Whaler Ink - 2012-13 Upper Deck SP Game Used Ron Francis

Yes I'm still around and no, I'm not abandoning this blog any time soon. Let's keep the count of Whalers cards going with two cards from a relatively new release.

When the checklist came out for this year's SP Game Used offering from Upper Deck, I was excited to see that Ron Francis was included as a Hartford Whaler.  I wasn't going to buy any of the product since Francis was the only card I was interested in, but luckily Douglas from Sportscards from the Dollar Store was kind enough to pick the card out for me at a show and mail it to me.  Just another example of the awesomeness of the sports card blogging community.

I was especially grateful to receive the card, as I had already picked up the autographed version you see here.  As you can see, the autograph card is exactly the same as the base, but with a sticker auto applied, and a back that certifies the autograph:

I'm happy to see the Whalers get included more and more in recent releases by both Upper Deck and Panini, and I hope this trend continues.  This is my third Ron Francis Whalers autograph, although there are quite a few others out there still.  Thanks Douglas for tracking down the base card to accompany my autograph.

We've now looked at 70 unique Whalers cards and counting here at Whalers Hockey Cards...