Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Results 1 to 8 of 8
  1. #1




    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    355
    SCF Rewards
    401
    Country

    Toronto Expo 2012 Review:

    Friday was my one and only day at the expo this year, so I thought I'd write about it a little for those who couldn't make it. (Sorry it took so long to get this up, but had a peppy four year old keeping me busy all day)

    Others who are their today (Sat.) or tomorrow (Sun) are more than welcome to add to this and share their experiences as well. On that note:

    DAY 1

    Arrived at the big show around 12:30pm and hopped in line with about 200 ppl in front of me and my buddy. Met a a few people in line and shared some good conversation. After finally getting in, I was able to take in the gravity of the situation: Hockey Card Christmas :)
    Getting to sell all your base is a fun experience, even if it's only a few bucks, so I helped a newer hobbyist complete this task and put another thirty bucks in his pocket. Turned into a "free" Boston Bruins jacket for him (Special thanks to Steve M for the deal)
    Dropped by the CnC booth to say hello to the guys there and signed their banner. They had one of the best collections of cards available. Normally I don't enjoy looking through stacks of toploaders in boxes, but it was all gold at the CnC booth.

    Viewed hands down the finest collection I have ever seen at one vendor (The Money Pit I believe) that consisted of highlights including 5 Crosby Auto Shields, 5 Gretzky Auto Shields, Roy Shields, 2 Howe Property of 1/1's, An Orr Property of, Malkin, Messier, Lemieux, Gretz, Property of... the list goes on, but you can see from the flavour of those examples that it truly was the creme de la creme of many product runs.

    Next we went off to In The GameLand, and since we got there early we both had a free spin on the prize wheel. I ended up winning a free blaster of H and P. Love the product and free stuff is a bonus! Pulled an auto and a jersey from that blaster too. After trying to open up the locked out safe I was able to chat with Dr. Price about the upcoming History of Hockey product. Loved to see how excited he was for this product, and it was great to be able to share my enthusiasm with him as well. No other company gives you this kind of access to the head honcho. Pardon the pun, but it was "Price"less to be able to have some face time with him.
    Deal or No Deal was a raving success as usual, although I'd like to offer my game show hosting skills in the future :) I did not however take a shot at the goalie, although I wish I did. A bunch of youngsters were there and I'll always put kids first, especially at the expo, we need young people in our hobby badly! I might have taken advantage of the redemption programs at ITG but the product I wanted to buy (superlative) was currently out of my price range. If history of hockey was out though, I would've sold my soul to open up that stuff! Upcoming product of the year so far. Good luck to the other two companies beating it. You're gonna need it.

    Up next was a visit to the Panini Redemption program. By opening a box of Certified I was given six redemption packs to open. Love the deal, although I was pretty let down by my box of certified. Luckily my buddy did better and pulled a 1/1 Versteeg in his box and also a 1/1 Hagelin in his redemption packs. He also pulled an RGIII Jersey in his redemption packs AND a Chris Kreider jersey, apparently they're both out of fifty so I was very happy for him. I pulled a few low numbered cards out of my redemption packs, as well as an Andrew Luck RC /399. I had no clue who this was so finding out he was the 1st overall pick this year in the NFL was a very nice surprise. I did pull a redemption dual auto out of certified, and let me tell you I"m not a fan of redemptions AT ALL. Thankfully they had their redemption replacement program up and running so I was immediately able to trade out a bit of a scrub redemption for a Pat LaFontaine Private Signing! Pretty pleased overall, even if it was a less than stellar box that I opened.

    In the past Ive ALWAYS stopped in at the UD booth to crack a box or two and pick up a priority signing, but this year I just can't bring myself to buy any series 1. Same reasons as most, that being that last years holdovers aren't enough to drive the product. I apparently wasn't the only one thinking this because there never seemed to be more than a few people in line when in the past it was the longest line at the show. They did have a great presence though, and a great looking booth.

    Spent the rest of the day mixing it up with the other dealers, with both hockey and non sports. There is a FANTASTIC hollywood auto booth there that has just about any celebrity auto you could ask for. Great company out of NB who clearly care about customer service. There prices were unbeatable and they are partially charity driven, so if you get a chance stop by the Markken booth. Other dealers of note were Frozen Heroes and WAD Enterprises, both offered great prices and was able to make great deals with them.

    In short this expo was exactly what I'd expect it to be. Lots of good times mixed in with a few nice surprises. Get there if you can!

    Keep your eyes peeled for my expo only panini redemptions in the trade/sale threads tomorrow :) A few cracked ice variations (panini tells me they're #'ed to 25 or less) a Baertchi RC /399 , and a Ryan Miller /5 among others

  2. #2




    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    305
    SCF Rewards
    455
    Country

    Anyone pick up any cool vintage base cards from before the mid 70s?

  3. #3




    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    6,694
    SCF Rewards
    1,188
    Country

    got a free blaster too on my 2nd day at the expo, always nice to spin that wheel...
    expo wasgreat but i guess we are all able to see that hockey is missing..

  4. #4




    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    12,146
    SCF Rewards
    62,246
    Country

    You made a smart choice on the Upper Deck. Five of my six Young Guns were miscuts so I had to take them back to the Upper Deck Corporate Counter and they took my details so they can mail me replacements. Otherwise my weekend was awesome and I will be listing my many breaks as the week goes on. My best hit was a Guy Lafleur Stick rack in one of my Forever Rivals boxes and there is nothing like winning a couple of boxes of ITG in their "Deal - No Deal Game.

  5. #5




    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    1,291
    SCF Rewards
    2,832
    Country
    See 416gibby's Items on eBay

    You made a smart choice on the Upper Deck. Five of my six Young Guns were miscuts so I had to take them back to the Upper Deck Corporate Counter and they took my details so they can mail me replacements. Otherwise my weekend was awesome and I will be listing my many breaks as the week goes on. My best hit was a Guy Lafleur Stick rack in one of my Forever Rivals boxes and there is nothing like winning a couple of boxes of ITG in their "Deal - No Deal Game.

    6/6 complete box of YGs miscut

    Also 3/6 of a box I opened at home.

  6. #6





    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Age
    44
    Posts
    7,794
    SCF Rewards
    16,256
    Country
    Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Blue Jays Kansas City Chiefs
    See resurrect_my_collect's Items on eBay

    So on top of the shoddy rookie crop in the set, UD is having miscut problems as well? This reminds me of 09-10 all over again... but with this year's crop?? FAIL, UD!

  7. #7




    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Age
    51
    Posts
    19,248
    SCF Rewards
    15,699
    Country
    Ottawa Senators Toronto Blue Jays Toronto Raptors
    See hossa18sens's Items on eBay

    So on top of the shoddy rookie crop in the set, UD is having miscut problems as well? This reminds me of 09-10 all over again... but with this year's crop?? FAIL, UD!

    Watch it leaf boy. Couple of decent Sens in that pile of stuff lol

  8. #8




    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    1,482
    SCF Rewards
    963
    Country
    See theofleury14's Items on eBay

    I was at the expo for 11 hours myself over Saturday and mostly Sunday, dug through so many $1-5 bins (every one I passed) but only made it to about 60% of the dealers. The furthest rows away from the entrance I didn't see any of other than the ones that were still unpacked with 15-20 minutes before closing.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
SCF Sponsors


About SCF

    Sports Card Forum provides sports and non-sports card collectors a safe place to discuss, buy, sell and trade.

    SCF maintains tools that will allow collectors to manage their collections online, information about what is happening with the hobby, as well as providing robust data to send out for Autographs through the mail.

Follow SCF on