Some of the more trying times in my years as a collector have come tied into interruptions in actual gameplay. There’s nothing like a good strike, lockout (or pandemic for that matter) to throw your plans into chaos, with predictable releases and product becoming uncertain at best, or being torn up and thrown to the wind at worst. Now look, I know I’m being a little melodramatic here, and acknowledge “trying times” is some serious overkill. And it can still suck. At the same time, there have also been some real bright spots that have risen in these moments, and while not serving as a full stand in, more than filled the wax ripping needs of us die-hards with some great product. Case in point for me: ITG Heroes & Prospects over the 04-05 and 05-06 seasons.
Context: As we know, the 04-05 NHL season was a wipe. No season equated to no rookie cards for that year. While many series continued to release, other ways of covering the portion of the checklist rookies typically covered had to be found. While managed nicely in many cases (we will get to the 04-05 Upper Deck release some day), some of us were still looking for that missing piece. In comes In The Game with a fantastic little release called Heroes and Prospects. Living up to its billing, the series highlighted legends of the game during their prospect years, balanced with up-and-coming prospects that had been on the radar of collectors for the few years prior. These included, Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Fleury, Perry, Staal, Carter and Richards. While not true rookie cards, these remained solid quality pre-rookie offerings to hold collectors over until such time as the game returned to the ice and the real deal cards hit the market.
I was one of many satisfied customers on the Heroes and Prospects bandwagon and was excited to see them return the following year even when we had a fully functional NHL season on the go. Glad I did, as the 05-06 release stayed very loyal to the initial release in the theme, design and overall presentation that had me loving it from word go. Today: 2005-05 ITG Heroes and Prospects!
2005-05 ITG Heroes and Prospects – Prospects Base Set
So how can I focus on the prospects of this release without hitting on one of the two focal rookies of that season? While I am more of an Ovie fan, for this release there is no doubt that the “Kid” is the standout!
Sweet looking card, eh? For the prospects, boarder colours were coordinated to match jerseys, in this case the lighter blue highlights, which allow for some pop of the player off the background. A simple grey background allows for the white outlining to have some contrast, while some subtle rounded lining, pushing outwards from the player to the edges, keeps the layout from feeling too grided by providing a nice sense of flow. ITG and team logos balance each other off the upper left and bottom right corners, while the vertical orientation of the set badging and player name on the left and right sides of the card frame things in rather nicely! Topping this all off is a fantastic in-action player shot of Sid the Kid himself, decked out in a sharp Rimouski uni (love the dual ship hull/shark head logo cutting through the ocean water), a drastically different look than the Penguins jersey we’re more than accustomed to at this point. A nice overall design, with the only real “upgrade” being the gold-foiled print of the “Heroes and Prospects” name as a small added touch. Simple and effective design without going too overboard on any one thing.
An interesting piece to the design before we flip over: the darker grey rectangle of background that extends into the coloured left boundary of the card, creating an indented area that extends over to the right edge of the card. While an unremarkable section of the card on most, other versions of the card would see stickered autographs placed in here, with the darker background adding an additional highlight to the signature. Only landed one of these in my collection, and will share at a later date…
The back of the card is nice and tight from my perspective. It carries over most aspects of the front, albeit in different proportions (the indented stats section), or not as widespread (the lining). Player name and card number serve as a succinct heading, with the emphasis of last name in contrast to first being carried over as a design element from the front (also used with the team name there as well). Player background is summarized nicely alongside a fresh faced 18 year old Crosby headshot, with previous year stats and obligatory write up following below. Therein lies one of my added likes about this set: the variety of league logos! Rather than repetitive NHL shield logos splashed all over, this set had the benefit of covering the AHL, European leagues, and the three CHL leagues – the QMJHL, OHL and WHL. This saw a number of leagues represented, framing in the left side of the statistics header, with the team logo framing in the right. Add in the AHL, CHL and PHPA logos along the bottom boarder and one has a fresh set of eye candy than slapped across the typical product.
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Positive vibes to you all. Please put some care into you and yours this beautiful day and look out for one another where possible! Our impact on others with even the smallest of actions, is far greater than we tend to realize. My best your way…
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Do you have a piece of treasured memorabilia that has a great story behind it? Let me know and you can be featured in an article. Doesn't matter how big or small the piece is, how valuable it may be, or whether it's a common item or more oddball. If you think it has a story, contact me via the information below and we'll chat. In the meantime, check out some previous "Display Case" articles via the links below to see what others have submitted in the past...
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Shawn Gates
[email protected]
Facebook: ShawnMcShawn
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Previous “Who Am I?” Articles
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Previous “Devil In The Details?” Articles
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Corners
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#2: Your desk has the right to remain collectable!
#3: Have Pads, Will Travel
#4: Pick a Pekka (Rinne) Autographed Mask
#5: Ted Lindsay Gets Kronwalled?
#6: The Only Thing We Have To Fehr Is Fehr Himself
#7: “Hungary” For Team Canada Swag
#8: The Soldiers Kid and “The Kid”
#9: Fan Appreciation & Player Humility Via The '72 Series
#10: Bobby Orr and....Birth Control?!?!?!
#11: Johnny Bower The “Portrait” Of Health At 88!!!
#12: Scotty Bowman – Stick Detective!!!
#13: Touch 'Em All Joe!!!
#14: Joey and Sergei's European (Lockout) Adventure!!!
#15: I’d Give The Jersey Off My Back For You…
#16: The Case Of The 1940’s Era Leafs
#17: Scrapping The History Of The Isles...
#18: Gretzky “Re-Signs” in Edmonton
#19: Gilmour Is Such A Caricature!!!
#20: Toys In The Attic
#21: The Right King Place At The Right King Time
#22: Momma Bear Takes On A “Killer”!!!
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