Hockey Card Stories #1-Firsts

           We've all had our firsts. First car, first house, first goal...and first hockey card. Today I'm going to show you my hockey card firsts. How about you? Post yours in the comments!

FIRST HOCKEY CARD

This title belongs to two cards. A 99-00 Upper Deck Retro Jarome Iginla the Rookie Year-

And an 05-06 Upper Deck Rookie Class Peter Budaj. Not bad. I believe they were given to me by either (or both) of my brothers. Those two cards were the first of many to come.

FIRST PACK

My first pack came way back in elementary school. It was a 07-08 Upper Deck MVP pack and I'm not sure where all of them went. However, these below are the ones that I do remember getting in that first pack.

It was an okay pull, and it also gave birth to my first insert card. It also led to my...

FIRST TRADE

I received this card also in elementary and in exchange, gave the guy... someone on the Hurricanes, I can't quite remember who-from that first pack. It wasn't in good condition, but It looked cool to a newbie like me, so I accepted.

It's an 05-06 Fleer Ultra Ilya Kovalchuk, so chances are, he was better than that Hurricanes player.

FIRST ROOKIE

In another of my earliest packs, a 2009-10 Upper Deck MVP, I got what I think is my first rookie card. I didn't know who he was, but I remember remarking that it would be funny if he was a fighter, because his last name was... well, you'll see.

Of course, now I know that Lovejoy is not a fighter, but he is a tough defenseman. And now he has also gone back to the team he played for on this card.

FIRST AUTOGRAPH

So, in around 2009, I was desperately wanting my first Alex Burrows card. I had a substantial amount of Canucks cards, but not one Alex Burrows. For my birthday that year, someone killed two birds with one stone, and got me a signed Alex Burrows.

And it's not just an insert, it's a hard-signed card too.

FIRST JUMBO CARD

Everyone had a jumbo card or two except me. Then in Christmas 2010, I received a box of 10-11 Upper Deck, and it always came with a Jumbo Card. But this was certainly not a

 lame card.

It's a Derek Stepan Young Guns card, and I still have not opened the package to this day.

FIRST JERSEY CARD

This card, as you have already seen, is my first and only jersey card.

It took trial and toil to obtain. I paid the local card shop a visit, and knew I just had to get this card. However, my debit card did not seem to be working. I kept trying, but it did not work. I left the store in sadness, but halfway through the walk home, remembered that I had changed my pin code! I was typing in my old one! I vowed to come back the next day and get the card once and for all, and the rest is history.

FIRST LEGENDS

It took me a while to get my first Gretzky, Howe, and Orr, but I eventually succeeded in the quest. My first Crosby was given to me by my second-grade lunch monitor. The Brodeur came in a birthday present.

The Howe I got in a dollar store pack, and just before the visit, I mentioned how crazy it'd be to land a Howe. The Gretzky was given to me, along with some other cards, by a school friend, and the Orr I traded for.

So how about you? What were your first cards? Tell me in the comments!