Petr Nedved Autograph Card

This card may be from the first series to offer a regular set of autographed cards - Upper Deck's 1995-96 Be A Player set, arguably one of the worst sets of all time.

Because they were only licensed by the NHLPA (and not the NHL), Peter Nedved is seen here wearing the Pittsburgh Penguins' colours - but that's all he's sporting. Nowehere on the card is the word 'Penguins' nor the team's logo to be seen - it was even airbrushed out of the picture.

The back of the card doesn't have any statistics or text related to the actual player, only a fac-similed 'signed' word from Ted Saskin saying:

You have received a card personally autographed by the NHL player depicted on the front of this card.

This 1996 NHLPA Be A Player trading card's authenticity is guaranteed by the NHLPA:
One Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z3

This certificate guarantees the authenticity of the player's signature.

The NHL player depicted did not autograph this card in the presence of a representative of the NHLPA.

Enjoy your autographed card.

Ted Saskin
Senior Directir Business Affairs And Licensing
NHL Players' Association

Yes, you read that right - twice they ''guarantee the authenticity'', yet they still make it abundantly clear that the card was NOT signed in the presence of NHLPA reps, so, really, there is no guarantee.

So they guarantee that the player on the front of the card, who they can't name, wearing an NHL jersey with no logo and affiliated to no NHL team (just the city of Pittsburgh) signed this card with no one to witness it.

Not that I don't trust a former second overall draft pick who played for 8 different NHL teams (and twice each for the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, for a grand total of ten NHL transactions)... just that I think the NHLPA offers us a lack of respect and transparency with every single detail of this card.

Dwayne Roloson Jersey Card

Here's a card depicting Dwayne Roloson in what I believe to be his finest hour in the NHL - as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Sure, when he played with the Minnesota Wild, he had two seasons where he stopped over 92% of shots against, but the system they were playing likely helped, and there were no playoffs in which to judge him.

However, when he was traded to the Oilers at the end of the 2005-06 season, his impact was immediate, as he led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes - and the Oilers probably would have won had Roloson not gotten injured in Game 1.

This card (#AF-DR) is from Upper Deck's 2006-07 SP Game Used edition, the Authentic Fabrics Jersey sub-set, and is special for sporting two colours, red and blue. Keep in mind that I have no clue whatsoever as to where there might be red on a recent Oilers jersey...

Pascal Leclaire And Ty Conklin - Jersey Card

Because many players care more about ice time and making money than the city where they play in or being on a championship team, we rarely see players spend their entire careers with the same team anymore. Both goalies here are no longer with the team in which they are pictured here (Conklin himself has been on 3 other teams since), but at least the card depicts a picture, jersey and team name that all fit at the time.

Upper Deck didn't have enough of the usual brands they were producing, they absolutely needed to flood the market with one more, and that's why they came up with this (beautiful) set: 2006-07 Artifacts, with these jersey cards being part of the Tundra sub-set. This Dual Jerseys card (TT-PT) depicts Pascal Leclaire wearing the Columbus Blue Jackets' blue uniform (though the patch seems to be from a white one), and Ty Conklin, backup extraordinaire who has been to the last 3 Stanley Cup Finals, in his Edmonton Oilers white jersey (the patch being bronze coloured, like the stripes on the arms or waist). The card is numbered 120/125.

Trevor Kidd Autographed Card

He was destined for greatness... Trevor Kidd was the Calgary Flames' first-round draft pick (selected 11th overall, ahead of goalies Martin Brodeur and Félix Potvin and skaters Keith Tkachuk, Chris Simon, Doug Weight, Slava Kozlov, Sergei Zubov and Craig Conroy, among others). Maybe the Flames saw something in him, but his goals-against average in juniors was above 4.00 - pretty high for a #1 goalie, unbelievably high for a first-rounder.

He won over 20 games twice with the Flames, and once more with the Carolina Hurricanes, and finished his NHL playing career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is believed to be playing in Europe (although I couldn't find any statistics beyond the 2005-06 season when he played in Germany) and owns a high-end coffee chain in Canada (Mountain Bean Coffee Co.).

This autograph was taken in person while he was a Leaf, but because I hate the Leafs and at least respect the Flames - and because he looked better in a Flames uniform than any other, in my humble opinion - I chose this card, a 1994-95 Flair card from Fleer (card #25).

Chris Davis Card - ''With Everything On It''

What's more valuable: a rookie card, a jersey card, or an autographed card? The Topps Company didn't want to have to find out, so they made this card that is all three.

Indeed, as stated in the top-right corner of this 2007 Topps Performance card (card #122), it's Chris Davis' 'Rookie RC Card'; the autograph is either a very well-placed sticker or part of the card (and, unlike Upper Deck cards, is guaranteed to have been signed in the presence of company representative); and the 'relic' (the piece of jersey) was worn during the 2007 NFL Rookie Premiere.

A nice catch - just like the one that seems to be almost happening in the picture on it.

Two Patrice Bergeron Jersey Cards

Sometimes you're lucky, most times you aren't. This time, I was.

Here are two different-coloured jersey cards from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Trilogy Honorary Swatches (card HS-PB) line of Patrice Bergeron, a Boston Bruins player I actually like. One of them is white, likely from the all-white jersey, and the other one's yellow, likely from a shoulder of wrist or bottom of either the home or away jersey. All I'd need to be really happy with these would be a black one, to complete all three official Bruins colours.

Bergeron was on his merry way to become a star player in the NHL: an All Star Game appearance, invitations to represent Canada in three straight World Championships (two gold medals), a long-term contract with the Bruins as their first-line center (before the arrival of Marc Savard) collecting nearly a point per game and being named Associate Captain to Zdeno Chara.

Unfortunately, a cheap hit by Randy Jones of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 27th, 2007 has cost him a full season and slowed his progress a bit, but he has shown flashes of recovery last year, totalling 39 points in 64 games.

It's good enough that he will not suffer permanent damage because of the cheap shot, now here's hoping he returns to form as one of the most promising players under the age of 30.

Kari Lehtonen Autographed Jersey Card

So what do card companies do when they run out of new ideas? They double-down on the old ones and try to not learn from their mistakes.

In this particular case, Upper Deck decided, for their 2006-07 Trilogy line, one of their more high-end collections, to have a jersey card selection like every single other one of their hokcey brands (named 'Honorary Swatches', in this case), and a selection of autographed cards ('Trilogy Scripts'). Then they upped the ante by having a few cards with both - 'Honorary Scripted Swatches'.

The idea isn't so bad, but to manufacture them and release them relatively on time, they couldn't have the players sign the cards when they were good and done, so they had them sign stickers that they apposed ont he front of the cards; in this particular case, you can clearly see that Kari Lehtonen went over the sticker's size, as one particular letter (possibly the 'H', but it's hard to be sure) as well as maybe the '3' seem to continue beyond the sticker - but not onto the card itself.

Nonetheless, a decent 2-for-1 collectible of a great athlete whose career has been plagued by numerous injuries but remains an elite goaltender who is a sure-fire Olympian, one of the best Finnish goalies of all time. It's too bad about the injuries - and about playing for the terrible Atlanta Thrashers in a market that doesn't care about his sport.

The Capitol Years: Autographed Vinyl

As I mentioned in the previous post, opening for Daniel Johnston last Friday was The Capitol Years, who also served as his backing band for the second half of the show.

Oddly enough, I preferred them on their own rather than just letting Mr. Johnston dictate the plays. The bandmembers have a real tangible chemistry that floats between all of them, both despite and fueled by the fact that their guitarist is actually a replacement musician - as their old guitarist is now behind the drum kit sitting in for the former the drummer - who is on hiatus.

Their set was relatively short, but sweet enough to seem to have lasted longer and been more enjoyable than the set they shared with Mr. Johnston - maybe not in a 'pure show' sense, but at least in an 'interaction with the public' one.

They were warm and personable - traits that also came out when I hung out backstage with them.

Here's a limited-edition blue vinyl seven-inch, which all four members signed the cover to. I'm eyeing a spot on my wall where the cold colours of the sleeve will fit nicely.

Daniel Johnston Autographed CD

I attended the Daniel Johnston concert at the Ukrainian Federation - basically a church - this weekend (Friday, October 16th, 2009, to be exact).

I did everything to see this show: I applied to be the opening act (and was declined because he didn't require a local opener, seeing as he's touring with his own openers who also work as his backing band for the second half of his set); then I purchased tickets - which I ended up giving away when, finally, I was hired to work security for the show.

They didn't know where to park me for this, though: they started by putting me out front to make sure the doors to the place were shut at all times, and to keep the conversation levels low for the people outside, so they don't disturb the neighbours of this residential area, who aren't used to having concerts be held at their local church.

But an acoustic/semi-rock show held in a church isn't the place where you require security in front of the stage to prevent moshing, body-surfing or injuries...

Eventually (and to my satisfaction), I was put in front of the backstage area, and my job was to make sure no one who shouldn't be allowed in to wander there. A really easy task that kept me in contact with everyone who was performing that night, from openers The Capitol Years (the likely subjects of my next post) to Mr. Johnston himself.

As a member of the staff, I was allowed free beer - and the show was co-organized my my 'arch-enemies' Pop Montreal, so - while I did remain in total control - I wasn't going to shy out on the free beverages. I likely ended up having a dozen Griffons - quality local microbrew.

Saving $80 on beer, though, I did spend cash on merchandise; I bought a vinyl from the opener, and the Daniel Johnston Discovered / Covered double-CD (one record a compilation of his songs, the second one the same songs, but by current indie musicians like the Flaming Lips, Beck and Eels), a DVD of The Devil And Daniel Johnston (a superb documentary), and was given a recyclable hand-made knit bag to stuff everything in it.

Which brings me to the subject of this post.

I really wanted Mr. Johnston's autograph, and two fellow fans wanted to have his picture taken with him after the show. But Johnston was just walking around everywhere, avoiding eye contact with anyone, turning around as soon as anyone would open their mouths in his direction. Like a shy child, you could say. Which, you know, fits with the character we've come to love from the documentary.

I ended up asking a member of his entourage, who said it'd be easier if we got a girl to pose with us, because he ''loves the ladies'' (can't blame him, really), so I did manage to find one, but it took so long to get the star close enough for a picture that she'd gone by then. But we got it made anyhow, it's right below, and you can see how thrilled he was...
As soon as the flash came on, he was ready to just up and leave - he made a 180-degree turn and was just going to walk into the wall right behind us when I asked him if he could sign my CD. He was gracious enough to say yes, grabbing a marker from the table right next to us, signing the inside jacket of the double-digipak I mentioned earlier, then proceeded to hand me the marker back as if it was mine.

- Uh, no, sir that's yours.
- Oh, it's mine?
- Yes.
- Huh.

Then he put it back on the table and left the scene quickly.

You probably can't tell from looking at the picture of seeing him in person, but that man is quick on his feet - I'm talking Olympian Speed Walker-type speed.

What a night. It was good, it was weird, it was short and definitely sweet. Everything I expected it to be, and I got souvenirs and saw it for free from a terrific angle.

Three SP Game-Used Jersey Cards: Keith Primeau, Martin Biron & Jay Bouwmeester

I wouldn't recommend it for uncertified autographs, but for something as simple as an Upper Deck jersey card, Ebay can work wonders.

Here we have three jersey cards from the 2006-07 SP Game-Used Edition series: Keith Primeau (Philadelphia Flyers), Martin Biron (Buffalo Sabres) and Jay Bouwmeester (Florida Panthers) - each sporting a uniform they no longer wear.

The advantage of purchasing more than one item from one seller is that you get to save on shipping - most times. Some don't reduce shipping fees from extra items bought or won, but most do, so it becomes more worth it to get the extra 2 cards at fifty cents per card (plus fifty cents shipping) than fifty cents a card plus three dollars or so. Add them up, and, on average, they become way more affordable.