Auction Action, Hockey Edition

Classic Auctions has a ton of great hockey-related stuff up for bidding at the moment. Let’s take a little look, a little see, shall we?

• Here’s something you don’t often see: CNOB — country name on back. Totally digging that block-shadowed font, too, especially on the “4.” (For this and all other auction listings in today’s entry, click on the larger image to get a close-up.)

• Here’s a real treasure: a wrapper from a loaf of Rocket Richard bread. C’est magnifique!

• Speaking of the Habs, you’ve gotta love this Canadiens jacket, especially all the striped trim. Also, note that the vendor was Moose Sporting Goods. Only in Canada, kids.

• Still more Habs goodies: a completely over-the-top Canadiens flannel shirt. Seems more suitable to be worn as pajamas, frankly, but still very cool.

• Very odd “W” on this otherwise spectacular Red Wings cardigan.

• Here’s something you rarely see: a WHA red-striped zebra jersey.

• Another WHA rarity: a Michigan Stags gamer. There’s something endearingly sweet and simple about that crest.

• One more seldom-seen WHA item: a 1976 All-Star jersey.

• I’ve never seen a jersey quite like this Salt Lake Golden Eagles design. In addition to the unusual hemline trim, look at how the vertical striping integrated throughout the entire uniform. Did any other teams ever go with this style?

• Anything involving the Kansas City Scouts looks cool, including this equipment bag.

• Start with a Hudson Bay blanket coat, add the best hockey team name ever, toss in an absolutely killer sleeve patch, and you have this fantastic Trail Smoke Eaters jacket.

• Speaking of killer patches, dig this wonderful Canucks cardigan.

• I’ll be honest with you: Bobbleheads tend to bore me (well, except for the ones Robert Marshall makes). But I gladly make room on the shelf for these beauties.

My thanks to auction-aware Mike Hersh for steering me toward most of these.

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Collector’s Corner, by Brinke Guthrie

Good mix of baseball, football, and hockey items this time around. Basketball? Maybe next time!

• Great basketball jersey submission from Geoffrey Waterman.

• Let’s talk some hockey, eh, with this old Maple Leafs LP. Still sealed!

• A Babe Ruth/Santa Claus bank? Sure, why not.

• Babe and Santa aren’t your thing? Then maybe this Otto Graham bank will do the trick.

• Here’s a tremendous arcade-style mechanical baseball toy from 1928. What, no Barry Bonds version?

• Boost for the Reds! I think that means “cheer” for them. Or something.

• Here’s a really interesting one: Lowe and Campbell was an old sporting goods company, and this was apparently one of their promotional jerseys. What a logo!

• And we close out this installment with a great find by reader Rob McGill: a Twins tryout jersey with a unique uniform number.

Seen something on eBay that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Check out Fred Lynn making like Brooksie — well, sort of (nice find by Andy Woolley). ”¦ Check out the lining on Clippers announcer Michael Smith’s jacket (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). ”¦ We’ve seen plenty of high schools that rip off pro and college teams for their logos, but how about ripping off Warner Brothers? (Good spot by Brett Crane.) ”¦ Very disappointing news out of Braves camp, where Chipper Jones has decided to go low-cuffed after all (blame Andy Bronson). ”¦ Always good to see Tommy Lasorda squeezing into a uniform — and wearing stirrups! (Big thanks to Rob Montenegro.) ”¦ Tottenham has become the first EPL team to be outfitted by Under Armour (with thanks to Kenny Loo). ”¦ This is almost too delicious: Fitty Cent as a college football player. ”¦ Matt Harris has been tracking which headband color Carmelo Anthony has been wearing with which uni combo. Feb. 23: blue throwbacks, orange headband; Feb. 25: road blues, black headband; Feb. 27: ditto; March 1: ditto; March 2: blue throwbacks, blue headband; March 4: home whites, blue headband; March 6: road blues, black headband; March 7: home whites, white headband. So he’s been consistent with the road blues but inconsistent with the throwbacks and home uni. ”¦ Hey, look what promotion the Giants are running on July 9. All you Bay Area readers should plan a Uni Watch ballpark outing for that game. ”¦ Following up on yesterday’s mention of Otis Shepard’s program covers for the Cubs, Paul Kosman notes that Cubs programs used essentially the same Shepard-based back-cover design for at least 23 years (“and maybe longer,” says Paul, “because I don’t know the first year that template was used”). Then they used another template for the next 10 years after that. “The scorecards were totally changed — and, in my opinion, ruined — when the Tribune took over,” says Paul. ”¦ Is that a left-handed catcher’s mitt? “Looks like it,” says Mike Hersh. ”¦ Tyler Kepner sent an interesting report from Mariners camp: “I noticed Felix Hernandez had an ‘El Heat’ jersey in his locker. I’ve always thought they should use the Spanish word for the team name — like, wouldn’t it be cool to see ‘Calor’ in the Heat typeface on the jersey? Alas, when I suggested this to Felix, he said, ‘No, I like El Heat.’ Sigh.” ”¦ Here’s a first: Oregon baseball is honoring its coach by putting a little portrait of him on the bottom of their cleats (with thanks to Matt Shevin). ”¦ Several Cal players wore stirrups and gold sannies yesterday. “All-Pac-10 catcher Chadd Krist opted not to go with the ’rups because he didn’t know proper blousing techniques and they bunched up at his knees,” says Ryan Gorcey. “So afterwards, I educated him on proper stirrup etiquette. He said, “l like the way they look, man. We looked like ballplayers out there.'” ”¦ Here’s a video clip of Mitchell & Ness honch Peter Capolino describing 20 different Phillies jersey designs (with thanks to Tom Rowan Jr.).