La Patrie Hockey Posters

In the 1950's La Patrie Newspaper came out with hockey posters as part of a few poster sets. The players and leagues in the sets varied from Junior to Semi Pro all the way to the NHL.  The posters included up and coming stars like Henri Richard and Jean Beliveau (in his aces uniform) to established NHL stars like Maurice Richard and Elmer Lach. Many of us have seen "poster sets" in the newspaper that our grandfathers have kept for us to hang up as kids. This set however really is on a level of its own, Vivid colors and a real vintage hockey feel makes these a true collectable. My first encounter with this set was looking through ebay for a upcoming Elmer Lach signing. I got one of my rare bargains on eBay. Obtaining this specific poster in great condition for about three dollars shipped. After getting it autographed by Mr.Lach I looked for more information on these sets of posters finding prices up to 1200$ for the complete set. Certain individual posters ranging in the 50-100$ range. I was pleasantly informed by a local card shop owner that my Elmer Lach poster was valued in and around 90+ dollars as is with no autograph. I'm to assume that with most things of value autographs make them lose value. However being one of my favorite pieces in my collection I'm not losing sleep over it.

Elmer Lach La Patrie Poster Signed and Framed

I brought the piece to my framer and am really happy with the result. Simple keeping with the vintage feel of the piece. I also attended the Montreal card expo where I was able to purchase one of the pieces on my wishlist for a very long time. The La Patrie Jean Beliveau Quebec Aces poster. Originally the seller at the booth wanted more then I was willing to pay. However I was pleased to have my girlfriend A.K.A "negotiator" with me to get this at a price I was comfortable with.

La Patrie Jean Beliveau Quebec Aces Poster

Being a huge fan of Jean Beliveau and my entire collection revolving around his collectables I'm very pleased to have this. Also what I enjoy about this poster given that this was made during his Aces years his pre-print autograph is completely different to the one he signs with today. I found this extremely interesting and one of the main reasons I wanted this for my collection.

Close up look at Jean Beliveau's autograph in the early years.

After initially being able to obtain the Jean Beliveau La Patrie poster I was able to have it sent for a private signing with Mr Beliveau himself. As you can see he added #9 to his autograph for this piece to go along with the number he wore at the time with the Quebec Aces.In the photo below you can see the finshed project which was recently returned to me from my framer. Very happy with the piece and quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Take note of the change in Jean Beliveau's autograph from the time this poster was made and his now everyday autograph.

As I have explained in the past this has really become one of my favorite things to collect. However the living members left of this poster set have become much more of a select group.  When I first started to collect these I was sure that I had seen one of Henri Richard. After extensive internet research I had yet to rediscover this poster of Mr.Richard.  After going to a small collectors show outside of Montreal to meet Henri Richard to autograph my monopoly project I finally found what I had been looking for! The Henri Richard La Patrie poster!

Now, the asking price of the piece was much more then I had planned on paying however this was so rare I could not pass it up. After all I couldn't even find a photo of its existence online!  Once purchased I ran over to the autograph table to complete the piece. This was a nice surprise and validation for my travels to this show. After the dealer had explained to me he doesn't do the Montreal Collectors show that I usually attend.

La Patrie Henri Richard Poster

Another bonus to this was the condition it is in. Most posters (given their publication in 1954) are in much poorer condition. Aside from small holes on the left side this looks like it had been pulled from the newspaper yesterday. I hope to get this piece framed in the very near future.

Scavenging eBay is another way for me to obtain some of the posters I can't find locally at shows.  Once in a while I will punch in "La Patrie" into eBay's search engine in hopes of finding a deal on a poster that I want. This was the case for the Dickie Moore poster I was able to find. Although in rather good condition it seems to have been cut a little short making this poster look slightly different from my others. Never the less once this piece is autographed and framed it should come out like the others in my collection.

Dickie Moore La Patrie Poster

My Autographed Mcfarlane Collection

Two years ago I was in Toronto for the collectors expo waiting for my turn for AJsportsworlds Jean Beliveau signing. The line was massive and I ended up having to wait a couple hours. Given that I had come from Montreal via train I didn't really have many options but to wait my turn. I came across a man selling McFarlane figures which I had not collected or had any interest in at that time. I ended up buying a Jean Beliveau figure from him to have signed that day. Since then my collection has grown tremendously.

My Canadiens McFarlane Collection

I now have 22 autographed Habs McFarlanes in my collection. All obtained in person with the expection of....

-Steve Shutt and Chris Chelios (RED) both purchased from AJsportsworld
-Alex Tanguay purchased from "Mcfarlane Guy" at Toronto Collectors show.

New Additions

NHL 8 Montreal Chris Chelios Varient with "88 Norris" inscription

Mcfarlane Series 21 Carey Price (Grosner exclusive white jersey)

Mcfarlane Limited Edition 12" Series 1 Patrick Roy

Mcfarlane Legends 2 Variant Jean Beliveau with "Le Gros Bill" Inscription

NHL LEGENDS SERIES 1 Yvan Cournoyer Mcfarlane

 

NHL Series 31 Carey Price

 

NHL Series 11 Michael Ryder

NHL Series 21 Alex Tanguay

The Ken Dryden Experience (Part One)

I have been collecting autograph's since I was a kid. Whenever I spoke to anyone about who they wished they had in their collection or who was impossible to get, the answer was always the same. Ken Dryden. The man has never done a sit down autograph session in his life and I was told he was tough to get even in person. Most of the time when you hear things of this nature the rumors are often false and the athletes are usually fairly good with autographs. Well the rumors are true to a certain degree. My sister was nice enough to let me know that Ken Dryden was a guest teacher at her University (Mcgill) this semester and this was most likely my best chance to ever meet him. My first thought was I had picked the wrong university to attend (Concordia) and second was I could add Ken Dryden to my monopoly project which was really a once in a life time type deal (Super nerd excitement). So my sister being the kind younger sibling she is, agreed to come with me and show me where his class was taking place. We waited until the class was completely over and the room only had Mr. Dryden left. We approached him and explained we are big fans and politely asked if he could sign for us. He really seemed taken off guard and explained "Well...why don't we start with just one autograph...you know I don't sign at shows and things of that sort." He was very polite but seemed to be against autographs. I presented him with a Sports Illustrated that he was on the cover of and he responded 'Oh no! See guys I really can't sign that, I don't sign anything that could have monetary value'. This was extremely disappointing to me as it came off as he believed we were in it strictly for resale which could not be further from the truth. He also declined to sign the monopoly board(From the Monopoly Project post). I was left with my last hope, as you could see in a previous post I was able to find a mint condition replica cardboard mask given at his jersey retirement ceremony. He kindly agreed to sign this and wanted to personalize it to me. To some collectors that maybe something that they don't like but in all honesty this was something that made it that much of a better conversation piece. This is why I am really into collecting so this was actually a bonus for me.

Overall Mr.Dryden was a very nice person and was very polite, in the end great experience!

Ken Dryden Piece

Close up-"To J-M With Best Wishes"

Here is the completed piece framed with the program from the retirment of Ken Dryden's Number at the Bell Centre.

The Ken Dryden Exprience (Part 2) Ft. Mike Komisarek

I get a phone call from my grandfather early in the morning. He is a great guy and a big fan of my hobby so he gives me the heads up when he can. He explained to me that he saw in the paper that Ken Dryden was doing a book reading at the Indigo in downtown Montreal. After my lack of success last time around I wasn't sure if I wanted to try again. I came to the conclusion that this maybe my last chance so I decided to go ahead and try. When I arrived I was told Mr. Dryden would sign at the end of the reading. There was proximity 100 people or so at the event. It was very well setup and snacks were passed around during the reading (I was starving so this was a huge win).

A view of the set up at indigo during the reading (Dryden on the right).

 Once the event was coming to an end Mr.Dryden addressed the crowd. He explained he had to catch a flight in about 1 hour so he would stick around to sign for about 30 minutes. I was in a good spot in the line so I wasn't too worried about getting cut off. When he started signing I really was unsure if he would sign outside items or only his book. I noticed a few pucks so this gave me a bit of relief as I waited.  Ahead of me was a man holding a massive framed lithograph. I told my girlfriend "If he signs this I'm in the clear with the Monopoly!". Well that idea went out the window when Mr. Dryden kindly informed the gentlemen that he would not be signing his lithograph. I needed a plan b. When it became my turn I immediately asked Mr Dryden a question you would only really know if you read his book.  "Correct me if I'm wrong Ken but  wasn't the pavement you played on with your brother as a child a red color?" He explained the reason for the red pavement and gave me my chance to ask him to sign the monopoly board. This was my one chance, "Also Mr. Dryden do you enjoy Monopoly?" He seemed confused with the question as I presented him with the Monopoly board. Well not only did he sign it he didn't even ask to personalize! For those who know how he signs this is next to impossible! This coming only a week after he explained to me that he could never sign the Monopoly board as it had resale value.

Ken Dryden on Monopoly project.

I also purchased a retirement ceremony puck with all of his stats earlier in the day. My girlfriend was nice enough to get that done for me. This time he did personalize but I really enjoy personalization for the most part so I was extremely pleased with the outcome.

Puck Also Autographed at the event.

As a bonus I went to the Canadiens Practice today in hopes of getting Andrei Markov on a signed photo with Carey Price (previously signed at a free signing in Montreal). To my surprise there was 40-50 people waiting for autographs today. I gave up as soon as I saw the crowd but remembered that the Maple Leafs were also in the same facility today. The photo I had for Markov also included Mike Komisarek. He was one of the first to come out from practice so he signed the photo and added a comment "I'm sure the leafs scored on that one." A funny comment from a traitor..err I mean former Canadien. He also signed a wooden jersey that I happened to have. Nice guy and a total of about 10 minutes work.

Komisarek/Price Duel Signed 8X10 (Missing Markov to complete)

Wooden Canadiens jersey signed by Mike Komisarek.

Classic Pieces In Rival Territory

I make no excuses when it comes to my alliance to the Montreal Canadiens. Naturally with that comes a hate for the Boston Bruins. What is great about this post is these Montreal Collectors dream pieces sit in a den closer to TD Garden then our very own Centre Bell.  I came across John M. on a sports collectors forum, he is a Montreal Canadiens fan who lives near Boston.

"Although I live right next to Boston, I hate all Boston teams. It's just the way I was brought up. When I was in the 7th and 8th grade my brother and I would go for every visiting hockey team that was playing the Bruins. Back in those days they used to let you actually wait inside the hotel as there were only a handful of people getting autographs. I do not go for autographs anymore. Today there are so many people hanging out at the hotel that they actually rope you off just outside the hotel! I don't feel like jostling with 35 autograph hounds for a couple of scribbles." 

John explains about how his allegiance to the Canadians started over 30 years ago and how autograph hounds and some athletes less then stellar signatures have put him in retirement from being an active collector. However, judging by the photos he shared with the rantingrocket.com, John made out quite well. Here is a look at a few of the gems in his collection.

Last Program from the Montreal Forum

In my opinion truly a remarkable piece for any Montreal Canadiens fan.  What I really enjoy about this, is the program itself. It is really a part of Montreal history. This program was the last one ever sold at the Montreal Forum and the art work is simple but also filled with great small detail (Gold names printed all over the program in small writing naming some of the Canadiens legends).  Rarity of course is another part that adds to this piece. Maurice Richard's beautiful autograph is very visible and clear. Joining him on this are notable deceased Montreal legends Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and charismatic goaltender Gump Worsley. John explained how he was able to complete this piece.

"I went to card shows in my area and Boston College used to bring in all these old Canadiens. I was able to get several photos signed by Maurice Richard, Beliveau, and Lafleur which I love I also got all or most of those signature on the old Forum Program at the same show"

Canadiens royalty Richard,Beliveau and Lafleur

 One classic piece followed by another, Arguably the three best forwards to ever grace the Canadiens uniform in a triple signed piece. As explained by John this is a piece he was able to complete at a card show many years ago.

In terms of cover art this has to be one of the best I've seen. Les Canadiens Magazine made this its cover in the 1990-1991 season. Out of everything that I have seen from John's collection this would be the piece I have enjoyed the most.

Les Canadiens Magazine

This cover was autographed by Patrick Roy, Serge Savard, Jean Beliveau, Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer, Larry Robinson and of course Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. The list of athletes on this project are outstanding and the consistency of using a blue pen for all the autographs really makes this a piece most Canadiens collectors envy. Having the same colored pen for projects is important but John explained that many of his autographs were done in person which makes it difficult to maintain a theme. As a collector I can appreciate the effort and difficulty in completing a piece of this quality.

1994 Beckett Cover of members of the "Fifty in Fifty" Club

NHL Royalty (B.Hull,M.Lemieux,W.Gretzky,B.Orr,G.Howe)

After a mainly Canadiens theme post I could not help but also showcase two pieces from John's collection that included the best players to have ever played hockey. Also with these two last pieces an interesting story from a long time collector about "The Great One' Wayne Gretzky.

"I was also there for Gretzky's rookie year. He was always very nice. He had a totally different autograph back then. I was able to get him on his Topps rookie card and it is one of my most favorite items. Later in his career even though there were tons of autograph hounds waiting for him, he used to put his bags on the bus and then would come down to the bottom step of the bus and would start signing for everyone. For a huge star he always treated his fans right."

A Great little story about one of the most recognizable names in sports. In an era where "Ebay autograph hounds" have ruined the chance for collectors to meet their heroes. Guys like Wayne Gretzky still makes time to please fans.

Overall I was extremely pleased that John was nice enough to share pieces of his collection with me and hope those who see this enjoy them as much as I did.

Thanks John.

The most expensive part of sports collecting....

As a avid sports collector my collection has grown to a tremendous size. A big part of having a nice collection is the display of you're pieces. I have been looking for a company who does good work for a long time and I do believe I have found them. Now getting something pro frame adds a great deal to a nice piece. I decided to try out this store with two of my favorite pieces. My duel signed Lafleur & Lapointe all star game photo as well as the team signed photo I spoke about it my "Festifan" post. The outcome was excellent, professional framing that will now be part of my collection forever.

Montreal Canadiens Team Signed Photo From Festifan.

Duel Signed Lafleur/Lapointe with Dryden.

As I mentioned in some of my results, the pieces I really love I send out to my frame guy right away. He really does great work and the turn around time is very quick. For the most part I bring my item there and leave it up to them on how things will be framed. The outcome is always great, take a look for yourselves.

Jean Beliveau frame from my "Class Act" post 

Dickie Moore & Gordie Howe frame

This truly has to be one of my favorites pieces to date. Dickie Moore was really kind of an unsung hero compared to some of the Canadiens legends of his time. As you may recall from my first post at the rantingrocket.com was of Dickie Moore. The Gordie Howe autograph was really a bonus, Ive never done a private signing since Ive started collecting but had to jump on the chance to complete this piece. It was more then I like to spend for autographs but well worth it. They both inscribed the photo with the years they won the Art Ross trophy (As the NHL scoring champion) as well as the year they were admitted into the hockey hall of fame.

Carey Price frame as mentioned in the "Carey Price 1st shutout" post

Not much more to say on this piece like I mentioned in my previous post I got this and brought it the day of to my framer to complete the piece.

Paul Henderson Jersey Tour

Let me start off by saying I should have a rule. Never ask for an autograph from a Toronto Maple Leaf! I went to the Henderson Jersey Tour in Montreal with hopes of getting the famous 72 summit series goal signed by Tretiak, Henderson and Cournoyer (all of which attended the event in Montreal). Right from the start the event set up was quite strange. I arrived about 30 minutes before the players were scheduled to arrive. There was a large crowd outside waiting in line, I asked one of the show handlers if they were waiting for the autograph session. The handler replied "Well their isn't an autograph session and no one here knows why these people are waiting outside." I went inside the venue and spoke to the manger who confirmed that there will be no autograph session but getting an autograph is possible if the players are willing.

By the time the players arrived the venue was filled beyond capacity, picture your living room with 500 people in it. Paul Henderson was the first to arrive and addressed the crowd by saying "I have not signed an autograph on this tour and I will not start today". Photo's with the players was the only thing that could be done. The irony here is everyone in the crowd wanted an autograph which would have been easier then taking photos as the place was beyond packed.

Photo of the crowd.

Lucky for me and most who came out for this event Cournoyer and Tretiak did sign for the fans.  After the way Henderson addressed the crowd I was no longer interested in his autograph (I heard he did end up signing for a few). Tretiak being one of my favorites I really wanted him on a Montreal Canadiens puck as he was drafted by Montreal but never made it over due to the issue with the USSR at the time. Yvan Cournoyer also was nice enough to sign a Montreal Forum project I started (which I posted in a previous post).

Here are the results from the event.

Tretiak signed puck.

Updated:Montreal Forum Project (Lafleur,Cournoyer,H.Richard)

To recap I never thought I'd want a auto from a leaf but made an exception for Henderson due to the Summit Series but this confirms it. Never again lol!

Carey Price 1st Shutout + P.K Subban Rookie Cards

Today I got a chance to go to the Canadiens practice facility to try and get Carey Price on the photo bellow. I have the ticket stub from Carey's 1st NHL shutout and wanted it framed with a photo. Waited about 15 minutes or so and Carey Price came out after practice and had no problem signing this for me and even included the "1st NHL shutout" inscription to the photo. Once I got it done I went straight to the framers to complete the piece.

Other players come out as well and felt it would be rude to send them off without wanting their auto so I also got this done.

On Photo-Rene Bourque,PK Subban,Chris Campoli,Erik Cole,Raph Diaz,Andreas Enqvist,Mike Blunden,Yan Weber,Alex Emelin,Josh Gorges

A week after my encounter with Carey Price I got to get PK Subann Rookie Cards autographed. I don't usually do cards, this was a first. Given the size of my collection I have decided to downsize. The facility was surprisingly packed today about 50+ people waiting after practice. When I see a crowd of this size I usually leave but PK came out as I got there. Luckily my girlfriend was able to obtain these for me (She's much better looking then me which has helped my collection a lot). I didn't try for anyone else as the place was a zoo.

As a bonus while organizing some stuff in my house I found some old ticket stubs from the Canadiens Stanley Cup playoffs of 09-10. I thought the tickets had a pretty original design I thought you guys might want to take a look. Sadly none of these games where attended by me. A friend was nice enough to keep the stubs for me. For the most part I use old stubs as bookmarks and things of that sort but given the history behind these ones I guess I'll just keep them stored away.

Mike Cammalleri Event

By far the more interesting interactions with an athlete. I only heard of this sighing a day before it happened. I began on the hunt for a variant Mike Cammalleri mcfarlane. I was lucky enough to find a fan from terrbonne who was willing to overnight it to me. I got the mcfarlane about 2 hours before the event. Once I got there Mr. Cammalleri he jokingly told me after I requested for him to sign with a blue sharpie "Blue sharpie? straight to ebay!". Funny to say the least I manged to tell him I have a website but I dont sell my stuff. I'll try and tweet the proof to him lol. In anycase here are the results from the event.

White Mike Cammalleri Mcfarlane (On the left) obtained at the signing!

Hockey news magazine already framed on my wall from the event!

Flea Market Finds

Over the weekend my girlfriend and I decided to head over to a flea market. Now for those who know me know how much my girlfriend dislikes "dirty" places. Well my friends, this was the mecca of "dirty" places.  Are outing to said flea market started earlier in the week when my girlfriend spotted a full sized Patrick Roy cardboard cutout at a garage sale near our home.  I did a little research and confirmed this cutout was a promotional item for Provigo in 1994. To be honest as a kid I always wanted one of these cutouts so I bought it. I'm not sure what I will do with it as it is quite large. However as we speak full size Patrick Roy stands in my office.

1994 Promotional Patrick Roy From Provigo Grocery Stores

After Purchasing this fine item from the man at his garage sale he mentions these cutouts go for 100+ at flea markets (which I took with a rather large grain of salt). However I do like to go places to find vintage sports items so I convinced my girlfriend that this would be something to do on a Sunday afternoon.


After overcoming the initial shock of the smells and characters found in this place, the whole day ended up rather fruitful. Initially I purchased a few novelty items which I always get a kick out of. First up a Pete Rose expos glass circa 1980's and a Albert Pujols Jack-In-The-Box that plays "take me out to the ball game".

Albert Pujols Jack-In-The-Box

1984 Provigo "Pete Rose" (Montreal Expos) Promotional Glass

 

After that, I found the first real gem of the day. In 1996 when the Montreal Canadiens closed the Forum they gave a framed poster to season ticket holders of all the ticket stubs for that year which included head shots of some of most influential members in team history.  In 2006 www.classicauctions.com had this frame at a starting bid of 200$, which is quite some ways from the 10$ I paid at the flea market. Notice the same gold frame in the auction photo as the one I purchased (link below).

 http://www.classicauctions.net/Default.aspx?tabid=263&auctionid=34&lotid=242

1995-96 Montreal Forum Framed Ticket Poster

The other gem(s) I was able to find were 1945-1954 Quaker Oates 8x10 vintage posters from the likes of Montreal Canadiens legends Maurice Richard, Butch Bouchard and Boom Boom Geoffrion. I purchased all three photos for 15$ and the Maurice Richard photo alone is currently posted on ebay anywhere between 100$ and 300$ dollars! A great find which I plan on framing individually with signed pucks I have of all three players.

Quaker Oates 1945-1954 Vintage Posters.

P.K Subban at Best Buy /Louis Leblanc / Canadiens Rookies

Still working on the piece for later today but I thought I would share these results. I found out last minute that PK Subban would be doing an autograph session at a local best buy. Naturally I was there as I never turn down free stuff (might make that the blogs moto...stay tuned!). Great guy in person for the Price photo he made sure to let me know he was leaving room for "carey aka price is right" in his own words.

To Recap: 2 11x14's, 1 Chase Mcfarlane, 1Mini Helmet.

Also last month I was able to catch both the Canadiens Rookie camp and the Canadiens Draft class camp. The day I attended the rookie camp was rather slow only really doing skating drills therefore not greatly stimualting for on lookers such as myself. However both outings were good for autographs.
In total I was able to obtain autographs from Louis Leblanc, Morgan Ellis, Michael Bournival, Nathan Beaulieu, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk and Sebastian Collberg. Here is a picture of most of the things I was able to obtain at the camps.

Louis leblanc 4 Rookie Cards and Bournival Mini Jersey (pucks same as below)

Pucks Signed at camps (Left to right).  (Top Row)Duel signed Galchenyuk Collberg Puck, Galchenyuk signed puck with "3rd Overall" inscription (Bottom Row) Morgan Ellis Puck, Nathan Beaulieu puck and Brendan Gallagher puck.

 

Also later in the month I was out with my girlfriend helping her pick things up she needed for her business (www.salonhills.com). In exchange she agreed to try and get Louis Leblanc with me after the Canadiens practice (it was on our way which made it easier to convince her). Well the whole exchange may have taken 5 minutes. We arrived as the players were getting on the bus for their road trip. Louis was the first one out and signed for us. Didn't stick around for anyone else. Here are the photo results.

8X10 & Official Game Puck