A smaller PC you might not have known I had: Trevor Gillies

[30ranfordfan]

I have been terrible over the years for showing off & sharing different things I collect. The scanning is time consuming, and I don't always do it. This isn't the biggest collection in the world, but I thought I'd show it off here, while I still have it (in my ongoing quest to downsize my collection, I've decided to stick it up on eBay, and see if there's much interest. I'm not going to dump it, simply for the sake of it.... but if someone here is interested, drop me a line).

You guys probably all know from many of my other posts, that I'm a huge Edmonton Oilers fan. How did I come to collect an enforcer for the New York Islanders? Particularly one who could be described as "infamous" after only 57 NHL games?

I started collecting his cards long before he made the NHL. Trevor went to high school with me. I won't pretend like we were best friends, or that I knew him well - though I did have a couple of classes with him, and knew him a bit. Good enough friends that if we ran into each other in the years after high school we'd stop and talk for a few minutes, but not good enough to actually be seeking each other out. I have zero interest in debating his merits as an NHL player (he got there, which is an incredible accomplishment) - I will just say this: Off the ice, I have only good things to say about any interactions I ever had with the man. As a teenager & 20-something - he was nothing but a great guy, and I'm sure that's still true today.

So me being a hockey card collector, when a guy I knew ended up with hockey cards - of course I wanted to chase them. I didn't expect he'd ever have anything more than minor league cards... but when he was called up by the Islanders & Panini started making cards of him - that was a pleasant surprise. After he was done in the NHL, he also had a few made in the KHL.


Anyway, here goes:

What do you see here? Here's the list (may not be perfectly in order... list to images... but you'll get the idea):

1999-00 Mississippi Sea Wolves #6 Trevor Gillies
2002-03 Peoria Rivermen #3 Trevor Gillies
2002-03 Peoria Rivermen RBI Sports #160 Trevor Gillies
2003-04 Springfield Falcons Postcards #2 Trevor Gillies
2004-05 Hartford Wolf Pack #4 Trevor Gillies
2005-06 Portland Pirates #24 Trevor Gillies
2006-07 ITG Heroes And Prospects #62 Trevor Gillies
2006-07 ITG Heroes And Prospects Autographs #ATG Trevor Gillies
2007-08 Albany River Rats #12 Trevor Gillies
2009-10 ITG Heroes And Prospects Enforcers #E04 Trevor Gillies
2010-11 Dominion #205 Trevor Gillies RC /199
2010-11 Dominion Gold #205 Trevor Gillies /25
2010-11 Luxury Suite #201 Trevor Gillies RC /899
2010-11 Luxury Suite Gold #201 Trevor Gillies /10
2010-11 Zenith #143 Trevor Gillies RC
2011-12 Donruss Elite Elite Signings #13 Trevor Gillies
2011-12 ITG Enforcers #66 Trevor Gillies/ Sheldon Brookbank BB
2011-12 ITG Enforcers Autographs #ATG Trevor Gillies
2011-12 Score #297 Trevor Gillies
2011-12 Score Black Ice #297 Trevor Gillies
2011-12 Score Glossy #297 Trevor Gillies
2011-12 Score Gold Rush #297 Trevor Gillies
2011-12 Score Signatures #297 Trevor Gillies
2012-13 Sereal KHL #VIT009 Trevor Gillies
2012-13 Sereal KHL Silver #VIT009 Trevor Gillies
2012-13 Sereal KHL Gold #VIT009 Trevor Gillies
2012-13 Sereal KHL Gold Collection Without Borders #WB1001 Trevor Gillies

(That list comes right out of the SCF inventory). There's also those two KHL jersey cards near the end, the KHL sticker, and a custom card I picked up along the way... shows him in a preseason game with the Hurricanes. There's also an Elmira Jackels team-issued card of his brother Nathan snuck in there.

What else do I have? How about these:

Yup, complete runs of printing plates from both Zenith & Dominion!

Lastly, I have a Portland Pirates Bobblehead. This was made well after his time in Portland. They ran a fan vote for what ex-Pirates they wanted to see have Bobbleheads, and Gillies was one of the three selected. Fans love the enforcers!

Is this a "complete" collection? Not quite. Here's what it's missing:

1998-99 Oshawa Generals (I've never seen a copy. It's some kind of team issued card)
2006-07 ITG Heroes and Prospects Toronto Spring Expo #62 Trevor Gillies (Show Stamped card, #ed to 10)
For that matter, ITG Vault versions of either of his Auto'd cards COULD exist, but I've never seen one.

A pair of 1/1 Black parallels:
2010-11 Dominion Black #205 Trevor Gillies 1/1
2010-11 Luxury Suite Black #201 Trevor Gillies 1/1

And finally, these ones from Zenith - though I don't believe they were ever produced (they'd be the 5x7 cards, with another card hidden inside them):
2010-11 Zenith SP Rookies DTT #143 Trevor Gillies Autograph
2010-11 Zenith SP Rookies Gold DTT #143 Trevor Gillies Autograph
2010-11 Zenith SP Rookies Black DTT #143 Trevor Gillies 1/1

He's also got a run of "Lettermen" type cards from Sereal (KHL cards). I've seen a couple of them on eBay over the years, but always for a lot more money that I'm willing to spend.

 

[steveottfan]

Very cool collection. I always thought it was interesting that he went so many years between his NHL debut with the Ducks and Rookie card with the Islanders being released. Not many, if any other, modern guys who had their rookie card year skipped like that.

 

[30ranfordfan]

Very cool collection. I always thought it was interesting that he went so many years between his NHL debut with the Ducks and Rookie card with the Islanders being released. Not many, if any other, modern guys who had their rookie card year skipped like that.

Yeah, It's definitely one you don't see very often these days. Common back in the 80s (or longer) but not now.

He had that one game in 2005-06 with the Ducks. I had hoped we'd see a RC of them then... but I guess with the incredibly deep RC checklist that year, UD didn't see a need to include a guy who had one game.

When he was called up by the Isles in 09-10, I was hopeful they'd do cards of him again. Panini, of course, did it the following year. 2010-11 he spent the entire season in the NHL, so that's certianly "card worthy" by any standard.

 

[HammerHawks]

Awesome collection! You very well may know better than me, but I'd assume those Zenith cards are out there somewhere. My guess is if people pulled them, they just didn't bother putting them online. And there's still a lot of it sitting unopened, too.

 

[creasecollector]

Great story about how you knew the guy on these cards. Pretty cool stuff for sure - how many of us can say that? Nice work on this collection. I really like the Score Black Ice parallel and those 1/1 printing plates the most. Great show!

 

[30ranfordfan]

Awesome collection! You very well may know better than me, but I'd assume those Zenith cards are out there somewhere. My guess is if people pulled them, they just didn't bother putting them online. And there's still a lot of it sitting unopened, too.

That I never saw the Black parallel wouldnt surprise me. It's also possible that since he's a common player, most anyone that pulled one would have ripped it. The cards were SP'd, but if they existed I would expect to have seen one in the last 10 years.

 

[CeddieB]

Nice! Thanks for posting.

 

[scottyt100]

Very cool collection.
When I first heard his name and his reputation,I for sure thought he was related to Clarke.
He a very specific skill set at that time was under a lot of scrutiny.
He definitely would have fit in better in the 80's 90's style of hockey.

I miss hockey fights and Don Cherry too.

Thanks for sharing.
Scott