The top of the list EASILY is a rookie-year jersey card of Evgeni Malkin from 2006-07 Sweet Shot. Through our e-mail exchange, Dave told me he had a Malkin rookie card from this set, which was pretty cool. I don't have any rookie cards of Geno, so I, naturally WANTED the card. Upon further research, I not only found out about the inclusion of the jersey swatch, but also that these relic cards ARE The rookie cards for this set. Very cool. I was absolutely blown away with the fact that I had a shot at this cards, but there's more...
I was also able to get my grubby little hands on a Jordan Staal autographed rookie card from 2006-07 Be A Player. Yes, it is a sticker auto, but the fact that I can get a rookie auto of a (now former) Penguin is always fantastic, especially a player of Staal's caliber. I will definitely miss him on the team, but I understand the appeal of playing with your brother.
While I am DEFINITELY a big Sidney Crosby guy, you can't be a Penguins fan without going after every Mario Lemieux card you can. This 87-88 O-Pee-Chee mini is a cool rarity that I haven't been able to see before. Then again, I am in the U.S., where the OPC brand has been relegated to an Upper Deck low-end product.
There was also a rookie year insert of Crosby, a 2005-06 Upper Deck Stars in the Making card. Sometimes card companies are forced to make some bold claims of their rookies to fill slots in their inserts, but in this case, I think Crosby becoming a star was a pretty safe bet.
Those were the big hits, but here are some of the other cards included in the deal.
I got my hands on a COMPLETE 30-card set of 2005-06 Upper Deck Diary of a Phenom cards, which spotlight Crosby's rookie season. Before this, I had been able to pick up some cards here and there, but it would be WAY too much of a pain to try and build this set. This definitely takes a huge collecting burden off of my shoulders.
There were also a few other Crosbys thrown in, most of which I did not yet have. I think I'm now up to 98 base cards and inserts and 10 hits, so if anybody has anything that I do not have, let me know and I will make it well worth your while.
There were also a few other Penguins cards as well. I especially love the Malkin Season Highlights card where he is posing next to his Conn Smythe trophy (Playoff MVP). I'll go after anything and everything featuring the Penguins Cup wins, so this was a very welcome surprise.
Well, there you have it. Go give Wax Stain Rookie a look if you haven't, or at LEAST take a look at the fantastic Crosby hit he pulled that ended up initiating this trade. It's enough to make even the biggest Crosby hater just a little bit jealous.
Sweet additions!
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