TTM Mail Day #25: Paul Fenton

The requests have been pouring in lately and I can't keep up with  posting them given my work schedule! I really wish I had more free time to get some more posts up on the blog other then TTM successes. Hopefully some free time will come up for that in the near future.

Paul Fenton is another guy I don't know much about but needed for my Topps Set. Looking at his career he seemed like a guy who was mainly a third liner but could step up and play on the second line when needed.  He managed 32 goals for the Jets in the 1989-90 season and that was the best offensive output of his career.

I also threw in a 1991-92 Score card to be signed. I'm really liking the look of these cards signed and I will continue to send more out to be signed. I don't think I ever plan on getting the full set signed given the large set and all the different border color variations.

TTM Mail Day #24: Michal Pivonka

Michal Pivonka was a slightly above NHL player who recieved a huge boost from playing with great linemates. Pivonka is best known for being Petr Bondra's set up man. While he found success in the earlier half of his career, his talent seemed to escape him in his last few seasons when he provided next to no offense.

Pivonka finished his NHL career with almost 600 points in over 800 games. As mentioned above his offense output was minimal in his last few NHL seasons. He finished off his career in the minors averaging almost a point per game in his final season.

TTM Mail Day #23: Don Edwards

The mailing has really been coming in lately thanks to sending out a stack of requests when I was away on vacation.

Don Edwards was an above average NHL goalie for 11 seasons. While he did win a Vezina during his career, I think he is best remembered for giving up Gretzky's record setting 77th goal of the season in  81-82 breaking Esposito's record of 76.

Edwards found the most success in his career with the Buffalo Sabres but was never able to get the Sabres deep into the playoffs. A shake-up had to be made and Edwards was shipped to the Flames where he never posted a goals against average below four. He finished his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and then continued to play senior hockey through the rest of the 1980's.

TTM Mail Day #22: Mike Smith

For a bottom tier NHL goalie this return took a long time! This card had been out a year and a half before I received it returned this morning.

Smith is another guy that NHL brass had high hopes for but it has never materialized for him. He was sent down to the minors this season and only found his way into 5 games thanks to two other goalie prospects who Tampa considers their goalies of the future now (Tokarski and Desjardins). For now he will backup Dwayne Roloson but don't expect to see him in the NHL come next season when Tampa will most likely change their goaltending situation.

TTM Mail Day #21: Craig Wolanin

Craig Wolanin is another guy I knew very little about but needed his card signed for a set. Wolanin played in the NHL for 13 season and played in over 600 NHL games.

Wolanin was actually a highly touted played going 3rd overall in the 1985 NHL entry draft to the New Jersey Devils. The Devils were a very weak team and needed the help right away, so at the age of 18 Wolanin entered the NHL. He managed a career high in points with 31 in his second season and then never produced as hoped he would. He settled in as a stay at home defenseman for the rest of his NHL career.

April Game Pick-Ups!

It's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog other then hockey related. As the weather starts to get warm my thoughts start changing to vintage video games. While many people play games during the winter, I find that I game the most in the summer time. I grew up with this habit during my public and high school years. My sister and I would game heavily in the morning and later at night.

I found these games at the local Goodwill on 50% off day! I arrived a little after noon and while the store is usually picked through by then, I was lucky to find the game counter more stocked then usual!

I'll start with my Sega finds! This game is a must own for any video game hockey fan! I really enjoy the old Sega hockey games. I have yet to play this one and might not get to it for a while thanks to the next game..

NHL 97! I have wanted this game for a long time! I tracked one down last summer for $5: cart only and it was in rough shape. I passed on it and I'm glad I did. For a $1.50 I got the complete version of the game with a working save battery! I have already created my own player and started a season!

Another MUST have for any Sega collector! This is character that launched the Sega craze! I own Sonic and Knuckles 2 but have not yet owned the first version of the game until now.

X-Men was HUGE in the mid 90's and this game was tough to find, especially to rent as it was always out. I'm really happy to pick this game up and I'm excited to try it out!

The last of my Sega game pick-ups is Tazmania. I always wanted to play this game as a kid but never got the chance. I really liked the Warner Brothers produced cartoons as a kid, so this makes it a nice add for my collection.

Moving on to NES, this is a GREAT pick-up for me and a must have in any NES collection. The Super Mario/Duck-Hunt is the most commonly owned version of this game. The Super Mario only cart can sometimes be tough to find in shops for under $10.

Cool looking game cart, terrible game. It's really, really bad although I only played alone. It could be fun playing with a few other people. This one will most likely sit on the shelf for as long as I own it.

The last of the Goodwill pick-ups, Heavy Shreddin' for NES. I've never seen this game before and that alone makes it a sweet pick-up. I have yet to play this game, although I have seen screen shots and it looks like a lot of fun to play.

It's very rare to find a large amount of games like this at the Goodwill, so it was a huge thrill to find a haul like this. My day was not done though and my next find topped all of the above finds!

I was at Sears (not in my area) looking at washing machine's with the girlfriend when I wandered over to the electronics section. Surprisingly they had a video game cabinet (most Sears don't anymore in my area) and I spotted this game:

Released around Christmas of this past year, this limited edition bundle includes Super Mario 1-3, the lost levels, a CD with Mario Music and a book on the making of Mario. This limited edition game sold out in most areas within a week of release and at one point was selling for around $70-$80 on Ebay when the game retailed for $29.99. I quickly bought the game for the $29.99 and although it only sells on Ebay for around $40 it was a great pick-up and something I have really wanted to add to my collection. When I asked the sales associate he told me that they had been sitting around since Christmas!

Some great pick-ups to my gaming collection and I hope to continue to find vintage games like this at rock bottom prices!

TTM Mail Day #20: Jimmy Waite

I have been trying to track down Jimmy Waite since he retired in 2009. I did some recent searching and found some sort of short biography that mentions he works for SBK hockey. I found the address, sent off some cards and about 3 weeks later, this past Friday I got the cards back signed.

I have always thought that Waite never deserved the label of bust. He was drafted in the first round by the Hawks after playing excellent at the World Juniors. He was stuck behind Ed Belfour and later Dominik Hasek in Chicago. He never really got a fair chance to find his way in the NHL and if he had seen some more games (in the NHL) at a crucial time in his development he might have stayed in the league.

After bouncing between the minors and NHL for 11 season, Waite spent two years with the baby Leafs in the AHL without receiving another call up. Most likely fed up and looking for a change of scenery he took his trade to Germany where he was outstanding for 8 more seasons. He finally hung up the pads at the age of 40 after back stopping his team to a 47 save win.