My First Hockey Relic

I never been an active hockey card collector.  I love watching the sport and rooting for the Boston Bruins.  Without a hometown team though, it's hard to feel the same level of emotional investment as I do with the Mariners or Seahawks.  The chances are high that sometime within the next 10 years, Seattle will get its own team again.  Until then, the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League will be the main hockey event in town. 

I've been to probably a dozen games over the years.  I even went to a Thunderbirds game as part of my bachelor party.  The games are a lot of fun. 

2013-14 In The Game Heroes & Prospects - Game-Used Jersey Black

Mathew Barzal is the most recent NHL product to come from the Thunderbirds.  The New York Islanders drafted him #16 overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.  After he helped the Thunderbirds win the 2017 WHL Championship, earning WHL Playoff MVP honors along the way, it was finally time for me to purchase my first hockey relic and first Thunderbirds card.

This big blue swatch is from a game-used Barzal Thunderbirds jersey. 

His autograph can be had for under $10 so it might be time to pick up one of those as well.

eBay (Part 2)

Second Haul

Base Bruins set from 2013-2014 Upper Deck Artifacts

While on eBay I came across a listing for something I had not seen.  The auction was for all Boston Bruins cards from an unopened hobby box of 2013-14 Upper Deck Artifacts.  This appealed to me because I would mostly want the Bruins cards from a box anyway and this also came with the chance that the Bruins card(s) would be inserts, autographs, jerseys, anything! I watched the auction closely and as it wound to an end the price still sat at $0.99 so I threw in my bid at the last second and won.
  

The next day after the auction, the seller live streamed the opening of the box and went thought all the packs.  The Bruins cards ended up only being the base set but this still seemed to be a good deal for 7 cards.  

If the price is right I would consider doing this again but at the moment I don't feel the need to do it again.  A fun experiment overall!