Saturday "SLAP SHOT" Jake Evans edition

 Today's "SLAP SHOT" edition is brought to you courteous of a 2020-21 UD SPX Jake Evans rookie jersey autograph serially #22/49

The "Universe" has spoken to me........well.....it kind of gave me a gift actually......No really....It gave me a gift....LOOK!

So things been a little crazy lately to say the least in my end of the world especially with working 6 and/or 7 days a week which is very time consuming so I'm very thankful that I am able to receive vacation days from my employer because I took a personal holiday yesterday to use for an appointment and for a mental health day for myself. I needed to take a break and relax my mind by opening up some hockey cards..... 3 boxes of 2021-22 Skybox metal universe, 2 boxes of 2020-21 Upper Deck Clear cut hockey, and 1 box of 2022-23 Upper Deck Artifacts to be specific.

The first box that I opened was the Artifacts box. It's been a few years since I opened a box of Artifacts and since the price was decent I figured why not. 

I was surprised that I did not pull any other rookie cards other than the Jack Quinn clear cut rookie card. Some of the boxes I've seen opened had at least one or two other rookie cards. However my box only had Jack in it. I did receive my 4 serially numbered cards but they were all of base cards. The autograph was a nice surprise considering Quinn's autograph is listed as a "B" group auto 1:994. Overall I was pleased with what the box provided. 

Moving on to the 3 boxes of skybox metal universe.............

The 2020-21 edition of Skybox metal universe provided one autograph per box where as the 2021-22 edition does not guarantee one auto per box.

Per cardboard connections: "Although the 2020-21 product specifically mentions one autograph per Hobby box, the '21-22 box hit can be an autograph, PMG, Jambalaya, or "other coveted cards."

so basically this is what the odds are for hitting an auto even from these 2021-22 boxes:

Base Silver Autographs Set Checklist

54 cards.

Overall odds - 1:100 Hobby/ePack. Specific group odds noted.

1 Connor McDavid - Oilers - A 1:6,959
2 Jonathan Marchessault - Golden Knights - E 1:143
3 Miro Heiskanen - Stars - E 1:143
4 John Gibson - Ducks - D 1:514
5 Mitch Marner - Maple Leafs - B 1:3,085

etc.etc. Your Matthews, Crosby, John Tavares, and other stars like that are all part of group A. You have a chance of hitting one of their autos but the odds are so far up there that you would have better odds of fighting a rabid wolverine naked inside of a telephone booth with aliens cheering you on and Joe Rogan calling the play by play action. 

 

 

So I opened the first box and nothing earth shattering came out of the box but I am a fan of these cards and I really enjoy anything that shows images of the universe on it (real or artist drawn). The quality control with these cards spoke volumes with decent cuts and no damaged cards at all through the first box. I felt that Upper Deck did deliver on a good box of cards.

I moved onto the second box of Skybox metal universe and that's when while moving onto the last stack of packs (the middle stack) the thing I call "last stack magic" occurred and the universe spoke to me in the next to last pack:

Skybox Metal Box (Universe actually speaking through the box): How ya doing today Tim?

Big Kahuna: Just having some fun ripping some packs and trying to make a set. Why....what's up?

SMB: I feel like blessing you today with something. Allow me to ask you a question my child....Have you found McJesus?

BK: Um.....do you mean Jesus? 

SMB: I'm referring to Connor McJesus.

BK: Why yes...I have some his regular cards and I just pulled a Connor Mcdavid planet metal insert in the previous pack.

SMB: That's great my child......however I'd like to bless you with a special card today. This special card is one that can be hard to find and will make you feel excited and overcome with Joy.

BK: Oh.....so you're blessing me with a Connor McDavid serially numbered card. That's cool!

SMB: No my child......while that would be "cool" I really want to bless you with something wonderful.

BK: Well then......I look forward to whatever you may want to share with me.

SMB: Allow me to bless you with this

 

SMB: I present to you and bless you with his HOLY CHICKEN SCRATCH

 

 

All I could think of in the moment was Han Solo saying, "Never tell me the odds."

In my 30+ years of collecting Hockey cards I have never pulled such a star quality autograph that made me go : OMG OMG OMG so many times (the video of it will be posted on the Youtube channel soon). The funny thing is I need the 2020-21 edition of this card for the set I'm building.......and with my luck.....I pulled the 2021-22 edition of this card....LOL. Even funnier, I was just talking with a fellow collector last week about building the 2020-21 skybox metal universe entire set and I said to him, "watch with my luck I'll pull the card from the 2021/22 set and it won't have an auto on it. I may not even try to build the 2021-22 set at all." I guess spoke it into existence and the Universe said, "here ya go buddy.....you willed it into existence and this one has his autograph on it."

I'm still in shock over pulling this card and while it may not seem like much to some people, it's truly an awesome feeling to me and it's one of the many fun things about this hobby. It was something that completely caught me by surprise and totally off guard when I was opening the packs. Ok universe......ok........thank you for making a rough couple of weeks being forgotten about entirely for a few hours.

Chicken Scratch: "Who signed my puck?" Edition

 

This player is no longer on the Vegas Knights and is currently on the Buffalo Sabres. He was a first round draft pick (18th overall) by the Minnesota Wild in the 2014 NHL entry draft. He is a right winger and has played college hockey for the Boston College Eagles. 

His signature style has seem to have been pretty consistent over the years with not much change. The only time it seems to make a difference is in the thickness of the pen/marker he's using when signing.

This signature belongs to #89 Alex Tuch. 

Alex usually signs with an "A" and then his last name along with his jersey number "89". Unfortunately with the way he signs his last name you would not be able to figure out that it his last name is TUCH unless you see his name on the card/jersey. The signature is presentable and for his efforts we the hive-mind at Enough Already salute Alex with a 4 sharpie salute.

 

 

*- The top 2 pictures is of the puck that own of Alex Tuch that I obtained through a break courtesy of BIGHOUSE BREAKS - Hit Parade frozen dozen hockey puck autos.

Chris Tierney collection 1.0

So........Why is a die hard NY Rangers fan (and a silent San Jose Sharks fan too) collecting sharks player Chris Tierney? I have no frickin clue in the world as to why but I like the guy and how he plays........that and the fact that he's playing better than most of the players on the NY Rangers team who are sitting in the basement at this moment (sad face). But let us not dwell on the sorrows of seeing the Rangers in the basement and instead celebrate a new PC adventure (PC-Personal Collection. Not Personal Computer or Poppy Cock or politically correct (god knows there's too much of that) or Personal Coach). What I will share with you is what I have obtained so far in my quest to collecting what I like to call..................... THE ALMIGHTY Chris Tierney Collection 1.0.

THE FIRST SLAP SHOT IS:

2014-15 Upper Deck SP Game Used Chris Tierney Inked Rookie Sweaters patch piece #21/49. This is a simple patch piece and I'm glad that Upper Deck didn't just use a plain swatch piece in the same way that Topps does for their limited numbers sometimes.

THE SECOND SLAP SHOT IS:

2014-15 UD The Cup Rookie Masterpiece rookie auto printing plate #1/1. My first ever THE CUP 1/1.

THE THIRD SLAP SHOT IS:

2014-15 UD Exquisite Collection Rookie auto patch #12/50. This has a very solid patch piece with 3 good colors and a little thread fraying. The patch piece itself looks like it may be from the armband on the sleeve. This is also my first Exquisite hockey rookie auto.

THE FOURTH SLAP SHOT IS:

2014-15 UD SP Authentic Future Watch rookie auto patch #6/100. Again, UD used a nice 4 color patch piece for this limited series run.


more to come.................

"SLAP SHOT" FRIDAY Mats Zuccarello EDITION

Mats Zuccarello

NY RANGERS: Right Wing

Let us look at the glory of a $4.99 rack pack of 2011/12 UD HOCKEY

There is nothing I enjoy more than paying $4.99 for a rack pack of cards and expecting to maybe at best pull at least one good card. Looks like I got my wish:

Nothing like pulling the number one draft pick! RYAN NUGENT HOPKINS!

Change is good!

Attn: Men, Women, Athletes, Dogs, Boys, Girls, Cats, Amish Mafia, Bruno the Hitman, Lucy, Topps, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mel Brooks, Your Mom, My Ex-girlfriends, My fish, and anybody else who sucks in air off of the planet known as EARTH.

It has been a twisted pleasure writing on here and making fun of things about life events and sharing in the craziness of the hobby world and the sharing of my personal life and thoughts. We (me and my alter egos) enjoy reading the comments, the emails, and occasional fun filled notes and it does not matter to us if  they are rude or nice because every one has a right to voice their thoughts or opinions. The services that I bring forth to you we enjoy doing immensely and even though sometimes life's events keep us away from our creativity process on here, we try to post something when we have a free moment to let you know that we're still alive and kicking. So with that thought in mind we will be changing the way we present things on here. Change is good. Change is what we need. Change allows us to believe that YES WE CAN. CHANGE ALLOWS US TO BUY SODA FROM A MACHINE IF WE ARE THIRSTY. CHANGE WILL ALLOW US TO BUY CONDOMS FROM VENDING MACHINES TO PROTECT OUR PAYCHECKS AND PROTECT US FROM THE POTENTIALLY UNDISCOVERED HERPES THAT SHE/HE/IT/THAT/ALIEN/SHEEP/ OR WHATEVER GENDER IT IS MAY HAVE. CHANGE IS GOOD FOR MORALE. CHANGE IS GOOD FOR WHEN OUR UNDERWEAR ARE DIRTY. AND BY GOD CHANGE IS NEEDED FOR WHEN OUR WIVES ATTEMPT TO SMOTHER US IN OUR SLEEP.

Basically folks.........We have moved up to the techno age and obtained a laptop with .........a camera......ooooooooooooooo! LET THE PEEP SHOW BEGIN!