Martin Brodeur =$$$$$$$$$$

Anyone who knows me, knows my favorite sports star is Martin Brodeur. I have been a huge fan since his rookie year and the man crush only grew after the '95 season, which saw the Devils capture the first of their 3 Stanley Cup championships. Baseball is my favorite sport, but my favorite athlete is a hockey player. When I returned to card collecting, I decided I was going to start a player collection of Brodeur. As of today,I have 273 diffrent and unique Brodeur cards. I have magazines, pucks, posters (one of which was given to me as an xmas presentof the 2003 Championship team...signed by Brodeur), figures, bobbleheads,Tshirts, a jersey, his book and even had the chance to meet Broduer at the NHL Store here in NYC where he signed a 5x7 for me. Heck, I was even at the game he broke Roy's record for wins all time by a goalie. I called out sick from work, stood in line for hours and was able to get a pair of tickets to the game. Watching Brodeur take the record that St.Patty's Day ranks as my favorite game I've attended. I will be matting the ticket, the autographed 5x7 and the poster given out by the Devils later that season commerating the win in a frame first chance I get.

Collecting Broduer is a tough task. As I mentioned before, I have 273 of Broduer's thousands of cards. Most of them came from participating in box breaks,trades, card show pick ups or gifts from friends and other collectors. About 90% of my collection are base and inserts. I have maybe 10 game used cards and just 3 autographed cards. Maybe it's the fact that he holds every record a goaltender can own or his 3 cups or the fact that he may go down as the best goalie ever (Roy fans will beg to differ, I'm sure). Whatever it is, Brodeur is an expensive player to collect. A search on ebay showed me that while his base cards are still pretty reasonable, his game used cards are creeping up in price. I have seen a lot start at $9.99, 29.99 and even 49.99 for sticks from Between The Pipe. If there is a patch, that's extra. Autographed cards are even more. Most signed Brodeur cards start at 50.00, going up past 100.00. For someone who's on a budget, that's a bit much to spend on cardboard.

I made a decison a while ago that if I was going to have a nice collection, I would forgo the autos and game used stuff unless I was either getting it through a trade or find a steal on one. I have been able to get some gu cards for under 10 bucks dlvd. I also supplement the lack of premium cards by going after the non-card Brodeur collectables, which I plan to display once I have the room. My collection may not be the largest, but I'm pretty proud of it. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

06-07 Hot Prospects Hotagraphs. This is one the few autographs I have of his.

Brodeur's first McFarlane. I had this figure when it was first released, but I managed to lose it. Had to pay 40.00 at a comic con for it. I just need the Team Canada figures, The box sets and the variant to complete the collection.

This is a SGA from 2003. I love the classic pose bobbles and AGP did a great job on this one. Plus, the cage on the mask lifts up.

I love that my collection is a hodgepodge of diffrent things. As much as I drool over the 500.00 patch auto, picking up really cool pieces makes me feel better about thelack of autos in my collection. Who knows? Maybe one day I will be able to afford the stick or jersey he wore in a game. Until then, I'll just admire the awesome collection I have now.