Flyers

Leafs Centennial Hits The 2016 Memorabilia Expo

Nov 11, 2016 • 1:46 pm

Centennial year celebrations spill over into the memorabilia and collectibles world this weekend as the 2016 Fall Expo hits Toronto!

What is already a “must attend… for casual and hardcore collectors alike, this fall’s edition of the Expo has a decidedly Leafs appeal with the 100th anniversary of the team upon us. For those not familiar with the Expo, here is a crash course: take one convention hall, add close to two hundred collectibles and memorabilia dealers from across Canada and the U.S., and offer up a series of top caliber autograph signings over the course of a three day period. Bake at 350 for three hours, basting generously every 20 minutes, and it all comes together to make North America’s largest hockey collectibles show!!!

Now where do the Maple Leafs come into play? Well, how about an expansive range of signings involving players of both the past and present? Take a look at this selection:

Doug Gilmour Wendel Clark Ed Belfour Darryl Sittler Gary Roberts James Van Riemsdyk Morgan Rielly Frederik Andersen Matt Martin Borje Salming Lanny McDonald Dave Williams Johnny Bower Jamie Macoun Mike Palmateer Claire Alexander

Sixteen players across eras there to scribble up your swag! Not a Leafs fan? Why not check out the variety of other players (hockey and otherwise) and celebrities who will be signing, including:

Bobby Hull Tony Espisito Mike Keenan Donnie Marshall Yvon Barrette Ric Flair (WOOOOOO!) Tracy McGrady Mitch Williams And others…

Beyond the signings, how’s about the fact the Leafs have a bumper crop of prospects hitting the ice this year? The payoff for us collectors? A sweet run of new rookie cards! The stalwart of the hockey rookie card, Upper Deck’s Young Gun set, dropped yesterday, November 10th as part of Upper Deck Series One, just in time for the Expo! Now not all Leafs rookies will be available in Series One, with some, notably Mitch Marner, being held for the Series Two release. At the same time, some pretty notable inclusions are there, such as:

Auston Matthews

William Nylander

Zach Hyman

Connor Brown

Nikita Zaitsev (Yeah, so no card, so just imagine him…if you know what he looks like…if not, picture a non-descript Russian hockey player in a Leafs jersey…not that Russians have a look…)

(A nice checklist card also…)

Can’t wait until Series Two for Leafs rookies such as Mitch Marner and Brendan Leipsic? Inserted into Series One packs will be Young Gun Canvas parallels which, while not technically rookie cards, are a sweet consolation for the time being, and a solid hit for the long term collection!

Not a Leafs fan? There are still plenty of huge rookie hits to be had in this set, including Lawson Crouse, Jakob Chychrun, Ivan Provorov, Jimmy Vesey, Jesse Puljujarvi, Matthew Tkachuk, Christian Dvorak and Pavel Zacha! Solid, SOLID prospect hits in here my friends!

Now here’s the other draw: for those of us buying boxes at the Expo, do so at the Upper Deck booth! For each box opened of the Series One (or 16-17 Artifacts) cards you score a redemption pack containing two cards from the following sets:

UD Midnight Parallels – Parallels of the 200 card Series One set short printed to 25

Parkhurst Priority Signings Autographs – A variety of short-printed autographs from Canadian players, or players from Canadian teams

Upper Deck Victory Black Rookies – First 16 rookies from a set that will continue in the 2017 National Hockey Card Day packs

Instant Redemption Cards – Redeemable instantly for a signed and authenticated memorabilia item

So it’s a Leafs overload, in addition to the expected collectibles and memorabilia explosion that comes with the Expo! Hit up the website (sportcardexpo.com) and check it out if you can my friends! See those of you attending Saturday!

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Shawn Gates

shawn.gates@hockeybuzz.com

Follow @ShawnHockeybuzz

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