Eric Lindros Baseball

#100T - Eric Lindros
1990 Score Rookie & Traded (Baseball)
(back)

If I was the Quebec Nordiques' manager back in 1991, I'd have sent him to the Toronto Blue Jays for Pat Borders and Joe Carter in a second.

Hockey Card of the Day #10

For your convenience, the worst ever hockey cards will now be compiled in one easy to view set. Click on the 'Worst Ever Hockey Card Set' tag to see the two past 'Cards of the Day' that have already been added to the set, and collect along at home!

#24 - Cornelius Rooster
91-92 Score Kellogg's
(back)
Worst Ever Hockey Card Set #3

This is the card I'd have been bummed to get from the Corn Flakes box when I was little. Sure, I could have gotten Trevor Linden or Patrick Roy, but instead I end up with a gimpy drawing of Cornelius Rooster. They couldn't draw him holding a stick properly, but they at least had lots of clever puns on the back of the card.

Hockey Card of the Day #1

Starting today, I'm switching the format of my blog to one hockey card a day.

#409 - Ronnie Stern

93-94 Score
(larger version)

If I'm ever going to fulfill my dream of being the guy who writes the blurbs on the back of hockey cards, I'm going to have to learn to write the most obviously cheesy things. When I'm able to write a line like "Ronnie issued another stern warning to his opponents. . ." without choking on my own vomit, then I'll know that I'm ready.

92-93 Score Canadian

Even though it's missing the Crunch Crew and has no horizontal player cards at all, 92-93 Score is considerably better than the previous year's set (though still far behind the excellent 90-91 set). There isn't a ton of action on these cards, but there are a few good goalie and slapshot cards that keep things interesting. The set also includes season leaders, franchise players, 91-92 highlights, prospects (this prospect appeared in all of 21 NHL games and won just two of them), the pimply rookie dream team, the regular dream team (I still prefer bad paintings), award winners, and a few oddball extras like the Memorial Cup Champion Kamloops Blazers, 50-goal scorer Maurice Richard, father and son Kevin and Bill Dineen, '92 Stanley Cup Champions (this is the happiest I've seen Kevin Stevens and Bryan Trottier since they called Brian Bellows a "tit-fucker"), and Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning expansion team cards that show their sad-sack rosters on the backs.

It's nice that Score went back to a small simple border more like the one they had in 90-91, rather than the big red, blue, or purple borders they had in 91-92. Score also released an 92-93 American set that has the same numbering as the Canadian set (except that Jay Wells and Mick Vukota replace the two Maurice Richard cards that the Canadian set has), but different photos and an uglier design.

Five of my favourites:

#17 - Gary Suter - Another nice slapshot.

#25 - Kevin Stevens - Some snow spraying can also make for a nice card.

#182 - Dave Snuggerud - I have a soft spot for bad players on bad teams, but not as much as the guy who runs this blog. He's collected autographs from some of the most unknown and unappreciated hockey players ever, such as Troy Gamble, Derek Laxdal, and Per Djoos, to name a few.

#304 - Kay Whitmore - I'm surprised he doesn't have any of Kay Whitmore as well.

#417 - Kirk Mclean/Tim Cheveldae Season Leader - Putting two goalies on a card is always a good idea.

Also, I fixed my original post called "Hockey Cards Rule." For some reason blogger deleted a bunch of it, but it's all back now.

91-92 Score Young Superstars

I guess finding 40 young stars is a harder task than it seems. Score's Young Superstar set does have a few legitimate superstars, but it also includes players who are either not young (John Cullen, 27 in 1991), or not stars (I'll bet you all my Pro-Set cards that that was only time Murray Baron was ever called a superstar), or neither (Chris Terreri). This is a pretty average set all-around.

Three of my favourites:

#17 - Bob Essensa - If I can see one goalie stack the pads in a shootout this season, I'll be happy.

#30 - Eric Lindros - Score had made more than 20 Eric Lindros cards before he had even played a single game in the NHL. They finally went too far when they started sticking him in the background of other people's cards.

#34 - Pat Elynuik - What arena would the Jets be playing in that has clear boards?

92-93 Score Young Superstars

It's like the time I handed in the same essay for two classes. Pretty lazy.

Score 91-92 Series II

Picking up exactly where they left off in the first series, with franchise players, prospects, and brothers, the only real difference in the second series is the blue borders. Like nearly all 'series II' sets from the early 90's, this set is made up of a lot of bums and unknown players that weren't good enough for the first series, plus a few stars who were traded after the first series was released.


Neil Sheehy is a good example of the kind of player that got a card in Score 91-92, Series II. After missing all of the 90-91 season with an injury, Sheehy played 35 games with the Calgary Flames (as well as 6 with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL) managing all of three points (1 goal + 2 assists). He is quoted on the back of his card saying, "the game has given me everything I have. The only way anybody is going to get me out is by kicking me out." That was the last season Sheehy had in the NHL. He played parts of two seasons for Ljubljana in Slovenia before disappearing from professional hockey.

Five of my favorites:
#450 - Hubie McDonough - For some reason Score 91-92 had very few exciting action shots. This one is pretty good, except that this could just as easily be a Peter Ing card.

#554 - Brian Hayward - The Sharks were pretty exciting in their expansion year. The team was lousy, but the teal was hot! Hayward's mask was pretty rad too.

#372 - Patrick Roy (Dream Team) - Bad paintings are my favorite.

#385 - Dynamic Duo - I remember when this card used to be worth $1 back when I first got it. Rob Pearson never really panned out in the NHL. He played a total of 269 games with three different NHL teams before finishing his career with a few seasons in the IHL and one with the Frankfurt Lions of the DEL (Germany). Lindros is finishing off his career as a third liner for Dallas. Is this even worth a dime anymore? This painting, however, still rules.

#386 - A Look Into the Future - Hockey in space!



91-92 Score American

Americans got a slightly different set than Canadians. The main difference was purple borders instead of red or blue. The American set was one series of 440 cards, rather than two series' totalling 660 cards. Only the top 100 players had different photos than the Canadian cards.

Score 91-92

Score gave it a good try, but their 91-92 set just doesn't stand up to their excellent 90-91 series. The diagonal red border works okay on the regular cards, but is very overpowering on the horizontal cards which were the company's strong point in the 90-91 set.

I guess that part of my problem with this, and most of the other 91-92 sets, is that there were just too many of these cards around. There were no shortages of the previous years' cards, but these cards, at the time, were easier to find than a Calgary Flames jersey at the Saddledome. I guess I lost a little enthusiasm when I started putting together my third complete set. By the time I finally stopped getting these cards as birthday presents I didn't even look at the cards in the pack-- I'd just open them and put them in a box. But I don't want to complain too much. It is still better than the uncollectible sets they have now.

Anyway, Score 91-92 has most of the same content from the previous year, though they do add in some brothers, highlights, season leaders, the Crunch Crew, and a few Lafleur paintings just to make things interesting.

Five of my favorites:

#72 - Dave Gagner -It is well documented that Grant Fuhr was doing cocaine during the peak of Edmonton's dynasty in the mid-80's. I wonder if golf ball eyes here also needed an extra kick to get going. He mellowed out by the time they took his photo for the back.

#261 - Man of the Year - This card was pretty hot when it first came out.

#304 - Shark Attack! - I'd nominate this as one of the worst cards of all time. Another, even worse, look at the Sharks' sad roster mostly made up of career minor leaguers.

#312 - Wayne Gretzky Franchise - Gretzky could look pretty androgynous at times. Like when Andy Warhol painted him.

#307, 308, 309 - The Crunch Crew - They're all worth seeing.

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Hockey Cards Rule

Hockey cards rule. Who didn’t love the feeling of tearing the waxy wrapping off a brand new pack of cards? Trying to peel the gum off that Russian card without ruining it was part of the fun.

The early 90’s were the glory years for hockey cards—they were affordable, they were awesome, and they were everywhere. What really made these cards great was how simple, yet exciting, they were. With the exception of O-Pee-Chee’s Red Army mini-set (there was one Russian card per pack) and Upper Deck’s poorly made five card hologram set (the red blur was Yzerman, the grayish blur was Gretzky), there were no inserts. That meant that if you bought a full case of packs, you had a pretty good chance of putting together the full set—goons, bums, geezers and all. They didn’t have autographed platinum-die-cut-game-worn-jersey cards, they had blurry, off-centered cards that were totally awesome.

Unfortunately for some, these cards haven’t appreciated in value much in the 16 years since they first came out. I guess since every kid in Canada had them, there isn’t much demand for them now. Fortunately for me, this means people are willing to sell these sets for next to nothing. So I’ve been buying them.

Here's what rules about each set:

O-Pee-Chee 90-91

O-Pee-Chee had the advantage of being the only hockey card company for about thirty years leading up to the 90’s. They pretty consistently put out awesome sets, and the 90-91 set was no exception. With 528 cards, O-Pee-Chee covers every player you remember and many more that you don’t. They even managed to squeeze in all the players from the two Russian clubs that played against NHL teams in the 89-90 season. Although you could complain that this set focused too much on close-up shots of the players and not enough on action, the classic design with the hockey stick and team colours on the front and the simple two colour backs makes this one of my favorite sets of all-time.


Five of my favorites:

#190 - Winnipeg Jets - I’m a sucker for horizontal cards. I like switching from full screen to wide screen for those exciting action shots. Goalies and the older Jets logo are two other things I like. There are too many good things about this card to mention them all.

#69 – Neely - Cam Neely is a badass. He rules while taking a slapshot, and ruled as Sea Bass in the movie Dumb & Dumber

#501 – Arturs Irbe - It looks like Irbe's pads were orange at some point but got covered in tar. Bonus points for spelling his name wrong.

#42 - Alexander Mogilny - He looks like one of those really awkward, greasy kids from high school that would play magic cards in the science room at lunch.

#308 - Vladimir Krutov - Krutov was a big fat bum for the Canucks. This card shows it.

Score 90-91

It’s hard to say for sure, but I think that this Score set was my favorite as a kid. The cards weren’t dirt cheap like Pro-Set, but they weren’t totally out of range like Upper Deck, and they had way more action than any other set. When you’re a kid, you don’t want close-ups of guys sitting on the bench, you want guys blasting slapshots. Score has lots of that.

Score’s design is simple but great: the team, a couple of red and blue stripes, and a little silhouette that is supposed to help you understand what position they play (but doesn’t) is all you need. The rest of the card is filled with some of the best photography you’ll see in an early 90’s set. Score doesn’t have all the bums and Russians that O-Pee-Chee has, but they make up for with some sweet draft pick and all-star team cards.

Five of my favorites:

#1 – Wayne Gretzky – Score starts the set off right with the best Gretzky card of the year.

#300 – Brett Hull – There are more horizontal cards in this set than any other set I’ve seen. This is probably the best. Nice photo of Hull on the back too.

#218 – Zarley Zalapski - I’ve always loved this card—not because he has a funny name, or because this card is horizontal when it doesn’t really need to be, but because Pittsburgh had such a great home jersey that year.

#304 – Mark Tinordi - This guy is just trying to go out there and really set the tone.

#68 – Mike Liut - Rules.

Upper Deck 90-91

I like all the 90-91 sets. There’s something awesome about every single one, but Upper Deck is the crème de la crème of 90-91 hockey cards.

These were the cards I always wanted but could never afford. Upper Deck was the first company to put that fine glossy finish on the cards that made them look so vibrant and exciting. The first series of the Upper Deck 90-91 has just 400 cards, the fewest of the major sets that year, but they make the most of it. It’s hard to find a single card that won’t make you so stoked that you’ll wish it was 1990 all over again.

Score is the only other card to have photography anywhere near as cool as Upper Deck’s. I really can’t decide which one I like better: Score has more horizontal action shots, while Upper Deck has cooler angles and lenses. This set also features the most bizarre team checklists you will ever see.

Five of my favorites:
#10 – Rick Wamsley – Glove saves make for great cards.

#46 – Mike Modano - Look at the guy in the background. He’s stoked.

#302 – Vancouver Canucks Checklist – These checklist paintings are so bad. I don’t know if the artist was trying to make Petri Skriko look androgynous, but at least he’s not in space.

#135 – Bruce Hoffort – This was one of my favorite cards as a kid. I got a trivia question about Philadelphia goalies at the Hockey Hall of Fame correct because of this card. Boo-Yah!

#95 – John Tonelli – Goal! The back of this card has a nice shot of the seats in the old North Stars arena.

Pro-Set 90-91

Pro-Set was the poor kid's hockey card. Often off-centered, out of focus, or poorly cropped, you got what you paid for. As bad as they were, these cards are still very nostalgic for me. This was the first set I ever collected. I can still remember getting five packs of Pro-Set hockey cards for my fifth birthday. I was so excited when I got this Gretzky card.

For all the set's faults, I still like it's design. Though it is not as classy as Upper Deck, O-Pee-Chee or Score, Pro-Set keeps things simple: the logo, player name, and team colours. Other parts don't seem quite as well thought out-- an obstructive yellow bar informing us of a recent trade, and pink backs on Detroit Red Wing cards.

Five of my favorites:

#99 - Dave Babych - Babych's play had dropped off considerably by the time he came to the Canucks in 91-92, but his mustache was consistantly great.

#225 - Rick Tocchet - Many of the cards in this set are very dark. On this card it works.

#250 - Guy Lafleur - As a kid, I never understood why Guy Lafleur would came out of retirement to play for a team as bad as Quebec. Now I do-- they have nice jerseys.

#176 - Patrik Sundstrom - Another thing Pro-Set did was put the wrong player on cards. Here they have Peter Stastny on Sundstrom's card. You wouldn't think it would be too much of a problem since you can see most of Stastny's name on his jersey. They made up for it by putting Sundstrom on Stastny's card.

#72 - Glen Hanlon - Goalies from the late 80's, early 90's looked so fragile. Hanlon looks like he can barely stand up.

Pro-Set 90-91 Series II

Pro-Set really scraped the bottom of the barrel for the second series of their 90-91 cards. The majority of the set is made up of bums that weren't good enough to get cards in the first series. They throw in a few decent rookies, and stars who were traded just before or during the 90-91 season to make the set somewhat interesting to the casual hockey fan, but sink to extreme lows with their coach and referee cards. I wonder who was in charge of that decision? What hockey fan really cares about the refs and linesmen enough to want to collect their cards?

Five cards:

#527 - Harold Snepsts - It's hard to argue with a mustache like that.

#580 - Pittsburgh Penguins Team Card - This set had some pretty ugly team cards as well.

#703 - The 2000th Point - This Gretzky card was hot shit when I was in kindergarten.

#705 - The Puck - "And remember, when you're at an NHL game, watch the puck!" In case you didn't notice, this set was made by Americans.

#704 - Stanley Cup Champions - Why are the Oilers in space? It at least made a little sense with the North Stars.

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