The What Was I Thinking Files - 1994-95 Be A Player Autos

Have you ever forked over your hard earned money for cards you don't even really like?  Odds are if you're a player or team collector you're familiar with this experience.  I fell victim to this just recently, when I stumbled across this Ted Drury autograph from 1994-95 Be A Player:

Ugh!  This has to be one of the ugliest autographed cards in my entire collection.  This hodgepodge of unlicensed crap is truly one for the player or team collector only.  Yes, the autograph is on-card, but does that even matter in this case?  There are only two reason I picked this up...

...as you can see the white box about 1/4 of the way down the back says 'Hartford', so this is technically a Whalers card.  The other reason I purchased it?  It set me back $1.29.  What can I say, I guess the team collector in me couldn't pass up an autograph I "needed" for around a buck.

The seller even had four other Whalers from the set, and they're all just as u-g-l-y!  These photos make it difficult sometimes to even tell where the player signed.

Five new Whalers autographs that set me back less than $7 total.  I've gotta look over the checklist at some point, but let's hope when I do that there aren't too many more of these for me to track down!

Whaler Ink - Daryl Reaugh

It's high time I published my first post of 2014 here at Whalers Hockey Cards.  Since I usually dedicate Sunday to featuring autographs on my other blog, I thought a nice large, on-card signature might be appropriate:

This Daryl Reaugh autograph hails from the 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures set, specifically the Social Signatures insert set.  This is actually the second Reaugh auto I've shown here, apparently Panini is a fan of his as he was also featured in the Brass Bonanza autograph set from the inaugural Dominion release.  I like the bold colors, great photo, giant signature and Whalers logo, it makes for a very attractive card.

Unfortunately, I'm not big on the concept.  Apparently the idea is to showcase the Twitter handle of the depicted athlete.  I'm not a Twitter user, and the Whalers seem like an odd choice for this set given that AOL dial-up internet and Windows '95 were all the rage when there was last an NHL team in the city of Hartford.

Even the back of the card talks about how Dallas Stars fans clamored for Daryl to "take to Twitter", which I find hard to believe.  Oh well, they can't all be winners I guess, and at least I only shelled out less than $10 for this one...

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...

Whaler Ink - Gordie Howe!

Today is the 85th birthday of one of the best players to ever lace up a pair of skates, Gordie Howe!  To celebrate, today's post features a Howe card, and represents one of the best new pieces to enter my hockey card collection so far in 2013.

When I was a youth hockey player back in the day, I was afforded the opportunity to meet Mr. Hockey at a card and memorabilia show in Connecticut.  I even got a nice Red Wings puck signed by him, which I still have to this day.  Since I got back into collecting in 2007, I've wanted an autographed card of Gordie to go with it.  Prices are generally high though, as you'd expect for a Hall-of-Famer and one of the all-time legends of the game.  If I was going to shell out $60+ for an autographed card, I wanted to really make it worth it.  Recently I stumbled upon a card that fit the bill, and after some haggling back and forth with the seller this gem arrived in my mailbox:

Not bad, huh?  As you'd imagine, the majority of the Howe autos out there depict him with Detroit, but I wanted one showing him in Whalers jersey instead.  I was drawn to this card, which was distributed by Upper Deck at the 2011 Canadian Spring Expo, by the fantastic photograph as well as its relative scarcity.  With just 15 hand-numbered copies in existence, and having only ever seen this particular example myself, it was entirely possible that I'd never have another chance to own one of these.  The auto is a sticker, but it doesn't bother me in this case just because this card met all of my other criteria.

Here's the back, with a paragraph authenticating the autograph and a nice big Whalers logo.  I think it's safe to say this immediately becomes one of my best Hartford Whalers cards.  Right now it sits proudly displayed on the bookshelf in my office/card room, where I'll hopefully enjoy it for many years to come. 

Happy 85th Gordie!!!

Whaler Ink - 2010-11 Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza

I will be showing off all of my Hartford Whalers autographs here over time under the heading Whaler Ink, and adding each of them to the inventory/checklist in the sidebar as well. After all, what would a good Whalers collection (or reference site) be without some autographs!

To kick things off, I'm going to showcase what is currently the pinnacle of my Whalers autograph collection, the 2010-11 Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza set.  This 10-card autograph set was a really great concept, based on the theme song that the Whalers used to play at home games (Brass Bonanza).  I knew I wanted these as a cornerstone of my Whalers collection, and my collection in general, and luckily this set hit shelves at a time when I had some disposable income burning a hole in my pocket.  I was lucky enough to track down all 10 within just a couple months of the set hitting shelves, and I'm glad I did as I don't stumble across these too often anymore.

#1 - Bobby Hull - #'d/24

The first two cards in the set are serial numbered to a scant 24, and they're also two of the bigger names as far as what an average collector would be seeking, so it's no surprise they were the toughest two to nail down.  Bobby Hull could be seen as an odd choice, as he played just 9 games with Hartford at the tail end of his career, but I'm glad he was included.

I won't show them all, but here's a look at what the backs look like.  Very nice design front and back in my opinion, and even a different photo, well done Panini!

#2 - Brendan Shanahan - #'d/24

The other more scarce card was Brendan Shanahan, another guy who wasn't around in Hartford too long.  On top of that I think we can say there was a "mutual dislike" between Shanahan, the team, and the fans during his time here, so this is a strange selection.  When I posted this card on my other blog a long while back it was noted in the comments that it seems like Panini chose the players who skated with Hartford that average hockey fans would recognize most, rather than the players who fans of the team really identified with.  I agree with that wholeheartedly.

#3 - Keith Primeau - #'d/50

From here on out the rest of the cards are serial numbered to 50 copies...

#4 - Nick Fotiu - #'d/50

A much more fitting selection for the set, Nick played with both the New England Whalers of the WHA and the Hartford Whalers of the NHL.

#5 - Paul Coffey - #'d/50

Another guy chosen for his recognizable name only, given that he played just 20 career games with the Whalers.  Still an on-card autograph of a Hall-of-Famer though!

#6 - Ray Ferraro - #'d/50

 #7 - Tiger Williams - #'d/50

#8 - Daryl Reaugh - #'d/50

#9 - Ron Francis - #'d/50

Ron is one of the select Whalers that gets hobby attention from Upper Deck as well, so he's actually got a few certified autographs out there in a Whalers sweater.  Can't argue with that, he is the all-time best Hartford Whaler as far as I'm concerned.

#10 - Pat Verbeek - #'d/50

In closing, another very fitting selection, one of the under-rated players of all-time.

So there you have it, the 2010-11 Panini Dominion Brass Bonanza set!  You can gripe a bit about player selection, but I applaud Panini for this set.  I'm obviously heavily biased, but I think these cards have a fantastic design, front and back, an interesting premise that's a bit different than your average insert set, and best of all the autos are on card.  I don't deny that Panini has its share of issues, but they get one mark in the 'Pro' column as far as I'm concerned for having a wider focus when they look back to hockey's past in their releases.  Sets like this one, or 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures, give collectors a chance to score some autographs of players who are often overlooked or forgotten by Upper Deck...