Today, we’ll take a look at the hits I scored from Matt’s recent group break, over at Cardboard Conundrum.
This is only the second group break I participated in(the first one was on The Real DFG last year), and I think I did pretty well. The cards are posted in the reverse order of the boxes opened.
So here we go!
We’ll start off with 2009-10 Upper Deck Black Diamond.
The Rangers were my chosen team, and as you can see from the first card, the Maple Leafs were my random team. You can’t go wrong with a Triple Diamond rookie, but I am not familiar with Jay Rosehill.
Harry Howell is from way before my time, but his number was retired by the Rangers in 2009. I remember when this happened, because Michal Rozsival switched his jersey from #3 to #33 because of this. I don’t go after any cards from this era(then again I never have come across any that are in my price range), so it’s nice to be able to add a Hall of Famer to my collection.
Phil Esposito is known more when he was with the Blackhawks and the Bruins, but he spent 6 solid seasons with the Rangers. And, as is the case with Harry Howell, it’s nice to add another Hall of Famer to the collection.
Even though he’s now with the Blue Jackets, I’m still a fan of Dubinsky. He played with grit and heart, and even had some flashes of offensive brilliance. This would be my first sticker auto, but I’ll never complain when it comes to adding another Ranger autograph to the collection.
Next up is 2011-12 ITG Between the Pipes.
Personally, I’ve never busted any Between the Pipes, but I am a fan of the Masked Men series(as well as any other goaltender specific inserts). This is a regular version James Reimer. I’m kind of confused as to why the common versions are die-cut. Still, these are very nice cards in person, and I’m happy to finally have a few in my collection.
Felix Potvin is a name I can associate to the time when I was heavily into collecting. The early-to-mid-nineties were my collecting heyday, and “Felix the Cat” was one of the many players I collected. This is a one of the Silver versions, which is out of 90. There is no serial numbering, and I would have never known if I wasn’t told.
And lastly, we have 2007-08 Upper Deck Artifacts.
This is an awesome card! Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka were pretty popular when the were with the Rangers, and I was among the many who loved these 2. So, the firs thing this card has going for it, is the player selection. The second thing it has going for it, is the 2 different colored swatches, and neither of them are white. And lastly, it is numbered out of 25(15/25 to be precise). This is my first dual jersey card, and also the lowest serial numbered card in my collection. It also happens to be my favorite card of the ones I received from this group break.
There were also base cards, which will get their time in another post. Thanks again Matt, for a fun experience, and the excellent choices in the boxes you picked. 🙂
Mostly Hockey and Non-Sports 
Yeah, I always thought that the Masked Men cards were weird in that the common versions look so much cooler than the rare parallels. The other thing with ITG is that they don’t serial number any of their cards, even 1/1s, so you have to go to their website for information on print runs.
I also love the Jagr/Straka card, and thought when I first saw it that just a few years earlier, it would have been a pretty awesome Penguins card.
I thought the same thing with Jagr/Straka, since you’re a Penguins fan. Jagr and Straka did pretty well for the Rangers, but there’s no denying that they were at their best with the Pens(especially Jagr).