Gordie Howe (1928-2016)

Earlier this week we got the news Gordie Howe died at the age of 88.

2008 UD Hit Parade of Champions #HPC-10 Gordie Howe

Here Mr Hockey is featured with the Art Ross and Hart Trophies. The Ross Trophy is awarded to the leagues leading scorer while the Hart Memorial Trophy goes to the MVP. Gordie Howe won each award six times.

The Photo credit is Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty circa 1965.

In 2008 Upper Deck issued the Hit Parade of Champions Insert withing their Retro themed Goudey Offering. The HPC set is based off the 1951 Berk Ross set and contains 30 card featuring subjects from various sports. The cards are undersized measuring slightly larger than 2" x 2".
 

2008 UD Hit Parade of Champions #HPC-10 Gordie Howe (b-side)

Nice Mr Hockey reference on the back of the card. If the date on the photo is correct it was taken 3 years prior to the impressive season referenced on the back of the card.

Mark Howe 

Gordie, Marty and Mark Howe's Jerseys from the Houston Aeros

 
Gordie Howe as a player is from well before my time, but I did get to see him in the local barn once - sort of.

Gordie's Son Mark is a celebrated Philadelphia Flyers Alum. A few years ago the club retired his Number and Mr Hockey came to Philadelphia to be part of the ceremony.

I know it isn't the same as watching the man actually play but let me tell you it was pretty cool to see that man walk out on the ice. It was a great time and made me happy to be a fan - to read more on that ceremony click here.

Other Gordie Howe Tributes and Memorials
Cards that Never Were (1974-74 OPC)
NYT - George Vecsey

Sources and Links
Hockey-Ref
ESPN
Baseball CardPedia
Getty Images 

STS 4th Inning Recap - Milton Bradley and Mr Hockey Gordie Howe

How many times do you think you will see these two guys in the same post?

Well there is a method to my madness - Sunday was Hockey day for STS! In celebration of the NHL All-Star game being played in Montreal (The East won in a shootout - Alex Ovenchkin hit the clincher) we selected a Montreal Expos auto and a Mr Hockey card for this weeks Spot The Sig! subjects.

Despite all of his antics and issues on and off the field I remain a fan of Milton Bradley. I like his funny name and the fact that way back in 1999 down by 3 runs in the deciding game of the Eastern League championship he hit a walk off grand slam for the Harrisburg Senators. At any level that is pretty exciting. Bradley is an offensive force who will be playing for the Chicago Cubs this year. If he can stay on the field and he should add even more pop to a quality lineup that already includes Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Geovany Soto. It will be interesting to see how Bradley performs under the scrutiny of Cubs media and fans - Chicago may not be New York, Boston, or Philadelphia but it ain't Montreal, San Diego, Oakland or Arlington either.

2000 Fleer Impact Autographics Milton Bradley

This auto is from the 2000 Fleer Autographics set. It's a good looking auto from early in Bradley's Career, although it appears his signature has devolved somewhat over the years. Milton Bradley Autos are running from $ 6-8 on ebay. I would think that they will increase in value as Bradley gains more visibility in Chicago. I got this one of eBay for $4.50.

The other card featured in the STS! is from the 2008 Goudey Hit Parade of Champions insert set. These are about as small a card as you will see on today's card market. I have been trying to mix up the bonus Q between baseball trivia, miscellaneous Phungo Phacts, and Cards past and present. I hope that has been an interesting formula for everyone. This week was a gift for anybody that knows a little hockey and was familiar with recent card issues. Hit Parade of Champions is a 30 card set made up of stars the four major sports past and present. The checklist includes Nolan Ryan, Yogi Berra, Cal Ripken, Lebron, Kobe, Gretky, Lemiuz, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and many others.

2008 Upper Deck Hit Parade of Champions #HPC-10 Mr Hockey Gordie Howe

This card doesn't identify Gordie Howe by name on the back. With some dismay I must recall that a card blogger who did an early 08 goudey box break commented "Somebody only identified as Mr Hockey" when talking about the card. Howe is known as Mr Hockey for a reason, He was a member of four Stanley Cup champions, He won six league MVP awards (Hart Memorial Trophy) and six NHL scoring titles. His NHL career spanned Five, FIVE, different decades and he played a single game for the IHL Detroit Vipers in a 6th. There is an official Gordie Howe website where you can pick up autographed items as cheap $25 plus shipping (looks llike another $5). The site is actually dedicated to Mr and Mrs Hockey and mentions Gordie's wife Colleen several times.

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He's back! PTBNL was the early in this week, and I suspect he Id'D the auto directly off the shot. Too easy this week. We will be back with something more challenging next weekend. With that PTBNL racks up yet another run. Cardboard Junkie got the bonus and now has a couple of runners in scoring position.

The current STS! standings after four innings:

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 6 Runs - Men on 1st and 3rd.
Night Owl - Dodgers - 1 Run in men on 2nd and 3rd
Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 1 Run in - Men on 2nd and 3rd
Card Buzz - Angels - Chone Figgins on 2nd.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - Johnny Damon on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck
Nachos Grande - Reds - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Also Very Important Information - Next Week's Spot the Sig! will be posted on SATURDAY January 31st.

2008 Goudey Blaster Break

I know I am way behind with this one - It sort of got lost in the Phillies stretch run.

So yes, I opened this box a while ago and just wanted to go over the stats just in case anyone out there is still working on 08 UD Goudey. I don't remember the configuration 8 packs of 8 it looks like.

Here are the vitals:

53 Base - Five of which were duplicates of 4 hobby packs that I had bought previosly - that seems a little high. 1 Phil, Hamels, which I needed. 7 of the base were retired stars.

1 SP #229 Ozzie Smith
1 President #250 James Buchanan - The only president from Pennsylvania.
1 1936 Goudey #257 David Wright
1 1936 Goudey mini #258 Jeter
1 Sports Royalty # 276 Bruce Jenner
1 Sports Royalty mini #326 Sanya Richards (Red Back)
1 Hit Parade of Champions #HPC-10 Mr Hockey Gordie Howe
2 Yankee Stadium Legacy #3800 Roy White 09/03/1970 Orioles 8 @ Yankees 4
#3825 Thurman Munson 05/01/71 Brewers 1 @ Yankees 0
1 Game Used Memorabilia #M-JB Jason Bay

08 Goudey fell in the like but not love category for me, I had opened a couple of hobby packs over the summer and generally liked the product enough and that convinced me to get a blaster to gather some additional base cards.

The only disappointment was that 5 of the cards from the blaster I already had in a pretty small collection of maybe 25 cards from 4 hobby packs. Otherwise I was pretty happy, the inserts in this blaster were all decent, Jason Bay isn't the flashiest card in the Materials set, but he is a player I root for so thats definitely a nice addition to the personal collection.

I am also sending out a reminder that Sunday is Spot the Sig! day. This weeks STS is scheduled to go up around 9:30pm Eastern