[rjcj2017]

Friends in hockey,

My favorite set to collect every year is O-Pee-Chee ... just feels like card collecting used to be with the stock, the look, the emphasis on team sets and not big dazzling pulls ... reminds me of when I first started collecting 36 years ago. 

(Don't get me wrong, I enjoy autos, jersey cards and high dollar cards as much as the next guy.)

Though my team by birthright is the Red Wings, I have also become a huge Golden Knights fan since they came into the league six years ago.

Primarily because ...

1) Come on now, who makes the finals as an expansion team? Crazy
2) I loved the "Misfits" story line of a lot of unproven and discarded players coming together to form a dominant unit without a "superstar" on the roster
3) I have a slight professional connection to the owner of the team (kind of a Kevin Bacon six degrees type deal)

Speaking of "Misfits," my favorite Knight of all time is William "Wild Bill" Karlsson, who led the team in scoring their first year.

I have been able to trade for one of his autos as well as his Young Guns card (pictured as a Duck) on this site, but haven't pulled much on my own of his other than base.

Usually when I buy OPC, it's in the fat pack format, one or two at a time here and there until they're not available on the shelves anymore.

But a couple of days ago I decided to bull a full blaster of the 2022-23 product, as it advertised "look for retail exclusive yellow parallels."

Seeing as how about 95 percent of my collection is retail, I'm a sucker for the exclusives.

Conversely, seeing as how there are 600 cards in the set, even at one yellow per pack, I knew my odds of pulling a Golden Knight were pretty slim.

So I was absolutely thrilled to pull this particular card about halfway through the packs ...





This is a classic example of a card that doesn't book very well but has a high degree of difficulty in pulling one of your own ... and my main PC guy on one of my two main teams makes it a winner in my book.

Thanks for looking ... Go Knights!

[akaus]

Awesome luck. Is the retail king back?

[rjcj2017]

Awesome luck. Is the retail king back?

Never left, my friend!

[akaus]

Never left, my friend!

I love it! Keep it going.

[rjcj2017]

I love it! Keep it going.

Thanks man.

The DBN Era has subsided enough that you can find most products nowadays ... assuming you see it within a day of the drop.

And if you see it and want it, buy it then - it won't be there when you come back the following day (or even the same day).

But it's waaaaay better than it was a couple of years ago.

[ZSDOne]

Hockey is very easy to find at retail here - odd, because this is supposed to be a good hockey market (there were minor league teams here for years and the games get good ratings - at least if the Caps are involved) but the cards are usually easy to find.

Of course, I find OPC with Upper Deck to be weird since I have some of their cards (hockey and baseball) when they were the Canadian version of Topps - I especially love the old OPC Hockey Cards since hockey cards should be in French and English. Apparently sometime when I was a child I found a store that somehow got in some OPC baseball cards despite being in Virginia - because I have a bunch of them.

And yes, it's always cool to pull a p.c. rare pull even if it isn't worth a lot.

[rjcj2017]

Hockey is very easy to find at retail here - odd, because this is supposed to be a good hockey market (there were minor league teams here for years and the games get good ratings - at least if the Caps are involved) but the cards are usually easy to find.

Of course, I find OPC with Upper Deck to be weird since I have some of their cards (hockey and baseball) when they were the Canadian version of Topps - I especially love the old OPC Hockey Cards since hockey cards should be in French and English.  Apparently sometime when I was a child I found a store that somehow got in some OPC baseball cards despite being in Virginia - because I have a bunch of them.

And yes, it's always cool to pull a p.c. rare pull even if it isn't worth a lot.

It's one of those "degree of difficulty" pulls ... when you figure there's 600 cards in the set and I believe four (?) golds per blaster, to even get one of your favorite team is a long shot.

I was honestly stunned.

[rjcj2017]

Hadn't had a chance to mention, I'm enjoying this card all that much more since the Stanley Cup win - Go Knights!

[creasecollector]

Great card, those retail yellow parallels look awesome!

[rjcj2017]

Great card, those retail yellow parallels look awesome!

Thank you, it might be my favorite "non-valuable" card I've ever pulled - hockey for sure!