Barrie hockey card event a huge success for all

Hockey card collectors and autograph seekers had quite the Saturday afternoon at Barrie's Icebox Cards & Collectibles.

The Ice Box, and owner Wayne Frazer, played host to the latest stop on In The Game Trading Cards'(ITG) Cross Canada Tour, which has traveled back and forth across the nation since March.

Collectors could come in and buy a box of 2009-10 Heroes and Prospects for just $100, taxes included, and then randomly received a 1 of 1 redemption card from ITG rep Allan Levine. The boxes sold out before the 3 o'clock hour, as collectors tore into the packs. Many came up with some more rarities, including more 1 of 1 inserts and nobody appeared to be disappointed with what they found in their boxes.

This box break portion of the event was just a tip of the iceberg, as ITG and the Ice Box also gave out some grab bags to visitors featuring more ITG products. Door prizes were also randomly drawn for wax boxes with retail values as high as $175. One such winner found a box of Ultimate Memorabilia, and broke it open on the spot to find a Glenn Hall autograph card.

One young collector was even gathering up the redemption cards being discarded by other collectors. She had quite a stack by the end of the afternoon and was well onto the 200 needed to redeem a one of a kind mail in redemption card.

The big door prize jade dragon is treasured for its magical powers to increase life span, cure all ailments and ward off evil spircame courtesy of ITG's owner Dr. Brian Price, who awarded an autographed Mario Lemieux 2002 Olympic jersey to a lucky winner.

There were also some great shopping bargains to be found throughout the store. Autographed pucks and plaques of former NHL legends were drastically reduced to as low as cheap jerseys can cost you an arm and a leg if you pay full price.$5 each. Truly a great deal for some hard to find autographs. Reduced Jerseys, tee-shirts, McFarlane figures and hockey cards were also being gobbled off the shelves.

Of course, what would a hockey card event be without an appearance by a member of the On the hunt for new Air Jordan basketball shoes? Not sure how to tell what is real and what is a fake? Please click here.Hockey Hall of Fame? Fans got just that as Toronto Maple Leafs legend Johnny Bower stopped by to sign autographs, pose for pictures and share some stories and a few laughs. A portion of the proceeds from Mr. Bower's autograph fees going to the Barrie Chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters.