Who ya gonna call?

I haven't been to the movies in a while so a few weekends ago, I went to Ghostbusters with my wife. I really enjoyed it. I love the originals but this one was pretty good. 

Anyway, as you all know I'm a HUGE Gretzky fan. I have a pretty solid collection. I joined a Facebook group that collects all things Gretzky. We have been sharing stories and collections and all sorts of good things. There is o e fellow who joined that has massed an unbelievable collection. He has things that were never even made available for public sale. He is a egotistical self centered asshole but he has a ton of knowledge. Well we have been showing off what each of us has. My collection is smaller but I have some way cooler items! It's interesting when we all talk and show what we have, some guys only like Oilers things, some only collect cards, posters etc. So I thought to myself, do I have a preference? I don't think so, I'll collect all teams and eras but I love the look of the Kings jerseys so maybe I prefer Kings items? Idk but they do look sharp! One of our discussions was about standees or cut outs (life size display pieces) and I have always wanted an LA Kings Coca Cola standee. Don't know why, just like the look of it. Well, I went on kijiji and found 2!!! In Wpg!!!! My good buddy said he'd pick it up for me if I wanted it. I said yuuup. He tells me today that it's in mint shape and is still in its original packaging!!!! It was not expensive at all. I can't wait to get it! That's a big item I can scratch off the want list. The next thing I'm working on are 3 posters. All Kings related. That's gonna take a little longer to get. 

Onto the jersey front. I love game worm jerseys. They look so beaten up and rough the more the merrier! Last post I had said the 14/15 WK jerseys were coming... And the did! As mentioned I know own Ivan Provorov's rookie sweater with the 15 Mem Cup patch on it!!!! Some excellent wear and repairs. I was even able to photo match the huge rip and puck marks. This is a gorgeous jersey! I was told the 15/16 jerseys would land this fall so I have my sights on a Patrick one. Fingers crossed!!!! 

Enjoy the evening folks, happy collecting!

Atrain

I suck at this

Hello again,

I'm terrible at blogging. I really don't do it enough. I was reading my last few posts and they're from a while ago. Good thing no one reads this and wants to see weekly updates or something!

What's new in the collecting world of the ATrain? I'll tell ya!.....not much! That's sad isn't it? I want to add new pieces to my collection all the time but that's not as easy as it sounds. When I began collecting 16 years ago I really had nothing to worry about. I was a teenager living at home and only had to pay for my gas, my car and that was it! Back then a cell phone was actually a phone. And text messaging wasn't a thing yet. It was glorious. Fast forward 16 years I'm a father to two womderful amazing kids, my wife and I own a house and we pay a car payment. So collecting has taken a back seat, as it should.

I wouldn't trade being a dad for anything in the world. I do sometimes miss the no worries or stress of owning a home but it's ours and we own it! And I love it!

Alright let's get right to it. What's new in the collection you ask? I will gladly tell you! Last time I blogged, I had just gotten a Pink the Rink, a 3rd BWK from 03 and 2 vintage Canucks jerseys. Not a lot of action in the jersey dept. I did pick up a Meilleur black BWK jersey from the team store. Decent proce too! Side bar, the Wheat Kings jerseys are one of the most expensive to buy in Canada. It's crazy! The Kamloops Blazers start theirs at $75 while the Wheaties are min $350! Max I've seen is $1500. Those are players like Schenn, Provorov, Patrick etc. Back to the jerseys, that's the only one I've picked up lately. However, they will be releasing the 14/15 Gamers next week hopefully and when that happens, I will own Provorov's rookie jersey. Yes I'm buying it. I've been saving up for it since January. I can't wait! Of course the 15/16 jerseys will come out in the fall. I'm planning on getting the Patrick and hopefully it has the Red Deer Mem Cup patch. Speaking of which, I made a friend who collects Wheaties things like me. He went to the Mem Cup and hooked me up with some awesome merch. Just this past week I won a game used Hawrykuk auto stick. It was an auction bid at Relay for Life, an event put on by the Canadian Cancer Society. That's about it since my last post.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. Canada is one week away so everyone please be socially responsible and enjoy the weekend.

Atrain

Just one more....I swear.....ok.....maybe two...def no more then 4.

I've recently added 3 jerseys to the game worn collection. I hadn't planned on it but I did. Actually I guess it's 4 jerseys. They are: Wheat Kings Thomson Pink the Rink. Wheat Kings Moore 3rd from 01-03. Last and certainly not lest, 2 x 89/90 Canucks jerseys. Home and away both with 20th Anniversary patch. No name bars, #57. I'm thinking it was a pre season or call up player cause they seem to have little wear. I got the pair for a really good deal and I had told the wife I was done buying for a while....but I have a problem,  a jersey buying problem ha. But I swear that this is it. There are 2 exceptions she agreed on and that's it. I can't wait to get them. Hopefully thy get here this week. It's awesome when you can stroke two jerseys off your list of most wanteds. I am still debating wether or not to put name bars on them. I have not been able to attribute these jerseys to any player which is why I assume they were called up or pre season. I'll mull that one over for a while. Now, I have always wanted skate logo jerseys and now I have them. I still want to own a game used Bure jersey. Preferably a Canucks jersey but I would take a Rangers or Panthers one as well. Hell a Russia jersey would be sweet too!

Thanks for reading, have a great week!

Stick....ice..keep it there.

Atrain

Late night post

It's about 3:30 am and I'm wide awake and have been so for about 2 hours. Why not post??!!

Pink the Rink was a huge success. Over $28,000 was raised for the Cancer Socirty! The game itself was awesome as Brandon won 8-3. The auctions were great too. It was fun to be on the other side of the table and watch the bidders get into a war for the jerseys. Lots of fun!

I was talking with the "wife" I say "wife" cause we aren't married yet but we are a common-law couple so she's the wife. Actually we did recently set a date for our wedding which will happen in 2017. Unless I acquire more jerseys then maybe not ha ha ha. We were talking the other day and she said to me, why do you collect things? Idk I said, I just do. Then I wondered, why do I collect the things I do? Is it genetics? My dad collects well let me rephrase that, hoards things that he calls a collection. Maybe that's where it started? To be fair he isn't a hoarder like you see on tv but he doesn't like to get rid of things and he collects a bunch of stuff. Toys, advertising items, antiques, money etc. If you've ever seen the show American or Canadian Puckers, that's the kind of stuff he likes to collect. So maybe it started there. I really don't know why I collect I just do. It makes me happy and is a hobby that greatly interests me. It's a fun hobby albeit an expensive one but fun for sure!

That's it for now, have a good night all!

Atrain

Pink...is my obsession !

Welcome back!

So as I mentioned last post, the Wheat Kings are having their Pink the Rink night on Friday Feb 19th.  The Canadian Cancer society, westman chapter, sells pink the rink shirts and raffle tickets to help raise aweness and money for cancer society. Of course the big draw are the special Pink the Rink jerseys the players wear that night. They do a live silent auction from the start of the game and closes the end of the second intermission. Now, the cool thing is these auctions and shirts along with raffles raise around $30K. All for a great cause.

So the auctions get....interesting ha. The first year they did this was 2014. First time the BWK ever did a specialty jersey night. Of course the game worn guys like myself were excited! A one time jersey cool! Now I did bid a little but my cap was low and these got over that fast. So didn't put much more thought into it. Then last years pink the rink happened. I was now bound and determined to get a jersey. This is where it gets entertaining....

So, I tried the on air radio auctions got outbid both times. Then at the game I bid on one and it went high real fast. So I waited around at the table and decided that I would get any jersey didn't matter the player. Now they said the auction is over at puck drop to start the 3rd. Well some people don't understand that. The big problem is people rely on the time clock. Well it doesn't always count down to zero. In fact they stop it at 1 min or so. Now some bidders thought they were cheated out of a jersey. I snagged mine at the last second and royaly pissed off the older lady who had it won. I waited until they started grabbing sheets and wrote on it. Anyway I walked over to the pay table and squared up. Well there was a guy there who was cussing out the ladies that he was cheated and blah blah blah this is fixed. He carried on for about 2 mins and finally one of the WK people,had to tell him he lost sorry get over it. Well you can imagine how well that went off!

So a few weeks later the jerseys were ready to be picked up. I went to get mine and the lady in charge told me that there was a lot of angry emails and phone calls afterwards regarding the jerseys and auction. Hate mail to the cancer society. Can you believe that?

I ended up befriending the lady and she's a great person. I actually volunteered for the first time ever last sept for a CCS road hockey tournament. It was fantastic.

Well Feb rolls up and she sends me a msg. Hey Pink the Rink is Feb 19th. You wanna help out? Of course I say yes! I wanna be on the other side of the table when the sh^t hits the fan. I told myself and my wife, no matter how cool they look, I'm not gonna bid. Ha well... They realeased a picture of the jerseys....yup they look freaking awesome! So now I'm like hmm... Well I'll bid once and that's it. So the first love on air auction starts and I said to her, put a bid of $600 on it start this auction out properly! I of course, assumed I would be outbid no problem. Well guess what.... Nope! So I won the auction. Cool....now how do I pay for this... Oh man. I couldn't believe no one else wanted it. So it's going to be a fun night watching the shenanigans on Friday.

Well that's it for me. Have a good Loius Riel day !

As always, keep that stick on the ice!

Atrain

New year new jerseys! You bet!

Hello! Once again it's been a couple months since my last post. I apologize. As you read last time, my wife was due any day and that day happened shortly after that. We had beautiful girl born Mid Nov! There were some complications which forced her to have an extended hospital stay but, all is good now and we haven't looked back!

So as you are well aware, I collect Gretzky jerseys. I also collect other WG memorabilia but jerseys are my main focus. My other focus is Game Worn Wheat Kings jerseys. Well I was on FB and thanks to the power and wonder of social media, I found a page that was dedicated to game worn jerseys. I also found several other pages dedicated to teams and leagues from all over. A whole game worn community! This is great I thought! Then it hit me.... I've been collecting before FB was invented, and after all this time why would I not think to look online? I think of the jerseys that I could've had or ones that I might have sold ......oh man.

I happened to become friends with a few other guys who like BWK jerseys. The Jets and Canucks. Most of these other collectors like to trade rather than sell or buy but if the price is right, cash is king! I ended up adding 5 jerseys off those pages! If I had tons of cash I could prob add about 40 more but two kids and a house and all that responsible adult stuff happens to be more important. I also added 6 others thanks to folks on theses forums that led me in the right direction. It's amazing what fellow collectors will do for you. Of course you get guys wanting to trade or buy and vice versa, but I just don't wanna sell right now.

So Pink the Rink night is coming up for the BWK and they wear special jerseys for the game that are auctioned off. That gets INTENSE....like really intense. I'll tell the story next post!

For now, good night!

Keep that stick on the ice.

Oh and it was the Great One's Bday on the 26th Happy B Day Wayne!

Atrain

Back in Black!

I love AC/DC. They recently toured North America and I got to seethed for the second time. Awesome show. Anyway, it's been a couple months since my last blog and I figured it's about time to post another!

Not too much had been going on in the jersey front as far as Gretzky jerseys go, I'm content. I just finished watching a couple sweet double tagged autos go on Classic Auctions and they only went for $400 USD however, once you convert it to CDN after tax, buyers premium, shipping and other fees it's closer $800. Not that it's a bad price but it's enough. I wanted the white Liberty and it was very tempting to bid on but with baby two's arrival imminent, I thought it was best to not buy anything right now.

Of course that all changed once I seen the BWK military jerseys that were being auctioned off on Nov 11th with proceeds going to the United Way. These ones are awesome! The camouflage look and the Wheat Kings logos make it look awesome. They used wheat stocks for the yellow trim and it just pops! I wasn't going to bid on one as I had gotten one the previous season but these ones looked so cool I had to get it! Of course the wife wasn't too happy but she got into it with me and I almost ended up with two jerseys that game! I ended up selling one of my newest BWK game worn jerseys I had recently acquired and the funds from that allowed me to get the military jersey.

I ended up making another friend who collects the same as me, Game Worn Brandon Wheat Kings jerseys. He is trying to do the same thing as me, get a jersey style fork. Each year they played. So far I've been successful. I got a home and away and a third from each style dating back to the early 90's. I even got the two retro jerseys they have used. One from 06-09 and the other that started in 2012 to current. It's prob my favourite one. He and I have talked and I sold him two jerseys so far. I asked for what I paid for them and he had no issues paying that. He's a guy who gets it. I would gladly sell him some more but I don't have any more to sell because I buy to keep!

Well thanks for reading and be sure to keep the stick on the ice!

Atrain