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'09 Upper Deck Black Lustrous Materials Thomas Vanek

UD Black is one of my favorite product lines in the hobby, and to find a UD Black card of one of my hometown Buffalo Sabres makes this recent purchase a hat-trick. I nabbed this Thomas Vanek Lustrous Materials card a few weeks back for $15.00. That's not the cheapest card for my collecting budget, but it's not too bad. Actually, for an auto'd/multi-color jersey card of a 35 goals/year NHL scorer, I thought it was a nice deal. One things for sure though, I can't wait for the upcoming release of 2011 Upper Deck The Cup. I hope to pick up a few more cards of my Buffalo Sabres.

'07 Upper Deck Dual Plexi Autograph 1-2 Combo Clearcut Autos Ryan Miller /Thomas Vanek #'d 041/100 With the NHL playoff races tightening up, it's high time that I show some support for my Buffalo Sabres. What's the best way for a sports memorabilia collector to show his or her support for their team? Obviously, it's to buy trading cards featuring players from their favorite team, so that's what I've done. I love acetate cards, and this '07 UD 1-2 Combo Clearcut dual auto card of Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek is pretty awesome. This card certainly is a nice addition to my collection, but hopefully it'll bring some luck to the Buffalo Sabres down the stretch. Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Slap of the Puck".

'08 Upper Deck Trilogy 1-2 Combo Clear Cut Miller/Vanek Dual Auto #'d 40/100

As many of you are well aware or, acetate is one of my favorite trading card technologies. Acetate cards consist of images that have been incased or printed on translucent plastic. A prime example, and one of my favorites, is the Ryan Miller/Thomas Vanek UD Trilogy dual auto'ed card pictured above. Acetate cards look cool and are certainly fun to collect. However, living in Buffalo, NY, they can have a fragile side as well.

I got back into the hobby a little more than three years ago and was amazed at how the industry and trading cards themselves had changed. For example, I remembered acetate cards from the late 90's (click here), but the modern acetate card is typically a lot thicker and often features an autograph. One of my first big eBay purchases getting back into the hobby was a Dominique Wilkins 2003 Upper Deck Focus Auto (click here). More important than the cost of the card, was the excitement I had of adding a Dominique Wilkins autograph to my collection. Unfortunately, it can get pretty cold here in Buffalo.

Cold and acetate doesn't go very well together. The ultra thick Wilkins Auto Focus card cracked during shipment like a nasty chip spiders on a car windshield. In below freezing weather, all it takes is a dropped envelope or reckless mail carrier to shatter an acetate card. Luckily, the seller refunded my entire order. Which was very nice since it really wasn't the sellers fault. Today, I rarely buy an acetate card during the cold winter months. If I just can't refuse a good deal, I will tell the seller to hold onto the card until it warms up a bit. The difference in a few degrees can be the difference between a sweet Miller/Vanek auto or a shattered Wilkins auto.

Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

2010 UD The Cup Thomas Vanek Signature Patches

I was really excited when Upper Deck released preview images of their 2010 The Cup product a few months ago on their Facebook page. This product single handily got me ready for the NHL season to start. Unfortunately, my Buffalo Sabres haven't gotten off to the kind of start I and many other fans were expecting, but the season is still young. Now to the cards!!!

2010 UD The Cup Chris Butler Rookie Patch/Auto

I've been on a mission to add a few of these Stanley Cup worthy cards to my collection, and my first couple purchases have arrived. I have two more cards coming from this year's Cup product, but these first two cards of Thomas Vanek and Chris Butler are awesome. They look great on screen, but trust me, these look even better in-hand. Both cards have on-card auto's and multi-colored patches. Two attributes that are highly desired by all collectors.

With all the complaints I've heard from collectors lately about tiny single colored patches and sticker auto's, mine included, Upper Deck really delivered with 2010 The Cup. That's why my hunt will continue so I can bag a few more cards from this extremely well thought out and executed product.