptions from ITG. So I went to the ATM and picked up a pack. My buddy also picked up a box of 2002-2003 UD Mask Collection (he pulled a Gerry Cheevers autographed mask, SICK PULL!!!). Anyways, I went back to the ITG booth where Geoff and Brad had just got done pulling another couple of sick 1/1's. I only hoped to have such luck. I sat down and started to break feeling the nervousness come over me once again.

1st card...Cam Neely Ultimate Base Card Silver (09/90). Not a bad start.










2nd card...Paul Henderson, Vladislav Tretiak Ultimate Dual Autograph Silver (06/09). I was pretty happy pulling a dual auto #/9, especially one including Vladislav Tretiak. I will admit that, at the time, I had no idea who Paul Henderson was, but I have since learned that he scored the game winning goal for Canada in games 6, 7 & 8 of the Summit Series (Color me impressed!).










3rd card...Ilya Kovalchuk From Russia With Love Silver (20/24). Looks like this was a Russian pack.














All in all, I was happy with the break and may consider breaking more in the future. Now it was on to the redemption. I was very excited to see the following...














Gordie Howe Ultimate Redemption Card Black (14/19). This is a piece of Gordie Howe New England Whalers Jersey. There is a very thick seam going through the middle and is a beauty of a card.

After the break, it was time to jet home as I had a hockey game in two short hours. All in all I think it was a successful day. I picked up some of my first Tyler Myers PC items, finished off a couple of lingering 08-09 base sets, met and hung out with the guys from CloutsnChara and took my first steps towards high end breaks. Next time though I am going to do a little more planning and saving. Thanks as always for the look!

09-10 Artifacts Hockey 3 Box Break and Product Review

Last weekend, I busted three boxes of 2009-2010 UD Artifacts Hockey. Artifacts was a highly anticipated product for me this year. I just got back into the hobby last season and 08-09 Artifacts was one of the first products I busted. Despite hitting an amazing dual patch of Vincent Lecavalier and Paul Ranger in my only box, I found myself passing over Artifacts for other products. However, my feelings towards Artifacts began to change after hanging out on the Clouts'n'Chara website (http://www.cloutsnchara.com/). I started to see the value in each box, which averages a "hit" per pack and regularly produces patch cards.

Prior to my three box break, I purchased a spot in CnC's 09-10 Artifacts group case break. I drew St. Louis and thought I wouldn't have much success, but ended up with a Paul Kariya patch card numbered /5. I have not yet received this and my other hits in the mail, but will post once I do.

Now, onto the break. In general, I was very happy with the break for a number of reasons. I hit a patch card in each box, one was a Sabres personal collection (PC) "hit". One of the boxes was an autograph hot box (3 autos instead of the typical 1). I hit some of the more recognizable rookies including Artem Anisimov, Riku Helenius and Luca Caputi. Finally, all of my memorabilia cards had a print run of /100 or less. All in all I felt it was a great break and definitely see myself picking more up in the future.

Before I get into showing some of the nicer hits, I want to run down some statistics from the break. Keep in mind I purchased three boxes.

Box - 10 packs, 4 cards per pack

Price per Box - $80 USD (purchased at The Card Store in Cheektowaga, NY)

Base Set (100) - 58/100 (58%) 29 duplicates as well

Artifacts Legends (35) - 5/35 (14%)

Artifacts Stars (15) - 2/15 (13%)

Artifacts Rookies (50) - 7/50 (14%)

Rookie Redemptions (42 - 1 per box) - 3/42 (7%)

Parallels (Avg. 1 per box) - 1 base parallel (/50), 1 rookie parallel (/25), 1 legend parallel (/75)Autofacts (97 - Avg. 1 per box, except "hot" boxes which average 3 per box) - 5/97 (5%)

Game-Used Memorabilia (Avg. 3 per box, including one multi-player card per box) - See below for scans of memorabilia cards.

I will now do a quick run down of each box. Most everything is for trade or sale. If you see something you like, you can contact me on the CnC website. My username is: southbuffalo39. Also, all "hits" from the break and my other traders can be found in my photobucket found here (http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u234/southbuffalo39/).

Box 1

Parallel - Sam Gagner Base (46/50)

Legend- Steve Yzerman

Star - Patrick Kane

Rookies - Mikael Backlund, Brandon Segal

Rookie Redemption - Ottawa

Autofacts - Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Michael Peca, Drew Doughty

Game-Used -

Phil Esposito Frozen Artifacts Jersey (06/25)

Jonathan Toews Treasured Swatches Jersey (25/25)

Ray Bourque Frozen Artifacts Jersey/Patch (08/35)

Box 2

Parallel - Rookie Alexander Sulzer (24/25)

Legend - Alex Delvecchio

Star - Henrik Lundqvist

Rookies - Riku Helenius, Artem Anisimov

Rookie Redemption - Ottawa

Autofacts - Derek Sanderson

Game Used -

Curtis Joseph Frozen Artifacts Jersey (26/50)

Sam Gagner/Patrick O'Sullivan Tundra Tandems Jerseys (060/100)

Jason Pominville Treasured Swatches Jersey/Patch (15/25)

Box 3

Parallel - Legend Peter Stastny (74/75)

Legends - Clark Gillies, Lanny McDonald

Rookies - Luca Caputi, Michael Sauer

Rookie Redemption - Colorado

Autofacts - Doug Weight

Game Used -

Nicklas Backstrom Treasured Swatches Jersey (49/50)

Nicklas Lidstrom/Pavel Datsyuk Tundra Tandems (37/50)

Al Macinnis Frozen Artifacts Jersey/Patch (24/35)

In Conclusion - All in all I was very happy with the product and the break. As noted, I think there is great value in Artifacts which affords the collector a good opportunity to hit patch cards, autos and some good parallels. As a Sabres collector, I know there are a ton of cards and parallels to chase. I have heard of some quality control issues with the memorabilia cards in Artifacts. My only issue was on the Derek Sanderson Auto, which had an imprint at the bottom. Based on what I've seen of the product and my breaks, I would give this product an 8/10. Thanks as always for the look! UD Black recently came out and UD Series 1 is coming out this week. I have never busted a box of either, but am thinking about it and will be sure to post results and reviews of these and all of the 09-10 Hockey products I bust this season.

Clouts'n'Chara October Group Breaks

On Friday, I received a large package in the mail from Clouts'n'Chara (http://www.cloutnchara.com/ - Username - southbuffalo39). Within the package were my hits from three group breaks I participated in on the site earlier this month.

The first group break broken of the three was a case of 08-09 SPx Hockey. I purchased one slot in the thirty team group break. All teams were chosen at random and I ended up receiving the Montreal Canadiens, which turned out to be pretty good as I was lucky enough to receive 10 "hits." I will showcase the "three stars" from these group breaks at the end of the blog and as always all of the hits can be found in my photobucket at: http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u234/southbuffalo39/. But for now, the ten hits from the SPx case break were:

SPXcitement

Carey Price

Patrick Roy

Guy Lafleur

Saku Koivu

Winning Combos

Chris Higgins (blue swatch)/Steve Shutt (red/white/blue swatch)

Rod Langway (red/white/blue swatch)/Larry Robinson (white swatch)

Winning Materials

Andrei Markov (red swatches)

Andrei Markov Spectrum /99 (one blue and one red swatch)

Flashback Fabrics

Frank Mahovlich (white swatches)

SPx Rookies

Matt D'Agostini (one red swatch and one red/white swatch)

All in all I was very happy with the break as I think I did very well. There were no major hits, but definitely some solid pickups.

The next group break was broken in the same night. It was a case of 09-10 O-Pee-Chee Hockey. I decided to get in at the last minute and grabbed the last available slot. Amazingly I once again drew the Montreal Canadiens. OPC produces a ton of hits and again, I didn't hit any of the major ones, but got some inserts and retros I needed. I suppose the highlights of the break would be the two Yannick Weber rookies and the Montreal Canadiens team checklist insert.

Finally, a few days later, the guys at C'n'C organized one of the quickest group breaks from initiation to breaking. From the time the break was announced, all spots were taken and paid for within 20 minutes. This group break was for a box of each of the following 08-09 products: SPx, Trilogy, Be A Player and Artifacts. I grabbed two spots in this group break and drew the Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames. I started off good in the Artifacts box as I hit an Andrew Ebbett Rookie Card and a Ryan Getzlaf Treasured Swatches (three colors) #'d 100/199. My luck continued in Be a Player as I hit three autos. No one major, but landed Travis Moen, Adrian Aucoin and Matthew Lombardi. The last two boxes, Trilogy and SPx were not so good to me as I didn't get a hit in either box. All in all an ok break. Not as good as the previous two, but the risk is part of the fun of group breaks.

C'n'C currently has two group breaks they are filling up. One is a case break of 09-10 Artifacts, which is expected to be broken this weekend and the other is 09-10 UD Series 1. I have a spot in both and will be sure to share my results from each! If interested in getting involved in a group break, I highly recommend stopping over to C'n'C as there are usually always three or four in the works.

Three Stars

3. Ryan Getzlaf Treasured Swatches 100/199

2. Frank Mahovlich Flashback Fabrics

1. Matt D'Agostini Rookie Jersey 0522/1299

Introductory Entry - Top 5 Pulls from 2008-2009 Hockey

Hello, and welcome to Ryan's Hockey Blog. I'm Ryan and I am a hockey card collector from Buffalo, New York. The primary purpose of my blog is to share my card collecting experiences. However, I'm sure I will be sharing my thoughts on other hockey-related topics like my beloved Buffalo Sabres and maybe even some stories from my ball hockey games.

I just got back into the hobby during the 2008-2009 season after a pretty long hiatus. All of my pulls and Sabres personal collection cards can be found in my photobucket at the following site: http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u234/southbuffalo39/. For anyone interested in meeting or dealing with other hockey card enthusiasts, I highly recommend the following site: http://www.cloutsnchara.com/. I am a frequent poster on the site and have been able to meet and deal with a number of other great collectors. The operators of the site Geoff and Brad do a great job of running the site and are constantly hosting group breaks and giving away free cards! The results of some of my recent group breaks will be shown here in an upcoming entry once received in the mail.

The 2009-2010 NHL season has kicked into high gear, which means a whole new line of Upper Deck and In the Game hockey card products will be available. A friend of mine and I have already busted a case of 09-10 O-Pee-Chee. I am highly anticipating the release of Artifacts, which I believe is set for October 27th. However, for my first blog entry, I thought I would share my top five pulls from the 2008-2009 hockey products.

5. Comes from the 2008-2009 Between the Pipes set. I was able to pull a Martin Brodeur, "Stars of the Game" autograph from just five loose packs.

4. Comes again from a loose pack break; however, this time from Black Diamond. I was lucky enough to pull an Alexander Ovechkin Onyx Quad Jersey #7/10.

3. Came from the Clouts'nChara 1st birthday bash, high-end group break. I was lucky enough to draw the Washington Capitals and was not disappointed as I received the hit of the break. From Trilogy, I received a redemption for a Clearcut Combos - Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom dual auto card #13/25.

2. Came from the only box of OPC Premier I busted. It was a Dual Induction Inks, Gold Parallel auto of Bobby Orr and Harry Howell #2/1o.

1. And for number one....I pulled this card from my very first SP Game Used box. It was the only card in the last pack of the box. Fives patches of Jonathan Toews, Carey Price, Patrick Kane, Nicklas Backstrom and Peter Mueller #2/4.