An envelope of cards from north of the border greeted me recently, as Douglas of Buck Store Cards hit me up with another generous offering of football and hockey cards!
I was really excited to find the above Jim Kelly card along with the other cards from this year's Donruss football set. I assume it's the entire Bills team set, but I could be wrong. Anyhow, I love the look of this set. It's very retro and colorful.
Shady McCoy is really starting to heat up for the Bills this year. He has looked amazing the past few weeks after missing time with a balky hamstring.
Sammy Watkins kinda went off on social media a couple weeks ago. I can't say I blame him; some people really need to get a life. Apparently they have nothing better to do than harass professional athletes and their families on Instagram, I guess.
Robert Woods is very under-utilized on this team. I don't think he's a true "number one" receiver, but he's a heckuva good second banana.
Matt Cassel, we hardly knew ye in Buffalo. Pictured as a Viking, he's now a Cowboy.
The photo they used for this Super Mario card was from Buffalo's big victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Pack at RWS late last season. Nowadays, everyone seems to beat the Packers.
Buffalo didn't have a first-round pick this past draft, but they grabbed Darby in the second round and seem to have struck gold. The FSU product has been one of the best CBs in the league--rookie or otherwise.
This McCoy is from Donruss Elite. It scanned badly because it's too darn shiny.
Here's an awesome die-cut insert of Mario from Panini Prestige.
I'm pretty comfortable saying that I like what Panini has done with their NFL cards. They are head and shoulders ahead of Topps in all facets. Just my opinion. I'm not the biggest football collector anymore, but I still appreciate a well-done sports card regardless of the sport.
Since this envelope came from Canada, you knew it had to have some hockey. Douglas did not disappoint.
Not one...
Not two...
But THREE tremendous cards of the great Mark Messier. I still kinda get misty-eyed when I watch the Messier career-spanning DVD. The guy was just a great player in every conceivable way. Skilled, clutch, tough, courageous...you name it. He's on the Mount Rushmore of Kaz sports heroes, without a doubt.
Keep Calm and Stepan!
Gaborik netted 40+ goals twice for the Blueshirts in three-plus seasons on Broadway.
Richards kinda underachieved for New York, but I wasn't as down on him as most Rangers fans. He collected 12 goals and 28 points in three postseasons as a Ranger.
Another new Gabriel for my collection. I see Landeskog was suspended by the league for a couple games recently for an overzealous hit, shall we say. Atta boy, Gabe!
And, the best for last...
Barry Beck played seven seasons for New York and was an All-Star for five of them. This card hails from O-Pee-Chee's 1981-82 set. The blurb on the back informs us that Barry "frequently knocked out opponents with crunching body checks." My kind of guy!
Douglas, thank you for keeping me in mind, as always. These are super additions to my Bills, Rangers and Gabriel collections, respectively.
MK
i don't think I was even aware that there was a Donruss FB set. Live and learn. the Bills upgraded their unis for sure.
ReplyDeleteI'm very jealous of all those Rangers. All-in-all that's a very nice group of cards you got.
It's a complete mystery to me why I think late 70's and early 80's OPC hockey looks so much better than it's Topps counterparts. I think it has something to do with the card stock more closely resembling ice.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time I prefer Topps baseball to OPC, maybe because the Topps card stock resembles dirt?
What a delivery! I don't collect football but I really like the design of that Donruss set.
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