Perusing Twitter while taking my lunch one day, I came across @bfitchnj‘s tweet about one of her eBay items. While it wasn’t anything for me, I took a look through her items and came across one lonely hockey card. I figured that I could put it into my traders bucket and find him a good home. I was interested in one other, and we worked out a deal off eBay that made both of us happy.
As a collector that has three Super Scripts to move, I have been disappointed in the secondary market on them. As a player collector that has three Andrew Shaw Super Scripts (and a fourth on the way), I’ve been pleased in the secondary market on them. Nonetheless, Gallagher is popular among the Canadiens faithful and after finding a cheaper way to ship to Canada, I’m confident that he will have a new home among friends at some point.
I also came across this card that is only making a temporary stop in Texas. I will eventually write a blog post about how I got started in the hobby. I can tell you now, though, the reason is my Uncle Don. As a kid, I was beyond envious of his card collection. He has left the hobby but at one point had an absolutely amazing Ryan Kelsko collection. I don’t know if he still has the ones he acquired, but I figure he does.
In the Sports Card Forum world, there is a badge for someone that attains “Super Collector” status. There’s no doubt that at one point, Don was a Klesko Super Collector, or darn close. The only thing that might have kept him from that status was that there were two other hardcore Klesko collectors. I remember him telling me that a card could “book” $2, but if two of them needed it, there was no telling where the eBay bidding would end. I can’t say that his Klesko collection led to my Andrew Shaw collecting (link to gallery below), but it’s definitely an inspiration.
The combination of Klesko, autograph and the 1973 Topps design led to me picking this up for him. The hobby has changed so much and there are way too many people that are in it for the wrong reasons. That, combined with ridiculous costs on cards, is why so many have left the hobby. I believe that the lack of fun is why he left. I don’t believe that one card or set is enough to bring him back, but I’m sure that he will love this little blast from the past.
Bethany had thrown some additional random (at least I think random) hockey singles in around the two cards mentioned above. Somewhere in the middle of them was a 2014-15 MVP Andrew Shaw. It goes without saying that this will be added to my Shaw PC.
GALLERY: The Andrew Shaw Project
If you like what we’re doing and would like updates when we post new pieces, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Please take the time and also look through some other pieces on the site. I’m still looking for more folks that would like to contribute, so let me know if you are! You can follow me on my other Twitter handles at @kin_kinsley and @DFW_Card_Shows.