Anxious to get started, I did what any modern day collector would do: I ran out and found the first card I could find on eBay and started bidding. I won Al in the last few minutes of the "game."It seems fitting that Arbour would be my first card toward this set given the "recapture my youth" theme of my opening post. I was a huge New York Islanders fan growing up and can remember the thrill of Nystrom's OT winner in 1980 just as vividly as I felt the impending doom of the Oilers blocking the Isles' fifth straight Cup after Game 1 of the 1984 Finals. Of course, bespectacled Arbour was the coach of those great Islander teams.
Arbour started his playing career in 1954 with the Detroit Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup. He later skated for the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. Arbour also won the Stanley Cup as a player in 1960–61 with the Black Hawks and the in 1961–62 and 1963–64 with the Maple Leafs. Arbour, along with teammate Ed Litzenberger, is one of 11 players to win consecutive Stanley Cups with two different teams. Arbour was the also the first captain of expansion St. Louis when they lost in finals in 1968, 1969 and 1970 (all in 4 straight games).
He is one of the few professional athletes to wear glasses when competing. Arbour was the last NHL player to wear them on the ice. He then went on to win those four in a row with the Islanders. Arbour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 in the Builder category (even though his 12 career goals were given ample consideration, but paled in comparison to the standing record of 19 consecutive playoff series wins).
This is Arbour's 3rd card and his 2nd Topps issue. His rookie card is the 1953-54 Parkhurst. Al will be making his way from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I'm told he's in "Very Good" condition with light wear at the corners, no stains, a small and hard to see crease at the bottom edge of the card, no marks and a clean back.
So here are my stats on this card, as well as my running totals:
Cost: $10.01
Shipping: $3.00
Total: $13.01
Running Cost: $10.01
Running Shipping: $3.00
Grand Total: $13.01
Comments? Good buy? Did I overpay?
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ReplyDeleteDid his card come with some propane and propane accessories? I tell you what.
ReplyDeleteI think that you got a good deal on him. The common card in this set books for about $30 nr-mnt so $10 for it was pretty good, the S&H for it though is a little ridiculous, but that is just me.